Here's what I got out of Bush's State of the Union Address:

The economy is growing strong, and millions of jobs were added in 2004. Tax cuts should be made permanent. The tax code should be examined and reformed.

Spending will still increase but not by nearly as much as it did during the last four years. Congress will have to find another way to buy votes this year.

Education spending will increase dramatically, so how about using that.

By the way, the deficit won't be cut in half until 2009, when it's some other President's problem.

Junk lawsuits should be curbed, but not through tort reform or any way that would piss off the trial lawyers.

We must make health care "affordable", with tax give-aways and social programs for the poor.

"Clear skies legislation" will rely more on nucular power and renewable resources to cut foreign oil dependence. The U.S. should rely more on hyrdogen power, which will be manufactured using electricity generated by power plants way on the other side of town, polluting someone else's neighborhood.

Illegal immigration will be addressed with an amnesty program that's not called amnesty.

Social security is headed toward bankruptcy. Those 55 and older will still get their checks. Younger workers are screwed. In 2018, the system goes into the red. In 2027, the government will have to print money on toilet paper just to keep up. By 2042, if we haven't been killed off by global warming, benefits will be paid with Powerball tickets.

If gays are allowed to marry, the fabric of society will break down and it'll be "Planet of the Apes" from there on out. Practice it at home: "Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape."

Every judicial nominee deserves to have every vote counted and we should count every vote.

Laura Bush is going back to work to take on gang violence. Her secret service detail tendered their resignation.

The war on terror will continue so that future generations will be "protected by peace" and have "freedom from fear".

Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan is working out pretty well. Syrians and Iranians might look good with those blue fingers too.

Some elements of the speech pleased me, but others raised genuine concern. Perhaps what concerned me the most is that several Senators and Congressmen actually booed when he was talking about letting people plan for their own retirement. Social Security reform is a big issue for me. I'm tired of throwing away 15% of my income.

Most of my criticisms about Bush concern his inability to control spending. Over the past 4 years, the door to the federal treasury has been wide open, with W. handing out wheelbarrows. Bush claimed that spending would be held to a level less than the rate of inflation. I'll believe that when I see it. Whats more, why not hold spending flat or (gasp) actually cut spending.

I also hope that his traditional marriage amendment was just political rhetoric. I will never be convinced that married people are somehow harmed by allowing gays to marry each other.

I watched a little bit of the Democrats response. Harry Reid starting talking about the National Debt as the "birth tax" and outsourcing as a some sort of boondoggle. He claimed that tax cuts were the wrong way to go and that the American economy could only be stimulated building infrastructure. That echos the American Jobs Plan that was floated months ago which wanted to put unemployed tech workers out there building roads. The economy really sucks, but Social Security is just fine and will be for years. No crisis. Nothing to see here.

The rest was just scare tactics and rhetoric. Senator Reid claimed that Bush would take away the "guaranteed benefit" of Social Security. Which is an outright lie considering there is no guarantee. He droned on and on about tax cuts for the wealthy, paying back corporate cronies, and killing babies for Halliburton.

Then Nancy Pelosi came on and somehow gave her rebuttal without blinking or moving her lips. After a few minutes, I got freaked out and changed the channel.