Did President Bush Keep Promises From 2006 State of the Union Address?

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Did President Bush Keep Promises From 2006 State of the Union Address?

Before Tonight's State of the Union Address, a Look Back at What Promises Were Kept and What Were Forgotten

Promise Not Kept: Making Bush's First-Term Tax Cuts Permanent

In an effort to push the Republican-led Congress to pass legislation making his first-term tax cuts permanent, Bush said in the 2006 State of the Union speech, "We need more than temporary tax relief. I urge the Congress to act responsibly, and make the tax cuts permanent."

Bush's first-term tax cuts expire by the year 2011. While Democrats have said they won't seek to repeal Bush's major first-term cuts, they oppose legislation making the tax cuts permanent.

Promise Not Kept: Passing the Line-Item Veto

In last year's speech, Bush said, "I am pleased that members of Congress are working on earmark reform, because the federal budget has too many special-interest projects. And we can tackle this problem together, if you pass the line-item veto."

Supporters of the presidential line-item veto power argue that it would serve to cut down on the process of slipping earmarks into spending bills. However, opponents argue the line-item veto would give the executive branch far-reaching powers over legislation created by elected representatives.

The House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 4890) on June 22, 2006, that would have given Bush a six-year line-item veto, and would have allowed him to strike spending and tax provisions from legislation without vetoing the bill.

However, a bipartisan group of senators opposed the measure, and the Senate never took up the House bill.