State of the Union '06 - On the Economy ...

There is little that this particular speech can say or do in the wake of massive lay-offs announced by huge economic engines such as General Motors and Ford. Simply relying on tax cuts as the cure all or ultimate remedy to economic woes lacks creativity and innovation for a problem that is as multi-faceted and multi-dimensional as it is universal.

Keeping America competitive requires us to be good stewards of tax dollars. Every year of my presidency, we have reduced the growth of non-security discretionary spending - and last year you passed bills that cut this spending. This year my budget will cut it again, and reduce or eliminate more than 140 programs that are performing poorly or not fulfilling essential priorities. By passing these reforms, we will save the American taxpayer another 14 billion dollars next year - and stay on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.

Yet, federal spending is out of control to the tune of a nearly half trillion dollar deficit.

I am pleased that Members of Congress are working on earmark reform - because the Federal budget has too many special interest projects. And we can tackle this problem together, if you pass the line-item veto.

We were looking for more on the subject of corruption in Congress and the pervasiveness of money in politics.