The phrase, eating your own, comes to mind. I almost feel sorry for them, but they brought this upon themselves. Oops. Correction: Bush did it.
I can’t help but feel sorry for my old Republican friends in Congress who are fighting for their political lives. After all, it must be tough explaining to voters at their local Baptist church’s Keep Congress Conservative Day that it was their party that took a $155 billion surplus and turned it into a record-setting $400 billion deficit.
How exactly does one convince the teeming masses that Republicans deserve to stay in power despite botching a war, doubling the national debt, keeping company with Jack Abramoff, fumbling the response to Hurricane Katrina, expanding the government at record rates, raising cronyism to an art form, playing poker with Duke Cunningham, isolating America and repeatedly electing Tom DeLay as their House majority leader?
How does a God-fearing Reagan Republican explain all that away?
Easy. Blame George W. Bush.
With interest rates remaining low, along with the lower price of gas, the Fall elections may not be the upset many predict. Domestic comforts tend to determine the vote. I think the average voter is detached from the Iraq problems and foreign policy issues in general. Even a below average hurricane season works to the Republican advantage. Do you think the fall in gas prices has anything to do with the Fall elections? Just a thought for conspiracy nuts.
Or a comment on the lack of sophistication [or predominant ignorance] of American voters.
Barnum once said nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of people.
I haven’t voted for a Republican since the Clinton witch hunt impeachment.
“How exactly does one convince the teeming masses that Republicans deserve to stay in power…”
easy
Didn’t the Democrats do the same thing after Clinton and the whole Monica Lewinski thing.
I haven’t voted for a Republican since the Clinton witch hunt impeachment.
Witchhunt? You mean kind of like what Nancy Pelosi is going to unleash on Bush when they get control of the House in January.
Both Parties suck, one “team” is no better then other, get over it.
#5
Good clip. Bush will be remembered as the President who ruled by putting fear into the population. As we all know, you just can’t use this strategy forever.
As long as the (elected?) powers that be keep the majority of the American people over fed, air conditioned and on the road there will not be much of an outcry over anything. But let our infrastructure fail to provide any or all of these three services then all hell will break loose.
“no better”, except perhaps here
#9
Quite a deficit… That’s for the generations to come to pay off….
Can someone explain how George Bush doubled the national debt? Looking at sdf’s chart shows about 2 trillion in debt under this president. The national debt was 4 trillion when his father was running for reelection. No way Clinton took 2 trillion off the debt, he in fact added.
During this same time, the US economy has grown by more than the total economies of China and India combined.
AB CD
Why do you hate America so much?
Can someone explain how George Bush doubled the national debt?
I looked at the Website of the Bureau of Public Debt (www.publicdebt.treas.gov) and they state the following:
The current debt total is 8,529,989,973,197.61, as of September 13, 2006. Let’s round it down to $8.5 trillion.
On 9/28/2000 (under Clinton) the debt was 5,674,178,209,886.86 ($5.6T).
So Bush added $2.9T to the total since he’s arrived. If Bush continues to add to the debt at this rate, his total increase will be $3.8T for the eight years in office, a 67% increase. Not “doubling the debt,” but still a major increase.
Clinton went from $4B to $5.6B, so he added $1.6B in eight years, a 40% increase, also a huge increase.
It seems like they’re all guilty of increasing the national debt. If I had faith that a particular politician or party had the will to a) decrease the national debt to zero and b) protect the environment properly — that would be the person I would vote for. Unfortunately, I have not heard from that person or party yet.
I forgot to mention – sdh’s chart is of the National Deficit – not the Debt.
The deficit is the amount that the government lets its outgoing money (social programs, military, etc.) exceed its incoming money (taxes) in a particular year.
The debt is the total accumulation of money owed at a given point in time.
You could look at it as the deficit is the amount that we are “living beyond our means” each year and the debt is the big mountain of money that results from living beyond our means each year.
That probably confuses things further…oh well.
#1 ……has hit it right on the head. All spring and summer it looked like a loss of 3 Senate seats. But in the last 2 weeks things are changing. Some of the almost for sure losers on the GOP side have moved back into contention(even Satorium has gone from 14% under Casy to barely 5% now). The experts are starting to move solid Democrat races into the leans democrat or toss up column. If this trend continues, the GOP could stay even in the Senate and only lose 9 seats tops in the House.
ummmmmmmmm….I lost a whole sentance somewhere:)
My last post should have started out as such: All summer long it looked like a loss of 3 Senate seats and 12 to 16 House seats for the Republicans……….
Sorry folks.
I want to add…..most people who vote, always hate Congress as a whole and hate the party in control, this year that was also happening with several congressional districts where the voters even disliked their own Congressman. But that was another big change in 3 new polls this past 10 days. People still hate congress as a whole and the Republicans, but are back to liking their own congressman……thats a formula for a not so big change in party control in Nov.
Yep, the People hate Bush and the Republicans. Only problem is, the hate the Democrats more.
The People are unhappy with the way the war is going. Unfortunately for the Democrats, they are also smart enough to realize what would happen if we simply “declare victory and leave.” (Gee, exactly who won that last war between Israel and Hezbollah?)
Elections are won with ideas, not messages of hate. If there is anything that the Democrats have demonstrated over the last six years, it’s that they hope to hide their total absence of ideas with hyperbole and hate.
Republicans will win by default.
If you wanna blame someone for electing Bush, there’s no one to blame but themselves. After all, Bush DID win the reelection.
Elections are won with ideas, not messages of hate. If there is anything that the Democrats have demonstrated over the last six years, it’s that they hope to hide their total absence of ideas with hyperbole and hate.
The Republicans have stole three elections in a row by election fraud AND slandering their opponents. They have frightened the voters with campaigns of fear. They have had no ideas on the table.
#20. Yes. For all the blather about the Democrats lacking ideas – where are the Republicans’ ideas? Rail against big government, then help yourself to the pork. Wage a unilateral foreign policy, until it turns into a fiasco.
“Stay the course” in Iraq is another brilliant idea. “We stand down as they stand up” works brilliantly, now that they have made it a state secret how many Iraqis are actually standing up on their own. “If we leave Iraq, they will follow us here” and “victory in the war on terror depends upon winning the battle for Baghdad” are both non-sequitors, since the terrorist attacks in Madrid and London, and the supposed plot against the airlines, were not stopped by the presence of troops in Baghdad.
The only real Republican idea is the one they keep reiterating – anyone who opposes them is a traitor.
I would love to see a true Independent Party…..but it can’t just be anti-Republican or Democrat. It has to have ideas and a way to make them work that sets it apart from the other 2.
I’ve never been a fan of the *mushy middle*…..but both radical left and radical right should be jettisoned, in favor of a more middle approach to problems, especially domestic problems.
The biggest problem with this is that far to many Americans think the 2 party system is enshrined in the Constitution. I guess thats to be expected from people who can’t name their own Senators or find their own states on a map.
Daryl thanks for the numbers. I added up the different deficits in sdf’s chart, and it simply doesn’t match with the numbers you gave, so they are using different definitions of debt. For example, Clinton’s total is closer to 500 billion than 1.5 trillion.
#21 – I guess thats to be expected from people who can’t name their own Senators or find their own states on a map.
Comment by joshua — 9/17/2006 @ 10:00 pm
Not to pick on you personally Joshua, but you comment helps illustrate my point. It isn’t terribly surprising that we don’t have a better public dialog or that the electorate is widely disengaged.
We could say that most voters are stupid (can’t find own state) or don’t care or whatever else… But maybe this disengagement could be attributed to the widely held belief that American voters are deserving of public scorn and ridicule. Who wants to stay and play in a sandbox full of bullies with inflated egos?
We could say that most voters are stupid (can’t find own state) or don’t care or whatever else
Yes, but I bet they could tell you who got voted off survivor last night.
AB CD
Why DO you hate america so much?
#24 – Yes, but I bet they could tell you who got voted off survivor last night.
Comment by gquaglia — 9/18/2006 @ 12:39 pm
Is that show still on? I can’t even tell you what network its on.
>>Elections are won with ideas, not messages of hate.
Haw, Coming from a member of the party of choice for hatemongers, one would think you’d prefer to keep that under the carpet….