The State of My Union

President Bush gave the state of the union recently. I decided to examine the state of our union. The most immediate union that I can impact, mine with Elizabeth, is in fine shape. Trust me, I just asked her. I tend to think that many of these speeches seem irrelevant. I will attempt to show relevance in the issues President Bush spoke about.

In doing this piece I drew on numerous websites, but mostly www.drummajorinstitute.org.

As Sunday drew to a close I spent time with my daughter, Cassie, on my lap. We were looking at Noggin and NickJr, playing games and watching videos from Dora the Explorer, and Diego. These programs are supposed to help with cognitive development. Thankfully, it appears that Cassie’s cognitive development is fine if not above average. Now I mention this because I enrolled us in the Florida Prepaid College Plan. This allows me to purchase 4 years of state university tuition, dorm, and fees at today’s prices for Cassie. Considering that college tuition costs have gone up about 35% in the last 5 years, I can only imagine how much those costs will be in 2021. But it does not appear that President Bush considers this a worry for most Americans.

While college costs do not appear to worry him, President Bush did cover his plan for tax breaks to help Americans purchase health insurance. I am remarkably blessed to have a good job with full benefits. My whole family is fully covered. Unfortunately, according to the census bureau there are 6.8 million more Americans without health insurance than in 2000. Now, let me see if I have this straight. If I can’t afford health insurance you are going to give me a tax incentive to purchase something I can’t afford. This is why President Bush and his wise men have been steering this country on such a wonderful course the last six years, and I am but a simple schoolteacher. It is sage logic like these tax breaks that are symbolic of the legacy this man will leave.

I work with a student population that is reliant on free lunches, and breakfasts. We have family living in a city still trying to recover from the country’s worst natural disaster in recent memory. There was not any significant mention of the recovery efforts. President Bush is focusing on a plan to benefit those that are in the wealthiest suburbs, and the wealthiest regions. Apparently, I misunderstood the definition of compassionate. A compassionate conservative is apparently someone who looks out for himself, and his kind. As soon as I finish this blog I intend to look up selfish, and incompetent.

This is the first part of a series… More later.