Election Had Little to do with War
Jan 11, 2007 Political
Ever since the November elections the Democrats have been beating this drum to the tune of “Americans spoke in the last election and the said they want this war to go in a different direction.” Every time a Democrat opposes what the Administration is doing with regard to the war you will hear some version of this meme. This is not what America wanted, this is not what America voted for, Americans made it clear. All of this is false and the crutch of some mandate is what helps Democrats who are too weak to lead. They use a falsely perceived notion about the election and the war to push their agendas. Unfortunately, if they keep saying this enough plenty of people will begin to believe it. The fact is, the loss was not unexpected with regard to the midterm election of a two term President. This has happened historically and has nothing to do with the war. Democrats who refuse to admit that Bush’s huge 2004 win was a mandate will have us believe that their meager pick up in the House and Senate is a mandate to end the war. Go figure! To be clear, here is the historical breakdown from a piece Ann Coulter wrote:
In fact, if the Democrats’ pathetic gains in a sixth-year election are a statement about the war in Iraq, Americans must love the war! As Roll Call put it back when Clinton was president: “Simply put, the party controlling the White House nearly always loses House seats in midterm elections” — especially in the sixth year.
In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s sixth year in 1938, Democrats lost 71 seats in the House and six in the Senate.
In Dwight Eisenhower’s sixth year in 1958, Republicans lost 47 House seats, 13 in the Senate.
In John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson’s sixth year, Democrats lost 47 seats in the House and three in the Senate.
In Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford’s sixth year in office in 1974, Republicans lost 43 House seats and three Senate seats.
Even America’s greatest president, Ronald Reagan, lost five House seats and eight Senate seats in his sixth year in office.
So the seat pick up is nothing more than a matter of history. One would never know that by listening to Democrats like Pelosi and Durbin. This is the reason they are flip flopping on their earlier assertions that we needed more troops in Iraq. Yes, that is right. Many of the Democrats said that we did not have enough troops and that we needed more. Many, including Nancy Pelosi and harry Reid. Now, they are using their meager pick up as a mandate to remove our troops from Iraq and to oppose the President’s plan to send more troops. They can dislike the idea all they want but they can do very little about it. The President has Constitutional authority to use the troops, move the troops, and deploy the troops. Despite Ted Kennedy’s best efforts, the Congress can not decide how troops are used. The can try to make the President justify it or withhold money but he can still send them without the money. Congress can not stop that.
Congress is setting itself up for some problems. They are opposing the President with this false claim that they are enforcing the wishes of the public as laid out in the last election. They are going to try to pigeon hole the president and they are going to try to make it tough for him. They do not have a veto proof majority so if they expect him to give a bit of what they want they need to give a bit of what he wants. Being the party in power might give them sway over the minority in Congress but the President is not hostage to their plans. He can veto the minimum wage increase (which he should anyway). They could not over ride such a veto. He will most assuredly veto stem cell research but that is another area where they would benefit from negotiations, ones that will not happen if they keep screwing with the POTUS.
I personally hope he has the sense to veto a great deal of the stuff they send forward. He has a lot of power and while he might not get what he wants, he can ensure that he does not get the things he prefers not to have. The president needs to dust off that mighty veto pen and start using it. Screw this idea of a legacy, keep the pressure on the left and disrupt their harmful agenda.
As for the idea that Americans want a new direction for the war. This is true, all real Americans want us to go balls to the walls and win. I understand winning is a new concept to the left, so much so that they do not even know how to do their jobs, but all real Americans know what it means to win and we want to win this war. So let’s dispense with this mindless prattle about direction, recognize the election for what it was (historical trend) and let’s get on with winning the war.
Related:
NYT
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In a Word Senator Kennedy, NO!
Jan 10, 2007 Political
Senator Ted Kennedy is the chairman of the Senate committee with jurisdiction over numerous health issues which is appropriate because he is a Senator with many health issues. The unfortunate thing is this boob wants universal health care coverage for everyone and he cites the debacle in Massachusetts as the bellwether for the nation. This plan, orchestrated by former Governor and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, is a regressive plan that will cost at least two (more likely three) times the estimated cost. In addition to its many flaws it FORCES people to get health care coverage even if they do not want it. Someone as rich as Bill Gates, who can afford health care out of pocket, would be required to get health insurance in Kennedy’s home state. This lunacy will keep Romney from getting the support of the Republican base.
The US has the best health care delivery system in the world. It is better than anyone’s regardless of what you have been told by the liberals and those who are in search of socialized medicine. We have plenty of problems, not the least of which, are the legal issues that plague the health care industry. Congress has continually failed to address these very real issues in order to allow their lawyer friends to get rich. The ambulance chaser John Edwards mad his fortune exploiting this system. Another problem is that states basically decide what must be included in the coverage offered to people in the state. This means that people have to accept and pay for things they might not want. Allowing people to select from a basic package and then charging them for items they add on will allow people to customize their insurance coverage to their needs. This too, is unlikely to happen. Perhaps one other option would be to open clinics and make doctors who owe student loans work in them until their loans are repaid.
What we will get instead, is this idiot Kennedy and the liberals in Congress forcing universal health care on all Americans. It is not bad enough that I have to pay for the coverage for my family but now I will pay more in taxes to take care of someone else. The cost of universal health care will be astronomical and will cause the economy to tank. The federal government can not run anything efficiently. I defy Kennedy or any other Congressperson to tell us one thing that the government has done that is efficient. Tell us just one thing that came in at or under the projected cost. They can not do it. Remember folks, Kennedy was responsible for the Big Dog and all its cost over runs. A piece of it fell off and killed a woman and now they need even more of our money to fix it. All this because the government is inept. Health care under government rule would cause huge delays and we would be like Canada where people with months on end for procedures that we in America can get today if we need them.
The reason that members of Congress think this is great is because it will not affect them. You or I might have to wait months to get bypass surgery but you don’t think Clinton would wait now do you. All of the so called elitist class would be exempt from these rules. Congress always exempts itself. What Americans need is health care coverage like they have. They will keep what they have while forcing BS on the rest of us. I know it is hard for you to believe but Congress does in fact make rules that we have to follow and they do not. Take Pelosi’s edict that there will be no smoking in the Capital (in an area where they all smoked). She indicated that members would still be able to smoke in their offices. It has been against the law to smoke in federal government buildings for years. The Capital is THE federal building and they allow smoking in their offices? This is another, off topic, example of do as I say and not as I do governance.
I believe that we can reform health care in this country. What we need are health care professionals to do it, not idiot lawyers like the members of Congress. I would be more than happy to help them get it done because I have the knowledge and experience and I am beholden to NO lobby. The last thing we need is a guy like Kennedy trying to ram through ill conceived, expensive, stupid legislation. If they make me pay for someone else’s health care I will cancel my health care and go on the government care so i will still only be paying for my own.
As a matter of fact I might just refuse to pay for any increase in my taxes for this. It is not my job to take care of everyone else. I wish the damned members of Congress would stop inventing more ways to take my money. Every time they do I have to work harder to make investments to offset the additional taxes. Mr. Kennedy, keep your damned hands off my money and stop trying to socialize medicine. And while we are at it, what say we privatize Social Security so fewer people are indebted to you idiots?
How old is this guy? Any chance the Grim Reaper will visit him before he gets this passed? Hey Teddy, why don’t you and Patrick take a real long road trip. You can take turns driving. Might I recommend Coastal Highway in California?
Here is the story about Teddy the Boozer (he was such a hoochie coocher).
Tags: Political
Hey Democrats, Quit Playing Games and Lead
Jan 10, 2007 Political
The Democrats have been out of the majority for a few short years and they act like they do not know how to lead. OK, now that I think about it they don’t know how to lead. For a few years now the Democrats have been telling America that Bush has screwed up the war (the one he lied us into) and that we need more troops. They routinely quote GEN Shinseki and his assertion that we would need half a million troops. The Bush administration decided to go with fewer troops and there has been a price to pay. The lack of troops has been a battle cry (in as much as liberals can battle) of the left. So, now that Bush is going to send more troops to Iraq what are they doing? The liberals who said we do not have enough troops are saying we do not need more troops. Pelosi, as I pointed out in the previous post, said that we should send more to stabilize. Now she is fighting the idea. Harry Reid was all for more troops, now he is not. The Democrats are going to have a symbolic vote on this issue. They are trying to force Republicans to express their support or disapproval of the plan to send more troops.
I want to know what purpose it serves. Congress has no authority to vote on sending troops, despite the effort of Ted Kennedy to violate the Constitution. Yes, the Boozer has introduced legislation to require the President to get Congressional approval before sending more troops to Iraq. The Congress can not make laws to interfere with the President’s duties as Commander in Chief. The President can send the troops where he wants and when he wants. Congress gets to allocate the money and the is their prerogative. I imagine Kennedy would have the DTs if Bush tried to decide how money was spent or take control of some other aspect of the legislative branch. However, Kennedy is trying to encroach on the Executive, must be his failed dreams of being President.
So now they will have a symbolic vote. What exactly is that other than a waste of time. If the vote had some significance and carried weight then it might mean something but this will be for show. If I were a Republican I would just skip the vote. It will not mean a thing because even if 100% of the members vote not to send troops, or not to spend money, or to call Bush a jackass, the fact is they can not stop him from sending the troops. They are going to go with or without the money and with or without the blessing of Congress. This is nothing more than an attempt to pigeon hole Republicans who should just tell Pelosi and Reid, respectively, to go screw themselves. I would tell them to pound sand and I would lambaste Kennedy as a buffoon who is trying to circumvent the Constitution, but that is just me. I do not, nor would I, ever have to be nice to those idiots.
How about the Democrats get out there and act like the majority and try accomplishing something? How about instead of symbolic votes they get down to work? It is high time they stopped reliving their hippie days of symbolic protests and actually get something done. In case they are unaware, they can no longer run around and blame everything on Bush. They are in the majority and they get the responsibility for what goes on so they need to stop playing the games they vowed to end and get their asses to work. I am tired of wasting money paying them. I would fire the whole lot (from both parties) if I were in charge.
If the Democrats are so hung up on symbolism and think this symbolic vote is cute then I have an idea. Why don’t we consider the vote in November as a symbolic one and say that they did not win? Hell, they must not have wanted it because they have yet to act like leaders.
These are the kinds of games you get when you ask people like those at the Daily Kos to help you set your agenda. Next they will be playing in the sand and take nap time.
Source:
New York Times
Others:
Right on the Right | Stop the ACLU
Tags: Political
What A Difference Being the Majority Makes
Jan 10, 2007 Political
Nancy Pelosi and her band of thieves in the Congress had very different tones than they do no that they have been elected to the majority. Before I move on, let me correct Pelosi and all the other donks who believe that the past election was a referendum on the war. It was not, make no mistake about it. The number of seats gained by the minority is close to historical averages. In addition, the number gained was quite small in comparison. The same people who are telling you that these small numbers were a referendum or a mandate are the first to dismiss George Bush’s 2004 election and then tell us that there was no mandate because he did not win big enough.
Anyway, the Democrats have been out lying to one group or another to get elected and they accomplished that. They told the Iraqis that we would not leave there and told Americans that they would pull us out quickly. Funny how they never let us know about those secret meetings with the Iraqis. The Democrats are vowing to do a lot of things to keep us from winning the war just as they did during their hippie days during the Vietnam era. The President is set to announce a surge of troops to stabilize the hot spots and the Democrats are set to oppose that. They will have a symbolic vote to show they do not support the idea (Bush came up with it so it must be bad, but Pelosi had the same plan as we shall see) and they have indicated they might not vote for funding for the war.
I am sure there are ways around this. No budget is in place so the President might be able to sign continuing resolutions or be able to get money by executive order. I am unsure and it really does not matter. The President runs the military and the Congress is trying to take that over. They are trying to decide how to use the troops and usurp the President’s authority even though they complain that the President takes away from them. As far as I am concerned it should not matter. Paying the bills is on the Congress. The president can send the troops and incur debt, screw Congress if they do not want to pay it.
They should be careful what they do though. Not paying for our troops sends a clear message, one the troops have known all along and one that they will not be able to hide as a botched joke. Additionally, the Democrats can cut funding for the troops, they have the power of the purse but they do not have a veto proof majority and all the things they hope to accomplish in the first 100 hours can be undone with the stroke of the mighty veto pen. It would be a shame (not to me though) if they worked really hard to get the minimum wage elevated and the President vetoed it because they failed to pay for America’s war. That is right, it is America’s, not George Bush’s though it was given to us by Bill Clinton.
So how is it that Pelosi can say that we do not need a surge in troops? This is what she is saying but here is what she said on 30 May 2004 on NBC News’ Meet the Press:
MR. RUSSERT: Well, let’s assume all that is wrong. In order to stabilize the situation, NATO has said they have no troops for Iraq, the French, the Germans and Russians saying no.
REP. PELOSI: We have to send…
MR. RUSSERT: Would you send more American troops in order to stabilize the situation?
REP. PELOSI: Yes. And let me just say this, we have–we must, though, internationalize the situation. We cannot take no for an answer. We have to use our diplomacy to the fullest extent to get more international troops on the ground.
As Brian from Iowa’s Voice says, Pelosi was for more troops before she was against it.
Others:
Right on the Right
Tags: Political
Senator Turban Visits the Wizard of Kos
Jan 9, 2007 Political
I have stated in the past that Kos wields power in the liberal world. I have read the stories of the heartaches caused to the people who cross him or do not toe the line (though they could be sour grapes from someone who lost the attention of the Wizard). Look at the wrath incurred by Joe Lieberman because he did not espouse the radical agenda of the ultra liberal moonbats at the Daily Kos. They did everything to defeat him and though he won, his primary defeat was a victory for the mighty Kos.
Kos is so powerful that Senator Dick Turban writes at the Daily Kos and since Turban is not a leader he has asked the moonbats from that site to help set the agenda for the Senate. Seems to me that he was elected to lead and asking a bunch of moonbats how the Senate should be run is not my definition of leadership. I guess the leadership of a Private First Class is about as good as Turban can do. Turban is so appreciative of these people and their efforts to provide a new direction for America. This only proves that the long winded Democrats who kept talking about their plan actually had no plan. They have resorted to a bunch of tin foil hat wearers to direct the Senate. The unfortunate truth to this whole fiasco is the same truth whenever you put a bunch of moonbats together and ask them for solutions, it costs money, and lots of it. The first 10 items on the Senate/moonbat conglomeration’s list are items that will cost a fortune. They will require the government to raise taxes or look for other “sources of revenue” which is a euphemism for making taxpayers foot the bill.
The unfortunate truth is that moonbats like to spend money, especially money that does not belong to them. They have a mafia type racket going where they effectively extort money from people and a strong arm branch of goons in the IRS to enforce the code of extortion. These moonbats will keep adding to the agenda and the things added will be more and more social programs and items that will continually increase the burden on the segment of the population that actually works and pays taxes. The tin foil hat wearers will be only too happy to sit around and tell the Senate how to spend the money extorted from the hard working people of this country.
High taxes and the intrusion of the government on the people led to a war a very long time ago. One day, and it is not far off,the people of this country are going to get so fed up with the way government does business that they are going to get rid of the people in there and replace them with folks who can lead (and who don’t have to ask moonbats how they should be doing their jobs). It is unfortunate that America experienced 9/11. It is even more unfortunate that the planes hit the WTC and Pentagon instead of the Capital. That might have ended the stupidity that still encompasses politics in DC (from both parties).
Hit it Dick:
I’m off to see the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Kos
I hear he is a webmasterful wiz
If ever a wiz there was.
If ever a wizard a wiz there was
The Wizard of Kos is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the wonderful webs he does.
“What would you do with a brain if you had one?”
“Why Dorothy, I would make a tin foil hat and follow the wise advise of the Wizard of Kos.”
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