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The Domestic Agenda
On Education and Health, Costly Plans Face Hurdles
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
By ROBIN TONER, DIANA JEAN SCHEMO and ROBERT PEAR
Published: February 1, 2006
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 — Like most State of the Union addresses, President Bush's speech on Tuesday night offered several domestic policy proposals. And if the past is any guide, some will become reality, while others will not.
Mr. Bush all but acknowledged (the Social Security) defeat on Tuesday night, and proposed what many Democrats had insisted was the only way to deal with the long-term financial problems of Social Security and Medicare: a bipartisan commission.
...With federal spending now tightly constrained, some of the plans Mr. Bush presented on Tuesday could prove difficult to enact despite broad support.
...Mr. Bush said his 2007 budget, to be submitted to Congress next week, would "reduce or eliminate more than 140 programs that are performing poorly or not fulfilling essential priorities."
Gardiner Harris and Rachel L. Swarns contributed reporting for this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/politics/01programs.html?_r=4&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
The article also discusses the following proposals made in the SOTU, and some of their plusses and minuses (read article for full discussion):
* New measures to improve the teaching of math and science, train workers, aid universities and increase federal support for research and development (his aproposal offers less money than was recommended by National Academy of Sciences and other experts)
* Increases in federal spending on basic research grants in the physical sciences and increasing the number of high school teachers who offer especially rigorous courses in math and science with a call for 30,000 math and science professionals to take jobs as teachers (again, much lower funding proposed in Bush plan than recommended by National Academy of Sciences and other experts)
* Proposed incentives to encourage the use of health savings accounts as an alternative to traditional insurance. (A particularly controversial proposal, as they disproportionately favor the rich and don't help low-income people)
* A call for an increase on the annual limits on contributions to health savings accounts, with a related proposals to allow employers to contribute extra money to the health savings accounts of employees who have chronic illnesses, and refundable tax credits for low-income families to set up HSAs.
* A revival of a proposal for small businesses to band together to buy health insurance through "association health plans" (this has much opposition)
* A call for wider use of electronic records and other health information technology
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