[8:43pm] C-SPAN is now showing Nancy Pelosi calling the House to order to a very loud applause.

[8:44pm] The Vice-President and the Senate have just entered the House chamber.

[8:59pm] The House and Senate Escort Committees have been appointed by Pelosi and Cheney. I think we are about to get rolling.

[9:01pm] The First Lady has just taken her seat.

[9:02pm] The members of the Supreme Court and the Cabinet have taken their seats. Only four Justices are attending (Roberts, Souter, Ginsburg and Kennedy). Alberto Gonzales is the member of the Cabinet who ceremoniously not attending.

[9:08pm] Drudge now has the full text of tonight's address.

[9:09pm] The President has just been announced.

[9:12pm] Applause...I'm surprised it's lasted this long.

[9:13pm] Bush is congratulating Pelosi and playing up her being the first female Speaker.

[9:14pm] Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA) get a standing ovation. Both members are currently fight serious health issues and have not participated in Congress thus far this session.

[9:16pm] Bush is playing up the economy: "We are now in the 41st month of uninterrupted job growth – in a recovery that has created 7.2 million new jobs ... so far. Unemployment is low, inflation is low, and wages are rising. This economy is on the move – and our job is to keep it that way, not with more government but with more enterprise."

[9:18pm] "We must balance the federal budget...We can do so without raising taxes." Less talk, more action!

[9:19pm] Hitting on earmarks: These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour – when not even C-SPAN is watching. In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate – they are dropped into Committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You did not vote them into law. I did not sign them into law. Yet they are treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end this practice. So let us work together to reform the budget process ... expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress … and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session."

[9:20pm] Hitting on the Social Security crisis..."With enough good sense...we can save Social Security."

[9:22pm] Bush is calling for Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind.

[9:25pm] He's now laying out his healthcare proposals: "Changing the tax code is a vital and necessary step to making healthcare affordable for more Americans."

[9:26pm] My favorite part thus far: "And in all we do, we must remember that the best healthcare decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors."

[9:27pm] He's still pushing the guest worker program, but I'm surprised there wasn't any dissent among Republicans.

[9:29pm] No amnesty.

[9:30pm] Bush is pushing more energy initiatives and urging Americans to "reduce gasoline usage by 20% in the next ten years."

[9:32pm] I'm feeling the global warming bullsh*t coming on.

[9:33pm] There it is...standing ovation. The debate isn't over, folks.

[9:34pm] Calling on the Senate to confirm judicial nominees.

[9:35pm] Bush is talking about the terrorist attacks that have been stopped: "We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast. We broke up a Southeast Asian terrorist cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States. We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America. And just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean. For each life saved, we owe a debt of gratitude to the brave public servants who devote their lives to finding the terrorists and stopping them."

[9:37pm] Farris is drunk.

[9:37pm] Rugby_fan nails it on NCLB over at Peach Pundit, where he is live-blogging: "NCLB is a “good law” it has “helped our children”. If only either were true..."

[9:39pm] Bush on terrorism: " In the sixth year since our Nation was attacked, I wish I could report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not. And so it remains the policy of this government to use every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty, to find these enemies, and to protect the American people."

[9:42pm] I still don't buy into the "they hate our freedom" rhetoric.

[9:44pm] "So let us find our resolve, and turn events toward victory." A standing ovation from Republicans that started slowly working its way around to the Democrats.

[9:45pm] He is calling on the Iraqi government to "stop the sectarian violence in its capitol."

[9:48pm] The great and wonderful Ashley Petty Collins has made an appearance in the comments.

[9:50pm] "Support our troops in the field and those on their way." Gets a standing ovation. I'm glad to see that.

[9:51pm] An "advisory council" for the war on terror?

[9:52pm] "Tonight I ask the Congress to authorize an increase in the size of our active Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 in the next five years."

[9:52pm] A "volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps" beats Charlie Rangel's proposal of a universal military service. But out military was supposed to be volunteer as well.

[9:54pm] I'm staying away from anything having to do with Iran.

[9:56pm] Here comes the ultra altruistic rhetoric. "We need to fund this...support that...to show the how charitable we are." Let the citizen do that without government interference. If we weren't taxed to hell, we could be so much more charitable.

[9:56pm] Dikembe Mutombo, former center for the Atlanta Hawks, is being recognized for his charitable efforts. He is sitting right next to Laura Bush.

[10:00pm] Someone tell Instapundit that I'm live-blogging this too!!!

[10:01pm] Bush is taking some time out to recognized individuals who are heroes.

[10:02pm] The SOTU address is done, time to turn it to the news and catch the spin.

[10:04pm] Best line of the evening..."Is Hillary wearing pink so that people will think she's a female?" Haha.

[10:05pm] The only part of the speech that I was in agreement with were keeping government out of healthcare and a couple of the healthcare initiatives that the Cato Institute wrote earlier today.

[10:08pm] I get a kick out of watching the President sign autographs and carry on random conversations with members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. It shows a different side to these people...its a bit refreshing.

[10:11pm] CNN has some reaction from politicians.

[10:13pm] I'm getting off the laptop and heading over to the desktop.

[10:13pm] Bill Kristol says, "I thought the foreign policy part of Bush's speech was pretty good." He would...damn neo-con.

[10:16pm] Senator Jim Webb is giving the Democrats response. He's really playing up the "two Americas" and "distribution of wealth" rhetoric.

[10:19pm] Bob Barr has released a statement on the SOTU: "In the spirit of bi-partisanship called on tonight by President Bush, I urge this administration to work with Congress to provide real oversight to the NSA wiretapping program. A congressional review of the programs must take place in order to ensure Americans constitutional rights are not violated. Also, I encourage the administration to share with Congress the documents of new order to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Congress and the American people deserve to know the facts, not more rhetoric and empty promises."

[10:24pm] Webb delivered his speech well, even though I disagree with much of the rhetoric.

[10:26pm] Guiliani is talking on Fox News about the speech. He said he liked the healthcare proposals and used the phrase "socialist medicine" when referring to single payer healthcare, or as I like to call it...the Great Government Death Trap.

[10:31pm] Jim Wooten gives his reaction over at the AJC.

[10:36pm] Here is a list of the policy initiatives that were laid out tonight. I can't help but look at it and think..."so much for a balanced budget." Stop the spending!!!

[10:37pm] Libertarian Party Presidential candidate Steve Kubby has posted a response to the SOTU on his campaign website. Nothing on George Phillies site at this point.

[10:45pm] Alright, I'm done on this thread. Feel free to comment.