CLOSED!!Political Discussion - A Place to &quot;duke it out&quot; (7400+)

Top 954. Aug 4, 2003 1:46 PM

» Fred2000 - Re: City reports

In response to message posted by La_la:

"Less money being siphoned from the taxpayers in Chicago, and spending being cut also! It just doesn't get any better."

La_la... And the economy is down a ton. Just check your portfolio and see how happy you are about it staying down for some time to come.

-- posted by Fred2000

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/tomto...

Top 955. Aug 4, 2003 1:50 PM

» Fred2000 - The uniter

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Bush uses his charm to unite the people.

-- posted by Fred2000

Top 956. Aug 4, 2003 1:53 PM

» Fred2000 - More good news...

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GOP lawmakers assert autonomy from Bush

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From postwar policy in Iraq to importation of lower-cost prescription drugs, the Republican-controlled Congress has recently departed from its post-9/11 solidarity and has shown an increasing willingness to challenge President Bush.

By JANET HOOK
Los Angeles Times
8/4/2003

WASHINGTON - A feisty Congress has left for a summer recess with a blunt reminder to President Bush: Republican control of the House and the Senate does not give him carte blanche on Capitol Hill.

The GOP-controlled Congress has in recent weeks defied Bush on domestic policies ranging from drug imports to media deregulation to tax credits for the working poor.

Congress also poses new challenges to Bush in foreign affairs. Members of both parties have expressed qualms about postwar policy in Iraq. The No. 2 House GOP leader has questioned Bush's "road map" to peace in the Middle East. In addition, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee last week criticized Bush's policy on Liberia.

To be sure, Republicans have stuck with Bush on major fiscal and foreign policy matters. But on a variety of fronts, Congress is showing more independence from Bush than at any point since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I think Congress has finally found a voice in questioning the administration on a whole range of issues," said Roger H. Davidson, a visiting professor of government for the University of California at Santa Barbara. "This is a healthy sign, because the last Congress pretty much rolled over in the wake of 9/11."

It is a measure, in part, of the dissipation of Bush's post-9/11 aura of command - both with Congress and among the public at large, according to recent polls showing his approval ratings dropping, as well as among lawmakers.

But it is also a reminder that presidential leadership is not the only force that drives legislation through Congress. On two striking occasions this summer, populist tides moved Congress to override Bush's objections. That is how the House came to approve a bill allowing the importation of lower-cost prescription drugs - a measure that had built a powerful head of steam among constituents angered by rising drug prices.

The House also responded to an outpouring of public concern about media consolidation by approving a bill to block Federal Communications Commission regulations that would allow big media companies to become even bigger.

A key question for the fall is whether Congress can finish work on a bill that is propelled by both presidential leadership and populist appeal: a major rewrite of the Medicare program that would provide prescription drug coverage and expand the role of the private sector in the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

In June, when the House and the Senate broke a long-standing deadlock and passed different versions of the Medicare measure, the issue seemed to have tremendous momentum. Some lawmakers even talked of getting a bill to the president's desk by the end of July. But it soon became clear that was unrealistic because of big differences between the bills: The House went much farther than the Senate in expanding the role of private insurers and health plans, a politically sensitive issue that goes to the heart of the program's future.

House and Senate Republicans also have shrugged off White House entreaties to approve legislation to expand a tax break for working poor families with children.

The Senate in May passed a $10.5 billion bill to channel federal checks of as much as $400 per child to such families, who were left out of the per-child tax credit increase included in last spring's tax-cut law. Democrats spotlighted that omission, saying it showed that the GOP was insensitive to the working poor. To quiet the clamor, the White House urged the House to rush approval of the Senate bill. House Republicans refused, instead passing an $80 billion bill that also provided more tax cuts for wealthier people.

There the issue languished for weeks, with House and Senate Republicans at odds. Bush once again, in his Saturday radio address, called for Congress to act. But Democrats said that, for all Bush's talk, he never applied the real political muscle needed to get Republicans to compromise.

In the drug-import debate, the White House and GOP leaders opposed the bill because of concerns about the safety of drugs purchased abroad. But that argument carried little weight with rank-and-file lawmakers, who were lobbied heavily by constituents. In a rare breakdown of party discipline, 87 House Republicans defied the president and their party leaders in voting for the bill.

Similarly, a huge majority in the House voted for the bill blocking the Federal Communications Commission rules even though GOP leaders supported the president. Conservatives and liberals came together in opposing the rules, which would allow large media companies to control a larger share of U.S. television markets.

While Congress has been most deferential toward Bush on foreign policy matters after 9/11, that is changing. Democrats have become much more aggressive in questioning the costs and casualties incurred in Iraq. Even senior Republicans have been more willing to challenge Bush on national security issues.

Breaking ranks on the Middle East, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has opposed establishing an independent Palestinian state - a cornerstone of Bush's peace plan for the region. "There is no middle ground, no moderate position worth taking," DeLay told Israelis last week during a tour of the Middle East.

GOP criticism on Liberia came from Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner, R-Va., who complained in a speech on the Senate floor Friday that the Bush administration had not made a good case to Congress about the need to send U.S. troops to help stabilize the war-torn African country.

Lawmakers might be feeling less pressure to side with Bush on every issue because his once-stratospheric public-approval ratings have begun to drop.

"Whenever a president's popularity goes down," said Catherine E. Rudder, a professor of public policy at George Mason University, "so does his ability to influence Congress."

-- posted by Fred2000

Top 957. Aug 4, 2003 1:55 PM

» Fred2000 - More uniting

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N. Korea lashes back at U.S. diplomat
By GLENN KESSLER
Washington Post
8/4/2003

WASHINGTON - The North Korean government, which last week agreed to hold talks with the United States and four other countries concerning its nuclear programs, Sunday denounced a senior U.S. official in highly personal and florid terms and said he could not be part of any U.S. delegation to the talks.

John R. Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control, last week delivered a tough speech in Seoul, South Korea, that focused on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his grip on the nation. The speech, titled "A Dictatorship at the Crossroads," described life in North Korea as a "hellish nightmare" and called Kim a "tyrannical rogue."

-- posted by Fred2000

Top 958. Aug 4, 2003 2:01 PM

» Fred2000 - Uniter at work...

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PRESS RELEASE FROM STATE: Regarding the story in today's Washington Post about Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Deputy Secretary Richard L. Armitage, there was no conversation between the Deputy Secretary and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice concerning any plans for "stepping down." There is no basis for the story. As Secretary Powell has always said, he and Deputy Secretary Armitage serve at the pleasure of the President, and will continue to do so.

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"This is gossip and rumor," said State Department spokesman Philip Reeker when asked about The Washington Post story. "The story purports to describe a conversation that took place. That conversation never took place."

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WHITE HOUSE: Scott McClellan just announced that Secy Powell and Deputy Secy Armitage will be arriving at the Crawford Ranch tomorrow evening for dinner with the President. The two will overnight in Crawford and then will meet again with the President on Wednesday and have lunch before heading back to DC...

-- posted by Fred2000

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/04/politi...

Top 959. Aug 4, 2003 2:04 PM

» Fred2000 - Disdain for Bush Simmers

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Disdain for Bush Simmers in Democratic Strongholds
By ROBIN TONER

DES MOINES, July 31 — While Democratic leaders in Washington debate strategy and demographics for the 2004 election — the wisdom of campaigning from the left, right or center — something far more visceral is at work in the first caucus state, and in other Democratic redoubts.

There is a powerful disdain for the Bush administration, stoked by the aftermath of the war in Iraq and the continuing lag in the economy. There is also a conviction that President Bush is eminently beatable and a hunger to hear their party's leaders and candidates make the case against him — straight up, from the heart rather than the polling data.

It is not simply a lurch to the left, many Democrats say; it could, in fact, lead caucus voters to more centrist candidates, if they seem most likely to defeat Mr. Bush in the general election.

-- posted by Fred2000

Top 960. Aug 4, 2003 2:34 PM

» La_la - Re: Re: City reports

In response to message posted by Fred2000:

Just check your portfolio and see how happy you are about it staying down for some time to come.

I'm guessing you didn't get back in the market when everybody's favorite radio personality said to..back in March. My portfolio is doing exceptionally well, thank you.

-- posted by La_la

Top 961. Aug 4, 2003 2:37 PM

» La_la - Re: Re: City reports

In response to message posted by Fred2000:

Just check your portfolio and see how happy you are about it staying down for some time to come.

Oh wait..you're one of those "buy and holders." Yes, you do have a big advantage here..you're quite used to being way down in your porfolio. What's another 10 or 15 years?

-- posted by La_la

Top 962. Aug 4, 2003 7:52 PM

» Steven_Russell - Re: More uniting

In response to message posted by Fred2000:

N. Korea lashes back at U.S. diplomat

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Yeah, well, Korean "leader" Kim Jong Il did systematically starve to death a couple million of "his" own people during the late 1990's.

Not to mention the widespread torture, horrendous imprisonments of Korean undesirables, etc.

I really lost the gist of your argument about why we should feel bad about not being sweetly diplomatic with that rogue monster, so maybe you can explain it to me.

-- posted by Steven_Russell