The Real State Of The Union

By Craig Staats/AllPolitics

Presidents almost never attempt to describe the state of the union in their State of the Union speeches. Can you imagine a president reading from Census, FBI or Labor Department reports, trying to describe to Congress and the nation the warp and woof of everyday life?

Instead, state of the union speeches are usually a mix of legislative proposals and rhetoric the president hopes will be inspirational, and maybe move a few votes in Congress to boot.

To mark Bill Clinton's 1997 State of the Union speech, we've picked five issues where there's enough data to gauge the real state of the nation.

For each, we've provided a quick summary and some carefully selected links, so you can prowl the Web, check the statistics and what advocacy groups say, and maybe be in a better position to evaluate Clinton's claims.

Our list of issues is arbitrary, and Clinton may not mention them all. The word on Friday was that his major themes would be balancing the federal budget, fixing last year's welfare legislation and passing campaign finance limits.

Here's our list:

• Children
• Crime/Violence
• Economy/Unemployment
• The Federal Deficit
• Health Care

So get to it, and happy surfing.