Zack Space Tells Us His Vision For The State Of The Union
Zack Space has written another column, this time dealing with his vision of the State of the Union. You can find it after the jump.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t even gotten the chance to do more than skim through this yet. I just wanted to get this posted quickly in case anyone was interested. Hopefully I’ll have time to read it and comment this evening.
Update - 10:21 PM 1/25/2008
No comments, just complete agreement. Space really tells it like it is.
Column: My Vision for the State of the Union
- Southeastern Ohio’s Economy in Desperate Need of Help -
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, January 29th, President Bush will deliver his last State of the Union address to Congress and the nation. Unfortunately, I do not believe this speech will provide the solutions our region needs to address the problems we face. Instead, what we will likely hear is a set of priorities that are inconsistent with the needs of working families in our region who are anxious about their jobs, unable to afford the health care they need, and residents of towns and communities whose basic infrastructure needs have not been met.
That’s why I want to share with you what I believe should be addressed in the State of the Union.
There is no doubt that our economy is suffering. The State of Ohio has an unemployment rate that has recently hit 6%. In Morgan County, that rate is over 10%. Home sales are bottoming out, the foreclosure crisis continues, and families are worried about their long-term financial security. We all agree that we need a short-term and targeted stimulus package, and I am pleased that the vast majority of my constituents are going to receive the support they need, which will also give our slumping economy a shot in the arm.
Progress has been made, but we need a long-term plan. We cannot rely on Congress, the President, or anyone else to create the conditions for real, sustainable growth in our region. That is exactly why I am holding the RENEW OHIO-18 economic summit. Together, we will come up with a long-term economic blueprint that will make our region a leader in economic recovery.
However, some of the decisions made in Washington have not hurt our local economy. The free trade agreements put into effect in the last decade have done nothing but create a race to the bottom for cheap, unskilled, unsafe labor. We have watched as much of our manufacturing base has closed up shop and moved to Mexico or China. We should be working for trade policies that protect American workers, not force them to compete with people willing to work in the worst conditions imaginable for pennies an hour.
Washington has also failed to stem the tide of illegal immigrants, which is yet another factor that depreciates the value of labor in this country at precisely the time that we are facing an unemployment crisis. We can and must solve this problem.
The state of our economy is depressing, and with that, the State of our Union is not strong. But I have faith that we can work to correct this problem for ourselves here in Ohio. For the sake of our families, our towns, and our communities, we must do everything possible to renew our economy here at home.
Congressman Zack Space
January 26th, 2008 at 8:19 am
*NOTE* This is not an anti-democrat comment, it’s anti-both-parties.
Why is it that we have a response (and now a pre-sponse) to the state of the union? The paper this morning says that the democrats are getting their message out early, I think it was talking about Pelosi.
The president is REQUIRED by the constitution to give congress information on the state of the union. I’m not sure when this became an address to the public or when it became an annual event. It seems to me that it was during the Reagan years was when the response became an annual event.
It has become a political fight. The party not in office uses it as an opportunity to bash the president. They begin explaining all the reasons his speech was wrong (but they rarely even listened to his speech) and quickly move on to the same things they’ve said all along.
I challenge the democrats to be the first to break this tradition. Let the state of the union go back to what it was intended to be, a report by the president to the congress. Given that I doubt they will take this challenge, I challenge the party that loses the upcoming election the same way (I’m not holding my breath).
January 27th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I kind of like the minority response, it lets both sides get out their side of the story.
As for this, it was just a column Space wrote and sent out to area newspapers to let people know his priorities. The “State of the Union” is just the theme ho choose to write it with.
January 27th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
But “The State of the Union” shouldn’t be about the majority opinion or the minority opinion. In fact, it shouldn’t be opinion. It should be fact.
Here’s where the nation is and here’s where I (the President) want to take it. The President addressing Congress. No politics required.
January 27th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I still have to stand by it. The differences in the two speeches are far more informative than either speech. Frankly, I find the State of the Union speech to be little more than a pep talk anyway.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:25 am
“Frankly, I find the State of the Union speech to be little more than a pep talk anyway”
Exactly my point.
It’s supposed to be a talk by the leader of the country to the implementers (Congress) to say “this is where we are and this is where we are going”. Instead, it’s a “pep talk” and a speech that creates polarity.
The Republicans had 8 years to stop the bickering and didn’t step up to it. Prior to that the Dems had 12 years (assuming it started with Reagan’s first yar) and the Dems have had 8 years after the republicans. That’s 28 years with no change from either party. I suspect we have a tradition that will never change (sigh).