Bush to Blast Dem Earmarks in Union Speech

President Bush will slam Democratic spending in favor of his own multi-billion-dollar proposals in his last State of the Union speech, scheduled for 6 p.m. EST tonight. He plans to promote his $150 billion stimulus package, and reiterate the need to fight in Iraq—recently valued at another $108 billion—while demanding an $18 billion cut in domestic plans and threatening to veto bills that don't slash pork-barrel projects by 50%, Politico reports.

"There is great ambiguity in the Republican Party" about spending, Nancy Pelosi said after excerpts of Bush's speech were released today. "They want to beat a loud drum but when it comes down to it, they want their earmarks.” Bush will promote his stimulus plan as "growth" rather than "recovery," but try to soothe economic concerns that exist "at kitchen tables across our country. In the long run," he will say, "Americans can be confident about our economic growth." (More George W. Bush stories.)