Posted on 01/08/2007 8:42:14 AM PST by jmaroneps37
At least Reagan never changed his mind on his core values.
Do you think it's going to be any better next year with Mel Martinez running the RNC? I don't. I plan to only donate directly to candidates and give zero to the RNC.
Sure is!
--Can you explain how voting Republican in the last election would have made America a stronger and more prosperous nation?--
Ways and Means: Charles Rangel, of New York, could replace California Republican Bill Thomas. Rangel is expected to wield his authority most forcefully in the arenas of taxation and foreign trade. He has opposed President George Bush's tax cuts, and seems unlikely to endorse a continuation of President Bush's fast-track authority—the president's power to negotiate trade deals without congressional oversight, which comes up for review in 2007.
International Relations: California’s Tom Lantos could replace Illinois Republican Henry Hyde. Lantos is the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the United States Congress. He has a history of advocacy on human-rights issues, and though he has strongly criticized Bush's Iraq War policy, his voting record overlaps significantly with Hyde's, including on issues of United Nations reform and U.S. policy toward Israel.
Financial Services: Barney Frank of Massachusetts could replace Ohio Republican Michael Oxley. Republicans have raised concerns about Frank as a committee chair, with Vice President Dick Cheney among others saying he is too liberal: "I don't need to tell you what kind of legislation would come," Cheney said of Frank and other Democrats poised to take over committees. But historically, Financial Services has been among the more bipartisan of house committees, and some analysts say radical change is unlikely. Among Frank's stated priorities is increasing oversight of hedge funds.
Armed Services: Missouri’s Ike Skelton could replace California Republican Duncan Hunter. Skelton comes from a military family—his father served in World War II, and he has sons in the Army and Navy (though he himself was ineligible for service because he once had polio). As the ranking Democrat, he has generally been cooperative with Hunter, but in 2002 Skelton personally wrote President Bush to warn of the possibility of "civil unrest and even anarchy" following an attack on Iraq. Skelton has said that as committee chair he would consider investigating wasteful spending on U.S. military operations in Iraq.
Appropriations: Wisconsin’s David Obey could replace California Republican Jerry Lewis. Obey was Appropriations chairman for less than a year, in 1994, before Republicans won control of the House. His legislative emphasis is on labor and education issues. Experts expect that Obey will ramp up oversight of appropriations directed to the executive branch.
Government Reform: California’s Henry Waxman could replace Tom Davis of Virginia. Waxman has been a consistent and vocal opponent of President Bush's agenda. Many Republicans have raised concerns about him as chairman of the committee in charge of launching investigations—in particular, about whether he would target the president. One of Waxman's chief legislative interests has been regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and prescription drug prices.
Intelligence: California’s Jane Harman is the ranking Democrat in line to replace Republican Peter Hoekstra, though insider reports suggest Pelosi could pass over Harman, instead assigning the post to one of the next-highest ranking Democrats on the committee, possibly Alcee Hastings of Florida. Harman was one of a small number of Democrats who attended secret house briefings on domestic surveillance policies, and some Democrats have criticized her for being too moderate and too willing to cooperate with Republicans.
Judiciary: Michigan’s John Conyers could replace Republican chairman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. Conyers is expected to take an active role in pushing for broad immigration reforms. He has also said he is eager to reexamine the Patriot Act to address Democratic concerns over the act's alleged civil liberties violations.
Homeland Security: Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson could replace Republican chairman Peter King of New York. Thompson has urged congress to more thoroughly follow through on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations for homeland-security reform. Democrats have also said they may also revisit concerns raised during the Dubai Ports World controversy over foreign ownership of U.S. infrastructure.
www.msnbc.msn.com
Get real. Either you are third party or don't care what happens to the U.S.
I don't like Bush's agenda on illegals but I also want the war on terror won. I understand the Const. Party is against this war so understand why the third party folks don't mind a Dem in the White House.
You can't just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. Republicans DID NOT DO THIS! You cannot tell me Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibilty and then act like public spendthrifts. Please get a clue.
--Can you explain how voting Republican in the last election would have made America a stronger and more prosperous nation?--
Auto industry braces for environmental clash in '07
Richard Simon / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- Steps to curb global warming. Tougher fuel economy standards for automobiles. Repeal of massive tax breaks for the oil industry.
Environmentalists are busy these days crafting their holiday wish list, giddy about the prospects for success in the new Democratic-controlled Congress. But industry groups are gearing up to fight, and their forces may include more than the usual Republican allies.
"We're confident that there are plenty of Democrats who know and understand us," said Charles Drevna of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.
Drevna's confidence is probably well-placed. The politics surrounding environmental issues have proved hard to predict, largely because the potential economic impact of stronger regulation tends to scramble partisan loyalties. Democrats from auto-making states, for example, have fought efforts to mandate stricter miles-per-gallon rules for vehicles.
These crosscurrents could cause the push for an aggressive environmental agenda to become an object lesson on the limits of what can actually be achieved in the Congress that will convene in January.
Key to the enthusiasm among environmentalists is the impending change at the helm of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who's called global warming "the greatest challenge of our generation," will replace Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., who's dismissed manmade climate change as a "hoax."
Perhaps no other transfer of committee chairs is as dramatic. Boxer drives a hybrid Toyota Prius. Inhofe drives a Jeep.
Boxer says California's new global warming law -- with a goal of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020 -- should be a model for the nation. Inhofe derides it as a "job killer."
Boxer received a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters for her Senate votes this year. Inhofe received a 0.
Environmentalists say that after years of fighting GOP attempts to roll back environmental laws, they now can go on the offensive.
"It's as if the winds have shifted and proponents of environmental controls finally have the winds at our backs," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch.
The precarious nature of this shift was driven home recently when Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., underwent brain surgery. Should Johnson die or resign and be replaced by a Republican, the GOP would regain control of the closely divided Senate, denying Boxer and other Democrats committee chairmanships. With Johnson's condition improving, however, plans for the Democratic takeover are proceeding.
Frankly, your alternate universe doesn't appeal one bit.
He was a pol right up to the end.
Yes, and that attack on the auto industry comes from California and is sponsored by Arnold Schwarzenegger...REPUBLICAN!!!
You nailed that one. LOL!
Sure! Give me a list as long as you like. I am aware of the Acts that have been past. However, they seem to have had no effect on my life the past 6 years.
Tsk Tsk! No need to get huffy.
I am offering a forward looking suggestion to regaining the Republican majority in our elected bodies. It seems to me that we and libs do not communicate in the same language. In other words, words do not mean the same things to the speaker and the listener. I think we would benefit from learning demspeak, and from educating our own congresscritters, if possible, in this tactic.
As far as walking the walk, I campaigned as much as I could for Governer Ehrlich and candidate-for-Senate Steele. I also was an election judge in the deep blue state of Maryland.
Suburbs are facing downsizing of a different kind. Many software companies are outsourcing jobs overseas and hiring cheap H-1B guest tech workers to replace US workers. In fact during a testimony in Congress, an American of Indian descent described how she almost got a job with a software company because the interviewer assumed she was from India and balked when he found out she was an American citizen. Suburban workers in servie and high tech industries face job uncertainty knowing that if they reach their 40's companies will lay them off for college hires, or their job can be outsourced overseas or subcontracted out to guest workers at a cheaper salary. The dynamic free trade economy has caused uncertainty in the working/labor class (which includes hi tech workers), and the Dems were able to capitalize on it.
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