Looking once again like the confident cheerleader he was in college, President George W. Bush addressed Congress and the American people in his fourth State of the Union address Wednesday. Flanked by the more grim specters of Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the president took 53 minutes to address what he called the keys to "building a better world for our children and grandchildren." Under that broad heading he enumerated dozens of government priorities and programs -- chief amongst them, remaking Social Security -- that will be included in his 2006 "wish list" budget that the White House will send to Congress next week.

After opening with the old standard "the state of the union is confident and strong," the president moved into an ambitious litany of economic plans. There were many crowd pleasers in rapid succession, including his call to cut the deficit in half in four years, increase Pell Grants to college students, develop hydrogen-fueled cars and rewrite the tax code (to make those 1040EZs a little more EZ.) There was especially loud applause when the president mentioned making health care more available and affordable, as only a few hours earlier a study published in the journal Health Affairs reported that medical expenses are responsible for half of all U.S. bankruptcies. But the convivial applause and obligatory ovations sputtered out when it came to the Social Security plan.

It is an old political maxim that Social Security is the "third rail" of American politics -- you know, that high voltage electrical rail that powers many subways -- you touch it, you die. Yet the president dedicated a large portion of his speech to derailing that argument. He said that younger taxpayers should be able to put a portion of their Social Security taxes into private accounts because the current system would be bankrupt by the time the MTV generation retires. But many dissenters in the crowd (who apparently disagreed with his math) let out audible hisses and boos -- something generally reserved for the House of Lords in London but never heard in pious Washington.

The president continued in a humble manner (knowing that there are not enough votes in Congress to pass these reforms), explaining that there were still many ideas on the table and inviting Congress and the nation to join in solving the issue. "I know that none of these reforms would be easy," he said. "But we must move ahead with courage and honesty, because our children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics."

After laying out plans for shoring up the economy and tiptoeing through Social Security reform, the president moved into "pass[ing] along the values that sustain a free society." Here he said that he would continue to push for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman because "marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society." The president also broached the issue of stem-cell research, though not by name, and gave a nod to Christopher Reeve's widow, who was in the hall. "We must strive to build a culture of life. Medical research can help us reach that goal," he said, adding, "we must also ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives for the benefit of others."

The surprise announcement of the night was when the president said that first lady Laura Bush would be heading up a new program which will help to keep young urban men out of gangs and show them "an ideal of manhood that respects women and rejects violence."

Finally, the president turned to Iraq and foreign affairs. He retraced many of the arguments made in his inaugural address two weeks earlier (see [article id="1496079"]"President Bush Stresses Power Of Freedom At Inauguration"[/article]) saying that "the only force powerful enough to stop the rise of tyranny and terror, and replace hatred with hope, is the force of human freedom." He said that we were moving into a new phase in Iraq, one in which our primary objective would be to train Iraqi security forces. "Iraqis must be able to defend their own country -- and we will help that proud, new nation secure its liberty," he said. He stopped short of a commitment to bring troops home from Iraq. "We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe they can wait us out."

Shortly following Bush's speech, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi offered Democratic rebuttals. Senator Reid, who spoke in plain and sometimes religious tones, talked about the president's domestic proposals, chiefly Social Security reform. "Democrats are all for giving Americans more of a say and more choices when it comes to their retirement savings," he said. "But that doesn't mean taking Social Security's guarantee and gambling with it."

Pelosi took issue with the president's plan in Iraq. She said that Democrats would be pushing the president to transfer security responsibility to Iraqis as soon as possible, accelerate Iraq's economic development and intensify regional diplomacy to "lessen the political problems in Iraq, take pressure off of our troops and deprive the insurgency of the fuel of anti-Americanism on which it thrives." "If these three steps are taken," she said, "the next elections in Iraq -- scheduled for December -- can be held in a more secure atmosphere, with broader participation and a much smaller American presence."