Aside from a genuine and heartfelt shout-out to the first female Speaker of the House Nancy… Aside from a genuine and heartfelt shout-out to the first female Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and a slew of American heroes, President Bush offered little more than a list of empty, desperate promises in his sixth State of the Union address last night.

First on the president’s agenda was the economy, with an ambitious promise to completely eliminate the national deficit in the next five years. While we applaud the president’s efforts to begin to eliminate the huge deficit he has created – the largest in the history of our country – we are holding him accountable for his promise. This proposal will likely carry over into the next presidency, and it is the duty of our current administration to take the first steps toward sorting out the financial mess it has created.

On the issue of education, Bush offered nothing new. He praised the alleged achievements of the No Child Left Behind Act, promising that by giving the children of America a more solid foundation in math and science skills, they will be prepared to compete with citizens of other countries for jobs in the future. But, what the president doesn’t – and may never fundamentally – realize is that by teaching to the tests, we are lowering standards. Instead of teaching to the individual strengths of students, we ask for a uniform knowledge of basic math and reading skills, which will never put American students at a global advantage.

In what may have been a response to the large, states-wide move to address the health care crisis, Bush offered his own solution, suggesting that by changing the tax code, health insurance would be more affordable for Americans who currently pay for their own insurance.

These suggestions are ambitious, and may be difficult to pass in a Democrat-led Congress, but it is nice to know that the president is finally attempting to tackle one of our largest domestic burdens.

For the sixth time in a State of the Union address, Bush acknowledged the importance of decreasing American dependence on foreign energy sources in his speech – this time proposing an initiative to conserve up to 8.5 billion gallons of gasoline in the next 10 years. We are uncertain whether Bush will follow through on this suggestion, since during his presidency, he has promised us time and time again to support alternative fuels, but has done little to make any changes, even with a Republican-led congress.

And of course, it wouldn’t have been a Bush State of the Union address without a mention of the War on Terror. If the president had any regrets or apologies concerning Iraq, they were craftily avoided last night. Instead, he resorted back to the tried and true method of scare tactics: painting a vision of the evil terrorist victory – chock full “of roaming Iraqi death squads” – that would be achieved if the United States pulls away from its commitment to Iraq.

The president also mentioned the need to address global suffering, including the genocide in Darfur. Again, while it is nice that he mentioned this, it is imperative that he acts on this promise.

After the sweeping Democratic victories last fall, it felt like, for the first time in a long time, change was in the air in Washington. But with a speech that offered little more than the usual, we are worried that the next year of Bush’s presidency will offer little more than the same, and that is not a good thing.