State Of The Union

As President Bush prepared to deliver a detailed sales pitch for Social Security restructuring in tonight's State of the Union address, Senate Democrats suggested Tuesday that they had enough votes to block the kind of overhaul he was seeking. White House officials said Bush's comments on Social Security would be his most specific yet and would receive equal billing with Iraq and other foreign policy concerns in the nationally televised address that starts at 6 p.m. PST.

President Bush, driven by the crumbling of communism abroad and increasing pressure for defense cuts at home, called Wednesday for deep reductions in U.S. and Soviet troop levels in Europe. In his first State of the Union address to Congress, the President proposed a further reduction in military manpower in Central and Eastern Europe to 195,000 on each side. Arms negotiators in Vienna had been aiming toward a target of 275,000 troops for each.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told law students Tuesday that he found it "very troubling" to be surrounded by loudly cheering critics at President Obama's State of the Union address, saying it was reason enough for the justices not to attend the annual speech to Congress. "To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I'm not sure why we are there," Roberts said at the University of Alabama School of Law. Obama's speech in January came a week after the high court ruled 5 to 4 that corporations had a free-speech right to spend unlimited sums to elect or defeat candidates for office.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats on Tuesday launched a preemptive strike on Rep. Paul Ryan, who will deliver the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address. Ryan, who turns 41 later this week, is viewed as a rising star of the party, a budget hawk who hasn't been afraid to spark conversations about taking on entitlement programs such as Medicaid and Social Security. For months, Democrats have tried to tie Ryan's past proposals to reshape both programs to the rest of the GOP. Since Ryan has taken the helm of the House Budget Committee, the Wisconsinite has been more circumspect in his words.

President Bush's State of the Union address begins at 6 p.m. PST. Here's where it can be viewed: CBS NBC ABC CNN Fox Fox News Channel CNBC MSNBC KCET KTTV C-SPAN

Minutes: 53 Date: 1992 Event: Acceptance speech for Democratic nomination **** Minutes: 65 Date: 1994 Event: State of the Union address **** Minutes: 81 Date: 1995 Event: State of the Union address **** Minutes: 61 Date: 1996 Event: State of the Union address **** Minutes: 66 Date: 1996 Event: Nomination acceptance speech, Democratic Convention **** Minutes: 60 Date: 1997 Event: State of the Union address **** Minutes: 72 Date: 1998 Event: State of the Union address Sources: Los Angeles

President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address on Jan. 31 before a joint session of Congress, officials announced Thursday. The address, which will follow by two days the submission of his proposed budget for the fiscal year, will be Bush's first formal State of the Union speech, although he spoke before both houses shortly after his inauguration last year. Bush had planned to submit his proposed budget for fiscal 1991 on Jan. 22. But earlier this week Budget Director Richard G.

President Clinton opened his State of the Union Address Tuesday night with a joke on himself about a mix-up with the TelePrompTer the last time he spoke before Congress. "I am not sure what speech is in the TelePrompTer tonight, but I hope we can talk about the State of the Union," Clinton said to laughter. He was referring to his address to Congress last Sept. 22 outlining his health care program.

Allegations surrounding President Clinton resulted in the biggest audience for a State of the Union address since the first year of his presidency. Year: Millions of viewers 1998: 53 1997: 41 1996: 41 1995: 42 1994: 46 1993: 67 Source: Nielsen Media Research