Think Progress' TRUE State Of The Union (Excellent Point-By-Point Fact Check on SOTU Address)

We’ll start respecting White House embargoes when they start telling the truth. Here is President Bush’s FINAL State of the Union address:

EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY January 28, 2008

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

As Prepared for Delivery

Madam Speaker, Vice President Cheney, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Bush said: “While the enemy is still dangerous and more work remains, the American and Iraqi surges have achieved results few of us could have imagined just 1 year ago.”

FACT — VIOLENCE IS DOWN, BUT TROOPS ARE STILL DYING IN IRAQ: A roadside bomb killed five American soldiers today in Mosul, taking to “36 the number of soldiers killed in Iraq this month, up from 23 in December.” - Reuters, 1/28/08

FACT — IRAQI GOVERNMENT HAS ONLY FULLY MET 3 OF 18 POLITICAL BENCHMARKS.:The purpose of the surge was to provide the “breathing space” for political reconciliation to occur. But the Iraqi government has only met three of the 18 benchmarks laid out last year. - Center for American Progress, 1/24/08

FACT — DE-BAATHIFICATION IS NOT TRUE POLITICAL RECONCILIATION: The de-Baathification law “could actually exclude more former Baathists than it lets back in,” and the “law could set off a new purge of ex-Baathists.” Barely 150 members of the 275-seat parliament attended the session. - NY Times, 1/14/08; Washington Post, 1/22/08; LA Times, 1/13/08

FACT — VIOLENCE MAY INCREASE IF SADR REVOKES CEASE FIRE: “Influential members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement have urged the anti-U.S. Shiite cleric not to extend a cease-fire when it expires next month, officials said Monday, a move that could jeopardize recent security gains.” - AP, 1/28/08

Bush said: “Thanks to the courage of these military and civilian personnel, a nation that was once a safe haven for al Qaida is now a young democracy where boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope.”

FACT — AL QAEDA POSING ‘FRESH THREATS’ IN PAKISTAN: In Pakistan, a “regenerating al-Qaida is posing fresh threats.” “There is growing recognition that the United States risks further setbacks, if not deepening conflict or even defeat, in Afghanistan, and that success in that country hinges on stopping Pakistan from descending into disorder.” - AP, 1/28/08

FACT — TALIBAN CONTROLS OVER HALF OF AFGHANISTAN: The conflict in Afghanistan has reached “crisis proportions,” as the Taliban controls 54 percent of the country as of November. “Senior White House officials privately express pessimism about Afghanistan.” - Reuters, 11/21/07; Washington Post, 11/25/07

Bush said: “American troops are shifting from leading operations, to partnering with Iraqi forces, and, eventually, to a protective overwatch mission.”

FACT — IRAQIS ANTICIPATE TAKING CONTROL OF SECURITY BY 2018:
Iraqi defense minister Abdul Qadir “that his nation would not be able to take full responsibility for its internal security until 2012, nor be able on its own to defend Iraq’s borders from external threat until at least 2018.” - New York Times, 1/15/08

Bush said: “In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth.”

FACT — NUMBER OF AMERICANS LIVING IN POVERTY HAS INCREASED: In 2006, the latest year for which Census Bureau figures are available, 12.3 percent of Americans were living in poverty, compared with 11.7 percent in 2001, the year of the last recession. 36.5 million people were in poverty - Reuters, 1/23/08, Census

FACT — HOURLY AND WEEKLY WAGES FELL IN 2007: Both hourly and weekly earnings fell in 2007, a sharp reversal from the gains in 2006. After growing by about 2% in 2006, both hourly and weekly earnings fell, after adjusting for inflation, by about 1% last year. - EPI, 1/16/08

FACT — NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED IS RISING: Between December 2006 and December 2007, the national unemployment rate increased by 13.6 percent in seasonally adjusted terms, from 4.4 to 5.0 percent. The number of unemployed civilians in the United States increased by 13.2 percent between December 2006 and December 2007. - BLS

Bush said: “The Congress must also expand health savings accounts.”

FACT — HSAs MAY INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNINSURED: “While 3.8 million previously uninsured people would gain health coverage through HSAs as a result of the Administration’s proposals, 4.4 million people would become uninsured because their employers would respond to the new tax breaks by dropping coverage and they would not secure coverage on their own. The net effect would be to increase the number of uninsured Americans by 600,000 despite spending more than $10 billion annually.” - CBPP, 4/5/06

FACT — HSAs DO NOT OFFER MEANINGFUL SAVINGS FOR AMERICANS: “Low- and middle-income uninsured people will gain meager or no tax savings” from health savings accounts, according to a Commonwealth Fund study. Roughly 50 percent of uninsured adults pay no federal income taxes, meaning that “tax incentives for high-deductible health plans would have little impact on uninsured adults.” - Commonwealth Fund, 4/05