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New US Government Kicks Off Amidst Storm
At noontime January 20, 54 year-old Republican George W. Bush, the former head of Texas State, indicated in his inaugural speech that the new US government would be in the urgent need to handle four major issues, namely, education reform, reform of the social security system and medical security system, building up a stronger national defense and tax cut. He called upon the public to strengthen unity and take an active part in national and community affairs.
Although Bush entered and hosted the White House after the US economy had witnessed nearly a decade-long sustained growth, US current economic growth rate has obviously slowed down, and signs of sluggishness and glide have emerged. In order to stimulate economic development, Bush, in his campaign for the presidency, put forward a 10-year plan for a dramatic tax cut of US$1,600 billion Because the US economy is now on the verge of a decline and there are increases in the federal budget surplus, the Republican and Democratic parties have reached a consensus to some extent on tax reduction, however, both parties still have quite a big divergence over the scale and object of tax cut.
While running for the presidency, Bush made many promises to the electors, but whether these will not become "empty promises" will be another challenge facing Bush. In terms of education, Bush worked out a plan to allow low-income families to transfer their children from government-run to private-run schools. Bush stands for reforming the social security system and medical health system, allowing the participants to put part of their social security tax into the securities and bond markets, but this plan won little response from the Democratic Party members, perhaps it would be not easy to get it passed at the Congress.
In his inaugural speech, Bush did not dwell on foreign affairs. He indicated that the United States will continue to participate in world affairs, build up an "unmatched" national defense force to protect the interests of the allies and the United States in the whole world. US Secretary-designate Colin Powell expounded new US government's foreign policy at a Senate confirmation hearing on January 17. He said that the new government would not bring the United States "into a fortress of protectionism or an island of isolation", and that it would continue to participate in international affairs in accordance with national interests.
Bush and his staff repeatedly indicated in their campaign for presidency that the United States would decided as rapidly as possible to deploy the national missile defense (NMD) system and threatened that if Russia disagreed to revise the (ABM) Treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972, the United States would unilaterally withdraw from this treaty. On January 17 Powell once again stressed that it was extremely important to set up a "comprehensive strategic framework" that includes an offensive and defensive system.
The new government's stance on the NMD system has aroused grave concern in the international community. The US NMD system program is not only opposed by Russia, China and other countries, but also is boycotted by its European allies including France and Germany. In his inaugural speech, Bush professed that he wanted to create a terror-free new century. But what people feel puzzled is what the NMD system planned to be established by the United States would bring to the new century.
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