Schakowsky Response to the State of the Union

SCHAKOWSKY RESPONSE TO THE STATE OF THE UNION

WASHINGTON, DC–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Chief Deputy Democratic Whip, today released the following statement in response to the President's State of the Union Address:

Tonight, President Bush quacked like a lame duck. He failed to acknowledge the nationwide rejection of his disastrous Iraq policy that is making our world more dangerous and costing us greatly.

President Bush is dealing with an Iraq that only exists in his imagination. Escalation presumes that a military solution is still possible in Iraq. The catastrophe facing Iraq is political, and yet there is no evidence of a political process that has any hope of achieving reconciliation. In proposing escalation, the President again acted unilaterally and defied the American people, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, military and Congressional leaders, and Prime Minister Maliki. Escalation is more of the same failed strategy with 21,500 more troops.

The President's willingness to address comprehensive immigration reform and to combat global warming is a welcome sign. However, it will only be good news if his statements tonight are followed by a serious commitment to turn rhetoric into action.

On health care, however, both the President's diagnosis and prescription are wrong. The problem with American health care is not that hard-working families are not getting "gold-plated... health care or aren't paying enough for medical services. Once again, the President has got it wrong. His plan is to tax the middle-class and take away resources from safety-net facilities like Stroger/Cook County hospitals while private insurance companies are left free to charge whatever they want and deny coverage to those they don't want to cover. This isn't a solution — it's a prescription for disaster.

Americans have waited long enough for a new direction. During the first "100 Hours,... Democrats delivered six common-sense proposals that will make Americans safer and more economically secure, a downpayment on even greater change to come.

Together, a Democratic Congress and a Republican President can restore America's promise of opportunity and equality for all. But if the President stubbornly sticks to his failed Iraq policy and "you're on your own... approach to health care, his lame duck agenda won't move beyond the Oval Office.