SOTU -- Sense of Deja Vu

My first reaction to the President's speech is that we didn't hear anything new, and we didn't get any real answers.-- SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD Huffington Post 1/31/06

We meet at a time when we face great problems at home and abroad that will test the strength of our fiber as a nation…

It was 5 years ago on the steps of this Capitol that I took the oath of office as your President. In those 5 years, because of the initiatives undertaken by this Administration, the world has changed. America has changed. As a result of those changes, America is safer today, more prosperous today, with greater opportunity for more of its people than ever before in our history…

…we have organized a massive national effort to protect the environment.
Overall, Americans are living more abundantly than ever before, today. More than 2 1/2 million new jobs were created in the past year alone….

Despite this record of achievement, as we turn to the year ahead we hear once again the familiar voice of the perennial prophets of gloom telling us now that because of the need to fight inflation, because of the energy shortage, America may be headed for a recession…

We will break the back of the energy crisis; we will lay the foundation for our future capacity to meet America's energy needs from America's own resources.
We will establish a new system that makes high-quality health care available to every American in a dignified manner and at a price he can afford.

We will make an historic beginning on the task of defining and protecting the right of personal privacy for every American.

As you know, we have committed ourselves to an active role in helping to achieve a just and durable peace in the Middle East…

I urge again that the energy measures that I have proposed be made the first priority of this session of the Congress. These measures will require the oil companies and other energy producers to provide the public with the necessary information on their supplies. They will prevent the injustice of windfall profits for a few as a result of the sacrifices of the millions of Americans. And they will give us the organization, the incentives, the authorities needed to deal with the short-term emergency and to move toward meeting our long-term needs….

the time is at hand this year to bring comprehensive, high quality health care within the reach of every American. I shall propose a sweeping new program that will assure comprehensive health insurance protection to millions of Americans who cannot now obtain it or afford it, with vastly improved protection against catastrophic illnesses. This will be a plan that maintains the high standards of quality in America's health care. And it will not require additional taxes….

I look forward again to working with this Congress in establishing a new set of standards that respect the legitimate needs of society, but that also recognize personal privacy as a cardinal principle of American liberty….

...we will be working with the other nations of the world toward agreement on means by which oil supplies can be assured at reasonable prices on a stable basis in a fair way to the consuming and producing nations alike….

We cannot afford to neglect progress at home while pursuing peace abroad. But neither can we afford to neglect peace abroad while pursuing progress at home. With a stable peace, all is possible, but without peace, nothing is possible….

…As you know, I have provided to the Special Prosecutor voluntarily a great deal of material. I believe that I have provided all the material that he needs to conclude his investigations and to proceed to prosecute the guilty and to clear the innocent...

I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end…

…Now, needless to say, it would be understatement if I were not to admit that the [last year] was not a very easy year for me personally or for my family….

…we can and we will make [this] year…a year of unprecedented progress toward our goal of building a structure of lasting peace in the world and a new prosperity without war in the United States of America. --President Nixon 1974 State of the Union Address

Nixon resigned in August, 1974