U.S. President George W. Bush failed to put forth bold proposals or ideas in his final State of the Union address. The economy, once a political asset, is now joining the unpopular Iraq war as a liability for Mr. Bush, as he acknowledged when he said, "As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty."

Under Mr. Bush, the U.S. economy enjoyed growth thanks to the low-interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve and tax cuts. But the easy money policy spawned a housing bubble, whose consequence was the subprime crisis. He urged Congress to quickly approve a $150-billion stimulus package to prevent a recession, featuring tax rebates for families and incentives for businesses to increase investment in plants and equipment. But the package does not directly aim at solving the subprime crisis, which has caused confusion in financial markets in the U.S. and other countries following the securitization of housing debts owed by people with low creditworthiness.

It is symbolic that Mr. Bush made his final State of the Union speech at a time when his approval rating has sunk to around 30 percent and people appear more interested in the race to choose his successor. His unilateralism divided the world and fueled anti-American feelings in some parts of the world and his Iraq war has cost more than 3,900 American and many more Iraqi lives. He is also unlikely to score successful achievements in pension and health-care reforms.