President Bush’s Attempt at Spinning a Bad Story (Rep. Hank Johnson)

The President’s 2008 State of the Union address will, at best, be a good attempt to spin a bad story. He’ll talk up the economy though we can clearly see it is failing. He will question spending, despite the $10 billion he sends to Iraq every month. The President will insist there has been progress with the war, though our troops are no closer to coming home. And he’ll purport to care about America’s children, knowing he has twice vetoed the state children’s health insurance legislation – putting 10 million of our children at risk.

I expect the President to talk about showing compassion, yet he refuses to see the devastation caused when families lose their homes, when the sick have no healthcare, when hospitals close, when our school systems fail, and when our nation’s infrastructure crumbles. The President’s priorities are off base, his policies are suspect, and his politics are oftentimes, unconscionable. But even in the face of all this, we, in the Democratic Congress still stand ready to help the Administration find effective solutions to our national challenges.