By Kami Dalton
For the most part, BYU professors praise the domestic proposals President Bush made in Tuesday”s State of the Union address, but have mixed feelings regarding his words on the war in Iraq.
Stanley Taylor, professor of political science emeritus, said he did not think the president would receive much support on sending more troops to Iraq.
“It”s not going to be received well, unfortunately, because right now the president has lost the confidence of the American people,” Taylor said.
However, Taylor, also a research fellow at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies, said he believes the additional troops will help somewhat and should have been sent four years ago.
History professor Brian Cannon said he did not think many in the room found Bush”s proposals on the war in Iraq to be convincing.
“He didn”t seem to find a way out of the quagmire that we find ourselves in in Iraq,” Cannon said.
Ken Stiles, a political science professor, had a similar view on deploying more troops.
Stiles said he was most troubled by how President Bush lumped together the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Iraqi insurgents and Syria under one label.
“I generally agree with Senator Obama”s reaction that there is little in his plans for Iraq that promises an end to sectarian violence – which means they probably won”t lead to anything we can call ”victory,”” Stiles said.
However, Stiles said several of Bush”s domestic proposals seemed to open some opportunities.
“On domestic policy … he created some real opportunities to address immigration and health insurance and I would not be surprised to see some bills passed within six months or so,” Stiles said.
Brennan Platt, assistant professor in economics, said he approved of Bush”s proposal to cut taxes to help with buying health care.
“It”s a step in the whole health care debate that hasn”t been talked about before,” Platt said.
Platt also said it is encouraging that goals for cutting deficits have been met faster than planned due to economic growth.
Platt said he hopes this trend will continue. “Certainly they”ll be able to meet some goals,” he said.
“Certainly they”ll be able to meet some goals,” he said.
