President Bush Delivered a Relevant State of the Union Address (Rep. J. Gresham Barrett)

President Bush delivered his seventh and final State of the Union Address to our country on Monday night. He addressed several issues including the ongoing war on terror and several domestic challenges we face as a nation. Each topic was relevant, but as a staunch fiscal conservative and strong supporter of alternative energy sources, I was most interested to hear the President’s comments in those two areas.

The President pledged to reject any spending bill from Congress for 2009 that does not cut the level of earmark spending in half. And he should. The amount of money Congress is spending, and the type of projects we see funded year after year is beyond irresponsible. I also support his decision to issue an Executive Order requiring all federal agencies to ignore any earmark that hasn’t been voted on or approved by Congress. The American people have a right to know what we are spending their money on and they should not tolerate secrecy in spending. The President is right to take a strong stance on this issue and he has my full support in this effort.

One issue that is vital for our national security is that we need to decrease American reliance on foreign energy supplies in addition to lowering the prices at the pump. The President mentioned in his speech that he supports American researchers and entrepreneurs discovering a newer generation of clean energy technology- I applaud him for that. South Carolina has been recognized to be a strong leader in producing alternative fuel models for our country and many public/private organizations throughout our state are working toward finding new innovative and alternative energy sources. President Bush understands that developing domestic energy sources will ensure that our country does not have to be dependent on unstable countries and regions for energy supply and will also help create stability in consumer pricing.