Massachusetts Congressmen Criticize Bush Proposals
REACTION
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Danny Lauridsen
Boston University Washington News Service
1-23-07
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23– Massachusetts members of Congress were not convinced by President Bush’s efforts to justify sending 21,500 more troops to Iraq in his State of the Union address last night.
Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Worcester) was especially strong in his criticisms of Mr. Bush’s plan for the future of Iraq, and he stressed that the newly elected Democrat-run Congress will not stand for the war with the same passivity that it did under Republican leadership.
“I think there’s a lot of frustration in Congress, and there’s a reason,” Mr. McGovern said. “The American people want a change. This is a frustrated, concerned Congress.” He added, “I’d like to see some candor and some honesty in articulating how we’re going to get out of Iraq. This Congress is not going to be a rubber stamp like the last one was.”
Rep. John W. Olver (D-Amherst) said in a statement released before the speech, “The president’s escalation strategy is far too little and four years too late. It is time for the president to develop and implement a plan for handing the government over to the Iraqi people and bringing our troops home.”
Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Springfield) said, “No, the mission has not been accomplished. Very little of anything that he has said has turned out to be accurate.”
On health care, members said the president’s tax reform plan would do little to help persons with low incomes afford health insurance.
U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy condemned the Bush health care plan as “an opportunity missed,” in a statement released before the speech. “To solve the health care crisis, we need not just action – but the right action,” Mr. Kennedy said. “Health care in America is in crisis.”
While he acknowledged that presidential attention is the first step in addressing the crisis, Kennedy’s statement was at the forefront of other Massachusetts congressmen who said the Bush proposal benefits the wealthy without addressing the true crisis.
“An end-of-the-year tax deduction is essentially worthless to workers who can’t afford to pay out-of-pocket each month,” Mr. Olver’s statement said. “The president’s proposal is largely empty.”
Mr. McGovern said, “The debate on how we deal with health care is one of the biggest challenges. It’s one of the biggest costs for the government.”
Currently, nearly 47 million Americans are without health care, and members doubted the president’s proposal would significantly change that number.
“It needs to be much broader in context,” Mr. Neal said. “If you don’t have any money you’re not going to get a tax cut, but you still need health care.”
Although they aren’t very confident in the president’s ability to implement most of his plans, including the search for alternative fuel sources, Democrats were at least pleased to see the president mention global warming as a problem.
“For six years he’s rejected science,” Mr. Neal said, adding that this was the first time Bush even acknowledged global warming as a trend.
“At least the acknowledgement invites us to find a way forward,” he said. “You can’t find a scientist in America and for that matter much of the world who doesn’t subscribe to the theory of global warming.”
But the members said no matter what other domestic issues may be looming, the critical topic affecting all else is clearly the war in Iraq.
“Think about what you could do with the $500 billion this president has spent on Iraq,” Mr. McGovern said. “Think about what you could do for health care. Think about what you could do about finding alternative energy.”
“All the things that this White House is doing I think have had a negative impact on the quality of life in this country,” Mr. McGovern said.” The state of the union is not as secure and is not as positive as we would like.”
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