UPDATED: SOTU Open Thread
Welcome Instapundit readers. Exclusive discussion with Congressman Phil Gingrey included.
George W. Bush will give his final State of the Union address this evening. Politico gives us an idea of what to expect:
More than most, this State of the Union address has its changing dynamics, not only because it is the last of the Bush presidency but also because the nation faces such historic uncertainty: wars overseas, falling financial markets and no clear champion yet in either political party to take the helm when Bush leaves.The "economic stimulus" package will be in the speech as well. As Politico notes, Bush will single out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner for their work in getting both sides to agree to the deal.
[...]
White House aides caution that Bush will temper his own legislative ambitions this evening and the speech will instead be laced with examples of where the president can act administratively to boost his goals.No Child Left Behind, up for review this year, remains a legislative priority, for example, but Bush will also announce new education initiatives, such as one targeted to high school dropouts, that can be implemented by his order alone.
[...]
The core Bush agenda will be evident in the president’s remarks, described as about evenly devoted to foreign and domestic policy.The administration has a pending request for $108 billion more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the larger war against terror, and faced with a Feb. 1 deadline, Bush will also demand a quick end to debate on legislation authorizing warrantless eavesdropping to fight terrorism.
Here are the links to previous SOTU addresses by Bush (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007). You can also view the text from Bush's address to a Joint Session of Congress on September 20, 2001 here.
And if you are interested, you can view the text of State of the Union addresses dating back to George Washington here (hat tip to Andy @ the Club for Growth for that link).
I live-blogged the speech last year, but I doubt I'll do it this year [I lied, live-blogging begins around 8:30pm].
[5:34pm] According to Junk Science, Bush may endorse cap-and-trade legislation during tonight's address, which is essentially caving into alarmists on global warming.
[6:06pm] Here is a preview of the speech from The Corner. A few things that caught my eye were where, Bush takes a shot at populism by urging Congress to pass a trade agreement with Columbia. Challenges members of Congress to present their plans to reform entitlements and he says that earmarks undermine trust in government.
[6:12pm] Bush will also take a strong stance on Iran this evening: "America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies, and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf."
[6:13pm] Here is a list of guests for this evening.
[8:47pm] Drudge has the full text of the speech.
[8:53pm] Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the Joint Session of Congress to order and assembling the Esco