State of the Union: Big hat, no cattle

Here are my thoughts on two proposals most likely to affect the economy:

• Energy independence. Bush called for a 20% reduction in US gasoline use by 2017 by using more ethanol, reforming fuel economy standards, and increasing domestic drilling. I agree with the goal of reducing US oil consumption and disagree with Bush's strategy. I'd encourage increasing vehicle Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards -- say by 5% a year over the next several years; push for other alternative fuels besides corn-based ones which use up too much energy to produce ethanol and drive up corn and beef prices; and avoid more domestic drilling.
• Health care. Bush proposed to increase health care coverage in the US by giving everybody who buys health insurance, whether through work or independently, a standard deduction of $7,500 for individual coverage and $15,000 for family coverage. The problem with the plan is that it raises taxes on families which pay more than the standard deduction and it does not do much for the 47 million uninsured US citizens. I liked Bush's Affordable Choices proposal to help states like Massachusetts pay for its universal coverage plan, which requires every citizen -- including its 500,000 uninsured -- to have health insurance and provides state subsidies to those who can't afford it. Criticism of such plans is worrisome but I think it makes sense to experiment to reach a better solution.

SOTU addresses generally don't do much for investors. But this one had some elements which seemed crafted to reduce his political capital deficit. To borrow a line from Massachusetts pop star, JoJo, it's too little, too late.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, a Professor of Management at Babson College, and editor of The Cohan Letter.