President Bush took an optimistic tone Tuesday night in a wide-ranging State of the Union address that touched on a myriad of topics, including America's war on terrorism and economic recovery.
Although he did not mention Osama bin Laden by name and only spoke of al Qaeda once, Bush made reference to a \terrorist underworld"" and cited a series of regimes including North Korea, Iran and Iraq and said he believes the United States must deal with in order to be victorious in the war on terror.
""The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons,"" he said.
While he spoke of the tragic events of Sept. 11 and mourned the loss of life, Bush focused on how far the country has come in the last four months and the need to look ahead.
He also addressed military expenses, noting that the war in Afghanistan has cost more than $30 million per day, but emphasizing that in order to succeed, more money would need to be invested, perhaps most notably by giving the military another pay raise.
""My budget includes the largest increase in defense spending in two decades,"" he said. ""Because while the prices of freedom and security is high, it is never too high'whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay it.""
As part of his budget proposal, Bush also defended doubling funding for homeland security, where he said he would focus on combating bioterrorism, emergency response, airport and border security and improved intelligence.
While Bush acknowledged the current economic recession, he implored Congress to take an active position to defeat it.
""Our budget will run a deficit that will be small and short term so long as Congress restrains spending and acts in a fiscally responsible way,"" he said.
The President also praised his tax relief plan of last year and called on Congress to make tax cuts more permanent.
""The way out of this recession, the way to create jobs, is to grow the economy by encouraging investment in factories and equipment, and by speeding up tax relief so people have more money to spend.
Kevin Price, a UW-Madison political science graduate student, said Bush seemed almost disinterested in specifically addressing issues of homeland security, choosing rather to focus on national security.
""He just didn't have quite the same mission in his eye,"" he said.
UW-Madison Communications Arts Professor Stephen Lucas said the President's mention of countries like North Korea, Iran, and Iraq suggest their potential as locations for future U.S. military action.
Bush's speech also focused on the broader picture rather than reciting a list of specific policy initiatives, according to UW-Madison political science Professor William Howell.
""Where his father would talk about the vision, he was trying to provide it,"" he said.
Howell also said he was struck by how much more presidential Bush looks now than he did at the beginning of his term.
""What a difference a year makes,"" he said.
Lucas, an expert on State of the Union addresses, said only time will tell what kind of long-term impact Tuesday's speech will have on the nation.
""Future events might lead people to view this speech as really significant with respect to the future American action against terrorism, but part of it will depend on what happens,"" he said.
After Bush's speech, U.S. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt delivered a response, where he emphasized the bipartisan work that has and would he said continue to go into winning the war on terrorism.
""Make no mistake about it, we're going to hunt you down and make you pay,"" he said, referring to terrorists worldwide.
