Posted on 09/25/2005 10:56:29 AM PDT by Uncle Joe Cannon
If this liberal author thinks Bush is a socialist, he should be supporting, rather than attacking, him.
Bush does have the power to veto bills. He signed the unConstitutional No Child Left Behind Act, among many others.
AND the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.
I love Bush, but what was he thinking ?
He has to start vetoing something !
Why? The money has to be paid back with interest one way or another.
The electorate seems to have been at least subconsciously "splitting their vote" for years. The current repub control of the government is actually quite slight, and could very well shift in the next election. The 51-48% victory for GWB, war president, over weak and vacillating JFK, wasn't commanding, and may have indicated an uneasiness with giving all power to one party - even when it's a party one agrees with.
The wisdom of the Constitution isn't any particular politics, but the dynamic of opposition and separation of powers.
One thing Clinton DID have, for a while, was the line-item veto. I can't argue competently for its constitutionality, but for the 1.5 years he had it, he was able to use it to point out the particularly egregious pieces of pork, often benefitting only one individual or company in a district. The amount he actually vetoed was microscopic compared to the overall budget, but it was symbolically very powerful, and it served to help curb the worst offenders in the pork payout.
I agree.
I guess the veto pen ran out of ink?
Would you prefer a higher marginal tax rate on your income, higher federal gas taxes, corporate taxes, capital gain, and divident taxes or fiscal responsibility from your government? Congress agreed to Bush's spending bill and asked for even more. The Democrat's version of NCLB and the Medicare drug bill were almost 30% higher than what was approved. To put the blame for all federal spending at Bush's feet ignores the 535 members of Congress who are all after their own piece of the pie.
Sullivan is not a 'liberal' in the modern sense. His positions are mostly congruent to that of liberals on social issues, and on some but by no means all 'liberty' issues (individual rights vs. government power.) However, Sullivan is implacably opposed to socialism, to the New Deal and to the Great Society--more so than most Republicans. Were he elected President, most Federal spending other than for Defense would be stopped by Executive Order on Day 1 of his Presidency (he would declare it Unconstitutional.) Or to say the same thing in far fewer words: He's a Libertarian.
"To put the blame for all federal spending at Bush's feet ignores the 535 members of Congress who are all after their own piece of the pie."
Of course they all share some responsibility. But only one of the 536 people you mention has the ability to singlehandedly approve or veto a particular spending bill.
I think that everyone blames congress too. The problem is that none of these spending bills would have become law without the signature of the president.
While Bush may not be solely responsible for the spending bills, he is completely responsible.
Sorry, you're quite wrong. Evidence: Andrew Sullivan: Reagan freed us all.
Please confirm statistics you read from biased, ie Democrat, sources, before you post them.
At the end of September 2004, foreigners held about $1.9 billion of U.S. federal debt. Japan held $720 billion of this amount. China was in second place with $174 billion: i.e. less than 10% of foreign-held debt and just over 3% of total federal debt.
China is not in a position to crash the U.S. dollar, much less the U.S. economy.
That statement could change in a decade if we keep running the same deficits, but it is misleading to make that claim today.
Like another poster said, should we get rid of the Republicans in Congress? And who is the one that can veto spending bills?
No, President Bush is not a Socialist. The congress and their pork barrel spending are the Socialists. He is the executive branch of our government and the congress are the theives. He is directed by the United States Constitution to do what the elected legistlature directs him to do. Wake up and read the United States Constitution, it's not that long and it doesn't take a college degree to understand it.
Sullivan forfeited his right to speak.
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