via ThinkProgress -- Bush: I veto bills to ‘ensure that I am relevant. ’Today in his press conference, President Bush attempted to justify his recent veto of an SCHIP expansion by explaining that he needs to issue vetoes in order to prove to people that he’s still the Decider: Bush has issued four vetoes during his presidency, twice blocking stem cell research, withdrawal from Iraq, and now SCHIP. http://thinkprogress.org/2007/10/17/bush-i-veto-bills-to-ensure-that-i-am-relevant/
i read on cnn that bush was blasting congress bc of their lack of progress on passing bills... HILLARIOUS!
More from todays press conference... We are actively involved with the Turks and the Iraqis through a tripartite arrangement, and we'll continue to -- dialoguing with the Turks. Matter of fact, I don't think it ever damages relations when the American President talks about religious tolerance and religious freedom is good for a nation. You know, Dave, I don't remember what I was doing in 1980 -- let's see, I was living in Midland, Texas; I don't remember my reaction that far back. And the reason why is that diplomacy only works if there are consequences when diplomacy breaks down, and it makes sense for there to be other people at the table so that if North Korea were to have said to all of us, we're doing to do x, y, or z, and they don't, that we have other -- people other than the United States being consequential. What matters most to me are whether or not we can achieve the results that I've said we're hoping to achieve. But, no, I fully understand those who say you can't win this thing militarily. That's exactly what the United States military says, that you can't win this military. So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. But it also creates a issue here in America, and that is, how do we get people to understand the nature of the mortgages they bought, and how do you help people refinance to stay in home -- stay in their home? You know, one of the interesting -- well, my leadership style has been to try to be in a position where I actually can influence people. And one way to do that is to have personal relationships that enable me to sit down and tell people what's on my mind without fear of rupturing relations. We're -- I recognize there are people Congress that say we shouldn't have been there in the first place. I hope we continue to find ground by making sure our troops get funded. David, I'm not going to comment on the subject that you're trying to get me to comment on. I understand where you're trying to take. It's a clever ruse to get me to comment on it, but I'm not going to. Thank you. Generally leaders don't like to be photographed scowling at each other or making bad gestures at each other. So I'm not surprised that there was a nice picture of them walking along. I try to make sure that when I'm with foreign leaders, there's a pretty picture of the two of us walking down the colonnades, or something like that, to send a good message. What I'm about to tell you is, is that I'm looking forward to getting President Putin's readout from the meeting. Look, in all due respect to you and Gregory, this is not my first rodeo. And I know where you're trying to get me to comment. I'm not going to comment on it, one way or the other. I have no idea what he's going to do. He -- I asked him when I saw him in Australia, I tried to get it out of him, who's going to be his successor, what he intends to do, and he was wily. He wouldn't tip his hand. I'll tip mine: I'm going to finish -- I'm going to work hard to the finish. I'm going to sprint to the finish line, and then you'll find me in Crawford. Well, I'm doing it right now, see -- not to interrupt you -- but it's called the bully pulpit. And I hope to get your -- I was trying to get your attention focused on the fact that major pieces of legislation aren't moving, and those that are, are at a snail's pace. And I hope I did that. I hope I was able to accomplish that. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071017.html
Fortunately there are people who do remember what you were doing in 1980 mr president -- in 1981, his twin daughters Barbara and Jenna were born. His father was vice president of the United States. And Bush was struggling as the head of a failing oil exploration company called Arbusto. The Washington Post reports: Arbusto’s balance sheets showed that at the end of 1981, it had little more than $48,000 in the bank and more than half of all its assets consisted of “accounts receivable,” money owed to it by others. At the same time, the company owed almost $300,000 in bank loans and close to $120,000 to other creditors. At that time, Bush received an infusion of cash from a number of sources, including from longtime friend James R. Bath who was handling the finances for the bin Laden family. http://thinkprogress.org/
why is that so funny? congress has less of an approval rating than bush (whatever its worth). They havent done much beside political jockeying. There was all this big talk early in the game about how much they would do.
You might want to ask republicans why that is. And if you were paying attention (I know, hard for you) you'd know that the 110th congress has already had more votes on legislation than the republican controlled 109th congress.
yeah but you have to realize that they only had a slim margin so its hard for them to get anything passed in congress. then the president is on a veto-spree. so i find it ironic that bush sits there and blasts congress but he vetos anything that comes to his desk. (id say thats political jockeying from bush) yes the democrats were very ambitious when they came into power but any sane person could see that they wouldnt be able to get much accomplished bc of their slim margins and bush's veto power. the armenia resolution is kind of a low blow. but the democrats are doing what they can to end the iraq war.
Beyond the veto, the Senate Repubs have threatened filibuster on essentially every bill and invoked cloture on a record number of bills... In short, Repubs are doing in spades what they tried to take away from the Dems witht hte "nuclear option" when they were in the minority. They are doing it relentlessly and without reason. Repubs are the obstructionists.
It's all part of their cynical plan to outlast the average American's attention span, and divert attention away from the president's power to veto. If they can pound the lie for another 6 months, then swing voters will assume that both parties are incompetent and won't use their votes to spite Bush. I think both parties realize how weak the recent Democratic margin of victory was in the last Congressional elections, especially because the interests from some of the freshmen aren't completely aligned to traditional Democratic stances. Dem leadership haven't pushed hard into criminalizing Bush and his minions. And the Republicans are using this strategy with their media proxies. It seems to be working in the polls where approval ratings for Congress is almost as bad as Bush's. Whether that translates into 08 is to be seen.
World War III Watch For the first time in public, Bush warned of the risk of "World War III" if Iran gets nuclear weapons. So now Iran can't even have the knowledge necessary to make a bomb? Talk about moving the goal posts. I guess this is a good thing to know. And it really boils down the election. If America wants another war, vote republican. Makes a nice campaign slogan no?
yeah politics is very cyclical but i dont think bush's policies will slip from the voters minds bc we'll still be in iraq long after bush is gone from office. but the prognosis for the republicn party doesnt look good. you can spin it any way you want but w/ 14 republican congress man announcing retirement + all the sex scandals + finance scandals + iraq... the republicans didnt blow their toe off, they blew their leg off. if the democrats are smart, stay clean, and dont lean too far to the left (keeping their policies moderate) then theyll be in power for a long time...
i think the low aproval ratings have more to do w/ frustration w/ the fact that the democrats can muster the votes to override bush's vetos. so you can say people are unsatisfied w/ congress but that applies to both sides of the aisle.
in all fairness, hillary is every bit the war monger as the republicans (ron paul excluded) when it comes to iran. and hasnt she said that bush isnt being hawkish enough w/ regards to iran? if america wants another war vote republican or hillary.
Yes, and that is because the liberals are playing politics with outrageous bills they know have ZERO chance of passage. It's a total stunt by the libs to get on the evening news. Once again, the libs are not interested in healthy policy for the country, they are more interested in playing petty political games. The libs are wasting our time, which is why Congress' approval rating is at an all-time low.
