Bush gives nation a choice

On health care, an issue that has become a centerpiece of the Democratic presidential campaigns, Bush offered an expansion and repackaging of plans he has previously introduced — tax credits to help pay for insurance, and health savings accounts that would encourage people to set aside money tax-free for unreimbursed medical expenses.

"Our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs," Bush said.

Democrats said the proposals fell far short of what was needed to help the 43 million Americans who lack insurance and the millions more whose household budgets are strained by health costs.

On immigration, Bush repeated his proposal to give legal status to millions of undocumented workers in the United States, a plan that the White House hopes will appeal to Hispanic voters critical to Bush's re-election.

Bush repeatedly stressed that he had signed into law a new Medicare bill providing a prescription drug benefit for retirees, a step that his party hopes will neutralize the traditional Democratic advantage on health care as a political issue.

Similarly, Bush appealed to the political center by reminding the nation that he had signed a broad overhaul of education policy, the No Child Left Behind Act, that imposed new requirements for schools to show progress through regular testing of students but also provided more federal education funding to states and school districts.

Bush's State of the Union address last year focused heavily on the impending war with Iraq, and in making his case for why Saddam posed a threat to the United States. The president said Iraq had failed to account for large stocks of biological and chemical weapons and appeared to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

To bolster his case last Jan. 28, Bush uttered 16 words that later came back to haunt him for months: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Last summer, the White House acknowledged that intelligence behind the assertion was flawed, exposing Bush to criticism that he had deliberately exaggerated the threat from Iraq.

On Tuesday night, Bush offered no specific evidence to back up his more general and much less disputed statement that "terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilized world."

In a Democratic rebuttal, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota assailed Bush on both foreign and domestic policy. Pelosi, the House minority leader, said the president had pursued "a go-it-alone foreign policy that leaves us isolated abroad and that steals the resources we need for education and health care here at home."

Daschle, the Senate minority leader, said the "massive" tax cuts championed by Bush have not created the jobs the administration promised and have "instead led to an economic exodus."

Bush appeared well prepared for what is sure to be a year of intense partisan warfare. Alluding to the presidential race, Bush drew a distinction between his stewardship and his seven Democratic challengers.

"We have faced serious challenges together, and now we face a choice," Bush said. "We can go forward with confidence and resolve, or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us. We can press on with economic growth and reforms in education and Medicare, or we can turn back to old policies and old divisions."