http://thehill.com/op-eds/bush-suging-not-fading-as-tenures-end-nears-2007-12-11.html [rquoter] Bush suging, not fading, as tenure's end nears By Ron Christie December 11, 2007 Recent polls placing President Bush’s approval numbers near 30 percent miss an important distinction: The policies and positions the president has advocated since 2001 have led to significant results in recent days. In short, the presidency of George W. Bush is surging, rather than waning, with little more than one year remaining in his term. On the domestic front, the tax cuts the president pushed through the Congress have led to remarkable economic growth, low unemployment and record-high tax receipts that members of Congress can hardly wait to spend. New data released last week showed that America added 94,000 jobs in November 2007 — capping a remarkable 51 straight months in which jobs have been created in our economy. Despite partisan claims that the economy is soft, more than 8.3 million jobs have been created since August 2003 and unemployment remains low (4.7 percent). America remains open for business. More Americans have more money in their savings accounts and in their wallets as a result of the Bush tax cuts. Despite talk on Capitol Hill of rolling back the president’s tax cuts that “benefit only the wealthy” Democrats have been loath to pass legislation and return to their districts to explain why raising taxes and eliminating the popular $500 per child tax credit is good public policy. Not going to happen anytime soon. Roundly criticized back in 2001 for his position on stem cell research, the president’s resolve and strength to draw a moral boundary line to protect innocent unborn life has been vindicated. Despite the yammering that the president had hampered scientific progress in stem cell research, despite the vicious demagogy and false claims that if the president hadn’t placed restrictions on how federal funds were spent, people would rise and walk from their wheelchairs, scientists announced last week they could produce an embryo-free way to produce genetically matched stem cells. Or put another way, the president’s decision to draw a bright moral line against destroying human life while providing federal dollars for the first time to stimulate stem cell research has proven successful. The silence in the media about this remarkable development has been deafening. Equally deafening have been the media (and congressional Democrats’) reaction to success on the ground in Iraq. After linking vital resources to fight the war on terrorism to a timetable for troop withdrawals, Congress has failed on numerous occasions in recent months to hamstring the president’s ability to conduct the war as commander in chief. And despite claims that the surge of troops and the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus and President Bush have failed, even ardent foe Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has concluded that the surge in Iraq is working. Not content to celebrate the success of our brave men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line every day to provide stability in a volatile region of the world, congressional Democrats now claim that while the surge might be working, the Iraqis have “failed” to produce meaningful political results on the ground. Once again, facts get in the way of those on the Hill who are pressing — wishing — for an American defeat on the ground in Iraq. Absent from media coverage of late is the fact that the central government of Iraq has reached its 2007 budget revenue target of $30.2 billion. This figure is derived from oil revenues — revenues of which the Democrats have criticized the Iraqis and President Bush for not capturing to fund the cost of the new government in Baghdad. This criticism now rings hollow. Similarly, 40 Iraqi leaders were killed in Iraq during the month of November and Lt. General Ray Odierno has reported that the has been a 23-week decline — nearly six months — in insurgent deaths and attacks upon Iraqi civilians. This decrease in violence has led thousands of civilians to return to the country each and every day to reopen their schools, businesses and neighborhoods that have long been abandoned due to violence. In Mosul, the airport opened for the first time in 14 years for commercial aviation flights. In a region of the country long associated with violence, Iraqi Airlines is now open for business. While there is always a potential for violence to flare up, Iraqi civilians have returned home to provinces all around the country that had previously been strongholds held by terrorists and Saddam loyalists. Political stability long thought to be an elusive dream is becoming a daily reality across Iraq. From the surge in Iraq, vindication with his stem cell position and strong economic development on the home front, President George W. Bush has hit his stride and is surging rather than limping into his last year in office. For those who have counted him out, the president remains resolute, perhaps comfortable in the knowledge that history, rather than bitter partisans in Washington, will favorably reflect on his two terms in office for waging an effective war against terrorism while demonstrating capable stewardship and remarkable domestic accomplishments during a time of war. Christie served as deputy assistant to Vice President Cheney and special assistant to President Bush from 2001 to 2004. He is a contributor to The Hill’s Pundits Blog and vice president of the strategic consulting firm Navigators LLC.[/rquoter]
hummm former aide to Darth Vader, what a shocker in all seriousness though, I'm definetely not a fan of Bush but his 2nd term has been a lot better.
This happens with nearly every President. During their last bit in office, some of their programs actually start to work a little, and anything new actions are usually pretty non-confrontational. Heck, George H. W. Bush lost an election and had a 56% approval rating when he left. Odds are, Bush will be up to a sky-high 40% by January 09.
You have got to be kidding. Does anybody actually listen to this assclown anymore? Not you basso, the president.
Pretty funny that a week without a major scandal, a conviction, and with a reduced amount of suicide bombings counts as a triumphant tour de force for the president. I guess that just shows how low expectations have become.
And yet, last Sunday the biggest Bush bobblehead I know in person, my mother, actually told me that she "can't wait" until Bush is out of office. Seems like more of the "WAAAH, liberal media isn't reporting the good news" crap that we have been hearing from Limbaugh and O'Liely. Real Americans are, at best, treading water, as evidenced by the fact that Americans have the lowest savings rate since the Great Depression. This belies the claim in the article that Americans have more in their wallets and savings accounts because of the tax cuts. Most Americans have seen their pittance of a tax refund wasted on higher gas and electricity prices and have had to go further into debt despite the cuts. Keep shilling, though, basso. It doesn't seem like you're good at anything else.
I stopped reading after this first "example". For starters, I believe the economy needs to create about 115k jobs per month to keep up with population growth. So 94,000 jobs isn't particularly good (not bad, either). As for the "partisan claims" that the economy is soft, those partisan sources include Wall Street, the Fed, government data, and even the White House's own growth forecasts.
Recent polls placing President Bush’s approval numbers near 30 percent miss an important distinction: Clinton had an approval rating twice that at the same point in his second term. Bummer. Hey W! You should have gone with that sex-with-intern plan vs. pre-emptive strike c*m quamire against a non-threat plan. I am just saying ...
I take all political reporting lightly. Reporting tends to be biased and facts are misconstrued. Things are never as bad as they say, and never as good.
I'll take that bet. He hasn't hit 40% in any major poll in over year. Between now and the time he leaves office, more shenanigans will be exposed and more soldiers will die... and who knows what another hurricane season will bring. There will be no latent fondness expressed for Bush unless it's by the newscasters covering his last day... even then they'll have to talk about his last minute pardons, which could be interesting.
I'm dizzy after all that spin. I'm willing to admit that Bush's tenure hasn't been an unmitigated failure and a few things have gone right and showing promise but there is no way remotely that it is the unmitigated success that OP-ED is painting. Others have and will address other parts of that piece but I wanted to respond to one part: First off the media has paid a lot of attention to this development and if peopel bother to read through it they will understand how tentative this development is. Even the inventor of this technique has said that we still need embryonic stem cell research and there are still big questions regarding this. Anyway Bush's moral line has nothing to do with this discovery as whether the policy was in place or not this research would've happened given that getting egg cells isn't easy. This discovery is very promissing but it is specious at best to paint this as a victory for GW Bush's policy.
"The stunning announcement by Japanese and American research teams that they have obtained highly promising stem cells without having to destroy an embryo could help free scientists from shackles that have long hobbled their efforts. . . . Any claim that Mr. Bush's moral stance drove scientists to this discovery must be greeted with particular skepticism. The primary discoverer of the new techniques is a Japanese scientist who was not subject to the president's restrictions."--editorial, New York Times, Dec. 1 " 'When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters,' said Dr. Yamanaka, 45, a father of two and now a professor at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences at Kyoto University. 'I thought, we can't keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way.' "--news story, New York Times, Dec. 1 http://www.firstthings.com/blog/2007/12/11/now-they-tell-us/
This piece makes my point. Bush's moral stance has almost nothing to do with this discovery as opposed to the original op-ed that seems to be claiming it does. That good he thinks that way but he still isn't saying embryonic stem cell research is unneeded. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21886974/
Yeah, that bit about stem-cell research pissed me off too. The media definitely reported on it. They just didn't say exactly what the Bush spin machine wanted them to say, hence a "deafening silence."
Bush has definitely been having a better time of it lately -- i'm surprised he has been so reclusive - particularly with the improved situation in Iraq.
Because every time he appears before a national audience, people are reminded why they hate him and his ratings go down.
Not every time. If things keep looking up for Team Bush and he leaves on a high note -- bad news for the Dems in Nov 08.
