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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Amy J who wrote (213668)	12/21/2004 8:45:17 AM
From: Mary Cluney	Respond to of 1577924

With a president like Bush, it's amazing what is coming out of the wood works. Is it a country going downhill? I think it was a fluke George W Bush was elected and reelected. In a way, I think there will a backlash against the right wing just as there there is now a backlash against Liberals and the left wing. We went too far with Liberalism and defended a lot of jerks. Bill Clinton was the main culprit for George W Bush's success. If he could only have kept his sex drive in check and didn't have to lie about his private activities, he would have had a great Presidency. And, a person like George W Bush, with DWI convictions, untreated alcoholism, a lackluster educational history, an embarrassing military service tour of duty, a dubious business career, and cashing in on his father's status both in the way he acquired his wealth and political fortunes would never had been elected President. Perhaps its a good thing. Once people see the giant mess we are in in Iraq, what it is doing to our economy (along with the irresponsible tax cuts), and all the religious fanatics on our side forcing their views on the rest of our population - there will be a backlash against the far right that could last for quite some time - if not forever. I hope that this past election only reflected the electorate as a lagging indicator. If the elections were held a month or two later, Bush would have lost. The only thing that I could see that would mitigate this backlash against the far right would be if Condi Rice is much more clever that I think she is. She is George W. Bush's tutor and mentor on foreign policy. He will listen and do everything that she asks. Rumsfeld will not be able to marginalize Condi Rice as he did with Colin Powell. If Condi Rice were really clever, she would force a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. She could get us out of Iraq. She would then get the Nobel Peace Prize and nothing could stop her from being our next President. That is the only way I could imagine there not be a severe backlash against the far right.

To: Amy J who wrote (213668)	12/21/2004 12:09:04 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1577924

With a president like Bush, it's amazing what is coming out of the wood works. Is it a country going downhill? Nope. Its going backwards. We are already back to the late 1960s........questionable war, anti abortionism, a Texan in the WH, weak environmental laws, etc. By the end of his second term, we should be back at the turn of the 19th century........women will stay at home 24/7, in some states, women will lose the vote, kids will work in factories etc. ted

To: Amy J who wrote (213668)	12/22/2004 11:41:45 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 1577924

Amy, remember when I said the devil was in the detail wrt SS? Well it looks like Bush realizes that, so will hide the details: Bush Plans a Media Blitz on Social Security By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) will spearhead an election-style public relations campaign early next year to try to convince Americans that Social Security (news - web sites) is in urgent need of change but will keep dollar and cent details deliberately vague, analysts and officials say. With Bush's political capital riding on a successful overhaul of the popular retirement program, the White House and its allies plan to bombard the public with presidential speeches, television and radio ads, newspaper op-ed articles and grass-roots rallies between now and early 2005. "It's going to be a battle royal, very much like an election campaign but over an issue rather than a candidate," said Stephen Moore, executive director of Club for Growth, a Republican group that hopes to spend $15 million on a media campaign backing the White House. "This is about winning, and Bush can't afford to lose." Meanwhile, opponents accuse the White House of exaggerating the issue's urgency, saying it used a similar ploy to justify the war in Iraq (news - web sites) by citing an urgent threat from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that have never been found. "The administration's blitz on Social Security is eerily reminiscent of the way they made their case for war," said David Wade, spokesman for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), the former Democratic presidential nominee who sits on the Senate Finance Committee. Some analysts and congressional aides expect Bush to lay out details of his plan for changing Social Security in his State of the Union address to Congress, where the president faces major hurdles even among Republicans. But others involved in White House discussions say the State of the Union speech will likely offer few new insights. The administration, long known for its secrecy, will likely keep details away from opponents, until a bill emerges possibly as late as April. "The initial focus of the campaign is that we have to do reform. But they don't want a lot of details out there," said Mike Tanner of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that is preparing to distribute 25,000 Social Security guides to help community leaders shape public opinion for Bush. The White House declined to comment on strategy or the State of the Union speech. On Monday, Bush deflected a question on Social Security, saying: "I'll propose a solution at the appropriate time." By focusing on principles rather than details, analysts said the White House would have an easier time rallying popular support necessary to win a majority of votes in Congress. An aide to the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives called an effective White House "communications strategy" vital for success on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers fear that altering Social Security could mean trouble in the 2006 mid-term elections. Social Security is projected to remain solvent until 2018, when benefit payments begin to outstrip payroll tax receipts as the huge post-war baby boom generation retires. But the president insists the system be changed now without raising payroll taxes and wants workers to be allowed to hold a portion of their payroll taxes as private stock and bond investments. Democrats, organized labor and senior citizen advocates say Bush's privatization scheme would undermine benefits while giving a huge government-subsidized windfall to a financial industry that helped bankroll his reelection. The White House has come under fire over an estimated $1 trillion to $2 trillion privatization cost, with Republicans and Democrats concerned about a possible spike in borrowing that would erode the federal budget. The Club for Growth, which raises money for Republican candidates, said its media campaign would try to marshal Republican support for Bush in Congress by targeting lawmakers who were not cooperating with the president. Bush will also have help from the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a lobby group representing Wall Street and the manufacturing industry that was once headed by Charles Blahous, who is now a special assistant to the president and his point man on Social Security.