Bush's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Washington, DC - President Bush had another bad week. His lackluster State of the Union Address offered no new ideas, received low marks from newspapers across the country, including many conservatives, and did nothing to repair his shattered credibility. Specifically, his tired policy prescriptions on energy independence and health care are deeply flawed and don't mesh with the reality of his Administration's record. Next week looks just as bad for the President, with the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on his domestic wiretapping program set to begin.

"The nation heard what the President had to say and they just don't like it and aren't buying it," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "The country is craving honest and open leadership that serves all Americans, not the closed-door, special interest-driven style of leadership that the Republicans are offering. Democrats remain committed to a fresh, positive agenda that puts the interests of the American people first."

See below for excerpts from newspaper editorials on Bush's bad week as well the challenges he faces next week:

Bush's Speech Offered Nothing New:
Washington Post: Bush "Displayed Little Ambition" To Tackle Challenges. "The president's future horizons are constrained by his past choices, budgetary and political. At home, expensive tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug entitlement limit his scope for new initiatives. Abroad, the commitment of troops, money and diplomatic capital to Iraq has narrowed the president's options. ...The speech reflected Mr. Bush's changed political circumstances, and it displayed little ambition to tackle some of America's greatest challenges at home or abroad." [The Washington Post, 2/1/06]

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Bush's Record Is Dismal." "... if you gauge the president's success by the goals that he himself set in his historic State of the Union speech in 2002, Bush's record is dismal." [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/1/06]

Robert Novak: Conservatives: Bush's Worst State Of The Union. "While jumping up on cue to cheer during the speech and delivering rave reviews afterward in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, conservative members of Congress were deeply disappointed by George W. Bush Tuesday night. It was not merely that the president abandoned past domestic goals. He appeared to be moving toward bigger government. The consensus on the Right was that President Bush's fifth State of the Union Address was his worst." [Chicago Sun-Times, 2/2/06]

Baltimore Sun: Bush's Ideas "Biting Off Progress In Small Chunks." "...his policy prescriptions often failed to match his soaring words. He spoke of American leadership, yet advocated biting off progress in small chunks." [The Baltimore Sun, 2/1/06]

Orlando Sentinel: Bush Speech "Was A Disappointment." "He could have laid out bold plans with bipartisan appeal to tackle some of the country's most stubborn problems. But overall, Mr. Bush's speech was a disappointment, with its partial and politically challenged solutions. It fell short of what's needed in what the president rightly called a "decisive year." [Orlando Sentinel, 2/1/06]

On Bush's Flawed Energy Policy:
Bush Administration Backs Away From Oil Pledge Only A Day After Speech. "One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally. ... [Bush] pledged to 'move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.' Not exactly, though, it turns out. 'This was purely an example,' Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said." [Knight-Ridder, 2/1/06]

The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.): Bush Offers "Oil Man's Solution," "We are wary of any program to reduce dependence on foreign oil that does not include ambitious plans for conservation. If Bush had included a call for new mandates on fuel efficiency for cars and trucks, and production of more hybrid vehicles, his goal of energy independence might be more plausible. As it is, we fear he instead will emphasize the oil man's solution: More domestic production, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." [The Herald, 2/2/06]

Boston Globe: Bush's Energy Policy "Written By Energy Industry." "Bush said, 'America is addicted to oil,' without mentioning Exxon's just-announced $36 billion profit or the fact that his administration's energy policy was practically written by the oil industry." [The Boston Globe, 2/1/06]

Washington Post: Bush Administration Has Helped Feed Oil "Addiction." "'America is addicted to oil.' It was a catchy line in President Bush's State of the Union speech. But in truth, few administrations have done more to feed America's oil addiction than this one -- and the same can be said for this Republican Congress." [Washington Post, 2/3/06]

On Bush's Healthcare Initiatives:
Wichita Eagle: Health Savings Accounts Won't Make A Difference."Especially with so many senior citizens and vulnerable Americans still wrestling with the Medicare changes, Bush fell far short in his plans for healing health care. Health savings accounts are a valuable tool, but likely too modest to make much difference to the 45 million who are uninsured and the others dealing with rising costs and declining access. He and Congress must do more" [The Wichita Eagle, 2/1/06]

Fort Wayne News Sentinel (Indiana): Bush's Solution Excludes "Average Consumers": "On health care, the president reissued old calls for capping liability in medical malpractice suits even though Indiana's experience shows that liability caps haven't made health care dramatically cheaper. He promised more availability of health savings accounts, without explaining how average consumers might actually create an actively competitive market for health care with them." [Fort Wayne News Sentinel (Indiana)]

On Bush's Warrantless Domestic Spying Program:
Los Angeles Times: Bush's Justification For Domestic Spying "Misleading." "By far the most cynical part of the address was the president's defense of the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, now rechristened, in Orwellian fashion, the 'terrorist surveillance program.' Bush's legal justification was misleading..." [Los Angeles Times, 2/1/06]

Des Moines Register: Bush Offers False Choice in Domestic Spying Debate: "In defending his extra-legal wiretaps, however, the president set up a false dichotomy: If you oppose my wiretaps, you obviously don't want the government to prevent future terrorist attacks. That is not true. Everyone wants the National Security Agency to investigate terrorism. The critics - including us - just want him to do it under the rules set by the Constitution and Congress." [Des Moines Register, 2/2/06]

Bush Administration Refuses Request On Spying Documents Ahead Of Senate Hearings. According to a report by the New York Times, "the Bush administration is rebuffing requests from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for its classified legal opinions on President Bush's domestic spying program," even though, the "legality of the program is known to have produced serious concerns within the Justice Department in 2004, at a time when one of the legal opinions was drafted." [New York Times, 2/2/06]

White House Emails Lost; CIA Leak Investigation Affected. The Associated Press also reported that, "Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is raising the possibility that records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because of an e-mail archiving problem at the White House." [Associated Press, 2/1/06]