"Worse than Jimmy Carter"
If you’re heading up on Friday to see Bob Dylan at the Midstate Fair, be sure to swing by the KVEC booth and say hi to Matt Donovan and I. We’ll be broadcasting from the fair from 3 to 7 on Friday. Speaking of Dylan, we’ll be giving away more free tickets to the concert today and Thursday.
Meanwhile, check out this from the Washington Post. Anyone surprised?
“President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.
The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush’s job performance, matching his all-time low.
In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only twice has a president exceeded that level of public animosity — Harry S. Truman, who hit 67 percent during the Korean War, and Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before resigning.
The historic depth of Bush’s public standing has whipsawed his White House, sapped his clout, drained his advisers, encouraged his enemies and jeopardized his legacy. Around the White House, aides make gallows-humor jokes about how they can alienate their remaining supporters — at least those aides not heading for the door. Outside the White House, many former aides privately express anger and bitterness at their erstwhile colleagues, Bush and the fate of his presidency.
The president’s low public standing has paralleled the disenchantment with the Iraq war, but some analysts said it goes beyond that, reflecting a broader unease with Bush’s policies in a variety of areas. “It isn’t just the Iraq war,” said Shirley Anne Warshaw, a presidential scholar at Gettysburg College. “It’s everything.”
Some analysts believe that even many war supporters deserted him because of his plan to open the door to legal status for illegal immigrants. “You can do an unpopular war or you can do an unpopular immigration policy,” said David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter. “Not both.”
Yet Bush’s political troubles seem to go beyond particular policies. Many presidents over the past 70 years have faced greater or more immediate crises without falling as far in the public mind — Vietnam claimed far more American lives than Iraq, the Iranian hostage crisis made the United States look impotent, race riots and desegregation tore the country apart, the oil embargo forced drivers to wait for hours to fill up, the Soviets seemed to threaten the nation’s survival.”
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The Dave Congalton Show 
Impeach the criminal Bush
If Bush is the worst president ever because of his 35% approval rating, then this HAS to be the worst Congress ever with their even lower 17% approval rating. Frankly, I think this president and this Congress deserve each other.
Nothing is going to change until all elections are federally financed and lobbyists and special interests can’t bribe our politicians with campaign contributions. 2008 will just be more of the same.
just wanted to point out that Bill Clinton is GHW’s guest at the Hillbilly camp in Bohemian grove this year.
“If Bush is the worst president ever because of his 35% approval rating, then this HAS to be the worst Congress ever with their even lower 17% approval rating. Frankly, I think this president and this Congress deserve each other.
Nothing is going to change until all elections are federally financed and lobbyists and special interests can’t bribe our politicians with campaign contributions. 2008 will just be more of the same.”
Amen, they do deserve each other.
They all suck!
Right on, we have no leaders anonymous.
Everyone of them stink!
Hillary….Puhleez
More Bush hating? Copy-n-paste?
C’mon Dave! We deserve better!
If you are that busy let me help you with the blog…
If the copy-n-paste stopped by you and Bob we could really have a debate here.
C’mon! really! Give us something of substance!
You have hated Bush enough…there are many more topics that deserve attention.
Please…Try harder
Dave,
Never has an American President held the rule of law, The United States Constitution, and those rights that are objectively, deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition, and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, in such disdain and contempt as has George Bush.
The stench from this administration is overwhelming and unbearable. It has nothing to do with Bush hating. It has to do with an Administration that holds itself above the rule of law, and is openly contemptuous of the American people.
The Bush Administration has avoiding giving documents and testimony to Congress, to the point of refusing subpoenas. I seem to remember that when the uproar about the warrant-less wiretapping was coming out, the supporters of President Bush claimed that there was not a problem if you have nothing to hide. So, my question now for the Bush Administration is: Why won’t you go before the Congressional Committees that are subpoenaing you and give unfettered testimony? Do you have something to hide?
hey…this is the “award winning” blog….doesn’t need to get any better than that!
Dave,
I listened to Santa Maria Bill again last night. Normally, you do an excellent job with guests and callers alike to not only moderate to stay on topic, but to be engaged. However, when SMB is on, you are an entirely different host. Callers get the usual re-direction to stay on topic but SMB gets to wander as he pleases. The first time I observed this I thought, Dave’s like the rest of us, he’s having an off day, but the last 3 times he’s been on, it’s been a marked change.
The one time last night you acted like the Dave we know was with respect to the comment of “Edwards being marginalized”, etc where you at least pushed for an explanation. But, when a caller presses SMB on a topic, he gets to say his typical “suspended habeas corpus” or “anthrax attack” and his other pop quiz answers.
If your preference would be to let SMB stand on his own, fine, I might suggest he’d be a great guest to let one of your lesser-talented guest hosts deal with in your next absense.
Other than SMB shows, keep up the good job you’re doing for the rest of home town radio. We’re luck to have you.
Actually, there are all ready court precedent cases that favor the executive branch on these subpeonas. If Bush committed an impeachable offense, don’t you think your legislature would start the procedings? Before I spout, I would want to know what the law actually says that Bush is supposedly above. I further think the stench you smell is not coming from 1600 Pennsylvania, but from Independence Avenue.
The lefties are psycho.
hoosier 21,
For recent examples, cited by legitimate and well respective real conservatives, please see Bruce Fein’s article, Restrain This White House wherein he noted:
President Bush has flouted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) for five years by directing the National Security Agency to target American citizens on American soil for electronic surveillance on his say-so alone. The president has defended his warrantless domestic spying with an imperial theory of inherent constitutional power that would empower him to open mail, break in and enter homes, or torture detainees, even in violation of federal criminal statutes. He has concealed details of the spying program indispensable to rational congressional oversight—for example, the number of Americans targeted, the earmarks employed to select the targets, or the intelligence yield of the spying. He has never explained to Congress why FISA could not have been amended to accommodate any unforeseen evasive tactics by al Qaeda in lieu of simply disregarding the law. Indeed, Congress has amended FISA six times since 9/11 at the request of the White House, and the Senate Intelligence Committee was informed by Bush’s Justice Department on July 31, 2002, that FISA was working impeccably. The president has also refused to disclose what legal advice he received to justify the NSA’s warrantless domestic spying at its inception. And Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez has confessed that President Bush is operating other intelligence collection programs that are unknown to Congress and the public and that will never be revealed, absent leaks to the media.
Republicans in Congress have bowed to the president’s scorn for the rule of law and craving for secret government. They have voted against Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold’s resolution to rebuke Bush for violating federal statutes and crippling checks and balances. They have resisted brandishing either the power of the purse or the contempt power (with which it can compel testimony) to end the president’s violation of FISA and to force full disclosure of his secret foreign-intelligence programs. Indeed, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter, is sponsoring a bill that in substance endorses President Bush’s FISA illegalities and authorizes an electronic-surveillance program warrant that would enable the NSA to spy on Americans indiscriminately without the particularized suspicion of wrongdoing required by the Fourth Amendment.
In a Slate article, Mr. Fein recently wrote:
Then President George W. Bush outsourced the lion’s share of his presidency to Vice President Cheney, and Mr. Cheney has made the most of it. Since 9/11, he has proclaimed that all checks and balances and individual liberties are subservient to the president’s commander in chief powers in confronting international terrorism. Let’s review the record of his abuses and excesses:
The vice president asserted presidential power to create military commissions, which combine the functions of judge, jury, and prosecutor in the trial of war crimes. The Supreme Court rebuked Cheney in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. Mr. Cheney claimed authority to detain American citizens as enemy combatants indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay on the president’s say-so alone, a frightening power indistinguishable from King Louis XVI’s execrated lettres de cachet that occasioned the storming of the Bastille. The Supreme Court repudiated Cheney in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld.
The vice president initiated kidnappings, secret detentions, and torture in Eastern European prisons of suspected international terrorists. This lawlessness has been answered in Germany and Italy with criminal charges against CIA operatives or agents. The legal precedent set by Cheney would justify a decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to kidnap American tourists in Paris and to dispatch them to dungeons in Belarus if they were suspected of Chechen sympathies.
The vice president has maintained that the entire world is a battlefield. Accordingly, he contends that military power may be unleashed to kill or capture any American citizen on American soil if suspected of association or affiliation with al-Qaida. Thus, Mr. Cheney could have ordered the military to kill Jose Padilla with rockets, artillery, or otherwise when he landed at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, because of Padilla’s then-suspected ties to international terrorism.
Two additional, well respected conservatives, P.X. Kelly, and Robert F. Turner, wrote in today’s Washington Post:
War Crimes and the White House
The Dishonor in a Tortured New ‘Interpretation’ of the Geneva Conventions
By P.X. Kelley and Robert F. Turner
Thursday, July 26, 2007; Page A21
One of us was appointed commandant of the Marine Corps by President Ronald Reagan; the other served as a lawyer in the Reagan White House and has vigorously defended the constitutionality of warrantless National Security Agency wiretaps, presidential signing statements and many other controversial aspects of the war on terrorism. But we cannot in good conscience defend a decision that we believe has compromised our national honor and that may well promote the commission of war crimes by Americans and place at risk the welfare of captured American military forces for generations to come.
The Supreme Court held in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld last summer that all detainees captured in the war on terrorism are protected by Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which prescribes minimum standards of treatment for all persons who are no longer taking an active part in an armed conflict not of an international character. It provides that “in all circumstances” detainees are to be “treated humanely.”
This is not just about avoiding “torture.” The article expressly prohibits “at any time and in any place whatsoever” any acts of “violence to life and person” or “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment.”
Last Friday, the White House issued an executive order attempting to “interpret” Common Article 3 with respect to a controversial CIA interrogation program. The order declares that the CIA program “fully complies with the obligations of the United States under Common Article 3,” provided that its interrogation techniques do not violate existing federal statutes (prohibiting such things as torture, mutilation or maiming) and do not constitute “willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual in a manner so serious that any reasonable person, considering the circumstances, would deem the acts to be beyond the bounds of human decency.”
In other words, as long as the intent of the abuse is to gather intelligence or to prevent future attacks, and the abuse is not “done for the purpose of humiliating or degrading the individual” — even if that is an inevitable consequence — the president has given the CIA carte blanche to engage in “willful and outrageous acts of personal abuse.”
It is firmly established in international law that treaties are to be interpreted in “good faith” in accordance with the ordinary meaning of their words and in light of their purpose. It is clear to us that the language in the executive order cannot even arguably be reconciled with America’s clear duty under Common Article 3 to treat all detainees humanely and to avoid any acts of violence against their person.
In April of 1793, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson wrote to President George Washington that nations were to interpret treaty obligations for themselves but that “the tribunal of our consciences remains, and that also of the opinion of the world.” He added that “as we respect these, we must see that in judging ourselves we have honestly done the part of impartial and rigorous judges.”
To date in the war on terrorism, including the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and all U.S. military personnel killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq, America’s losses total about 2 percent of the forces we lost in World War II and less than 7 percent of those killed in Vietnam. Yet we did not find it necessary to compromise our honor or abandon our commitment to the rule of law to defeat Nazi Germany or imperial Japan, or to resist communist aggression in Indochina. On the contrary, in Vietnam — where we both proudly served twice — America voluntarily extended the protections of the full Geneva Convention on prisoners of war to Viet Cong guerrillas who, like al-Qaeda, did not even arguably qualify for such protections.
The Geneva Conventions provide important protections to our own military forces when we send them into harm’s way. Our troops deserve those protections, and we betray their interests when we gratuitously “interpret” key provisions of the conventions in a manner likely to undermine their effectiveness. Policymakers should also keep in mind that violations of Common Article 3 are “war crimes” for which everyone involved — potentially up to and including the president of the United States — may be tried in any of the other 193 countries that are parties to the conventions.
In a letter to President James Madison in March 1809, Jefferson observed: “It has a great effect on the opinion of our people and the world to have the moral right on our side.” Our leaders must never lose sight of that wisdom.
Retired Gen. P.X. Kelley served as commandant of the Marine Corps from 1983 to 1987. Robert F. Turner is co-founder of the University of Virginia’s Center for National Security Law and a former chair of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security.
Dave,
My hope is you will deal appropriately with those who under the cowardice of anonymity spew their religious bigotry and hateful ignorance as though it were some badge of honor.
Which one of the documents Bush hasn’t turned over is not in the 430,000 the Bush administration has turned over?
This is a worse “do nothing” Congress than the last one. They have accomplished ZERO of their legislative agenda and the promises they made during the “first 100 hours”, like transparency of earmarks and ethics reform, they shit on as fast as they proposed them. Murtha is still spending our money on his district like a drunken sailor. Same goes for ben Nelson of Nebraska. All of these piece of shit Congressmen and Senators need to get flushed and some real statesmen and women with their loyalties firmly placed with the country at heart need to be elected.
Guy, how in the hell can you claim to know that Bush is doing all the “wrong” you leftists accuse him because he holds the laws of this land in contempt and disdain? Fact is you don’t have a freakin’ clue what motivates Bush and when he tells you why he is doing what he does, you don’t believe him. This goes out to all the Leftists in the audience, not just you, Guy: You are projecting your beliefs about Bush on to Bush when you make absurd statements like Bush holding the Constitution in “contempt” and “disdain”. You all undermine your credibility when you try to crawl into his head and tell us what he is thinking. And the last thing we need if for Bob to lose any more credibility than he already has. If he loses much more, his credibility will be less than Bush’s… or this Congress for that matter (which is hovering at 17% for those of you keeping score at home).
The week minded say:
“My hope is you will deal appropriately with those who under the cowardice of anonymity spew their religious bigotry and hateful ignorance as though it were some badge of honor. You must help us Dave! Protect us Dave! Do something so we can go on in ignorant bliss ranting out liberal drivel”
Have your mommy write Dave a letter…as for this. It’s a blog! Deal with it! or…sue me! hahaha
Here ya Bob!
I dare ya to watch it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyUX6wV1lBQ
“The week minded say”
The week minded?
Ah yes . . . I see Mr. Bush’s anonymous apologists here are his intellectual equals in every way. Impressive! I await your next comments with eager anticipation. Please, do continue to fill this forum with your intelligence.
Lawyers…never know when they have been beat…they just try one more appeal.
What’s the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?
One is a slimy, bottom dwelling, scum sucker. The other is a fish.
I dare ya: I linked to the youtube bit of fiction and watched about half of it, enough to get the jist or flavor of what this computer generated “hero” had to spout: Like in the last thread, why is you righties are so enamored with stories and legends? George Patton is dead, get over it, he is not speaking to you from the grave, that was a work of f i c t i o n , from the mind or minds of people who know how to push your buttons. Perhaps the right’s fascination with legends and stories and fictional characters has to do with the lack of any real inspiring leaders on the right? There is such a low confidence in the candidates in the Republican race that Vice-President Cheney, even with his pacemaker and other health issues is watching the race to see if he should enter to be the Republican candidate. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Another interesting anomaly is the denigration of all things lawyer by those on the right, but how many lawyers in Washington DC are currently working for Republican politicians? Hell, how many are Republican politicians? I don’t personally know any lawyers, but this constant babble by the right about how bad lawyers supposedly are is tiring. Lawyers as a group are like most segments of society in that there are those who are motivated by desire for profit (although most of them are probably Republicans) and there are many who are motivated to good things and help people (probably most of these are Democrats), but I am sure that there are enough hypocrites to go around on both sides.
Guy: yeah, the week minded, as in, give them a week and they will forget about anything that has happened…..
one wife to one man: Nice existentialism reference, and a real mean swipe at any Mormons out there. You must be one real forgiving Christian.
Guy,
These are all good opinion pieces. What I am requesting are facts. No one on this thread has the expertise as a constitutional scholar to decide if a law has been broken, bent, or legal. Jumping on the band wagon because MSM has declared various actions as “impeachable, illegal or whatever” just stirs up hatred and does nothing. I guess I shouldn’t say does nothing, because there are enough gullible people who believe the MSM and will provide a democrat landslide in 08. The powers given to the President through resolutions are ambiguous at best. Ten judges could give 10 different opinions on the legality of many of these issues. I am sure the President’s legal counsel has been a constant advisor on these issues. What we do have is legal precedence and this provides the most accurate basis for the legality of some actions (ignoring subpoenas). I must again state that I did not vote for our existing President and am still waiting for what we are supposed to be apologist for. As far as intellectual equals, well, to be honest, yes. I do have a 130+ IQ although my grades where somewhat better. Any more insinuations you care to share with us? I personally think that there has been enough chatter on one’s intelligence. Let’s be honest, in general democrats lose this argument (studies based on who votes for which party).
I believe more honesty is needed. The general populace is demanding withdrawal from Iraq and your legislatures’ pass a non binding resolution stating that they want a withdrawal. How ridiculous is that. All they have to do is de-fund it. But they don’t because they do not want to be responsible for any actions as a result of it. Politics over what is perceived to be the good of the country. The whole lot should be canned. Is it any wonder Bush’s approval rating is twice as high as theirs.
Please take the time to read both sides of arguments before formulating opinions.
Bob, I have no idea what your point is.
Now, to the original post. Worst president ever. I don’t think Presidential ratings should be based on a popularity vote. It should be based on individual accomplishments versus other Presidents by individuals who actually know what has happened based on facts. Carter wins hands down. The following are cut and paste from the Investor’s Business Daily and CalPoly ^ | Dan K. O’Leary. I realize some of these are conservative values, but we on the right do look at them as accomplishments.
Carter:
Of all the errors Jimmy Carter committed, none has earned him more well-justified scorn than his handling of the 1970s energy crisis. True enough, he didn’t cause it. But he did make it much, much worse.
It’s often asserted that while Jimmy Carter’s presidency was marred by error and incompetence, the peace deal he brokered at Camp David was an unmitigated triumph. Time to pop that bubble, too.
In foreign policy, Jimmy Carter proved his presidency the worst ever by subordinating U.S. interests to his vague “human rights” policy. All he did was enable dictators to take him to the cleaners.
On President Jimmy Carter’s watch, more territory was lost to tyranny than at any other time since Yalta. And he’d have us return to those thrilling days of yesteryear.
In the name of human rights, Jimmy Carter gave rise to one of the worst rights violators in history — the Ayatollah Khomeini. And now Khomeini’s successor is preparing for nuclear war with Israel and the West.
After being told over and over by President Jimmy Carter that America’s ability to influence world events was “very limited,” the Soviet Union believed him and invaded Afghanistan. And al-Qaida was born.
When it comes to economic performance, there’s no contest: Apart from the early years of the Depression, Jimmy Carter’s brief tenure as president was the worst in the 20th century.
Just an overall weak President.
Bush Accomplishments
1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade.
2. Reversed Clinton’s move to strike Reagan’s anti-abortion Mexico Policy.
3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton’s policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act.
4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services.
5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals.
6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004.
7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman.
8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents.
9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools.
10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms).
11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline.
12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs.
Budget, Taxes & Economy
1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history.
2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.
3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority.
5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty.
6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people.
7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.
8. Killed Clinton’s “ergonomic” rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America.
9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.
10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.
11. Signed trade promotion authority.
12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches.
13. Fight Europe’s ban on importing biotech crops from the United States.
14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes.
15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home.
16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled.
17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA’s from $500 to $2,000 per child.
18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000.
19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans.
20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year.
Education & Employment Training
1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act.
2. Announced “Jobs for the 21st Century,” a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education.
3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.)
4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight.
5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance.
6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards.
7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems.
8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers.
Environment & Energy
1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.
2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.
3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives.
4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.
5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.
6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
7. Killed Clinton’s CO2 rules that were choking off the entire electricity surplus to California.
8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
Defense & Foreign Policy
1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom.
2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime’s senior members were killed or captured.
3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror.
4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD’s without bribes or bloodshed.
5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists’ funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network.
6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century.
7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.
8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency.
9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian “Roadmap to Peace,” along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.
10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year.
11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.
12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command.
14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs.
15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry.
16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006.
17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy.
18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments.
19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year.
20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports.
21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed.
Globalization & Internationalism
1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant).
2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.
3. Told the United Nations we weren’t interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).
4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: “The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?” We all know the outcome and the answer.
5. Told the Congress and the world, “America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.”
Government Reform
1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises.
2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs.
3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers.
5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals.
Health<
1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free.
2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health.
3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes:
A 10-year privatization option.
Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine.
More health care choices: As President Bush stated, “…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What’s good for members of Congress is also good for seniors.
New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you’ll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford.
Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration
1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush’s leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security.
2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004.
3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield).
4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create “one face at the border.” This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders.
5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity.
6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals.
7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones.
8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America’s ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested.
9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.
10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.
11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization.
12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens.
13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications.
14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack.
Judiciary & Tort Reform
1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits.
2. Killed the liberal ABA’s unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA.
3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.
4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims.
Second Amendment
1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined “collective” right.
2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit.
3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers..
Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism
1. Endorses and promotes “The Responsibility Era.” President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, “In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you’ve got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you’re responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you’re responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you’re responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you’re responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself.”
2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world.
3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families.
4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration’s belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved.
5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court’s Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible.
6.Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them.
7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year’s worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states.
8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa.
9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, “No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity.” As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conserv
I think it’s fair to say that what takes place on this blog is a sympton of what’s happening in D.C.
The people who are questioning this president and this administration put forth argument, and back it up with reasonable evidence.
In response, we get to endure endless, pathetic personal attacks from various unnamed and Anonymouse sources. It used to be only our patriotism was questioned, but not we have to duck the mud and the scum from desperate people who remain in denial over the sad fact that the country believed in Their Guy and he let us down.
In terms of the attacks on me for “cut and paste” postings, I plead guilty. I post articles of note on this blog to show you it’s not just my opinion on something–I back it up with outside sources. But the Right doesn’t challenge the evidence; they just attack me. Another Karl Rove strategy.
To the person who wondered why I’m so easy on SM Bill, you’re absolutely, positively correct. I plead guilty. I do tend to just sit back and let him go, but it was a really good segment on Wednesday with SMB. Lots of great calls, pro and con. The guy stimulates conversation and I just try to get out of the way. It’s just a style issue.
See you at the Fair!
I like how Dave and his ilk act as if SM Bill’s opinions are fact.
SMBill is the textbook example of
“truthiness”
Hello Truth Seekers!
Ghost: Congress’ gets a low approval from people because it hasn’t supported the troops by bringing them home. Yet.
Guy: Good to see you here lending some thoughtful commentary. We need it!
Hoosier21: You are proof that Mensa-qualified people can also be found on the conservative side.
You also show you’re not too proud to cut-n-paste from Freeper web pages.
The “Bush Accomplishments” list comes from a 3 and a 1/2 year old web post by “Wolfstar:”
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/funwithunclejim/bush.html
Talk about timely, original thinking.
–Newsstand Greg
I see the freedom act is alive and well on this blog! lol (Not!)
agree with the socialist lefties or get your posts deleted…
Home town conversation? Far from it! far far from it! far far far to the left from it.
You’d think by now the nation ain’t buying all your Bush hate. Left is dead! Deal with your own congress now in the low teens in the approval polls.
freeking cowards!
hoosier: I think you win the longest cut ‘n paste award, nice going! The first point that I was making was about a link that was directed as a challenge to me to watch a youtube video of a computer generated General Patton (done as George C. Scott) “calling out” anybody who didn’t agree that President Bush’s Iraqi adventure was the most important thing in the world. Re-read my comments and see if they don’t make a little more sense. The existentialism comment was in response to a deleted comment that was spewing some hatred towards Mormons.
I do find it interesting that the very first “accomplishments” listed for the Bush Administration are all abortion related. A “Priority” according to the author, maybe? I also find it curious that under the defense category the author listed “two wars fought successfully” as an accomplishment. Has bin Laden been caught yet? Iraq is a “success”? Sure, Saddam is dead, but damn, what a mess of our doing. I am not going to take the time to respond to all of the either lame or totally inaccurate assumptions concerning the so-called “accomplishments” listed; many are dubious at best.
As for “facts” about impeachable offense; how about when President Bush announced publicly that he was wire tapping without FISA warrants? Unreasonable search and seizures are illegal according to the Forth Amendment, so his announcement seems as though he was issuing a challenge to anyone to try and stop him. To begin impeachment proceedings is nothing more than gathering evidence of any potential wrong doing, illegal activity or direct violations of the Constitution. If after all the evidence is presented and the Bush Administration is innocent or at least found not guilty of the charges, so be it. I for one believe that after all or at least most of the evidence is presented there will be a groundswell of support for removing Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, Rove, and President Bush from office.
Agree with me or be deleted.
liberals are mentally damaged sissys
any liberal idiot can post any offensive bullcrap they want here and they are safe…but OH! Attack them for that bs and Dave the Miss Nancy of this blog rins to thier defense and deletes.
He will let that flipping lunatic SM bubba rant on for hours unchecked and even admit it…but challenge that bs and you get deleted.
So typical of the left…that’s why conservative talk radio is here to stay and growing.
The extreme left (including dave) are so hung up with not letting the truth be spoken or taking away challenges from the radical left with verbal diarea they have become what they say they dispise. “content senorship freeks”.
Well you lefty loons keep it up…you and your lesbian, half breed and crooked laywer candidates. The nation sees right through your veil of destruction of the great America we all once knew…and that you have been trying to tear down for decades.
Gutless woosies the lot of you! and you keep ,piling on the proof.
Way to go dave…award winning blog? says who? we all consider the source!
Local talk and this blog’s days are numbered. and my prrof is how more and more radically it shifts to the left minute by minute.
Dave is just doing an audio and visual resume he can peddal after they lock the doors.
Mark my words..you all know i am right and just like Bush…you will hate it because you can’t deal with it.
I agree! This blog has been limping along for months now.
To the person disgusted with this blog:
The pot should not be calling the kettle black. The “lefties” on this blog are critical of the policies of some of our politicians. Your ilk on the other hand hate people for who they are: lesbians, gays, females (unless they’re barefoot and pregnant), lawyers, and, to use your racist remark “half-breeds.” Please see your own quote below and, if you hate this blog and hometown radio so much, don’t let the door slam you in the behind.
See your own gem of an educated and mindful quote below. Too bad all you and your anonymous ilk are good at is ganging up on the handful of bloggers who have at least a couple of brain cells to their name.
Bush is an awful president who should be impeached and prosecuted for war crimes. There is nothing hateful about that. There is, however, justice that can be accomplished by impeaching the crook. We can probably save many American and non-American lives and start fixing the Constitution. The Constitution is being torn to shreds by the divinely ordained born-again nincompoop and his viper-like handler, Cheney, who do whatever the hell they please because they know they can thanks to the acquiescence of the silent majority and because Bush, in his delusional post years of drug induced psychosis and drunkenness believes that he somehow has a direct line to the Almighty and, therefore, has the power to wage war across the globe, lie, and seize your assets if you dare protest the Iraq war.
From the Disgusted Guy
“Well you lefty loons keep it up…you and your lesbian, half breed and crooked laywer candidates. The nation sees right through your veil of destruction of the great America we all once knew…and that you have been trying to tear down for decades.
Gutless woosies the lot of you! and you keep ,piling on the proof.”
Well, I hate to disappoint you, but I’ve never deleted any comment from this blog purely because it disagrees with me. I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of posts disagree with me. That’s fine.
But I hit DELETE when the attacks get personal and on this thread there were a series of ugly, juvenile attacks on one person in particular.
There’s no need for that, folks. If you need your right-wing fix, check out the Michael Savage blog. I’m sure he’ll make your day!
tsk tsk tsk ….always an excuse! just like a good lefty freak!
They never accept resonsibility for anyrhing. Dingy herry would be proud…so would bubba!
What Dave said:
“But I hit DELETE when the attacks get personal and on this thread there were a series of ugly, juvenile attacks on one person in particular.”
What Dave meant:
But I hit DELETE when the attacks get personal and on this thread there were a series of ugly, juvenile attacks on one person in particular. Except conservatives and especially the President of the United States”
see? don’t you feel better now that the truth is out? I know it goes against your grain, but it can be so cleansing, healing, freeing!
dave and the ACLU
true patriots!
No surprise to “Hezbullah mary’s” comments! She wants America out of the Middle East so her terrorist friends and cohorts can continue their destruction of the nation of Israel and America unchecked. Blowing up women and children to kill the infidels is only a small sacrifice, if any at all.
These “plants” come here from the muslim world well funded and brainwashed and do the work of the terrorists from the inside out.
Nobody is fooled by the comments by this muslim woman who leaves her mother and family behind, and then entrenches into the safety of the tax supported trough to do her deeds.
Only after her biggest supporter Dave makes comments that all liberal comments are welcome here no matter how offensive to the rest of us, gets her to come out from under her rock! These two deserve each other!
As for this blog, you anti Christian, anti American lefty loons will never “delete” us out of existence!
We own the airways…and this nation of patriots has squashed tour “shamnesty” bill, and we will squash any attempt you will make to tear apart the fabric that has made and is keeping this nation great.
see? Marilyn can dump her verbal vomit attacks all over Christians, the President, and any true patiots and get away with it (while she sits in the safety we provide and spending the income they steal out of our paychecks!).
But if you dare attack the crap these socialist sorrosites spew, you get deleted.
The left is so full of venom and hate they have become what they protest against.
I sure hope either the lesbian or the half breed make it to the white house! We will have 4 years of dumping on one of them and these loons have to sit and listen!
Harry Truman, had a lower popularity and he is now regarded as one of the greatest US Presidents. Your bias clouds any reasonable argument you attempt to make.
As much as I am disgusted by Hypocracy Hater’s use of the term “half-breed”, he is right that Marilyn to a greater extent and Bob to a lesser, get free reign to say whatever slanderous comments they want against Bush, America and anyone on the right, but if you respond in kind, Dave deletes your comments. The fact that I believe Bob is mentally deranged with his obsessive hatred of all things Bush and Republican and the fact that I believe that Marilyn is in league with the terrorsists from her native Lebanon is enough to get my post deleted or at least, scorn heaped on my for picking on women and crazy people and how I hate them because I spoke out against them. The hypocracy the Hypocracy Hater is talking about resides on the Left where debate is stiffled and censorship in the name of protecting adults from nasty words the blog-meister doesn’t like is the norm. I know this is your blog, Dave, but these are adults we’re talking about and no one was called the repugnant things like what is said every day on the DailyKos.
When Dave starts deleting he is doing a “dry run” for Hillary on the “fairness doctrine”
With the logic that “This is my blog and I’ll delete if I want to.” Why doesn’t that apply to radio station owners that own the licsence to broadcast whatever they want so long as it conforms to established decency standards? Does the broadcaster physically possess the licsense or is it just like a lease or something? Do private property rights come into play here somewhere? For that matter, since it is a government licsence to broadcast on the public’s airwaves, isn’t the federal government advocating a religious preference by issuing licsenses to christian broadcasters? Shouldn’t a madrassa be able to get a radio station and broadcast their calls to prayer and hatred of America as a matter of equal time? hell, they could broadcast their desire to see America overthrown. SM Bill and Air America do it every time they broadcast. Where is the fairness for the muslim terrorists? Why is our government picking christian radio over muslim radio? What gives?
hmmmm who will be the winner?
Copy-n-paste
Deleted comments
or
Hate anything Bush
On this blog?
Hate Bush is hands down the fav, followed closely by deleted comments, and finally the copy-n-paster masters.
quite the original and balanced blog eh?
Hate Bush or die. That is and will be the death of the left. just watch what happens.