Sarah Palin's image already appears on the newer nickels.
Tuesday - January 23, 2007
State Of The Union: Condensed Version
First of all, we need to take note of the fact that Democrats are already issuing their rebuttals before the speech. It’s what is called a PRE-buttal ... with emphasis on the “butt” part:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Emboldened congressional Democrats did their best Tuesday to drown out President Bush’s State of the Union message, making clear that Bush and his Republican allies are no longer in charge of national policy, especially on Iraq.
“They don’t have a plan,” freshman Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia told reporters in a preview of his party’s response to Bush’s speech later in the evening. “What they have put on the table is more a tactical adjustment.”
Democrats haven’t agreed on a plan for Iraq either, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the burden of finding a solution rests on the White House. “The president is the commander in chief. We don’t have the authority” to execute a plan for bringing American troops home from Iraq, Reid said.
Their comments were the Democrats’ effort to have the first, most frequent and last words on the president’s annual address, which Bush will deliver in the most unfriendly congressional environment of his tenure.
In case that hadn’t yet sunk in, Democrats launched a five-day series of speeches with an address to the National Press Club Friday titled, “The State of Our Union.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even appropriated the key line in any president’s annual speech. “The state of our union is strong,” she told the audience.
Every day since then, the Democrats have hammered home the message that achieving bipartisanship must be as much a part of Bush’s agenda as proposals on the war, energy independence and health care must be colored with bipartisan goodwill. “It will be clear to us whether he’s ready to work cooperatively to do that or if he’s saying, ‘I’m the decider,’” said Pelosi, quoting Bush’s famous retort on Iraq.
Webb said he’s already dismissed Bush’s plan for a short-term surge of troops into Iraq. “I don’t particularly view this surge program as a change in strategy at all,” said freshman Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, the Vietnam veteran chosen to deliver his party’s response to Bush’s speech Tuesday night.
“I don’t see it as strategic, other than perhaps politically strategic,” Webb said in a conference call Monday with reporters. “It’s just a lot more flailing around rather than coming up with something specific that’s going to end our involvement and bring better stability to the region.”
“They don’t have a plan,” freshman Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia told reporters in a preview of his party’s response to Bush’s speech later in the evening. “What they have put on the table is more a tactical adjustment.”
Democrats haven’t agreed on a plan for Iraq either, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the burden of finding a solution rests on the White House. “The president is the commander in chief. We don’t have the authority” to execute a plan for bringing American troops home from Iraq, Reid said.
Their comments were the Democrats’ effort to have the first, most frequent and last words on the president’s annual address, which Bush will deliver in the most unfriendly congressional environment of his tenure.
In case that hadn’t yet sunk in, Democrats launched a five-day series of speeches with an address to the National Press Club Friday titled, “The State of Our Union.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even appropriated the key line in any president’s annual speech. “The state of our union is strong,” she told the audience.
Every day since then, the Democrats have hammered home the message that achieving bipartisanship must be as much a part of Bush’s agenda as proposals on the war, energy independence and health care must be colored with bipartisan goodwill. “It will be clear to us whether he’s ready to work cooperatively to do that or if he’s saying, ‘I’m the decider,’” said Pelosi, quoting Bush’s famous retort on Iraq.
Webb said he’s already dismissed Bush’s plan for a short-term surge of troops into Iraq. “I don’t particularly view this surge program as a change in strategy at all,” said freshman Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, the Vietnam veteran chosen to deliver his party’s response to Bush’s speech Tuesday night.
“I don’t see it as strategic, other than perhaps politically strategic,” Webb said in a conference call Monday with reporters. “It’s just a lot more flailing around rather than coming up with something specific that’s going to end our involvement and bring better stability to the region.”
As for the speech later tonight, President Bush plans to offer several things we need to fix:
Administration officials said Monday that among Mr. Bush’s proposals would be a plan to help states provide health care coverage to people who lack insurance by diverting federal aid from hospitals, especially public institutions. The provision is likely to draw loud criticism from municipalities across the nation and will significantly affect the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the nation’s largest municipal health care system.
Officials said Mr. Bush’s speech would include proposals to address the nation’s energy needs and global warming, partly by promoting the use and development of alternative fuels. He is also expected to renew his call for an overhaul of immigration law and to propose altering tax policies to help the uninsured.
On health care, Mr. Bush is trying to drive the debate through plans that would not cost the federal government additional money at a time when the White House is committed to showing a plan to balance the budget. This weekend, the administration sketched out a proposal under which people whose health care programs exceed a certain value would face a higher tax bill, with the revenue going to tax incentives to encourage the purchase of health coverage by lower-income people.
Officials said Mr. Bush’s speech would include proposals to address the nation’s energy needs and global warming, partly by promoting the use and development of alternative fuels. He is also expected to renew his call for an overhaul of immigration law and to propose altering tax policies to help the uninsured.
On health care, Mr. Bush is trying to drive the debate through plans that would not cost the federal government additional money at a time when the White House is committed to showing a plan to balance the budget. This weekend, the administration sketched out a proposal under which people whose health care programs exceed a certain value would face a higher tax bill, with the revenue going to tax incentives to encourage the purchase of health coverage by lower-income people.
The Democrats will then sic their attack dog on the President after the speech:
Giving the Democratic rebuttal will be Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, whose son is serving in Iraq and who reported having a tense exchange with Mr. Bush at the Congressional Christmas party. The audience in the House chamber is expected to include the actor Michael J. Fox, who has become the face of the movement to overcome Mr. Bush’s objections and increase federal financing for stem cell research.
Labor unions and hospitals are already screaming over the proposals:
Labor leaders were outspoken in opposing the plan. “This is a wrongheaded, crazy proposal,” said Gerald M. Shea, assistant to the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. “It would throw into turmoil the employment-based system of health insurance, and it would impose a new tax on the middle class.”
Several public health officials reacted with alarm to Mr. Bush’s plan to encourage states to take Medicaid money now earmarked for public hospitals and use it for state programs to cover the uninsured. The Bush administration proposes cutting Medicaid payments to public hospitals and other “safety net” providers by $3.9 billion over the next five years. Preliminary estimates suggest that 40 percent of the savings would come at the expense of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which operates 11 hospitals, 4 nursing homes and more than 80 community clinics.
Several public health officials reacted with alarm to Mr. Bush’s plan to encourage states to take Medicaid money now earmarked for public hospitals and use it for state programs to cover the uninsured. The Bush administration proposes cutting Medicaid payments to public hospitals and other “safety net” providers by $3.9 billion over the next five years. Preliminary estimates suggest that 40 percent of the savings would come at the expense of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which operates 11 hospitals, 4 nursing homes and more than 80 community clinics.
Finally, the NY TIMES wants you to know Bush’s approval ratings are lower than any President except two:
According to a CBS News poll conducted Thursday through Sunday, 28 percent of Americans approve of the way the president is handling his job, and more than twice as many, 64 percent, disapprove. It is the lowest approval rating the president has received in a CBS News poll, though it is statistically little different from the rating of 30 percent he received earlier this month.
Only Jimmy Carter has received a lower approval rating, 26 percent, in 1979, in surveys conducted by CBS News or its polling partner, The New York Times. In a Gallup poll conducted in August 1974, just before his resignation, Richard M. Nixon had a 24 percent approval rating.
Only Jimmy Carter has received a lower approval rating, 26 percent, in 1979, in surveys conducted by CBS News or its polling partner, The New York Times. In a Gallup poll conducted in August 1974, just before his resignation, Richard M. Nixon had a 24 percent approval rating.
Got all that? If not, you can read the rest at the NY TIMES or you can stay up tonight and watch the speech and the Official Bush-Bashing Party which will begin shortly thereafter and more than likely continue until November of 2008. These are the times that try men’s souls.
Posted by The Skipper
on 01/23/2007 at 12:34 PM
Filed Under: • Politics •
• Comments (6)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink •
Page 1 of 1 pages
Five Most Recent Trackbacks:
Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
Thｅ advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20
Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造，北京名传天下配音公司
专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作，北京名传天下配音公司 北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月，是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司，幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位，可供给一流的外语配音，长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台，能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话：010-83265555 北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00
meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28
a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07
DISCLAIMER
THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.
Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
- Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.
Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner
Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
RSS 2.0 
Atom 
