Bush, GOP Force Democrats In Congress To Concede On Range Of Issues

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democrats prepared Wednesday for major concessions on Iraq war funding, children's health insurance, tax policies, general spending and energy, because they could not overcome vetoes by President Bush.

The setbacks are a stinging disappointment for Democrats, who took control of the House and Senate with narrow majorities this year but never found a formula for coaxing compromises from Bush and his GOP supporters. Republicans blame Democratic hubris, but both sides agree on one thing: Voters will have a clear choice in 2008 on how Congress should be run.

The pain is deepest in the House. Many Democrats hoped to wind down the Iraq war, greatly expand children's health insurance, promote renewable fuel use and curb deficit spending, mostly by raising taxes on some groups while cutting taxes elsewhere.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters that Democrats have done all they can. "We were not elected to do what the president tells us to do,'' Hoyer said. But acknowledging political realities, he added: "If he vetoes and we can't override the veto, then we have to go in some other direction.''



Read more: http://www.dailymail.com/News/200712120522

[TwilightGardener]

1. Can somebody lend me a hot knitting needle? I want to run it through my eyeball.

[Javaman]

12. I think the dems have been listening the cramps again...

"bend over, I'll drive."

[villager]

2. Lying again, eh, Steny? You can make that craven little fucker in the Oval Office

veto over and over again, and quit yielding to his temper tantrums.

Gutless coward.

[zabet]

3. Spineless sacks of shit

that can do nothing
but roll over for chimpy.
:grr:

[Malva Zebrina]

4. Guess he has proven he indeed is a king

and that the unitary executive powers are what this country has become under the auspices ofd a very stupid man.

Yeah!

[superconnected]

5. Pathetic, pelosi and reid.

[SlingBlade]

6. BULLSHIT

BULL FKUCKUBG SHIT !
These frigging DINOcrats are pissing me off !

They sit around and whine because the Pukes wont go along with them ?

[OKthatsIT]

29. TAXATION without REPRESENTATION

hmmm...is it time to pull the plug, yet?

[bif]

7. Compromise?

"never found a formula for coaxing compromises from Bush and his GOP supporters..." George and his stoolies NEVER compromise on a fuckin' thing. When are they going to get it?

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. Thanks. A sincere "thank you".

For nothing.

Did these *&$%'s forget why we elected them?

This makes me sick to my stomach.

[bemildred]

9. According to the rules of the Senate, that's the way it is.

Elect a 2/3 majority in the Senate, and they will be able to amend the rules to stop all this crap. The Dems can stop anything they want, but they cannot force things through as things stand, and they cannot change the rules without a 2/3 "yes" vote.

[Political Heretic]

22. You are wrong.

Sorry.. I was trying just to post in the DU lounge until I got some posts under my belt, but I have to comment on this.

I am so sick of hearing this "their hands are tied" bullshit. They CAN keep sending the same bills to the president over and over and over and over again. Every time he vetoes, they launch a massive public relations campaign - just like republicans are so good at - about how Bush is the one failing, the one stalling, and the one to blame.

It makes no sense for them to cave. It's not good for elections, its not good for the american people.

That's all we're asking them to do, is basically to say, government is coming to a screeching HALT until BUSH caves, not congress.

They have the power to pressure Bush, they just refuse to do it.

[bemildred]

28. Actually, I'm not.

Go read the rules of the Senate. You are quite correct that they could use their bully-pulpit more than they do, and that they are spineless weasels. However, they cannot send the same bill to the pResident over and over, because they cannot pass it over and over, because of the filibuster provision. They could bring things to a screeching halt, as you say, but apparently they feel it would be irresponsible to do that or they are cowards or something, it's hard to be sure out here in TV land.

[ryanmuegge]

10. The Democrats can't really do much with their razor-thin majority

but they aren't even doing what little they could be.

I saw this coming from day one when Pelosi was saying things like, "impeachment is off the table." Harry Reid has always been all bark and no bite.

They did manage to raise the minimum wage, I'll give them that.

While the criticism of the Democrats is, in some ways, deserved, the Republicans are WAY overspinning this in the media. Every time they pass something, Bush blocks it. The Republicans are trying to make sure nothing gets done, so that they can blame the Democrats for failed leadership (rather than Republican partisan resistance) when the elections roll around. This fairly obvious to all of us, and, judging by public opinion data, the Republicans' attempts appear to be fairly successful. The consequences of the Republican strategy could have devastating consequences in '08. Democrats could EASILY lose seats.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. All of the things that Bush/GOP has vetoed or blocked are popular though

Unless the country really wants a bunch of watered-down "compromises" on popular issues or genuinely wants the country to move in a more conservative/GOP direction (in light of the 6 years of evidence that they have made things worse for our country NOT better), then I really don't see what the Republicans will gain by obstructing legislation that is polling well, in some cases strong, among the general public and even among some Republicans. Republicans seem to be misreading the poll numbers and thinking that since the Democratic Congress is not polling well, it must follow that the voters are going to put them back in charge in 2008. BUT they seem to be missing the point that its probably not that most people don't like the Democrats or their agenda but that the Democrats have been unsuccessful/ineffective in getting legislation with broad popular support ENACTED into law(despite the fact that they have actually passed lots of legislation by majority votes and can't sign legislation into law themselves). I highly doubt that the public is going to vote more Republicans into office in 2008 just so that Republicans can continue blocking measures that they say that they support. The truth is that the Democrats in this Congress, despite their inability to get most of their legislation through and/or coax enough of the GOP to join in passing it, have been at least taking stands on these issues and putting them in the limelight for the public (those who are paying attention anyway) to see. Almost none of the legislation would've even have seen the light of day in a Republican-controlled Congress. Wouldn't it be more likely for the general public to want to get rid of the obstructionists so the legislation/agenda they say they support actually gets enacted into law? Why would they reward a bunch of people whom are actively obstructing things that they say that they support every day since the beginning of this Congress? It would make far more sense to me that the general public would elect more Democrats to Congress in 2008 so that they can actually get their agenda signed into law and/or be able to override vetoes (if the President, god forbid, ends up being a Republican). The ONLY ways that I can see for the Republicans to prosper in 2008 is either extremely low voter turnout among Democrats or the general public decides that it wants more of what the Republicans have to offer (*ugh*)

[ryanmuegge]

17. They bank on the American public being indifferent and uninformed.

They count on people being ignorant to the legislative process and what's really going on in Congress. That's how they think they're going to win. It's so cynical that it's sick.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

25. Sadly, I tend to agree

And all you have to do is look back at the past 6 years and the election of GWB, whose image of "beer-drinking buddy" seemed to matter more to the general public than having somebody who actually cares about the country, is well-informed, and listens to different points of view than those provided by his band of "yes-men" as President of the United States. However, I would argue that "voters remorse" seemed to kick in pretty early for GWB and without 9/11 or some other unforeseen "emergency" circumstances, I have serious doubts as to whether he could've even been re-elected in 2004. He managed to eke out only a small victory over Kerry in 2004 (assuming for the moment that there was no voter fraud involved) even AFTER all of the GOP smearing of Kerry and the Democratic Party, incessant fear mongering, and crass manipulation of post-9/11 public anxieties. The following year, after his Social Security "reform" debacle, Hurricane Katrina, and the continued mismanagement of the Iraq occupation came into public focus, Bush lost the support of most of the rest of the country and has been perpetually sunk in the polls ever since then only retaining some semblance of popularity among his loyal "base". With the GOP in such bad shape right now having lost Congress in 2006 and facing scores of retirements among members whose re-election would've been likely, I'm not sure that most people, as ill-informed and ignorant as they may well be, will necessarily flock to the polls to put the GOP back in charge of Congress let alone the White House in 2008. I believe, however, that it will likely be hard to whip up a lot of enthusiasm for any of the candidates, Republican OR Democratic in 2008. If the public wants some of these things to get done that the Democrats in this Congress have been trying to do, then they're going to HAVE to give the Democrats the White House and the Congress (filibuster-proof Senate too). I am guessing that this is what the Democrats are really trying to get the public to do by feigning weakness and ineffectiveness in the current Congress.

[Robbien]

20. GOPers are not doing this all on their own

they are getting a lot of help from certain members of the Democratic party.

If the Democratic party was united, GOPers would never be able to get everything they are getting. When certain members of the Democratic party have strategy meetings with GOPers in secret meetings, you know the public is going to be royally screwed.

[Political Heretic]

23. You are also wrong.

Sorry.. I was trying just to post in the DU lounge until I got some posts under my belt, but I have to comment on this.

I am so sick of hearing this "their hands are tied" bullshit. They CAN keep sending the same bills to the president over and over and over and over again. Every time he vetoes, they launch a massive public relations campaign - just like republicans are so good at - about how Bush is the one failing, the one stalling, and the one to blame.

It makes no sense for them to cave. It's not good for elections, its not good for the american people.

That's all we're asking them to do, is basically to say, government is coming to a screeching HALT until BUSH caves, not congress.

They have the power to pressure Bush, they just refuse to do it.

[blackspade]

11. What a dumb ass

"We were not elected to do what the president tells us to do,'' Hoyer said. But acknowledging political realities, he added: "If he vetoes and we can't override the veto, then we have to go in some other direction.''

How about sticking to your guns and NOT go in another direction?
Better to stick to what is good for the country and have it vetoed than to 'go in another direction' that leads to appeasement or complicity with this corrupt criminal regime.
By the Gods are these folks the biggest fucking idiots or what?

[Akoto]

13. We don't have to be "forced" to do anything.

Fact is, we hold the majority. It may not be wide enough for us to push a veto-proof agenda, but we can do what the Republicans often did: grind the bureaucracy to a halt.

On several occasions, the Dems have almost done just that, but they always end up backing down. One wonders what they're threatened with, or if they simply lack the spine to hold their ground?

[The Stranger]

15. It appears that if there were only two Republicans left - one in Congress and one in the White House

things would run just exactly as they are.

Democrats outmaneuvered again?

Noooooooooo.

[0rganism]

16. "go in a different direction" OR...

GIVE HIM THE SAME LEGISLATION OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL HIS LILY-WHITE HAND FALLS OFF FROM SIGNING SO MANY VETOES

OR....

IMPEACH THE LYING CRIMINAL MOTHERFUCKERS AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE., FOR ANY OF THEIR MANY CRIMES

Unfortunately, our short-bus congressional Democrats have been conditioned by a decade of submissive behavior to roll over and beg.

[Rockerdem]

18. Frustration...

Everyone knows the real underlying problem: taking corporate money and pretending that it doesn't have an impact. We have single-party government for a reason.

[Doctor_J]

19. Dems will be conceding the House and maybe the Senate next year

there's no reason to vote Dem any more.

[dysfunctional press]

21. i recently moved to a solidly republican congressional district...

neither of my democratic senators is up for re-election this cycle, and if our nominee is a dlc dino- i'll have absolutely no reason to go to the polls on election day.

[Political Heretic]

24. That's what's going to happen. Dems win the WH and lose Congress in 08

Congress is failing as bad as the white house right now.

[Zorra]

26. Dear Dems: Call the arrogant little fascist fuck out, and then start the impeachment

process.

This "do something, even if it is wrong"approach makes you look weak while at the same time enables that smarmy snake to further destroy our country.

Please help us stop the schoolyard bully by standing up to him. Most of us would rather take a few punches and go without lunch for a few days than continue to let that greasy little reptile destroy our country completely.

[Baclava]

27. Doesn't surprise me a bit - it's all about Pork.

Pork pork pork....pork pork pork

That's what runs Congress.....it's all about the almighty pork.