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Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1312
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 10:19 pm: | 
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Bush Presidency Floundering Pundits Say Democrats Could Take Seats in 2006 Congressional Elections
A new poll has Bush's approval ratings at an all-time low.
May 9, 2006— Things are looking worse and worse for President Bush who said after he was re-elected in 2004 that he had political capital and intended to spend it.
According to a new Gallup/USA Today poll, that capital is dwindling. The poll found that the president's approval rating stood at 31 percent — a record low. His disapproval rating is 65 percent, just a point away from President Nixon's days before his resignation in 1974.
With midterm elections in November, Republicans are worried they could lose control of Congress.
Paul Begala, a former Clinton adviser and co-author of "Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future," said that there was a less than 50 percent chance that Democrats would take back the Senate but that "the tidal wave is out there and the Democrats will take back the House."
Democrats need six seats to take the Senate and 15 to take the House. Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, said there were 30 to 40 unsafe GOP seats and five to 12 unsafe Democratic seats.
"House Republicans are going to have to make a case about what it would be like to have Democrats there," said Bay Buchanan, president of the American Cause, a conservative educational foundation. She said that Bush had only a 52 percent approval rating with conservatives and that if a politician didn't have his base, he had nothing.
Bush on the Wrong Side?
Buchanan pointed out that Bush's numbers had been low for quite awhile, due mostly to the war in Iraq. The recent immigration debate has made his numbers even lower, she said. The president supports a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to become guest workers but improve security.
"The president is on the wrong side, and I think it's damaged him. There is no question that the majority want to see a fence with doors coming in and out," she said.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Friday had Bush with a 33 percent approval rating and Congress with a 25 percent approval rating. The poll found that 51 percent of Americans said they wanted Democrats rather than Republicans to control Congress. Only 34 percent favored Republican control.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1940034&page=1
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tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4888
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 10:28 pm: |
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America is waking up. |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5604
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 10:34 pm: |
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Get your hopes high. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4890
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 10:39 pm: |
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I know, they may just roll over and go back to sleep again. It's not over until it's over. Fox News and Diebold will be hard on the case. |
3ringale
Citizen
Username: Threeringale
Post Number: 188
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 10:21 am: |
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The Republicans are obviously in trouble, but Democrats who think their party is going to clean things up are either naive or delusional, take you pick:
New boss, same as the old boss
By DOUG THOMPSON
May 10, 2006, 03:54
Nancy Pelosi is making the talk show rounds, telling anyone who will listen who she will put in chairmanships if the Democrats manage to regain control of Congress in the midterm elections.
She promises reform and a change in the old-boy network if the Dems take over.
If such hyperbole sounds familiar, it may be because we heard the same •••••••• 12 years ago from the Republicans.
But things won't change if the Democrats take over. We will just replace one cadre of crooks, scoundrels, con-artists and thieves with another. Democrats and Republicans are an equal match when it comes to moral lapses, ethical challenges and lust for power.
Former Republican Congressman Randy "Duke Cunningham" recently went to jail for taking bribes. He may eventually be joined by Democratic Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, another political crook who thinks votes should be sold to the highest bidder.
Republican Tom DeLay is out as House Majority Leader because he got rich off questionable deals with fatcats back home and is a central figure in the emerging Jack Abramoff scandal. Democrat Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, directed federal grants to non-profit groups back home while getting rich off real estate deals with top officials of the groups. He's off the House Ethics Committee because of his own personal lapses with ethics.
Pelosi claims she will put John Conyers of Michigan in charge of investigating the many crimes of President George W. Bush. Conyers' ex-staffers complain he assigns workers to babysit, chauffeur and tutor his children and pushed aides to do campaign work on government time - all violations of House rules and federal law.
When it comes to ethics, neither party can claim the high moral ground. An NBC-TV investigation of use of corporate aircraft by members of Congress found both Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Minority Leader Harry Reid fly high on the hog on jets provided by lobbyists and fatcat political donors.
Those who place partisanship above truth claim one party is always more corrupt than the other but corruption is neither relative nor a horserace. You are either honest or you are not and honesty is not something we find guiding the agendas of either political party.
If Democrats want to clean up Congress, they should start with members like Rep. Corrine Brown of Florida. During her time in Congress, she has eluded creditors, filed false financial disclosure reports and lied to the Internal Revenue Service.
"She cons people, pure and simple," says Sheryl Wilson, a former travel agency owner in Tallahassee who knew Brown. "I don't think she has an honest bone in her body."
Rep. Brown has a poor memory when it comes to remembering her business dealings. The financial records that every member of Congress is required to file shows the Jacksonville, Florida Democrat failed to disclose the $40,000 sale of her Tallahassee travel agency and improperly reported the sale of her Gainesville agency. And she has omitted other required details from her reports.
Brown has left a trail of unpaid bills from businesses she owned in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee during the early 1990s. In 1994, a consortium of airlines sued Brown for $94,000 in because her company, Springfield Travel Agency Inc., falsified sales reports and did not pay its bills. Delta Air Lines revoked her authority to write tickets because of an unpaid $7,237 bill. She also owed $5,697 to the University of Florida and tried to pay part of the bill with a bad check.
The IRS also went after Brown for $14,228 in unpaid taxes and the Whirlpool Corp. had to go to court to try and collect $10,227 in unpaid bills for appliances. But attempts to investigate Brown's many ethical, moral and legal lapses have been stalled in the ethics committee by her Democratic colleagues.
So don't buy into the hype that Congress will somehow be a better place if one party replaces another as the dominant political force. Nothing will change because both parties are corrupt and ruled by liars and cheats.
If you want to reform Congress, start by cleaning out the scum from both sides of the political aisle. It's the system that's corrupt and until we replace the system, nothing will change on Capitol Hill.
The Mafia has a saying: "New boss, same as the old boss."
Congress is just another crime syndicate and crime bosses -- be they Republican or Democrat -- don't give a damn about America or the people they are supposed to serve.
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8596.shtml
Cheers.
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Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1315
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 11:00 pm: |
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capitolhillblue.com
sure. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4898
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 12:27 am: |
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Latest harris poll: Bush at 29%.
sinking ...
sinking ... |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1320
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 12:49 am: |
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29% is Nixon Resignation territory, HINT. |
Southerner
Citizen
Username: Southerner
Post Number: 1052
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 9:06 am: |
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Foj,
You aren't still dreaming about Rumsfield, Cheney, and Bush resigning are you? Why would a guy resign who was recently re-elected. Please pay reality a visit from time to time. HINT. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4901
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 9:42 am: |
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Nixon was re-elected in November 1972. He resigned in August 1974, 21 months.
Bush was re-elected [sic] in November 2004. It is now May 2006, 18 months.
Three months to go. |
Southerner
Citizen
Username: Southerner
Post Number: 1056
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 1:38 pm: |
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tom,
Today is May 12. Would you be willing to make a wager that Bush will resign by August 12? Or are you just entertaining Foj because you are bored? |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4906
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 2:01 pm: |
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No, I'm just answering your question, "Why would a guy resign who was recently re-elected," by trying to undermind the basis of it. Recent re-election doesn't matter if you're a big enough crook. (Agnew resigned even earlier!) |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1329
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 2:46 pm: |
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.....good answer TOM. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14244
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 3:01 pm: |
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Maybe Southerner's point is that the past doesn't help in making predictions. Or maybe he just doesn't remember 1974.
I don't expect that in three months Bush will be in water as hot as Nixon was in in August 1974. I really don't know what to predict.
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Hoops
Citizen
Username: Hoops
Post Number: 1331
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 3:20 pm: |
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my prediction is that GOP Man will still be making me chuckle in August, but the current thieves will still be in power. |
GOP Man
Citizen
Username: Headsup
Post Number: 381
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 3:27 pm: |
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I make you chuckle?
You libs will be chuckling out of the other side of your mouths come November. I have to say that I'm amused by all your frustration when we all know Rove and Co. will kick your asses again in the next election. these "scandals" will all be forgotten by then. |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1332
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 3:49 pm: |
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Funny stuff, thanks GOP man. You are the best. |
Southerner
Citizen
Username: Southerner
Post Number: 1059
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 4:00 pm: |
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tom,
Here's the difference. Nixon was a crook. Bush is just being attacked because of his politics. Big difference. Clinton was attacked for his politics. Clinton was impeached because he lied to a federal grand jury. Big difference. If your standard of getting someone to resign is because the out of power pary wants it, then you better be ready for the same in return. The Repubs will go after Hillary, if she wins, from day one and I bet they do a better job at making scandals stick than you guys are doing against Bush. Now, I bet if this happens you will say the Repubs are playing partisan politics and I'd agree. Can't you at least be honest and admit all of these so-called scandals are just politics as usual? |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2000
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 4:05 pm: |
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Southerner, that fact that you don't think that Bush has lied ON BIG ISSUES to the public is totally sad beyond belief. The only issue as far as your game-playing tush is concerned is that we haven't gotten him on a grand jury to do his lying. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3106
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 4:09 pm: |
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Southerner, you really believe that all of these scandals are only partisan politics? You don't believe that Duke Cunningham is a criminal for what he did? You don't think Delay did anything wrong? You don't think that there is anything wrong with using public funds for hookers?
Please don't give me the line that politicians on both sides do this. That's a cop out. If the all do it, go after them all. Don't say it's ok because "everyone's doing it."
And the only reason Nixon was vilified was because he got caught (well, that and the juice talk on the Nixon tapes). I have no doubt there are politicians on both sides of the aisle at all levels of govt routinely do what Nixon did.
You seem to have a very narrow definition of "crook." |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14248
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 4:09 pm: |
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Quote:Main Entry: 1scan·dal
Pronunciation: 'skan-d&l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin scandalum stumbling block, offense, from Greek skandalon trap, stumbling block, offense; akin to Latin scandere to climb
1 a : discredit brought upon religion by unseemly conduct in a religious person b : conduct that causes or encourages a lapse of faith or of religious obedience in another
2 : loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety : DISGRACE
3 a : a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral conceptions or disgraces those associated with it b : a person whose conduct offends propriety or morality
4 : malicious or defamatory gossip
5 : indignation, chagrin, or bewilderment brought about by a flagrant violation of morality, propriety, or religious opinion
I'd say definition 5 fits pretty well. Sure, you could call these things policies that a sizable number of people disagree with.
There are a few things that are impeachable offenses. His job is to uphold the constitution. His approval of torture, extraordinary rendition, detention without due process, illegal searches and seizures, etc. are examples of his high crimes and misdemeanors. I'm content to let Congress decide.
I can't prove that my beefs against him are not politically motivated, but you can't prove that they are. When I say I don't want any government official getting away with these things, you don't have to believe me, but I wonder how the hell you can defend these actions? If you do so for purely political reasons, your views are utterly contemptible.
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Southerner
Citizen
Username: Southerner
Post Number: 1062
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 4:38 pm: |
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Rastro,
Apples and Oranges. I never said Cunningham wasn't a crook, or DeLay (if convicted). But to take the leap to Bush is where I find the libs disingenious. Should we blame Pelosi when McKinney slaps a cop?
My point is I'll agree corruption has taken place, but you guys have squandered your opportunity to point the fingers at the right people. If at every turn you point the finger at Bush you get what you have gotten, which is limited public support for any of these "scandals".
Alley,
Great point in your post. You are coming around in your analysis. Bush and a grand jury would be a very bad combination. See, we learned from Clinton's mistake. And please tell me what these big lies are. And don't give me the usual partisan stuff about the war. Give me proof where Bush lied big time to the American public. Is Reingold the only honest lib on this board?
Reingold,
I'm glad that you will let Congress decide since they are the only body that can. That's kind of like saying, I'll let my boss decide if I get a raise or not. And your point about proving or disproving motivations is dead on. I wholeheartedly agree. That is why I want my philosophy to win and control. I get lambasted for saying the obvious and then you say the obvious as if it is some sort of epiphany. Of course, no one knows anybody's motivation in doing anything! As for you point about my believing in policies for the pure political reasons is wrong, so you should not hold me in contempt. I like the Bush Admin's policies. I like the NSA programs. Not for political reasons but I believe they are the right things to do. I know you disagree and that is why we allow elections to determine the direction we should take. I thought you knew me better than that. Every side of an issue I take is thought out and studied. It's just more fun to laugh at the libs than reason. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14250
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 4:43 pm: |
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You forgot something, Southerner. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I'll say I hate Bush only for political reasons. My accusations against him may be politically motivated, but that does not show that he doesn't deserve them. As I point out, he has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. I have two reasons to accuse him: 1. I want my party to be in power and his to be out and 2. he deserves the accusations, because of his wrongdoing.
You have only one reason to say he doesn't deserve the accusations, and it's a bad one: you want his party to be in power and the Democrats to be out. You are willing to overlook his crimes just to see his (your) party in power.
That's like kicking your football opponent in the groin to win and saying, hey, anything to get the ball is fair game, because winning is the important thing.
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GOP Man
Citizen
Username: Headsup
Post Number: 382
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 5:37 pm: |
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now you're talking Tom.
That's exactly what it's like. If you kick your opponent in the groin and the referee doesn't see it, good for you. That's where we are now. My president is kicking the Democrats in the groin on a daily basis. And you libs are powerless to call him on it. I love it. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 2004
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 6:04 pm: |
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Lies by Bush: He authorized the Valerie Plame leak, denied it, was caught and then used some lame excuse to cover up his lies. He lied that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was linked to Al Qaeda. He lied about tapping our phone lines and spying on us. He told us that our security was important to him. He then proceeded to data mine all of our phone records. He lied about torturing prisoners, and shipping them in airplanes across the world. The man is lying weasel. You are his toady. Willing to cover his lies up because...you care more about your party winning elections than you care about upholding our constitution. |
Southerner
Citizen
Username: Southerner
Post Number: 1064
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 12, 2006 - 8:26 pm: |
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Alley,
I love your passion but you have fallen well short of any proof. I wish a good Democrat Lib would have the honest guts to tell you how partisan your statement is. Where is the proof of any of these things? You sound like a Detective to lazy to actually do the work to convict someone.
Tom,
I have more than one reason. He doesn't deserve the accusations. See, we are on opposite sides of the issues, how unique. I don't think he has done anything wrong and so far not one prosecutor has proved me wrong. You guys have a few more years to get him, but so far it's looking like you are swinging weakly at the curveball. I make this promise Tom, if any prosecutor is able to convict Bush of a crime then I will not over look it. But I will continue to over look partisan handwringing summarized by Alley's heartfelt rant.
As for the football analogy it's a pretty good one, except there is no referee in politics and no rules. Was Kerry's disgusting use of Cheney's daughter's sexual orientation in the debates within the rules? This is a bigboy sport. If your team can't stand getting kicked in the groin then either they should hit the weight room or get extra padding. Waiting around for the ref to blow the whistle is pretty useless. I wish we could have above board politics but those days were gone around John Adams. Again I ask you Tom, were you feeling sympathy for us conservatives while your Democratic brethren ran roughshod over us for 40 years? And will you call for restraint if Speaker Pelosi begins investigations all over the place? I won't hold my breath for Democratic fairness. |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1355
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, May 13, 2006 - 9:58 pm: |
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Hey Southerner, when the Economy fall on its •••, gas is $6.00 a gallon, are you still going to enjoy our lib posts? |
STRAWling
Citizen
Username: Strawling
Post Number: 19
Registered: 5-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, May 13, 2006 - 11:15 pm: |
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I wish my fellow Republicans as well as the "fallow" Democrats would all condescend to admit two things and two things only:
1. GWB IS NOT a crook, not a criminal, not to be compared with Nixon, nor is Cheney to be compared with Spiro Agnew. So let's leave that out.
There are Democrats and Republicans aplenty in the House and Senate that are sweating while further Abramoff investigations occur and while the effects of the stupid greed and abuse of power that motivated Brent Wilkes and Dusty Foggo start to implicate others.
Greed and the temptation to get some easy money in the Capitol are a cross-party situation and as contagious as the flu on a NY rush hour subway in winter.
2. GWB IS ham-fisted, incompetent, and potentially the most lame-brained chief executive that this country has seen in at least 80 years. He belongs in the ranks of Millard Fillmore and Warren G. Harding.
I'm ashamed to say that his incompetence has set the tone for others in his administration, some still there, some gone: Scott McClellan, Porter Goss, Dusty Foggo, John Snow, Julie Myers, Harriet Miers, Michael Brown, Joseph Alpaugh, Michael Chertoff, Tom Ridge have all been chronic underperformers in their critical jobs.
The likes of Paul O'Neill, Eric Shinseki, Bernard Trainor, Richard Clark, and others were competent but not cronies, and said what needed to be said but did not say what the president wanted to hear. So they're gone.
What we are left with in this administration is the DREGS, from the Oval Office down to the lowliest cabinet secretary.
There are so many effective and competent Republicans and even a few Democrats out there. It's too bad one of them is not in the White House.
Our country shouldn't have to put up with the shoddy performance we've been seeing with this president and his cabinet. |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1362
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2006 - 12:39 am: |
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Impeach the Bum, Indict Cheney, charge Rummy, Pearle, Wolfewitz, Rice. And let the courts sort it out.
I cant wait until Democrates can issue a subpoena. John Conyers will open the biggest can of worms, it will make Nixon look good. Bushes granfather was charged with violating the "trading with the enemies act" during WW2. GHWB & his father Prescott, both were knee deep in , Operation 40, Bay of Pigs, Mongoose. While GHWB was into BCCI, Iran Contra, it runs in the family -- if you hadn't noticed.
All those families were Nazi sympathizers. They wanted a US Fascist Government, then, and now. Wake up StrawLing. Smell the damn coffee. Articles of
impeachment have already been written. By the same people who wrote atricles for Nixon.
Maybe if folks would pay attention, this crap wouldn't be happening all over again.
Incompetency my piehole. Take your case for "incompetency"---fold it 5 times and put it where the moon doesn't shine.
Dukakis was Incompetant. And so is your essay. |
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