Bush address ignores problems: Democrats

Democrats challenged the buoyant picture of the US presented in President George W Bush’s State of the Union address, saying it belied a darker reality of lost jobs, rising deficits and mounting casualties in Iraq.

Coming exactly one week before New Hampshire’s presidential primary and the night after Iowa’s caucuses, the speech gave Democratic presidential candidates an opportunity to discuss how they would take on a president whose campaign will highlight the economic recovery and his leadership in fighting terrorism - themes prominent in the address.

“The State of the Union may look rosy from the White House balcony or the suites of George Bush’s wealthiest donors,” said Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. “But hardworking Americans will see through this president’s effort to wrap his radical agenda with a compassionate ribbon.”

Democrats pointed to deficits approaching $500bn (€398bn) and a loss of 2.3 million jobs since he took office. They also criticised Mr Bush’s failure to build a broad international coalition in Iraq.

Fresh from his victory in Iowa, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts criticised Mr Bush’s “arrogant” foreign policy. “He’s not making America safer in the process,” he said.

In what he dubbed his own “state of the nation” speech, Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said Mr Bush’s tax cuts combined with the Iraq war have weakened the middle class. The administration “has spent $155bn (€123bn) for an unnecessary war driven by fear”, he said.

In the official Democratic response to Mr Bush’s speech, the top two Democrats on Capitol Hill said the president was not doing enough to protect the US from terrorists or to improve the economy.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California criticised Mr Bush’s “go-it-alone foreign policy that leaves us isolated abroad and that steals the resources we need for education and health care here at home”.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said: “Instead of borrowing even more money to give more tax breaks to companies so that they can export even more jobs, we propose tax cuts and policies that will strengthen our manufacturing sector and create good jobs at good wages here at home.”