More for war, less for human needs

President George Bush used both sides of his mouth during his annual State of the Union address on Jan. 23.

On one side, he attempted to assure the ruling class that he had their best interests in mind. On the other, he offered paltry and contradictory promises of “security” to working people in the United States, all in generalities and hyper-patriotic, “us against them” terms. The speech was designed to appear like Bush was conceding to the mass opposition that has been reflected on the streets and in the November elections; however, nothing in the content of his speech indicates that.

What was most obvious was that, despite this posturing, Bush has every intention to continue the hugely unpopular, illegal, and horrific war against the Iraqi people, sending even more troops and spending even more money on the endeavor. In a tired refrain, Bush urged that “America must not fail in Iraq, because ... the consequences of failure would be grievous and far-reaching.”

The first issue in Bush’s address was balancing the federal budget, which he declared would be done “without raising taxes.” No doubt this means what it has meant in the past—that the filthy rich will continue receiving tax breaks while the rest of us have to pay for the war.

Incidentally, no mention was made during the 50-minute speech about the war budget. The next day, the chair of the House Budget Committee, Rep. John Spratt, announced that increasing costs for the Iraq war are likely to nullify improvements in the federal deficit that have been predicted by the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO claims that without increased war spending, the budget would reach a surplus by 2012, but only if Bush’s tax cuts—for the rich—are ended by the end of 2010. (Associated Press, Jan. 24)

As for the “war on terror,” Bush announced that “we must take the fight to the enemy.” This unveiled threat was directed at Iran, North Korea and Hezbollah, the leading group in Lebanon’s resistance movement. Bush declared the administration’s intention to “continue to speak out” against Cuba, when in reality the United States has imposed a blockade on the socialist country for the past 46 years and funded outright terrorist activities and organizations against it.

Progressives in the United States should also take serious note when an administration that has brought nothing but death, misery and suffering to the peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond says it wants to “save the people of Darfur.” He failed to mention Somalia, where it was acknowledged on Jan. 24 that U.S. Special Forces had just launched another attack.

Bush pushed for the strengthening of the No Child Left Behind Act, which has been criticized repeatedly by major teachers’ unions such as the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. NCLB focuses narrowly on standardized testing at the expense of critical thinking skills, hasn’t even been fully funded since its inception, and allows military recruiters access not only to educational facilities but to the contact information of every student who does not opt out.

The military recruiting aspect of NCLB fits in nicely with another of Bush’s goals: increasing the size of the military by 92,000 over five years.

With regard to health care, Bush acknowledged that “government has an obligation to care for the elderly, the disabled and poor children,” but added that “For all other Americans, private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs.” Yet it is precisely because the for-profit health care system is so inefficient and so expensive that 47 million people are now uninsured in this country. He has proposed a tax deduction for those who buy their own health insurance. It is doubtful that those who can’t afford health care now will find it any more affordable under the Bush plan.

In an ominous threat to immigrants, Bush announced the doubling of the size of the Border Patrol and the funding of “new infrastructure and technology,” saying that immigration laws would also be enforced at the work site—like the December military-style raids that occurred at the Swift and Co. meatpacking factories, which criminalized people based on skin color and separated children from their families. (Workers World, Dec. 21) Even as Bush was speaking, ICE was carrying out similar massive raids and deportations of undocumented workers in Southern California.

Bush urged a temporary worker program that would simply be a revisit of the Bracero Program, which stole money from immigrant workers through savings account deductions, and was ended after massive human rights abuses were documented.

For Katrina survivors, he had no words at all. Another glaring omission about the “state of the union” was the state of police terror and the prison system, in a country that incarcerates more prisoners than any other in the world, and where cases of police killings and brutality against people of color and the poor have made recent headlines around the world.

Bush was decidedly speaking to the ruling class with his opening words: “We must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies—and the wisdom to face them together.”

However, the struggle for the global working class is no less than this—to unite in the struggle on many fronts against a common, determined enemy: U.S. imperialism.

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