Students react to State of the Union address

President Bush spoke to the nation Tuesday night in his annual State of the Union Address, discussing issues of economy, Social Security, education, immigration and the environment.\nDavid White, chairman of IU College Republicans and a first-year law student, said Bush made "a productive speech towards what can effect change in America."\n"Here we have the president with an approach to try and make a change and have a productive year," White said.\nJunior Amanda Jenkins, president of the IU College Democrats, said she felt Bush's speech was safe.\n"It was a very safe speech," Jenkins said. "He couldn't be as right-winged as he liked. He was really trying to stay in the middle. I felt it was one of his better speeches."\nWhite said that nothing from Bush's speech was surprising and that it was the same agenda as years past.\nIn his speech, Bush said unemployment is low, but wages are rising. He said the way to continue to achieve employment goals is to balance the federal budget. \n"We can do so without raising taxes," Bush said.\nBush also proposed a plan to eliminate the federal deficit within the next five years.\n"I think it's good news for IU students to know that the market is increasing and it's strong," White said. "I think both parties can get behind that goal." \nBush then spoke on the topic of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, mentioning that the government was failing in its duty of keeping the programs "permanently sound."\nJenkins agreed with White, saying she felt bipartisanship was the answer to the debate over the programs.\n"As far as health care goes, the Democrats want to pay for the expensive health care and Republicans are asking why is it so expensive," White said. "(Republicans) want to find the causes of the expense."\nBush asked Congress to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, proposing that children who are doing well but are in bad schools should have the choice of choosing better schools to attend.\n"I think that act needs to be reformed so that schools can perform better and continue to strive and provide better education," Jenkins said. "We need to focus on some of the poorer schools, and not so much into the richer schools, to allow reform to happen successfully."\nBush proposed a temporary-worker program for illegal immigrants so overworked border-patrol agents could focus on drug smugglers and other issues.\n"The problem is too many see it as amnesty, and it's not," White said. "It brings them into our tax base and brings them into a legal status."\nWhen the environment was brought up, Bush said the United States' dependence on foreign oil makes the nation vulnerable to terrorists. He said he wants the U.S. to adopt electric power, use solar energy and use "clean, safe nuclear power." He also proposed battery-powered vehicles.\n"What people don't know about Bush is that his ranch has solar power and he recycles his own water," White said. "If he wasn't in the limelight and a Republican, it would be a different story. He really is an environmentalist."\nJenkins, however, felt that the Democrats would be the ones to actually enact this plan.\n"He's been calling for this for seven years now to not rely on foreign oil," Jenkins said. "But I feel the Democrats in Congress with push this through"