While putting a pair of these to good use... 
Posted on 03/09/2006 7:38:16 AM PST by Reagan Man
All the evidence suggests that the Bush Administration now has an all-out rebellion on its hands from the GOP Congress. This is not isolated in any single issue, such as the ports deal, but in fact extends to that and numerous other issues as well. Republican congressmen are tired of being bullied and ignored by a heavy-handed executive, and they are playing hardball with their President. Given his unpopularity, many of them find it useful to distance themselves from Bush anyway.
In short, Bush has little leverage left within his own party, and his transformation to lame-duck status is all but complete. On all sides, conservative Republicans are working against him. The biggest visible difference between their conduct and that of a Democratic Congress is that they have not begun impeachment proceedings.
Ports Deal
This is the clearest example of Bush’s problems with his erstwhile allies. Republican Congressmen feel that Bush is wholly responsible for his current mess over a deal giving a Dubai-based company control of portions of key American ports. Bush, they feel, got himself into this mess when he cut Congressional Republicans out of the equation and kept them in the dark—and now Bush can get himself out of it as far as they’re concerned.
Adding insult to injury, language de-funding the ports deal will be written into the upcoming emergency supplemental. This would be some real intra-party hardball—Bush would have to veto funding for Katrina, homeland security and the troops, or else suffer the undoing of a deal he has promised will go forward.
Budget
Another Republican rebellion is breaking out on the budget front, where independent-minded Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is taking on the administration for its budgeting proposal. Bush’s budget zeroes out the so-called “Crime Victims Fund,” which is funded through criminal fines, fees and forfeitures, and thus pays for itself. Coburn is accusing the administration of playing a “budget shell game” by zeroing out the fund in order to make room for more spending elsewhere, but planning to restore the fund later.
Coburn’s hearings, set for today, will include a victim of the Oklahoma City bombing. They are significant because they could be politically damaging for Bush if anyone notices them. More and more conservatives seem emboldened nowadays to snipe at the President, whose poor efforts at reaching out to Congress have not helped his overall cause.
Katrina
Another rebellion lies here, headed mostly by Louisiana conservatives. Last week, President Bush was brutalized by an erroneous Associated Press story that he had been warned about levee breaches before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans—significant because Bush later said that no one had expected the breaches. In fact, the story resulted from journalists’ taking the plain meaning of words spoken in a videotape and misconstruing them so as to confuse. The AP then waited until Friday night to issue a partial correction.
The episode demonstrates the enduring hostility of the Washington press corps, and the fact they will knife Bush every chance they get. It is the latest in a long line of events that includes the infamous Memogate report, in which forged documents were used to suggest chronic absenteeism and drug abuse by Bush during his military service.
Bearing this in mind, the administration’s inert posture and opacity with respect to the Katrina rebuilding process is all the more baffling. The White House has done little to get its act together and work with members of Congress on the reconstruction, making the President even more of a target for hostile journalists. Moreover, through its curious inflexibility and inaction, the White House has again incurred the wrath of conservative Republicans in Louisiana’s congressional delegation, including Sen. David Vitter (R) and Rep. Richard Baker (R). Even in matters as small as the itinerary of visiting congressmen, FEMA proved inflexible, drawing criticism from conservative Rep. Bobby Jindal (R).
President Bush’s visit to Katrina-ravaged Louisiana this week comes after six months of bungling that threatens political catastrophe for the state’s Republicans. Bush will tout his belated $4.2-billion plan finally to provide housing for people made homeless by the storm, but it may be too little, too late. The government’s post-hurricane performance has been a mess. Republicans, who control the state’s congressional delegation, the U.S. Congress, and the White House, will bear a significant part of the blame.
The simplistic analysis following Katrina predicted that the evacuation of Democratic-voting blacks would turn Louisiana into a deep red Republican state. On the contrary, the performance of the last six months may return the state to Democratic blue. Apart from who was at fault for an inadequate immediate response to the storm, Republicans are blamed for what has happened since then. The government has actually spent only $27 billion on recovery, and none of it has gone to housing. Bush’s new Katrina spending package was drawn up by National Economic Council Director Al Hubbard.
Continued mismanagement has resulted in outrageous spending patterns, beginning with the ridiculous prices—far above the price of actual cruises—the government paid in order to house Katrina refugees aboard cruise ships. Even more outrageous, the reported minimum cost of the trailers intended to be used as temporary housing is $60,000 per unit—enough to build permanent modular housing. And it has proven extremely difficult to get the trailers to needy evacuees, so that many of them still lie idle.
Louisianans are also upset at the “hazard mitigation” program, by which the government would pay homeowners not to rebuild on supposedly flood-vulnerable land—using a generous definition of “flood-vulnerable.” The White House explained to Baker that this provision was inserted to make members of Congress happy. No one seems happy with it at the moment.
Instead of "reaching across the aisle", Bush needs to attend to his own side of the aisle!
Senator Tom Coburn PING.
While putting a pair of these to good use...
On all sides, conservative Republicans are working against him.
Little children throwing sand in the sandbox.
Instead of "reaching across the aisle", Bush needs to attend to his own side of the aisle!
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And he needs to pay attention to the mandate that the people who put him into office, game him. But I think it is a bit late for him now. He made alot of mistakes, and p@ssed-off alot of the wrong people -- people who were there to work FOR America.
Not a pretty site.
Just wait until that new immigration bill hits his desk. If he vetoes it, expect all out war.
This article forgot to mention illegal immigration. There is a huge difference between the bill the House passed and Bush's 'guestworker' (a disguised amnesty) plan. This will be the undoing of the Republicans in 2008 if things don't change.
Can you say President McCain? I can't. LOL
I would think that there might be a big difference between this lame duck and his relation with the GOP Congress - and a conservative lame duck and his relation with the GOP Congress.
Many here at FR will just say that we have to let the geniuses at the WH do what they need to do -- because they are the masterminds, they know best.
But I am inclined to think that had GWB never pressured Congress on prescription drugs entitlement, never signed McCain Feingold, never cozied up with the assault weapons ban, never countenanced the Dubai port debacle, never nominated Harriett Miers...and generally never been a big spender, then, things wouldn't be this sour. Reagan, after all, didn't go out like this with his own party, though the media couldn't wait to get rid of him.
I think when Republicans in power govern like conservatives, their popularity will increase and they will gain strength. But to do that, they have to truly understand that the MSM is always against us, and the Dems are not worth talking to as they are beyond redemption.
I can't decide if this Administration's "inert posture and opacity" stems from arrogance, stupidity, or both.
In another time in another country, a certain party whipped up a frenzy among the population against an entire class of people as being the cause of all their problems.
Labeling every single arab as an "Islamofacist" is a very dangerous road to go down. Take out the fanatics, take out the terrorists, but don't paint an entire race or religion with the same broad brush.
I fear we may be heading for another Kristallnacht here in the United States.
C'mon George, get some balls and veto the whole bill! It's time there was a "line item veto"
If our cowardly "amendment crazy" congress can't step up and send up a clean bill and a separate one for what they really want, George needs to send it back with a signature contingent on removing the offending amendments!
Who ever gave the congress the right to amend bills with crap that doesn't pertain anyway?
(I'm sure some studious soul will enlighten me.);^)
C'mon George, get some balls and veto the whole bill! It's time there was a "line item veto"
If our cowardly "amendment crazy" congress can't step up and send up a clean bill and a separate one for what they really want, George needs to send it back with a signature contingent on removing the offending amendments!
Who ever gave the congress the right to amend bills with crap that doesn't pertain anyway?
(I'm sure some studious soul will enlighten me.);^)
I think you are way off. The substantive differnces between the situation here, and in Europe are endless. Any suggestion to the contrary is needless alarmism.
Humbly apologize for th dubble post!
President Bush did OK on Iraq. He did OK on the tax cut thing. Other than that, though, he hasn't done so well, overall.
Immigration and this Dubai business are going to be the end of his power as a leader. The explosion of opposition to the Dubai ports deal, misunderstood or not, is the final nail. When Bush announced that he'd veto any bill against the deal, and did that before he really even knew much about the deal, he made a huge mistake.
The people...the voters...made their feelings known loud and clear to their legislators. Bush isn't listening to those people because he isn't running for anything. Congress is always listening.
Congress is now in control of the country. President Bush is finished as far as power and influence go.
Re-read some of the posts in this thread and others, and tell me you have no concerns whatsoever.
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