Cheney, no surprise, defends his last eight years in office. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28338533/ Interview with a powerful, if unpopular, VP Cheney discusses the auto bailout, gives unapologetic review of last 8 years WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney blamed Congress for failing to bail out the auto industry, saying the White House was forced to step in to save U.S. car companies. In an interview broadcast Sunday, Cheney said the economy is in such bad shape that the car companies might not have survived without the $17.4 billion in emergency loans that President George W. Bush approved on Friday. "The president decided specifically that he wanted to try to deal with it and not preside over the collapse of the automobile industry just as he goes out of office," Cheney said in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday." Lawmakers "had ample opportunity to deal with this issue and they failed," Cheney said. "The president had no choice but to step in." Congress rejected an auto bailout package after many Republicans and some Democrats opposed it. Some said U.S. auto companies would be better off if they were required reorganize through bankruptcy. Unapologetic Cheney leaves office Jan. 20 as one of the most powerful, if unpopular, vice presidents in recent history. He played a key role in many of Bush's major policy decisions and, in the interview, was unapologetic in his review of the past eight years. He staunchly defended the Bush administration's use of executive power in the fight against terrorism and disagreed with calls to limit presidential authority. "If you think about what Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War, what FDR did during World War II. They went far beyond anything we've done in a global war on terror," the vice president contended. Cheney said he was unconcerned about polls showing him as unpopular, saying that people who spend too much time reading polls "shouldn't serve in these jobs." He offered a somber assessment of the economic challenges facing the incoming Obama administration, saying there is a growing consensus that government action will be needed next year to help revive the economy. But he declined to judge the economic stimulus plan that Obama is considering because the program has yet to be announced. Obama and his team are working to come up with details of a plan to pump up the economy with $850 billion or more in government spending over the next few years. Their goal is to create or save 3 million jobs in the next two years. "I'd want to see what they're going to spend it on," Cheney said. "There usually are fairly significant differences between we Republicans and the Democrats on how you stimulate the economy." Cheney on the GOP, bin Laden and Biden Cheney, also speaking about the future of the Republican Party, the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and the role for his successor, Joe Biden, said he: Expects the Republican Party to rebound from this year's election defeats, but is unsure whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will lead the comeback as the party's nominee for president in 2012. "I don't think she has any kind of lock on that," Cheney said of this year's vice presidential candidate. "She'll have to go out and earn it just as anybody else would have to." Thinks bin Laden is alive but questioned whether he is still effectively running al-Qaida. "He's been holed up in a way where he's not even been communicating and there are questions about whether or not he's even running the operation," Cheney said. "Capturing Osama bin Laden is something we clearly would love to do" before leaving office, Cheney said. But he said it has been more important to stop terrorist attacks against the United States. Biden has not asked for any advice about being vice president. Biden has called Cheney "the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history." Cheney strongly disagreed with the assertion and said he doesn't think Obama will give Biden as consequential a role as Cheney has had under Bush. Disagreed with the firing of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in late 2006, though he praised Rumsfeld's successor, Robert Gates, who will stay on as Obama's defense secretary. "It wasn't my decision to make," Cheney said of firing Rumsfeld. "The president doesn't always take my advice." Did not regret using an obscenity beginning with "f" in an exchange with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the Senate floor in June 2004. "I thought he merited it at the time," Cheney said with a chuckle in the interview. "And we've since, I think, patched over that wound and we're civil to one another now."
As a corollary, I saw this earlier today. [rquoter] Poll: 23 percent say Cheney worst vice president ever From Paul Steinhauser CNN Deputy Political Director WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national poll suggests that almost a quarter of Americans think that Dick Cheney is the worst vice president in American history. Twenty-three percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday say that Cheney is the country's worst vice president, when compared with his predecessors. An additional 41 percent feel that Cheney is a poor vice president, with 34 percent rating him a good number two. Only one percent of those polled say that Cheney is the best vice president in U.S. history. "On the Sunday talk shows, Cheney took on the job of making the affirmative case for the Bush legacy," said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. "But the messenger may be getting in the way of the message." Cheney steps down as vice president January 20. He will be succeeded by Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Although extremely unpopular, Cheney will leave office as one of the most powerful vice presidents in history. He played a crucial role in many of the Bush administration's crucial policies and was a major proponent of using and expanding executive powers. "Cheney still has a lot of fans in the Republican Party. Most Republicans nationwide said Cheney had been a good veep," Holland said. "But six in 10 independents and eight in 10 Democrats gave Cheney a rating of 'poor' or 'worst ever.' " In an interview Sunday, Cheney said he was not troubled by polls suggesting he was unpopular. "I'm very comfortable with where we are and what we achieved substantively. And frankly, I would not want to be one of those guys who spends all his time reading the polls. I think people like that shouldn't serve in these jobs," Cheney said on "Fox News Sunday." The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, with 1,013 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points. [/rquoter]
Only 23%??? Cheney is going to go down as one of the worst in modern history, IMO. Considering the condition the country is being left in after 8 years, one of the worst might be too mild. I hope I live long enough to find out just how much influence he had on Bush and the decisions that the administration made. It'll take a long time for everything to come out. We're still getting new stuff about LBJ and Nixon, for example.
I think he might have been the greatest VP ever in his own eyes, and considering his point of view that his job was to insulate the president legally and take the heat for crap that goes down. If Nixon has Cheney... no one touches him. For the country, he's the worst since the dude whose entire shtick was railing about the price of eggs.
he's the best VP in my lifetime, perhaps rivaled only by GHWB, who had no where near as consequential a role. and he's been everything he was supposed to be, a loyal, trusted confidant and advisor to the president, imminently capable of stepping if it had been required. and the bit about not paying attention to the polls is right on- i think we'll miss that attribute of both Cheney and W in the coming years. i'm not afraid to say it: I love Dick. no homo.
not paying attention to polls not paying attention to intelligence not paying attention to generals on the ground saying they need more troops not paying attention to the constitution won't be missed as well as shooting people in the face
he'll be better than this guy <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NmRXH7RkCZQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NmRXH7RkCZQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
given the "scandals" basso tries to associate obama with makes his post even more a joke. the vice president he loves shot someone in the face and didn't report it till after it was cleaned up.
Anyone think Jr will give a Christmas Eve pardon to Cheney in the next few days? I believe that's when Bush Sr granted pardons to all the Iran-Contra people in 1992 right before leaving office.
Maybe he was... The VPs in my lifetime are Bush/Quayle/Gore/Cheney I can't really judge them, but lets just say neither Gore or Cheney impresses me. I think they are both whack jobs.
i go back a bit further, Nixon, LBJ, Humphrey, Agnew, Ford, Rockefeller, Mondale, GHWB, Quayle, Gore, Cheney. of those, i think biggus dickus has certainly been the most consequential, and IMHO, the ideal VP.
Its hard to judge VPs, but I agree an ideal VP should be more consequential. The second highest office in the country should not just be a president in waiting or a tie breaker in the senate. I wouldn't mind having Nixon as a VP. Watergate aside, the man was very intelligent, and has written some very influential books.
I didn't see him drinking a cold one in the video . . . . .so what am I watching for, bad singing and dancing. You don't need to drink to do that.
