BoomerD
No Lifer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061022/pl_nm/congress_dc_1
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Democrats win control of the U.S. Congress in the November 7 election, it would turn the Capitol upside down and create a political nightmare for the already embattled President George W. Bush.
If his Republicans lose the majority, Bush would hear newly empowered calls to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and would suddenly face promised Democratic-led congressional investigations with subpoena power into the unpopular war.
Bush, whose public approval ratings are below 40 percent, would also face Democratic demands he offer "mainstream" rather than "right-wing" judicial nominees if he wants them confirmed.
Bush's fellow Republicans applied a rubber stamp to much of his conservative agenda the past six years, including tax cuts that went largely to the rich.
Polls show Democrats running ahead less than three weeks before the congressional election. If they win control of Congress from Bush's fellow Republicans, they would challenge Bush on fronts ranging from his warrantless domestic spying program to his energy and health-care policies.
"In some ways it would be a nightmare for Bush, but in other ways it could be an opportunity," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Ornstein said Bush, who denounces Democrats as soft on terrorism, could move toward the political center and reach out to Democrats in his final two years in office to overhaul U.S. immigration laws and the Social Security retirement program, two goals he has failed to accomplish.
But Ornstein said that was unlikely. "I've talked to a lot of people who know him well and are really close to him. I have yet to find one who thinks he will change his modus operandi dramatically," he said.
Democrats deny Republican claims they would try to impeach Bush and remove him from office.
Instead, they plan to push their own agenda, "A New Direction for America," which includes raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, ending some tax breaks to oil companies and making college more affordable by reducing federal student loan interest rates.
Democrats also promise to implement recommendations from the 9/11 Commission to bolster security, ease the threat of global warming and, in response to influence-peddling scandals on Capitol Hill, clean up the way Congress does business.
GRIDLOCK?
"Surprisingly little" will become law, predicted Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "We're headed for gridlock."
If Democrats pick up at least 15 seats to end 12 years of Republican rule in the 435-member House of Representatives, it will likely be by a slim majority, he said.
And, he said, whether Republicans hold the 100-member Senate or lose it to Democrats, neither side will likely have the 60 votes routinely needed to pass controversial bills.
Bush has predicted Republicans would surprise pollsters and keep the House and Senate. In recent weeks he also has reiterated a Republican battle cry, saying, "Democrats will raise taxes."
Democrats would be unlikely to extend Bush's tax cuts beyond the 2010 expiration but plan to push for lower deficits while keeping popular tax breaks for the middle class.
They say their oversight hearings would focus on what critics see as "waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers' dollars" in Iraq, homeland security and relief after Hurricane Katrina.
Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of California, who would be Government Reform Committee chairman if Democrats took control, said: "It's an important part of Congress's duty under the Constitution to do vigilant oversight. Republicans failed in that regard in the past six years."
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said if Democrats won control, "taxes go up, the economy falters and we have a party in charge that doesn't understand what the war is all about."
"What happens if Democrats take control of the House?" House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland asked. "Shouting and glee after being in the wilderness for lo these many years."
THEN, to add Insult to Injury....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061022/pl_nm/bush_father_dc_1
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush gently admonished his father for saying he hates to think what life would be like for his son if the Democrats win control of Congress in the November 7 election.
It was the latest sign of possible strain in the relationship between the two men.
"He shouldn't be speculating like this, because -- he should have called me ahead of time and I'd tell him they're not going to (win)," a smiling Bush told ABC "This Week" in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
It follows the recent release of a book, "State of Denial," by journalist Bob Woodward, that says the 82-year-old former president was "anguished" over how the Iraq war has played out, although he has dismissed that account.
Earlier this month, the elder Bush was reported to have told a Republican fund-raiser in a Philadelphia suburb that "if we have some of these wild Democrats in charge of these (congressional) committees, it will be a ghastly thing for our country."
He was also quoted as saying, "I would hate to think ... what my son's life would be like" if their Republican Party lost its majorities.
The two men have rarely appeared together in public in recent years. But they praised each other at the October 7 christening of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, named the USS George H.W. Bush, after the 41st president.
Though the elder Bush has said his job is to stay on the sidelines, that did not stop him from raising a warning about the prospects for a Democratic takeover of Congress.
Asked whether he had thought about the possibility, the president told ABC: "Not really ... I'm a person that believes we'll continue to control the House and the Senate."
Polls show Democrats running ahead. They must pick up 15 House seats and six Senate seats to take over Congress.
A power shift would create a political nightmare for Bush, whose public approval ratings are below 40 percent. His domestic legislative agenda would be stymied and he would see stepped-up pressure to withdraw from Iraq while possibly facing congressional investigations into the unpopular war. "
Pelosi has said that if the Dems win the House, they won't push to find reasons for impeachment. Think she'll stick to that if the Dems take control of the House?
Damn, I for one, sure hope not...😉
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Democrats win control of the U.S. Congress in the November 7 election, it would turn the Capitol upside down and create a political nightmare for the already embattled President George W. Bush.
If his Republicans lose the majority, Bush would hear newly empowered calls to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and would suddenly face promised Democratic-led congressional investigations with subpoena power into the unpopular war.
Bush, whose public approval ratings are below 40 percent, would also face Democratic demands he offer "mainstream" rather than "right-wing" judicial nominees if he wants them confirmed.
Bush's fellow Republicans applied a rubber stamp to much of his conservative agenda the past six years, including tax cuts that went largely to the rich.
Polls show Democrats running ahead less than three weeks before the congressional election. If they win control of Congress from Bush's fellow Republicans, they would challenge Bush on fronts ranging from his warrantless domestic spying program to his energy and health-care policies.
"In some ways it would be a nightmare for Bush, but in other ways it could be an opportunity," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Ornstein said Bush, who denounces Democrats as soft on terrorism, could move toward the political center and reach out to Democrats in his final two years in office to overhaul U.S. immigration laws and the Social Security retirement program, two goals he has failed to accomplish.
But Ornstein said that was unlikely. "I've talked to a lot of people who know him well and are really close to him. I have yet to find one who thinks he will change his modus operandi dramatically," he said.
Democrats deny Republican claims they would try to impeach Bush and remove him from office.
Instead, they plan to push their own agenda, "A New Direction for America," which includes raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, ending some tax breaks to oil companies and making college more affordable by reducing federal student loan interest rates.
Democrats also promise to implement recommendations from the 9/11 Commission to bolster security, ease the threat of global warming and, in response to influence-peddling scandals on Capitol Hill, clean up the way Congress does business.
GRIDLOCK?
"Surprisingly little" will become law, predicted Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "We're headed for gridlock."
If Democrats pick up at least 15 seats to end 12 years of Republican rule in the 435-member House of Representatives, it will likely be by a slim majority, he said.
And, he said, whether Republicans hold the 100-member Senate or lose it to Democrats, neither side will likely have the 60 votes routinely needed to pass controversial bills.
Bush has predicted Republicans would surprise pollsters and keep the House and Senate. In recent weeks he also has reiterated a Republican battle cry, saying, "Democrats will raise taxes."
Democrats would be unlikely to extend Bush's tax cuts beyond the 2010 expiration but plan to push for lower deficits while keeping popular tax breaks for the middle class.
They say their oversight hearings would focus on what critics see as "waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers' dollars" in Iraq, homeland security and relief after Hurricane Katrina.
Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of California, who would be Government Reform Committee chairman if Democrats took control, said: "It's an important part of Congress's duty under the Constitution to do vigilant oversight. Republicans failed in that regard in the past six years."
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said if Democrats won control, "taxes go up, the economy falters and we have a party in charge that doesn't understand what the war is all about."
"What happens if Democrats take control of the House?" House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland asked. "Shouting and glee after being in the wilderness for lo these many years."
THEN, to add Insult to Injury....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061022/pl_nm/bush_father_dc_1
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush gently admonished his father for saying he hates to think what life would be like for his son if the Democrats win control of Congress in the November 7 election.
It was the latest sign of possible strain in the relationship between the two men.
"He shouldn't be speculating like this, because -- he should have called me ahead of time and I'd tell him they're not going to (win)," a smiling Bush told ABC "This Week" in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
It follows the recent release of a book, "State of Denial," by journalist Bob Woodward, that says the 82-year-old former president was "anguished" over how the Iraq war has played out, although he has dismissed that account.
Earlier this month, the elder Bush was reported to have told a Republican fund-raiser in a Philadelphia suburb that "if we have some of these wild Democrats in charge of these (congressional) committees, it will be a ghastly thing for our country."
He was also quoted as saying, "I would hate to think ... what my son's life would be like" if their Republican Party lost its majorities.
The two men have rarely appeared together in public in recent years. But they praised each other at the October 7 christening of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, named the USS George H.W. Bush, after the 41st president.
Though the elder Bush has said his job is to stay on the sidelines, that did not stop him from raising a warning about the prospects for a Democratic takeover of Congress.
Asked whether he had thought about the possibility, the president told ABC: "Not really ... I'm a person that believes we'll continue to control the House and the Senate."
Polls show Democrats running ahead. They must pick up 15 House seats and six Senate seats to take over Congress.
A power shift would create a political nightmare for Bush, whose public approval ratings are below 40 percent. His domestic legislative agenda would be stymied and he would see stepped-up pressure to withdraw from Iraq while possibly facing congressional investigations into the unpopular war. "
Pelosi has said that if the Dems win the House, they won't push to find reasons for impeachment. Think she'll stick to that if the Dems take control of the House?
Damn, I for one, sure hope not...😉
