Dem Lawmakers Pan President's Speech
BY JOHN TOSCANO

In a statement, United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton declared, "The president fell far short of the vision and solutions needed to meet the challenge and move our country forward."

New York- based Democrats, as expected, found fault with virtually everything President George W. Bush said in his State of the Union speech last week, from failing to embrace their plan for a phased-withdrawal from Iraq to omitting any mention of new funding for his education program to sticking it to New York in a proposal to provide more people with health insurance.

A telephone call-in town hall meeting on the president's address held by Congressmember Anthony Weiner was dominated by questions on the Iraq war.

Weiner's responses reflected the Democrats' established positions.

In a statement, United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton declared, "The president fell far short of the vision and solutions needed to meet the challenge and move our country forward."

Clinton's only reference to the Iraq war was that in both Iraq and Afghanistan, "We face tremendous challenges and continuing threats to our national and homeland security."

Congressmember Joseph Crowley (D- Queens/The Bronx) complained that the president "wasted this opportunity... and again insisted on his failed policy of staying the course in Iraq".

Like Weiner, Clinton was struck by the fact that for the first time, Bush, in the 2007 State of the Union address acknowledged a global warming problem.

Congressmember Joseph Crowley (D- Queens/The Bronx) complained that the president "wasted this opportunity... and again insisted on his failed policy of staying the course in Iraq".

Crowley also panned the president's plan for a tax hike on Americans with health insurance coverage through their employers, calling it "a non-starter".

This plan also brought heavy criticism from Senator Charles Schumer, who said it "puts a dagger in the heart of our public hospital system". He and others said the proposal would eliminate $350 million from the hospitals and reduce the city's ability to provide quality, affordable health care.

The president's proposal, they said, would cap the federal government's Medicaid payments to the 11 city hospitals and divert millions of dollars from Medicaid funding.

Weiner acknowledged that the president did deceive Congress and carried out illegal wire taps, but the lawmaker didn't think these alleged transgressions reached the level that would sustain an impeachment trial.

Joining in this blast at the proposal were Congressmembers Charles Rangel and Carolyn Maloney, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

Questions called in to Weiner were predominantly about the war with a decidedly anti-Bush tone, with one raising the possibilities of impeachment.

"Should we impeach the president?" the caller asked. "There's very little talk about it, but the country has been damaged in so many ways. When will it happen?"

Weiner acknowledged that the president did deceive Congress and carried out illegal wire taps, but the lawmaker didn't think these alleged transgressions reached the level that would sustain an impeachment trial.

Another interesting question was, "If we pulled out of Iraq, what would happen in New York City- again?"

Weiner replied that one of the president's reasons for going into Iraq was that the war would be part of the fight against terror.

But, Weiner explained, there hadn't been a connection made between the two and the president was misleading the country. Weiner felt that the United States would be better off just dealing with the terror threat on American soil and ending the war.

The only question which sounded pro-Bush came from a woman who identified herself as a World War II veteran and asked, "How do you feel? I don't see any feeling of patriotism in this war. How come?"

Weiner responded that he didn't see "leaving our troops in such danger" as patriotic. "They've done a remarkable job, but now it's our obligation to bring them home and get them out of harm's way," he said.