| Latest Forum Topics / Others |
 Post Reply
|
|
Lame Duck Bush
|
|
|
tanglinboy
Elite |
25-Jan-2007 13:54
Yells: "hello!" |
|
x 0
x 0 Alert Admin |
I heard on the radio yesterday from a Political analyst that he thinks that Bush will try to prolong the war and pass the problem to the next President. He can then deny that any crap that happens as a result of Americans withdrawing from Iraq is directly his fault. |
| Useful To Me Not Useful To Me | |
|
tanglinboy
Elite |
25-Jan-2007 13:46
Yells: "hello!" |
|
x 0
x 0 Alert Admin |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democrats gave little support Wednesday to President Bush's State of the Union plea for congressional patience with his Iraq policy. "Our country's pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work," Bush said in Tuesday evening's 50-minute address. But Democrats answered that Bush is not listening to lawmakers' concerns and those of voters who gave Democrats control of Congress in November. "The Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan group of experts, the American people, and the Congress are saying, 'Mr. President, we want you to change course.' He didn't do that," New Mexico Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson said on CNN's "American Morning." On MSNBC, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, said, "I believe, as the American people believe, and a bipartisan chorus of voices believe, that the president hasn't listened to both the American people and to a wide range of expert opinion that this is not the way to achieve any success in Iraq and that, in fact, it is a failed plan." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said they welcomed Bush's "overtures of bipartisanship" and hoped "to begin working with him to move our country in a new direction." "Unfortunately, tonight the president demonstrated he has not listened to Americans' single greatest concern: the war in Iraq," the Democratic leaders said in a statement late Tuesday. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, like Richardson a possible candidate for president in 2008, said he stood firm against the call to increase troop levels in Iraq. "Obviously the bulk of the speech was devoted to Iraq, and unfortunately there we saw more of the same," Obama said. "Escalating troop levels, as far as every expert I've talked to indicates, is not going to lead to a better solution, but in fact is going to simply continue on the chaotic course that we're on right now." Bush did get support from some Republicans. "The president consulted with the best military minds ... and came up with a new strategy, and I think it deserves a chance," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "This is our last chance. The consequences of failure are catastrophic. I believe we ought to give this general a chance to try to succeed with this plan," Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said of Gen. David Petraeus, who will be the new U.S. commander in Iraq. Cornyn pushed Democrats to do more than criticize. "I think the responsibility of the new majority in the Congress is to come up with an alternative," he said. "If they don't like this one, what do they like? What is their plan for success?" Despite domestic overtures on health care and energy conservation in his address, analysts said Iraq remains the focus of Bush's remaining years in the White House. (Speech transcript) "There is an old saying in American history, that war kills reform," said presidential historian and author Robert Dallek. "War generally undermines the president's ability to get anything done in domestic affairs." On Wednesday, the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee was debating a resolution that could express disapproval of Bush's Iraq policy. (Watch senators take on the Iraq plan  )
Reid and Pelosi said the president's "plan will receive an up-or-down vote in both the House and the Senate, and we will continue to hold him accountable for changing course in Iraq." Viewer response to the address was mostly positive but somewhat muted, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. Of 370 adult Americans polled who watched Bush's address, the number who said they had a "very positive" reaction was 41 percent -- the lowest score ever recorded on that question for a Bush speech. (Full story) The president also put forth a wish list to extend health insurance coverage, reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent over 10 years and limit greenhouse gas emissions. (State of the Union proposals ) Lanny Davis, a top aide to former President Clinton, said the new scenario presents Bush with an opportunity. "He now has two years left where he is not worried about the right wing of his party," Davis said. "I do believe it is authentic for George Bush to govern this country for the center." In the Democratic response to Bush's speech, freshman Sen. James Webb of Virginia -- an early and outspoken opponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq -- said Bush "took us into this war recklessly" and ignored warnings from many experts about the consequences. (Transcript) "The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military," said Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran whose son serves in Iraq with the Marine Corps. "We need a new direction." (Democratic response to Bush address) |
| Useful To Me Not Useful To Me | |