> Is it feasible to expect that this will work? He sounded convinced, but years of learning about politics make me very doubtful about programs which decrease taxes and increase spending.
>
>It seems to be a very republican idea(and one of the major increases was in military defense, of course. Apparently now he wants to create a "Project Biosheild" to protect the nation from biological weaponry. My friends and I chuckled a little at that, and there was more than one murmur of "Star Wars all over again"). I must admit, the idea of hydrogen powered cars, better health coverage and funds to help fight AIDS in Africa sound like a good idea. But, is this going to work out for us financially, and if so how? He seemed to totally skirt this issue.

Income tax cuts, when enacted, have increased tax revenues to the government. When Reagan cut income taxes in the early 80s, tax revenues to the federal government actually increased. Not necessarily income tax revenues. People have more money to spend, so they spend it, invest it, etc. That is: do things with it that are taxed anyways, but people aren't as upset about it that way, because at least they get to spend their money.

Bush also didn't mention where spending cuts were going to be instituted, as they no doubt will be. I would imagine that social services (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, especially welfare, and the like) will be taking a hit. I'm sure the things like the National Endowment for the Arts will lose funding. I'm sure that education will have funding cut in other areas to make up for the areas Bush wants to increase education spending. (This is all speculation on my part.) Bush told us what he wants to spend in certain areas, but he didn't say what was spent last year.

> The entire discussion of the Iraq conflict and Saddam's actions seemed very biased to me. People I talked to after said that Bush skirted a lot of the pertinent issues in order to make Iraq look as bad as possible. I know the speech was very convincing. He was certainly graphic enough, bringing up every possible evil he could think of, including rape and torture. And of course, he wanted to send aid to Iraq for their hungry, and stressed that we needed to aid the Iraqi people in achieving their "freedom". I don't know much about the government of Iraq, but I hadn't thought that Saddam was all that heavily opposed. Perhaps I'm wrong. As I said, I've been out of the political scene.

All the people Bush talked about that were being tortured, raped, murdered? Those are the people who try to oppose Saddam.

And I also think it's rather clear that Bush's number one priority is national security, and that Iraq falls under that heading. So it only makes sense that Iraq would be the heart of his agenda at the moment. Says Peggy Noonan, opinion columnist:

"I'm going to refer to a private conversation about another conversation, I hope in a good cause. Four months ago a friend who had recently met with the president on other business reported to me that in conversation the president had said that he has been having some trouble sleeping, and that when he awakes in the morning the first thing he often thinks is: I wonder if this is the day Saddam will do it.

"Do what exactly?" I asked my friend. He told me he understood the president to be saying that he wonders if this will be the day Saddam launches a terror attack here, on American soil.

I was surprised. We know of the arguments that Saddam is a supporter and encourager of America's terrorist enemies. We know the information that has been made available. But the president has not to my knowledge said in public that he fears Saddam himself will hit us hard on the ground in America, and soon.

Maybe my friend misheard, maybe something was misunderstood. But my friend is a careful man, and I suspect he heard exactly right. Which begs the question, what does Mr. Bush know that he hasn't said about Saddam's intentions and ability to strike America?"

> I wonder what other people think. I had a lot of other issues, but I can't really think of many right now. Still, despite Bush's very adamant, and somewhat impressive speech, I'm still worried. Can anyone say anything that will be comforting perhaps? In any case, I think I need to pay more attention to the news. There is far too much I'm not aware of in this country, and this speech makes me think that maybe I should be...
>
> Melanie

The Other Matthew