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Women's Rights
What's New? - Archive
WomenMatter will continuously post updates on all this and other issues as we monitor the continuing philosophical and practical debates nationwide.
Please check back often for updates. Past updates are available for reference on the Women's Rights Archives page.
Since Women's Rights is in many ways an umbrella issue, WomenMatter will highlight related updates from other Life Issue areas here:
The State of the Union: The Parties Define the Issues for 2004
The Constitution of the United States requires that the president "from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Article II, Section 3.
The State of the Union address has since become more formalized. Instead of "from time to time," it is performed once a year, usually in January; it is now delivered in person (from the years 1801-1913 written copies were sent to Congress); and, most importantly, is broadcast across the nation.
The advent of television has made the State of the Union more political and more strategic. Since the president and the president’s party are granted an hour of primetime on the major networks, much thought and work goes into the content of the speech, the quality of its tone, and, of course, its delivery.
Because the president’s party is given airtime to lay out and reinforce their point of view, the opposing party is now granted time to rebut the speech, as the Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Tom Daschle did after Bush’s fourth State of the Union on January 20, 2004.
Defining the Issues
Bush’s State of the Union and the Democrat’s rebuttal have defined the nation’s issues. But do the identified issues match the peoples’ concerns? How many of the issues below are concerns for you?
President Bush mentioned a wide array of topics, from gay marriage to athletes using steroids. However, the main themes were homeland security, the Iraq War, the economy, healthcare, and education. In their response, Democrats focused on these issues as well; they reinforced the importance of these matters, but questioned the President’s solutions.
Homeland Security
In the State of the Union, Bush focused on America’s safety. He called for Congress to reauthorize The Patriot Act, which is set to expire in 2005. The Patriot Act allows for increased surveillance of suspected terrorists and for information sharing among government agencies.
Patriot Act opponents argue that the law threatens Americans’ privacy and civil liberties by removing checks on law enforcement and by allowing Americans’ medical, library, and school records to be seized by the FBI without a warrant, without probable cause, and without the individual knowing.
The Democrats’ response: Many Democrats feel that the Patriot Act is the wrong approach. They too feel that homeland security is a top priority and thus proposed the search of 100% of containers coming in to ports and airports. They want increased security for chemical plants and first-response technology for firefighters and police.
Economy
Bush explained that the economy is strong and growing stronger. He claimed that 2003’s third-quarter saw the highest growth rate in 20 years. The administration believes that tax cuts have helped to jump-start the economy and therefore wants to make those cuts permanent. At issue is what makes up “the economy"? Profits of private corporations. Stock prices. The Bush administration believes that consumer spending is better for the economy than government spending.
The Democrats’ response: Democrats doubt the strength of the economy because of its limited job growth. In the rebuttal, they pointed out the three million jobs lost during Bush’s presidency. They are against making permanent Bush’s tax cuts, which, in their opinion, primarily benefit the wealthy.
Iraq War
Bush claimed the Iraq War a victory in the making. He underscored the liberation of the people of Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein. He declared the world a safer place, though warned of the threat of terrorism. Bush mentioned and thanked the 34 nations that have assisted the U.S. in Iraq. And of course, he thanked and celebrated the resolve of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Democrats’ response: Democrats were sure to thank the men and women in uniform as well, but they questioned the premise for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They reminded Americans of the missing weapons of mass destruction, which were the basis for going to war. Democrats exploited the 500 soldier deaths to emphasize the cost of the war. Nancy Pelosi criticized Bush’s unilateral war policy, arguing that the rest of the world should help pay for and help fight for Iraq. From the Democrats’ point of view, Bush’s war policy is robbing the nation of scarce funds needed for domestic programs like education.
Education
Bush congratulated Congress on passing No Child Left Behind, and emphasized the positives of the program. He remarked on the increased funding, higher standards, regular testing, and increased options for parents (vouchers). He accused Democrats of defending the status quo in education.
The Democrats’ response: Democrats agree that education reform is necessary, but criticize Bush for withholding the funding promised for No Child Left Behind. So far, schools have seen only a small portion of the money promised and most of the emphasis has been to date on testing.
Healthcare
To Bush, the Medicare reforms passed this year will improve healthcare for all seniors. He explained that new prescription drug benefits will help the average senior pay for half of her medicine.
To help Americans afford rising health costs, Bush endorsed health savings accounts and a refundable tax credit for low-income workers.
The Democrats’ response: Tom Daschle reminded viewers that 43.6 million Americans have no health insurance, 3.8 million more than when Bush took office. He also explained that premium increases have surpassed tax cuts and that tax cuts do little to make healthcare more affordable. Democrats want discount drugs from Canada and to continue to brainstorm on how to lower drug prices. Democrats competing for the presidential nomination are in favor of maintaining Medicare as an entitlement and see the private sector aspects of the new drug bill as a way to permanently change Medicare to a private insurance program rather than a government guarantee. Democrats differ on how much government guarantees can we afford over and how long it would take, politically and economically, to get to universal health care.
Your issues
Our representatives work to solve issues that they assume to be important to their constituents. Are the above issues important to you? What, if anything, has been left out of the agenda?
Discuss this topic with other WomenMatter readers in one of our online forums. Explore the Life Issues and learn about what’s important to you. When you’re ready, contact your representatives and let them know what you think.
Article Posted on: 1/23/2004
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