In the president's final State of the Union address, Bush eschewed the large, grandiose plans to remake social security and other entitlements in favor of smaller, more achievable goals that have mostly bi-partisan support:For a president who has always favored boldness, it amounts to a dramatic shift. Just a year ago, Bush in the same chamber defied the new Democratic majority with his decision to send more troops to Iraq and challenged lawmakers to overhaul the immigration system. The past year demonstrated that Congress could not force him to change course in Iraq, but neither could he bend it to his will in the domestic arena. So last night, Bush focused on extending or cementing past initiatives, such as pumping $30 billion more into his anti-AIDS projects in Africa, reauthorizing his No Child Left Behind education program, extending $2 billion in aid to other countries developing clean-energy technology and codifying his policies that steer more federal funds to religious...(Read Full Post)