President Bush came out swinging Tuesday night in his State of the Union Address, producing a diverse reaction from NIU students and faculty.

“The message was consistent with classical economic theory,” said NIU Finance Professor James Johnson.

Johnson said the theory was a message to calm down and be patient. The economy will work itself out of the mess it’s in, he said.

While there was a sense of ambiguity that surrounded the address, comments on specific initiatives were plentiful.

“The capital gains cut may lead to an increase in short term confidence. It is going to produce an increase in the deficit in the long term,” Economics Professor Judy Temple said.

Temple said there already is a very stimulative policy in place with the current monetary policy and there is nothing more that can be done to stimulate the economy further.

“I am disappointed in Bush’s proposal. He had sufficient time to come up with a much more comprehensive package,” Johnson said.

Taking a more proactive approach to revitalize people’s attitude is required, Johnson said.

“The proposed defense cut is nothing more than a mere rounding error,” Johnson said. “We need to put more money in the people’s pockets,”.

The whole federal government might not be sure what to do to rally consumer confidence and give the needed boost, Temple said.

“This may be the return to the age of lots of little tax holes, which tend to distort the decision making process,” Temple said.

Johnson and Temple agreed that parts of Bush’s plan will make it through Congress with a compromise given to allay the Democrat’s fears.

Some reaction to Bush’s address were completely upbeat and positive.

“Bush did well in conveying the message. He cares what’s going on in the troubled economy,” said Preston Came, NIU Student Association president.

While these are smaller, less dramatic proposals than what many wanted to see, Bush accomplished economically and politically what he wanted to do, Came said.