It is not true, as Democrats have been insisting, that President Bush has no domestic policy.
While Bush's accomplishments in foreign affairs have been well-dwelled upon, it's been so long since Bush has given a decent speech about the nation that it's hard to remember what he thinks about this country and its future.He's promised to come out charging after his four-week vacation and spell out his policy, his dreams for the nation's future and his accomplishments to date.
This is a remembrance of Bush's inaugural speech made at the Capitol - "democracy's front porch" - on Jan. 20, 1989, and a look at what has happened to the promises he made.
"We live in a peaceful, prosperous time," he said, "but we can make it better."
Since then, however, the nation slipped into a recession that gobbled up jobs, closed the doors of small businesses and meant that nearly one-third of the nation's children are living below, at or near the poverty level.
"My friends, we have work to do," Bush said at his inauguration. "There are the homeless, lost and roaming. There are the children who have nothing, no love, no normalcy. There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction - drugs, welfare, demoralization that rules the slums.
"There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets. There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love. "
In lieu of abortion, which Bush abhors and has made more difficult for some young women to obtain, he has provided a $3,000 one-time tax credit for federal employees who adopt. He also requested more money for Head Start.
On crime, Bush has pushed a bill that would widen the death penalty to cover more cases of treason, drug crimes and espionage. He also wants courts to permit illegally seized evidence if police acted "in good faith" to obtain it.
He also now is said to be willing to agree to a five-day waiting period for handgun sales.
In his commitment to be the education president, Bush has proposed the "America 2000" plan, including a New American Schools Development Corp. to finance model schools with $535 million.
In his quest to promote voluntarism, Bush has been designating a daily "point of light" since he came into office to spotlight a loving soul who contributes to the welfare of others.
"We need a new engagement, too, between the Executive and the Congress," Bush said 21/2 years ago. "We must bring the federal budget into balance."
Bush and Congress have compromised to produce budget cuts, but the deficit this year is now projected to be a record $348 billion.
Bush vowed to invoke the statute of limitations on the national pain and divisiveness of the Vietnam War. He says he did that in the Persian Gulf war.
Bush said he yearned for a "greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other's attitudes and way of life."
Since then, Bush has put David Souter on the Supreme Court and nominated Clarence Thomas to join him.
Bush ended his inaugural speech this way: "Some see leadership as high drama and the sound of trumpets calling. And sometimes it is that. But I see history as a book with many pages - and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning."
With the arrival of September, the country will hear how he thinks he's filled the pages so far.