President Bush gave his last State of the Union address Monday night. I was lucky enough to watch it with a huge room full of College Democrats. Good news: The state of the Union is strong, and ?so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the state of our Union will remain strong.? Not surprising.

What was perhaps surprising, however, was the number of times people in the room stood up to applaud what President Bush had to say ? on both sides of the aisle. Maybe this wasn’t necessarily because the Democrats agreed with what the president had to say, but more just to save face. With the uplifting and optimistic tones and language of the president, the Democrats would have looked like the pessimistic good-for-nothings that they are had they not stood and applauded. So, let’s forget the biodegradable straws that Speaker Pelosi got for the House Cafeteria for a moment and get on with the more important highlights of the State of the Union for 2008.

Much of what the president talked about had to do with our economy. We have a good economy right now; granted, we might be on our way to a recession, but that comes and goes with time. As it stands, we don’t need to put our economy down just yet; it just needs a solid round of booster shots to keep it up. The president wants to get this done. Applause. Everyone agrees.

The Federal Reserve has already done its job by easing pressure on borrowers with a decreased interest rate, but it is essential for Congress to ease the pressure on their pocketbooks by making the 2003 Bush tax cuts permanent. Not so much applause from the Dems there. Then, here’s one of the best lines from a SOTU in a while: ?Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm. I’m pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders.? Much applause from the GOP; crickets from the Dems. Everyone agreed on balancing the budget by 2012. Applause.

Thankfully, everyone applauded giving the troops everything they need in Iraq and all over the world. This is absolutely necessary to our security. Mr. Bush talked about the successes in the Middle East. Yes, there have been successes. And there was applause for them, though not as much as I had hoped. The president went on to talk more about the global War on Terror. I applauded. Much of the room was making snide comments. There was more agreement for fully funding veterans from both sides. Applause.

The president talked a bit about school choices and education. He cited a large increase for funding with the No Child Left Behind Act. Not so much applause on that one either. For some reason, the Democrats don’t seem to like choices. They want everything decided for them and paid for by everyone else? hence, health care. The president talked about that too. Again with the choices.

I can’t believe the president actually thinks American people can go through the thought process and decide what’s best for themselves. (Please note, I’m being facetious.) The president now supports further exploration of stem-cell research. That made the Dems applaud; not so much the Republicans. More federal funding for that. And for other scientific research. Applause.

There was more, obviously, but those are some of the highlights. I would really suggest catching it on YouTube if you missed it or, at the very least, reading the transcript. It was a successful final State of the Union address by President Bush.

Sara Mikolajczak ([email protected]) is the chair of the College Republicans.