Minnesota groups pan ‘State of the Union’ speech

Leaders of three Minnesota organizations say President Bush?s proposals in his ?State of the Union? speech fall far short of what is needed to address the country?s problems.

In his annual speech, delivered Tuesday evening, Bush said the nation’s economy is getting stronger, and the United States is successfully countering terrorism. He called for a job-training program for released prisoners and testing public school students for drugs.

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Minh Ta, spokesman for the Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota; Michael Noble, executive director of Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Kris Jacobs, executive director of the JOBS NOW Coalition of Minnesota, weren?t buying the message.

?It’s another set of broken promises for Minnesota’s kids and families,? said Minh. ?Even in the president’s own, landmark, so-called ‘No Child Left Behind’ legislation, he de-funds it in his budget by close to $7 billion, leaving millions of Minnesota and American kids behind.

?Under his watch, more families have lost health insurance, more families have lost jobs, and more kids have been left behind in school.?

Noble said he was disappointed Bush didn’t focus more on conservation and the environment. He says the president could have rallied the nation with a call to make the nation less vulnerable to foreign oil.

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?We need an effort comparable to the moon shot to develop our native energy resources, our home-grown resources of energy efficiency and renewable energy,? Noble said. ?This will protect our environment, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and revitalize our rural economies.?

Jacobs said the top domestic issue is employment, and over 2 million jobs have been lost under the president’s ?watch.?

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?The problem is that jobs are not being created through tax cuts. And wages are tanking,? she said. ?And we need to involve the workforce in sharing the so-called rewards of economic recovery. We need to see the minimum wage go up. We need to know that we have a plan to deal with the fact that most of the jobs that are being created are not family-supporting wage jobs.?

For more information
Visit the organizations? websites, The JOBS NOW Coalition, www.jobsnowcoalition.org
Children?s Defense Fund, www.cdf-mn.org
Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy, www.me3.org

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