NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – On the heels of the roughest year of his presidency, amid vicious partisan fighting and mid-term election fears, President Bush began his State of the Union address Tuesday evening.

While the war in Iraq was central, the president also was expected to tout various economic proposals. In last year's speech, Social Security reform and tax reform were two of his biggest issues and he was expected to again touch on them. But the president was expected to concentrate on more concrete goals, in particular focusing on reduced taxes and healthcare costs.

How viable any of his proposals will be remains a question given stiff Democratic opposition and cracks in the Republican base over the deficit and the several controversies buffeting the White House from the handling of Hurricane Katrina to, most recently, allegations of illegal wiretapping.

When it comes to reducing the deficit, the president has said again and again he wants to rein in spending while calling on Congress to make permanent his tax cuts. Most are scheduled to expire between now and 2010.

Supporters of tax-cut permanency say that the reductions have aided economic growth and will continue to do so.

President Bush has noted, too, that tax-cut permanency can aid small business owners, who create about 70 percent of all new jobs, since many of them pay taxes on their profits at individual income tax rates, all of which have been lowered by the President's tax-relief measures.

But deficit hawks on both sides of aisle have expressed opposition.

According to the latest budget outlook from the Congressional Budget Office, if the tax cuts are extended, the $67 billion surplus the agency projects for 2016 would change to a $584 billion deficit and the debt held by the public at the end of 2016 would increase from a projected 28.1 percent of GDP to 44.3 percent.

Beyond the cost of the tax cuts -- and the interest to pay off debt-financed spending -- the CBO has said that economic growth alone (whether spurred by tax cuts or other measures) won't alleviate the budgetary pressures that will be brought to bear in the coming decades by the growth in Social Security and Medicare spending.

President Bush has said he would like lawmakers to make healthcare savings accounts (HSA) more attractive.

HSAs, created in 2003 but not yet widely offered by employers, are accounts to which you and your employer may make tax-free contributions up to a cap.

Money in the account may be used to pay for eligible out-of-pocket medical expenses that you would incur to meet your health insurance plan deductible. Money invested in the account that you don't use may remain in the account and grow tax-free.

In order to have an HSA, you must sign on to a high-deductible health insurance plan that covers you in the event of a serious medical condition or catastrophe.

John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis who has advised the White House about HSAs, said he expects the president will propose raising the caps on HSA contributions.

Currently, the federal cap is $2,700 for individuals and $5,450 for families, or the level of the deductible in your health insurance plan, whichever is lower.

President Bush may also propose making more out-of-pocket medical expenses deductible, said Scott Hodge, president of The Tax Foundation. Currently, in order to deduct medical expenses you must itemize deductions on your federal tax return, which only a minority of taxpayers do. And you may only take the deduction if all of your medical expenses exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, which is a high level for most taxpayers to meet.

The idea has its roots in a proposal made in the book Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Five Steps to a Bettter Health Care System, published by the American Enterprise Institute.

The president also has said he will call on lawmakers to allow small businesses to pool together to buy health insurance plans so that they may get the same discounts given to big companies.

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Learn more about the pension bills passed by lawmakers. And find out how much more you'll need to save if your company freezes your pension, and what the new contribution limits to 401(k)s and IRAs are this year.