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WASHINGTON - President Bush hopes to revive his plan to overhaul the U.S. Social Security retirement program if his Republican party keeps control of the Congress in the November midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT Despite polls suggesting Democrats have their best chance in years to regain control of the House of Representatives, Bush told the newspaper in an interview he was confident a power shift was "not going to happen." "I just don't believe it," he said, adding that if Republicans prevail at the polls, next year might be a good time to reintroduce the...

The fall 2006 elections are now just two months away. Although the conventional wisdom is that Republicans will have a tough time this fall, I believe that we can still win -- but not without substantial changes. In this edition of "Winning the Future," I outline 11 values-led policies that are both morally right and that enjoy (not coincidentally) the overwhelming support of the American people. These are the values and the policies that Republicans should embrace this fall. Here's the key: Republican victory in 2006 depends on a return to the American values that twice elected Ronald Reagan and...

The most telltale clue to Congress's fall agenda may be an item that still may be added: middle-class tax cuts. Down in polls and divided internally, Republicans want to block debate on domestic policy and shift attention to national-security issues that command more party unity. But census data last week highlighted the economic squeeze on many families, and House leaders are considering a pre-election bid to make permanent the $1,000 child tax credit and marriage penalty relief provisions enacted in 2001. Like most of the Bush administration's tax breaks, these are due to expire at the end of 2010, when...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 — As they prepare for a critical pre-election legislative stretch, Congressional Republican leaders have all but abandoned a broad overhaul of immigration laws and instead will concentrate on national security issues they believe play to their political strength. With Congress reconvening Tuesday after an August break, Republicans in the House and Senate say they will focus on Pentagon and domestic security spending bills, port security legislation and measures that would authorize the administration’s terror surveillance program and create military tribunals to try terror suspects. “We Republicans believe that we have no choice in the war against terror...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Attempts by the administration of US President Gearge W. Bush to justify the continuing war in Iraq by comparing it to the 20th century war against Nazism as November elections draw near could actually benefit divided Democrats, experts said. "The battle for Iraq is now central to the ideological struggle of the 21st century. We will not allow the terrorists to dictate the future of this century, so we will defeat them in Iraq," Bush told the American Legion veterans group Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah

The American Legion opened its national convention in Salt Lake City this week with high hopes the gathering would help "unite America" behind the war in Iraq. Instead, the veterans have found themselves in a fight with the city's anti-war mayor. Mayor Rocky Anderson, a Democrat in a city that is considered liberal by heavily Republican Utah's standards, has accused the Bush administration of lying about the rationale for war. He has called President Bush a "complete disaster." And he organized a protest rally Wednesday a few blocks from the Salt Palace Convention Center, just hours before Bush's arrival here...

FOR the third time in less than a year, and two months before crucial US elections, President George W. Bush is launching a new campaign to counter opposition to the Iraq war with a series of speeches he insists are not political. Mr Bush will kick off the speeches with an appearance tomorrow at the American Legion annual convention in Salt Lake City and will maintain the theme of the Iraq war and national security throughout September. Amid a sharp escalation of violence in Iraq over the past few months, Mr Bush will acknowledge "that these are unsettling times", White...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — President Bush is kicking off another series of speeches to counter opposition to the war in Iraq, impatience with the rising U.S. death toll and anxiety about possible terrorist attacks. ADVERTISEMENT Bush delivers the first speech Thursday to the annual American Legion convention in Salt Lake City. The appearances will continue through the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and culminate on Sept. 19 when Bush addresses the U.N. Security Council. It is the third time in less than a year that Bush has made a series of speeches on Iraq and terrorism. They come...

WASHINGTON - Even though he's not running for re-election this year, President Bush knows just what he would focus on if he were: the economy and taxes. As Republicans face an increasingly tough political outlook, in part because of Bush's sagging approval ratings, the president offered some advice Monday to GOP candidates in the midterm elections. "If I were a candidate ... I'd say, 'Look at what the economy has done. It's strong. We've created a lot of jobs. ... I'd be telling people that the Democrats will raise your taxes. That's what they said. I'd be reminding people that...

Just a quick post to tell you about an exciting new website: Rightroots. Rightroots provides you with a quick and easy way to financially support conservative congressional candidates... I have proudly endorsed Rightroots and I hope you will too, by visiting them today and making a contribution to one or all of the candidates Rightroots has listed. If the Democrats gain control of the Congress, “today’s environment” will seem mild compared to what we’ll have to endure in 2007 and 2008 – total gridlock for the President and for the country. I see the tactics of Harry Reid and Nancy...

Well, it is a very pleasant time to be in Washington. Senators and representatives alike have vacated the premises. Most have headed off to ply their trade on their constituents. The off-year elections are approaching, and most of our federal legislators want another stint at what the Democrats call "public service." That is a euphemism for what all reasonable observers call the "public trough." The Democrats are in a sunny mood. As they see it, we are losing in Iraq. We are losing the war on terror. And Wal-Mart just posted a quarterly loss. All of this means, so the...

Well, we have the MSM's drum beat slogan firmly established. It is increasingly being used time and again since the British uncovered their terror plot last week. Republicans are merely "using" this whole terror thing as a tactic to get votes. It couldn't be that we REALLY face terrorism, that is is something to be worried about and discussed seriously, right? Nah, it must just be a dirty GOP trick! Today, CNN has posted a story from their senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, titled "Can the GOP use the terrorism issue to win -- again?, Suspected plot to blow up...

Scaring Americans for political gain? "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself­nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory." – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 So, we meet again. The United States has once again been challenged with another threat to our existence. This time, however, we are...

Republicans seized on the arrests of terrorism suspects in Britain yesterday to bolster a White House campaign to turn national security issues to their advantage this fall, arguing that the nation needs tough Republican policies to protect Americans from threats from abroad. Officials in both parties said they viewed the arrests as critical in determining how they would approach the fall campaign, with Republicans saying it could be a turning point in a year in which they have been on the defensive over the war in Iraq and other issues. The developments played neatly into the White House-led effort, after...

WASHINGTON (July 6) - President George W. Bush, still down in the polls and grappling with grave matters on the world stage, is breaking his summer vacation routine this election year to travel the country and boost the standing of his presidency and the Republican Party.

Back from the DeadMARIE COCCO June 27, 2006 WASHINGTON -- The corpse will be revived. Plans to resuscitate President Bush's stone-cold proposal to turn Social Security from a guaranteed insurance program into a patchwork of private savings accounts already are in the works. All it will take, says Grover Norquist, conservative strategist extraordinaire, is the election of another five conservative Republican senators -- enough to surmount procedural roadblocks by Democrats or those tremulous Republican moderates who would try to preserve the nation's most successful and best-loved government program. ``I believe that when there are 60 Republican senators we will move...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans intend to hold votes this summer and fall touching on abortion, guns, religion and other priority issues for social conservatives, part of an attempt to improve the party's prospects in the midterm elections. The "American Values Agenda" also includes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage — which already has failed in the Senate — a prohibition on human cloning and possibly votes on several popular tax cuts. "Radical courts have attempted to gut our religious freedom and redefine the value system on which America was built. We hope to restore some of those basic...

With just five months to go before the midterm elections, President Bush, whose once-faithful base has abandoned him in droves, is turning to the same conservative hot-button issues that won him re-election in 2004 -- homosexual "marriage" and judicial nominees. The president, now fully aware that his plummeting approval ratings could cost the Republicans control of one or both congressional chambers in November, will use his radio address today and a speech Monday to push a constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage," just as the Senate prepares to vote on the issue. The crux of his argument is simple: A majority...

President Bush will promote a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a cause dear to his conservative backers, at a Rose Garden event Monday, the eve of a scheduled Senate vote on the issue. The amendment would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages. To become law, the proposal would need two-thirds support in the Senate and House, and then be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures. It stands little chance of passing the 100-member Senate, where proponents are struggling to get even 50 votes. Several Republicans oppose the measure, and so far only one Democrat — Sen. Ben Nelson (news,...

FOR A PRESIDENT who is (allegedly) the lamest of lame ducks, George W. Bush had a pretty good month of May. Not quite a merry month of May. Certainly not a Lerner-and-Loewe-like lusty month of May. But a pretty good month, and perhaps a sign of better things to come. To wit: Congress extended, and the president signed, the wildly successful supply-side tax cuts on interest and dividend income originally passed in 2003. The new tax rates are now in force until 2010, providing helpful certainty for the economy and the markets, and forcing Democrats in this year's congressional elections,...

SHEPARD SMITH JUST ANNOUNCED: HOUSE APPROVES ANWR DRILLING!!

President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror Arie Crown Theater at Lakeside Center -- McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois In Focus: Renewal in Iraq 10:37 A.M. CDT I really appreciate being invited here by the National Restaurant Association. Thanks for having me. You know, Laura and I don't eat out as much as we used to. (Laughter.) But we do appreciate your industry's contribution to the country. I appreciate your leadership in Washington on really important issues like tort reform, and tax relief, and immigration reform. I'm going to spend a little time today talking about immigration reform. But the main...

Forget the predictions of disaster for the Republican Party in 2006. This election is over before it starts, and conservatives win. Could Republicans lose control of the House or Senate? Sure. Would that make President Bush's life miserable for the last two years? Absolutely. But predictions of disaster for conservatives fly in the face of very solid history, ignoring completely the power of political paradigms. Elections are about paradigms, not presidents. In 1946 the dominant paradigm was the liberal worldview of tax-and-spend big government, combined with an internationalist foreign policy that today is referred to as American exceptionalism. The liberal...

Washington -- Republicans are scrambling for legislative achievements as time runs out on the congressional calendar and polls show their hold on the majority is in jeopardy. President Bush will address immigration reform in a nationally televised speech tonight from the Oval Office, and the Senate also is to take up the issue today. Tax cuts passed by both chambers last week await the president's signature. Votes on constitutional amendments to forbid same-sex marriage and flag burning are expected in June. And a series of smaller measures aimed at suburban voters will be taken up throughout the summer. There is...

Mindful that social conservatives must come to the polls in force this November if Republicans hope to keep control of the House, the chamber’s GOP leadership has begun crafting a “pro-family agenda” that will be unveiled later this year. GOP leaders released a long-term agenda last week that listed dozens of legislative items, but very few that are usually associated with the social conservative movement. But the House is planning to vote this year on a gay marriage amendment, and there are more such issues in the pipeline. “We’re looking at a number of items including addressing the sanctity of...

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-L.I.) said he'd fight President Bush's plan to give illegal aliens a path to citizenship........ Bush will propose sending National Guardsmen to guard the Mexican border and giving a chance at citizenship for millions here illegally when he speaks to the nation at 8 p.m. tomorrow......... "I will oppose any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country............that's amnesty, and it's a magnet for more illegal aliens," said King. "I give the president credit for proposing using the military - and he's the first president to do it - but citizenship for...

May 13, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to call for troops and a high-tech "virtual" fence to beef up the border with Mexico when he speaks to the nation on immigration Monday night, sources said yesterday. The get-tough approach will be coupled with a renewed push to give illegal aliens a chance to get in line for U.S. citizenship, said a source briefed on the speech. "He'll talk about deploying troops, strengthening border control, more raids on companies that hire illegals, a virtual fence, and letting those who are here already get in line," the source said. The...

President Bush traveled to the great state of Florida and this morning spoke about the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit in Sun City Center, accompanied by his brother, Governor Jeb Bush. He also went to Broward Community College with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to visit with senior citizen, and later spent some time at the Sun City Center Fire Station #28 to talk about the outbreak of brush fires in Florida. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had a press conference today, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a strong statement regarding Iran today, Congressional GOP members reached...

WASHINGTON - Republicans in Congress reached agreement Tuesday on a five-year, $70 billion measure to extend tax breaks for investors and prevent more middle-income families from being hit by a tax aimed at the wealthy. The bill would hand President Bush one of his top tax priorities, a two-year extension of the reduced 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends, currently set to expire at the end of 2008. Republicans credit the tax cuts, enacted in 2003, with boosting economic growth and creating many jobs. Over five years, the bill would cost $70 billion, but over a decade,...

Presidential adviser Karl Rove and White House counsel Harriet Miers yesterday told conservative activists and Senate staff that the administration would soon send the names of more than 20 judicial nominees to Capitol Hill for confirmation. The undertaking to move ahead came at a 2:30 meeting at the White House that was boycotted by leading conservatives upset at the slow pace of nominations, according to people who attended the meeting. Conservatives are upset by the Senate’s slow pace on judges since the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in February. They are frustrated that the White House has...

...A plan for the administration? Free advice is worth the price, but here goes:[snip] Issue 1: Iraq, Afghanistan and the age of terror. On these, stabilize, fortify, succeed. Keep America safe. ...Find Osama--it is a scandal that the man who started the new era is still free, still taunting the West, still inspiring those who see the world as he does. It was a mistake to think finding him was not as important as a wider war on terror. Finding him is key. It is almost five years since he did what he did. Get him, try him, kill him.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush hailed the health of the US small business sector, using a neighborhood hardware store a short drive from the White House as a homespun backdrop. The president hailed what he described as a roaring US economy and its healthy jobs growth, after picking up few chew toys for Barney, the White House dog. "I just spent some of my hard-earned money on Barney," the president said during the photo-op at Frager's, an old-fashioned hardware store that he praised as "a good place to shop."

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Trying to bridge a growing chasm in his party over immigration reform, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said Thursday the nation needs both a temporary worker program and consequences for illegal aliens. Opening the party's annual meeting of state chairmen in this conservative bastion, Mehlman borrowed a page from President Reagan, saying the party must practice "the politics of 'and,'" meaning people on both sides of the debate have to come together to accomplish reform. "There has been a lot of rhetoric about this issue over the last few months, but in my opinion, not...

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Thursday quietly blocked consideration of President Bush's three-year-old nomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh as a federal appeals court judge, beginning a process that may trigger a constitutional test. Under committee procedures, the Democrats can automatically block such a nomination only once. Kavanaugh is expected to be voted out of Judiciary on a straight party-line vote this coming week. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will come under heavy pressure to conduct a filibuster. Assuming that Republicans cannot get the 60 votes needed for cloture, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist then intends to invoke the...

Republicans need to commit to winningBRUCE HAWKINS GUEST COLUMNIST The Republican Party is in the proverbial pickle jar. President Bush is staying the course admirably, but it is clear many voters would choose a different one. They want social programs rolled back, not increased through a prescription drug giveaway. They want illegal immigration stopped and borders controlled; they don't want amnesty, green card voting and a choice of Spanish or English at ATMs. They want to see the fruits of the war on terrorism, not $3 a gallon gasoline and nuclear threats. They want U.S. troops supported, not prosecuted for...

Bill Sammon, White House correspondent for the Washington Times and author of "Strategery,” said President Bush must talk much more about the amazing U.S. economic growth because the message is not getting through to Americans. A recent Fox News Opinion poll on the economy revealed 72 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy is in "fair or poor” condition, while 46 percent said their own personal economic situation was "good or excellent.” Sammon, appearing on Fox News Channel, said much of this is a classic case of style over substance. The Bush administration, he said, has focused on national security...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Protection of marriage amendment? Check. Anti-flag burning legislation? Check. New abortion limits? Check. Between now and the November elections, Republicans are penciling in plans to take action on social issues important to religious conservatives, the foundation of the GOP base, as they defend their congressional majority. In a year where an unpopular war in Iraq has helped drive President Bush's approval ratings below 40 percent, core conservatives whose turnout in November is vital to the party want assurances that they are not being taken for granted. "It seems like for only six months, every two years --...

Protection of marriage amendment? Check. Anti-flag burning legislation? Check. New abortion limits? Check. Between now and the November elections, Republicans are penciling in plans to take action on social issues important to religious conservatives, the foundation of the GOP base, as they defend their congressional majority. In a year where an unpopular war in Iraq has helped drive President Bush's approval ratings below 40 percent, core conservatives whose turnout in November is vital to the party want assurances that they are not being taken for granted. "It seems like for only six months, every two years — right around election...

George W. Bush is taking time to explain himself, open up to the public in new ways and court the U.S. Congress as he tries to breathe life into a presidency beset by sagging ratings and influence. With a job-approval rating under 40 percent, Bush, who went to his Crawford ranch for a quiet weekend, has a long way to go. Aides acknowledge it will take a while to rebuild his image, and much will depend on the outcome of the Iraq war. White House staffers, who have long limited the president's appearances to speeches and photo opportunities with little...

Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America Prosperity Agenda PROSPERITY AGENDA Promoting Growth, Competitiveness and Quality of Life To enhance the competitive position of North American industries in the global marketplace and to provide greater economic opportunity for all of our societies, while maintaining high standards of health and safety for our people, the United States, Mexico, and Canada will work together, and in consultation with stakeholders, to: Improve Productivity Regulatory Cooperation to Generate Growth Lower costs for North American businesses, producers, and consumers and maximize trade in goods and services across our borders by striving to ensure compatibility of...

President Bush on Friday provided a preview of his two-front strategy for protecting the Republican congressional majority in an ominous political climate: hammer Democrats on national security and the economy, and raise millions of dollars for embattled GOP candidates such as Rep. Michael E. Sodrel (Ind.). A Democratic majority in the House or the Senate would be likely to launch hearings and investigations into the war and other issues, and would be positioned to stop the Bush agenda in the remaining two years of the Bush presidency. "The Democrats' plan for 2006? Take the House and Senate, and impeach the...

Change the Subject The Republican strategy for 2006. by Fred Barnes 03/27/2006, Volume 011, Issue 26 POLITICS IS PRETTY SIMPLE. If the debate in an upcoming election puts your party at a disadvantage, it makes sense to try to change the debate. At the moment, the 2006 midterm election is framed as a referendum on the Bush administration and congressional Republicans, putting Republican candidates on the defensive. Party strategists, led by chairman Ken Mehlman, want to rejigger the debate so it's about a choice between candidates, putting Democratic candidates on the defensive as well. In short, they want it to...

WASHINGTON - The Senate committee delegated to come up with immigration reform legislation proceeded at a glacial pace Wednesday, with senators still far apart on such issues as a guest worker program and a policy toward the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. "We are quite a ways from having a bill," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., as the panel waded through a host of amendments on how to improve border enforcement. Even with farmers and businesses depending on illegal immigrants to fill low-wage jobs and President Bush in support of a temporary worker program, advocates...

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. - President Bush campaigned Tuesday to boost the troubled new Medicare drug program that is the subject of a fierce election-year debate between Democrats and Republicans. Bush pleaded with older Americans — a key voting block, particularly in midterm congressional elections — to look positively on the new benefit. Under the program, the government subsidizes medication costs for the elderly and disabled through plans created by private insurers. In effect since January, it has been under fire from Democrats as too confusing for seniors with its numerous plans and coverage gaps — and from some conservative Republicans as...

Fiscal conservatives are endorsing proposed legislation that would give President Bush the line-item veto, but one Democrat said the president should be more concerned about submitting a balanced budget. The line-item veto, enjoyed by 33 governors, would allow the president to identify wasteful earmarks in appropriations and tax bills. "With a line-item veto, the president could help get special-interest and pork-barrel spending under control," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Coming on the heels of last year's record pork-barrel spending, this proposal could not be more timely." President Bush promoted the proposal on Monday: "Too many bills...

Tomorrow, conservatives in the House of Representatives, led by Mike Pence and Jeb Hensarling, will introduce a bold budget that is modeled after the fabled mid-90's Contract with America. The conservative alternative will be a challenge to Congressional leadership in that it goes well above and beyong savings sought by the President's budget. The budget will move beyond the current $75 billion in savings to nearly $700 billion. It significantly reduces the size and scope of three federal agencies: Departments of Education, Energy and Commerce. The NY Times reports: The authors of the proposal describe it as a sequel to...

Posted on Sun, Mar. 05, 2006 Bush to propose line-item veto legislation WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to send proposed legislation to Congress on Monday that would allow him to control spending by vetoing specific items in larger bills, a Bush administration official said. The president, who has not vetoed any legislation during five years in office, asked Congress in his State of the Union address to give him line-item veto power. Bush plans to announce that the proposed bill is headed to Congress during his remarks at the morning swearing-in ceremony for the chairman of the Council of Economic...

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Conservative Union, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots lobbying organization today applauded the legislative agenda for 2006 announced by the House Republican Study Committee, chaired by Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN). “The legislative priorities for 2006 announced today by Congressman Mike Pence and his colleagues on the Republican Study Committee are welcome news to conservatives throughout America and should serve as a roadmap for action during the remainder of the 109th Congress,” said David A. Keene, Chairman of The American Conservative Union. The ten priority legislative actions proposed by the RSC are: 1. Make the Bush...

As the challenging midterm elections approach, House conservatives recognize that you cannot beat a national trend without a national agenda. As the majority of the majority, House conservatives believe that the remainder of the 109th Congress should be dedicated to affirming our commitment to limited government, fiscal discipline and traditional moral values and the Republican Study Committee Top 10 is designed to do just that. While this is not an exhaustive list, the fiscal and social policy reforms included in the RSC Top 10 comprise the nucleus of issues that minted this majority. Acting on the RSC Top 10 is...

Bush: U.S. on Verge of Energy Breakthrough Feb 20, 4:44 PM (ET) By DEB RIECHMANN MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil. Less than half the crude oil used by refineries is produced in the United States, while 60 percent comes from foreign nations, Bush said during the first stop on a two-day trip to talk about energy. Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he...