Word: speech
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...would not like his courageous proposals, even as he artfully wooed legislators to ensure a warm reception. By the time the new President made his triumphal entrance into the House chamber, beaming and backslapping like a joyful alum at a Yale reunion, the stage was set for the programmatic speech that would boldly launch the Bush Administration...
...those inflated standards, Bush fell far short -- and for want of a coherent message, an important opportunity was lost. Unlike the Inaugural Address, the speech contained no inspirational phrases, no soaring metaphors, just commonplace sentiments about how "we must take a strong America and make it even better." This failure of rhetoric can be excused, for as the President said, now "it's time to govern." But governance requires agonizing choices, and Bush, like his mentor Ronald Reagan, stoutly declined to confront them publicly. The President's program, as he defined it, is all gain and no pain, with scant...
Only one specific proposal in the Bush speech inspired a fusillade of partisan attacks: the President's efforts to redeem his campaign pledge to slash the tax rate on capital gains from 33% to 15%. Like Dukakis in last year's campaign, congressional Democrats lambaste the idea as an affront to fairness. "I'm not going to tell the wage earners in Chicago that they should pay a higher tax rate than stockbrokers," thunders House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski. There is evidence to support this equity argument: currently, 70% of all capital gains are claimed by taxpayers...
Behind the smiles and sweeping promises of last week's speech lurks a calculated, if short-term, political strategy. The President and his team believe they can maintain the illusion of a "new breeze" with minor recalibrations of priorities and finances as long as Bush continues to talk a good game with both the voters and Congress...
...budget speech on Thursday night, Bush called on Congress to approve his proposal within 45 days. "We must not let this situation fester," he said. "Any plan to refinance the system must be accompanied by major reform." For the most part, his proposal found bipartisan support. Said Iowa Republican Jim Leach, a member of the House Banking Committee: "In his first inning, Bush has stepped up and hit a home run." Another member of the committee, New York Democrat Charles Schumer, said that Bush deserves "a heck of a lot of credit for bellying up to the bar and putting...