Which governs least. (Devil in the Details).(Pres George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech)(Brief Article)

HOW BEST TO JUDGE A State of the Union address? By memorable proposals the president unveils? By the level of ringing rhetoric? By the number of ovations? By how many times the speaker and the veep feel compelled to stand?

The libertarian Cato Institute has it down to a science all its own. Cato judges a speech by the number of new initiatives the president unfurls. Few is good. More is worse.

In this year's State of the Union address, Bush proposed just 20 new policies, down from 39 in 2002, which was itself down from the 104 that Cato credits to Bill Clinton in his 2000 ...