Bush plans modest final State of the Union speech

In his radio address Saturday, Bush said he would use his speech to urge congressional action to stimulate the economy and to authorize a warrantless wiretapping program that provides legal immunity for telephone companies that cooperated with administration surveillance efforts before laws were changed.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said Bush's speech would be "focused on the future" rather than providing a review of the president's seven years in office and would "reflect the president's mind set that he is going to sprint to the finish."

But the central policy measures Bush plans to highlight, according to senior aides, are issues that have already run into major objections: extending the eavesdropping legislation; perpetuating the 2001 and '03 tax cuts, and renewing the 2002 overhaul of education programs encompassed in the No Child Left Behind law, among others.

Bush was not presented with a draft of the speech, Perino said, until barely two weeks before its delivery, while he was traveling this month in the Middle East -- suggesting a less-than-intensive approach by the president.

But policy advocates across Washington -- particularly longtime allies uncertain about the reception they might receive from the next president -- have been busy seeking to gain a presidential nod in a phrase or sentence for their projects and goals.

The National Assn. of Manufacturers, for example, would like Bush to call for reducing corporate tax rates and seek greater federal funding for bridges, roads and railroads, said spokesman Hank Cox.

Cal Dooley, president and chief executive of the Grocery Manufacturers Assn., said his trade group wanted to see Bush call for greater funding for the Food and Drug Administration to increase inspection of imported food products.

White House officials acknowledged that the initiatives Bush would present would be relatively small policy proposals, some of which he could implement by executive order and avoid a tangle with Congress.

What aides called the president's "realistic" agenda will feature no new calls for past administration initiatives, such as overhauling immigration laws or Social Security.