BUSH LOSES FRIENDS FASTER THAN A SUCKER LOSES AT THREE CARD MONTY, OR WAS THAT A "TRIFECTA"?
The beleaguered Thief-In-Chief is losing the support of even the staunchest of corrupt and craven Republicans in the Congress, who can see a sinking ship foundering fast.....
nytimes.com
Corporate Abuses Giving Democrats a Campaign Issue
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
BOISE, Idaho, July 13 — From scouring the voting records and business backgrounds of Republican opponents to preparing television advertisements promising to "hold corporate executives accountable," Democrats are moving to turn the battle over corporate governance to their advantage this fall. The focus on Wall Street has given a jolt of energy to a party that just a month ago was casting around for issues to emphasize in the midterm elections.
At the same time, the White House is confronting what is apparently the end of the lock-step support it has enjoyed from Congressional Republicans for the last two years. Republicans are moving sharply to distance themselves from Wall Street and President Bush, embracing Democratic proposals concerning corporate abuse and offering tough words against corporate malfeasance.
"To corporate C.E.O.'s, and the accounting firms that audit their companies, let me be very clear," Representative Mike Ferguson, Republican of New Jersey, said this week, "if you violate the public trust, if you flush down the drain the retirement security of millions of Americans, you will and you deserve to go to jail." Mr. Ferguson, a freshman whose seat is being challenged by Democrats, made the remarks at a Congressional hearing, then shared them with constituents in a newsletter he mailed the next day.
Democrats, particularly, are rushing to seize the issue by staging forums, news conferences and town hall meetings intended to spotlight corporate abuses; and they are raising the topic as governors of both parties gathered here in Boise this weekend for their conference.
In Clinton, Miss., today Representative Ronnie Shows, a Democrat, held an "accountability town hall" at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum — three blocks from the headquarters of WorldCom, which has been under investigation since it disclosed that it improperly accounted for $3.8 billion in expenses.
In Minneapolis on Thursday, at the very moment that Mr. Bush was speaking on behalf of the Republican challenger to Senator Paul Wellstone, Mr. Wellstone was distributing a statement noting the "turmoil caused by the ongoing accounting scandals and concern over the president's ability to respond to them" and asking, "Who will Minnesotans trust to be a watchdog for investors and consumers?"
Democrats are inspecting the backgrounds of Republican candidates for links to discredited corporations and examining the records of incumbents for votes that can be portrayed as lax on corporate abuse. They are preparing scripts for television advertisements featuring Senate candidates promising to "protect jobs and pensions" and stand up for "people who work hard and play by the rules," an official who has reviewed the scripts said.
"I think it's going to be a very big deal," said Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster tracking the issue. "It is rooted in something very real. People are angry."
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"Too many people have lost too much money to ignore all that has happened," said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. "When you have a third of people in their early 50's and their early 60's saying their retirement has now been delayed because of the market, you've got an angry segment of the election. And they are voting."
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The INFAMOUS TRIFECTA JOKE:
msnbc.com
Utterly bad taste? Or evidence of an extraordinarily sick mind?
-Ray |
