State of the Union - What You Would Say
Yesterday, we asked you for your input for the Democratic Response to the State of the Union address President Bush will give tonight.
Here are some of your comments:
Patrick M.: Bush has had years to intitiate or support his plans, accomplish his goals and most of it has been poured into the terrible failures in Iraq. And will continue though amazingly it may not even be highlighted in the SOTU. It is the Democrats in 100 hours proposing real and committed service to the nation that have done what the president could not in a hundred years or a hundred years war.
Terri I.: The American Health Care situation is a disgrace for the wealthiest nation in the world. Every industrialized nation has universal health care for its citizens except the USA. My sincere hope is that the Democratic Congress can effect a change in this policy and will institute a national health insurance act which will provide care for every citizen.
David M.: As a Viet Nam veteran I am very concerned about the escalation of the Iraq conflict. Have we learned nothing about imposing our point of view upon those who don't want it? Democracy only works under very fragile conditions and the hearts and minds of those involved must be open to such a change. We have won neither of those in Iraq and should realize it now before the blood of our service men and women runs deeper and deeper. I love this country and support our troops, but I do not support this conflict that has drained our resources and ruined many relations with world countries.
Deborah A.: I am so fearful not just about climate change but also that soon the country I'm passing along to my children will be a democracy in name only. Democrats must go to the mat fighting for a restoration of our basic rights of free speech and privacy, before it's too late. If I wanted my teenage girls to live in a theocracy, I'd simply move to Afghanistan!
Melissa B.: As a lower income resident of these beautiful United States I think that the solution to some of the unrest lies in finding economic equality for all. I cannot be proud when I see people who live paycheck to paycheck having to decide between food or electricity. I cannot be satisfied until my fellow man stops stepping over my fellow man who live starving and freezing on the street. I cannot be happy when I as an individual have to choose between going to the doctor or having groceries. Life in these United States is indeed good for some but not for all. A wonderful minister friend of mine said it best 'you cannot deal with the state of mans mind or existence until you deal with his base needs" Indeed if you are starving or freezing or tired from working two full time jobs just to buy groceries you do not have time to care about making our world a better place. If the politicians that be want us to step outside our respective boxes and step on the bandwagon of change, then please by all means change our world first.
Pablo R.: I am about to be a father for the first time in June (we are expecting our son, Jack, around the 8th). One of the man things I am hopeful about (besides the Bears becoming Superbowl champs) is that my son will be born into a better world than the one so ham-fistedly crafted by the Republican-dominated congress, senate and judiciary.With the Democrats becoming the dominant congressional power in the last election cycle (and the rebuke of the Bush administration) my hope is that the world will be a safer (and saner) place.
Thank you for taking a stand against a regime that can be classified as no less than oppressive and belligerent and standing up for the true majority of Americans ... Americans who want to be not only good citizens in their country, but good citizens of the world.
Ken S.: The United States' mission must be to spread democracy throughout the world by example, not coercion. We must be an inspiration, a compelling example, to peoples the world over of why democracy is a better way. The Democratic platform shows how we can -- and should -- do that.
Vera N.: We seem to have forgotten that the government exists to help people in a time of change, not to abandon them. If we had the money to spend on Iraq, then we can find the money to fund health care, a better education system, stricter environmental laws. And if we need more money, it's about time the richest 1% of the population paid their fair share.
Lawrence O.: Senator Webb,
I encourage you to continue standing up for the middle class, which is besieged by outsourcing and falling real wages. We need tax and trade policies that reward companies for investing in this country. Otherise, America will be reduced to being simply a consumption society, whose better times were in the past.
Shellburne T.: Dear Senator Webb,
It is my sincere hope that somehow our government will begin to pay attention to the needs of the majority rather than the top one percent of the population. I feel like we are back at the beginning of the last century when the few made their fortunes off the backs of the many. We need to be out of Iraq, we need alternative forms of energy, we need security in our later years, we need to know that the line between barely hanging on and total destitution is a lot thicker than it is right now. We need to protect a woman's right to choose and we need to stop interfering and protect the intimate lives of our gay populations. I'm tired of paying for the uber rich. It's time to level it out a bit. The first hundred hours was a terrific start. Hopefully, we can continue along on this path until a sense of fairness and justice replace the rampant cronyism and welfare for the very rich.
Linda R.: Dear Senator Webb;
Thanks for this opportunity, but if I started to tell you all the things I hope you will point out to the Amercian people about the lies this President has told I would never be able to stop. Please just know that we will all be there with you in spirit and cheering you on!! God Bless!!
Patrick C.: The most important issue facing Americans today is that of the Environment. Our existence as human beings depends on our actions TODAY! Because we are the most prolific consumers and polluters of the earth it is our responsibility and our duty as the richest country on earth to clean up our mess. Every single piece of legislation has got to carry with it some kind of support of our environment or we will soon be left with a problem that will be impossible to fix. Our children, their children and future generations deserve better than what is waiting for them if we don't.
Dawn S.: Senator Webb,
We welcome your address in the next 48 hours and hope that your cohorts will heed your requests for our country. As you and millions of Americans know, we are in a very pivotal time in our nation's history and we can make or break the future for our children and grandchildren and their descendants... We must show the world that we are not the arrogant, self-serving people that this administration has managed to portray us as. We have always been revered for our kindness and generosity to all nations. We must show them that we still are! Iraq has become the central theme of this administration, while at home, unemployment is high, large numbers of our population go without basic needs, health care, proper nutrition and education. The elderly are being left behind to fend for themselves. The rich get richer and the poor have no where to go but down. Our schools are suffering from lack of money for the upkeep of infrastructures and teachers aren't paid enough.Our children are falling behind in the international arena. All in all, the state of our nation is scary to me and my family. Please impress upon Congress the need to change course in many areas...
Thank you.
Cynthia B.: Thank you for the opportunity to be heard.My biggest concern in the US now is our use of troups throughout the world. The disgusting loss of brave Americans and innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan and the threat from our own government of putting more of our young people in harms way over there. Someone called today for my son, he's 18 and attending the local JC here. I said that he wasn't here and asked who it was. It was a recruiter from the Army. I said I didn't think he was interested, said goodbye, and hung up. After that I told my friend that I couldn't believe how my own attitude had changed toward our government and armed services all because of this President. When I was in high school in the early 80's a lot of my friends went into the armed services. They went in at a time of peace, but knew they could get called up if a war happened. Back then we were afraid of the Russians and nuclear winter, and we thought that THAT was bad. Please work to get our kids home from the far corners of the earth. We need to take care of our own country. There are people living on the streets and not getting healthcare or education. Couldn't there be a better use of our money and time? If it is about oil, as many have said, then spend that money working with the brain trust of America to come up with some alternative fuels. Bring manufacturing back to the US before everything on our shelves is made in China and we've completely sold our futures and our children's children's futures. Why can't America not only be a super power, but a super role model for the world. Someone's gotta lead this earth in a way that will make sure we can all survive here for a long long time. We can't be that role model until we earn back the respect that Bush has squandered.
Thank you.
Joyce L.: Sen.Webb...Here are my honest opinions on the state of the Union!It stinks!!I am a 69 year old widow living in Florida..because of the elevation of cost of food,gas, medical expenses and all living expenses like rent etc. since the Bush Administration began the downward spiral of America..I have had to move in with my son...Before I had been able to work part time and along with my Social Security live alone in my own apartment...But compared to the tragic events of the war in Iraq this is a small thing..to daily watch men,women and children die in a senseless war is just heart breaking..and to see the waste of Americans hard earned money go down the drain in this un-win-able conflict is repulsive....and to realize that even the Iraq people are worse off today is even more mind-boggling!! Everything that we have always held dear in our country has deteriorated since Mr.Bush has been in office..It is so sad that no longer are we a respected nation that is known for placing the highest value on human life ...but are hated and disrespected by most of the world...because of this President's hard-headed,stiff-necked arrogance and lust for power and control ..It just grieves me so to have a President that I cannot find one single issue to say a "job well done for this nation and the world"...It is my opinion,we as a nation,are in the trash heap because of Mr. Bush's misguided, and unsound policies and behavior....So we the people are sick at heart about this our USA… and we are praying that you Democrats and those Republicans that care about this great country will pull together..pray for wisdom and do what is right and good...thank you and God have mercy on our people...
Barbara F.:One of my many concerns about our country is the need for stem cell research. My beloved son has been stricken with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)for which there is no known cause nor cure. If you are not familiar with ALS, please research it to find out what a devastating disease this is. Or I would be glad to describe it to you. Stem cell research may not help my son, but research is needed in order to find a cure.
Rebecca L.: I have a vision, as do most Americans I'm sure, that all Americans have health insurance. It is morally vexing and economically inefficient that millions of Americans are not covered. It's time that the poor receive quality health care and not treatment that can be accessed in the emergency room only. Prescription drugs are to be affordable and accessible to all.America needs to be convinced that the minimum wage hike will not damage the growth of businesses.
The decentralization of funding for public schools throughout the country has been detrimental. Schools are unfairly penalized for not achieving the appropriate test scores, while teachers struggle to teach within the narrow confines of a curriculum centered on testing strategy.
Judy C.: I wish that the state of our union was strong, with all of our brave and hard working troops out of Iraq and out of harms way. I wish that the state of our union was one of strength throughout the world. I wish that there were tax cuts for the middle and lower classes instead of for the richest Americans. I think that the richest Americans actually agree that there are more important places that the money could be spent such as on education, health care, day care, environmental concerns, and securing our ports. All of the money spent on this ill concieved war could have been spent on so many things here at home. To think that we have spent billions of dollars in Iraq, and yet the infrastructure is still a disaster. To think that we have spent billions in Iraq, but we have not properly armed the Iraq army and police so that they could do what we hope they can do. Where did the money go if not for the above? Are we expecting the Iraq army and police to do what we have been unable to do even though we are better (but not fully) equipped? We do not belong there in the middle of a civil war and sectarian violence. Whether we leave today or 10 years from today, there is going to be severe violence in the entire region until they sort it out for themselves, so why stay another day? We are hated and have made ourselves prime targets of more attacks at home. We are not safer, we are less safe. The war in Iraq was not justified, period! The war in Afghanistan was and is a justifiable war, and yet it is floundering with a lack of troops to rid it of the Taliban and Osama's crowd. The state of the union is mired in war. It needs to be drenched in peace and prosperity, hope and a bright future for all Americans. We can have that and it begins with no more lives of our brave and heroic troops lost or maimed in the war that should never have happened. The state of our union needs healing now!
Lisa W.: Permit lesbians and gays to serve in the military. Many other countries already do so without problems. And if we are in such dire need of more people in the military, it isn't logical to exclude so many qualified people.
Ann H.: Dear Senator Webb, I want a great deal. To begin with, I want to be proud to be an American again. I want a country that only goes to a war in it's defense alone or to a great war with the whole world against terrorism as part of a stuctured unit such as the UN. I want to vote and know that my vote and every American's vote will be counted. I want America to wage war on our own enemies within: Poor education in deprived areas, lack of medical coverage for all our citizens, war against the big business that has all but brought the country to truly be a land where the American Dream has died and I want America to take true leadership in the world of ideas again and attempt to help educate the devastated countries of this world how to live in peace by allowing them a piece of the almighty pie. Until each person has their share in this country and around the world, there will be no peace for anyone. Greed must stop being the bottom line. So, I guess you can see I want a lot, but isn't that the democratic way? Thank You and Good Luck.
William C.: I don't want to hear of further Americans being killed or injured in Iraq in what I view as a continuing quagmire while Americans here at home lack housing, health care, proper nutrition and opportunities to earn a living.
Trina T.: There is so much I could put down in a message to you.I want to see our people taken care of.
Education, so we do not have to bring people in from other countries for jobs like nursing, doctors, technology, etc.
Not only are we bringing these people to our country, we are taking them away from people that need them.
Other things, I want our president and our congress to care about the people of the United States.
Our military has been zapped. And my question there is, if we have the greatest military in the world, then why are we still in Iraq.
Why are we in Iraq anyway?
Sarah W.: I would like hope, peace, social justice, medical coverage for all, international and national diplomacy, not "my way or the highway." I would like better jobs, humane treatment working with all people, a rein in on and prosecution of the private armies the President has set up, like Blackwater. I would like an end to corruption.I would like the multinational corporations to have to follow laws about monopoly so they can't keep raping and pillaging across the world and at home.
Norbert V.: Give him hell, Jim!
Tom O.: Sen. Webb,
Please ask Mr. Bush how many Americans he expects to die or be maimed because of his ego (he doesn't want a "failure" on his record) and his bullheadedness (he can't ever admit he made a mistake).
Please also push your views on the topic of economic justice and equal opportunity. I would not want to live in a society divided between very-rich "haves" and very poor "have-nots" -- even if I were one of the "haves"!
Finally, please talk about making the government work. For years, Bush and his allies have tried to tell people that government was part of the problem, not part of the solution. This President has turned that into a self-fulfilling prophecy. We need to get the government back to where it is capable of doing the things we expect of it -- like dealing with natural disasters (Katrina), protecting the environment (i.e., global warming), and providing a safety net for the weakest among us such as the poor and the elderly (i.e., Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid).
Janet L.: Thank you Senator Webb for considering my comments. I live in one of the reddest states in America but thank goodness I live in the bluest city in that state. My true hopes for my 5 and 9 year-old nephews' future are:
1. Comprehensive health care for all including and not continually restricting access to reproductive health care for their partners (Sack Kerouak (sp) and treat major drug companies like the tobacco industry)
2. Support and praise companies that are going "green". Global warming is here to stay unless the US takes a proactive, fierce stance to stop it.
3. Support and praise companies that are looking for alternative sources of energy.
4. Fight the war on poverty in our own country and not the war in Iraq
5. Get out of Iraq and try to salvage some sort of diplomatic ties.
5. Pay K1-12 teachers what they are worth!
Marion M.: Dear Senator Webb, First, congratulations on your election to the United State Senate. Second, as the mother of three sons (one of whom is an officer in the Air Force, but who is not in Irag), my thoughts are with you as you live with your son being in Iraq. Since my son was commissioned, I have lived in fear at every armed intervention this country has entered. I'm sorry that you, also, have to live with this, and I hope your son -- and all other members of our military reurn safely. Now, I will share with my my thoughts about the condition of our nation, and I will do so by addressing both international and domestic issues. First, in terms of international relations, I believe that our biggest problem is that we have lost sight of the importance of a policy that stresses our need to live in peace with our global neighbors. All of us share this planet, and all of us share many problems facing us as global neighbors -- the encironment, energy, peace, political self determination (not polictical solutions forced upon any one nation by any other nation, including the U.S.), economic success for all people, good health, and respect for the rights of all people on earth. At the same time, we need to have a standing military that will work together with a diplomatic corps and and other agencies (governmental, non-governmental and philanthropic)to meet mutally agreed upon aims and goals that the majority of the nations agree on. I also think we need a military that is ready to defend us in the most appropriate manner, but not a military that is used by a civilian political leadership in pre-emptive wars for any purpose, including the purpose of maintaining energy resources. It is time we have an international policy that leads to peace and not a national security policy that leads always to war. Obviously, I believe strongly in the need for a multilateral interntional policy.
The second major issue I believe that our leaders need to address has to do with domestic issues, and there are many. Although both social and economic issues seem to be in the forefront of our national discussion as being of the greatest importance, I believe that there is one that is even greater. That is the issue of the loss of our constitutional rights and the encroaching by the current adminitration of liberty and freedom. If our leaders cannot honor the Constitution that they swear to uphold when they take office, then we have lost our country -- and it will not be the result of any act of terrorism; it will be the result of internal decay, which is a far greater threat.
Good luck with your speech tomorrow night.
Judy P.: Enough is enough. I have lost count of the ways in which Bush and his team have exercised bad judgement, whether it is in Iraq, with Katrina, with the larger war on terror, with health care, Social Security, the environment or the growing divide between rich and poor.America is better than this. I believe there are millions of people like me who are willing and eager to pitch in and take our country back.
Walter R.: I do not understand how a man that is responsible for the welfare of an entire country can be so blind to the needs of it. While we bomb Iraq and risk the lives of our troops, we neglect the obvious necessities of those right here.
Katherine C.: Mr Bush needs to respect the will of the people. He must work with the Congress to formulate policy that is in keeping with the decisions of his constituents, the people who voted to oust the Republican majority who were too cowardly to stand up to him. The true will of the people now clearly rests in the Congress, not the White House. He must not be allowed to dictate his wishes for the war, the economy, or the future of our energy policy. The people have spoken, if he can't hear them, then the Congress must lead this country in a new positive direction without his approval. We need a strong, decisive Congress to help repair what this administration has done to our country.
Dann N.: I'd like to see a stop to the politics of fear and a start to the politics of hope. Enough worrying about a disastrous future. Let's start dreaming of a better world. Only then, can we actually do something about it.It's in our power.
Kevin F.: Senator,
As a disabled Viet Nam Vet (25th Inf. 68/69) and a proud father of four wonderful daughters, I ask you only to emphasize tomorrow night, that there IS a difference between the Democratic Party's vision and hopes for America and that put forth by George W. Bush.Thanks for your service. My wife and I are looking forward to your response tomorrow.
Glen W.: The rancorous tone in Washington has yanked out stitches from what I'd seen as a nation that was knitting itself closer and closer together. I miss that feeling of national optimism and hope, but I continue to look forward to a time when convenient and divisive political strategies will be set aside and responsible leadership will begin moving us together again.
Mike E.: This is a unique opportunity for the Democratic Party. The sins of yesterday are forgotten in the promise of tomorrow. The only promise you need to make is the promise of Leadership for the American people. Leadership for ALL the people, not just the beltway elite on either side of the aisle. Without intention, our President has reminded us all why leadership is so important...sustain the republic and the freedoms it stands for.
Ilyana K.: I have no doubt that you will directly and clearly focus on the truly critical issues our nation faces that, unfortunately, the current President will ignore. Please stress the importance of bringing fairness and stability back to our economic system, the need to develop and support our military and its new and evolving role in the international arena--most urgently Iraq, and perhaps fundamental to making any changes possible, developing greater accountability in government.
Van D.: I have no faith that the President will acknowledge what the voters said to him, to the Congress, and to the world last November. But I have every faith that you will - and that you will present the cogent and articulate alternative that Americans expect from the Democratic Party.You will need to be positive and specific in our proposals to reverse the direction the President has taken the country.
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