Bush reaches out to conservatives to quell revolt

Forbes ^ | Feb. 20, 2004 | Adam Entous

[FairOpinion]

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The White House has been reaching out to conservative groups to quell a rebellion over government spending and budget deficits, hoping to shore up President George W. Bush's political base in an election year.

Conservative leaders who have taken part in private White House meetings in recent weeks said on Friday officials have promised to all but freeze non-defense spending, and assured them Bush will follow through on his threat to veto major highway legislation if Congress refuses to scale it back.

The price tag on a six-year highway and transportation bill stalled in the House of Representatives is $375 billion while a Senate highway bill calls for spending $318 billion. The White House has proposed a $256 billion measure.

"Bush has been very attentive to the critique from the right," said Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, a politically powerful conservative group -- offering tentative praise where once he talked openly of a brewing rebellion.

But if the White House does not follow through, said Heritage Foundation vice president for government relations, Michael Franc, "all bets are off."

"This is not something you can address with a handshake, a pat on the back and an invitation to the White House. You address it by actions," he added.

The White House is used to being attacked by Democrats, but it came as something of a shock when fellow Republicans broke ranks over growth in government spending, hurting Bush at a time when his job approval numbers were already falling.

Conservatives from the Cato Institute criticized the president for overseeing a nearly 25 percent surge in spending over the last three years -- the fastest pace since the Johnson administration of the mid-1960s.

Others singled out his failure to lay out concrete plans to reduce the federal budget deficit, projected at a record $521 billion this year. Even some of Bush's Republican allies in the House warned of a backlash against his budget priorities.

In what one administration official called a "concerted effort," senior White House officials have been meeting with Republicans in Congress to smooth over their differences.

Joel Kaplan, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, has been meeting with conservative groups, an aide said. The effort may be paying off.

"Stung by a lot of the criticism from the right, Bush is going to be steadfast about sticking to his spending targets," said Moore, who warned in January that a rebellion among conservatives was brewing.

Now Moore says, "They clearly are trying to reach out. I think the complaints of conservatives have been heeded."

Heritage analyst Brian Riedl once described the mood of conservatives as "angry."

Now Riedl says, "I think the White House is definitely moving in the right direction," though he added, "There's a lot of work ahead of them."

William Niskanen, the chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute who advised former President Ronald Reagan, said he has personally not seen much of an outreach effort. "We'll have to see" what the White House does, he said.

[Dan from Michigan]

Yes, but by pushing Bush to the right in an election year, he may be losing the precious middle of the road voters.

The 'precious middle' in my state and largely in Ohio as well is the "Reagan Democrat". Pro-life, pro-gun, anti-Nafta, Anti-Gatt, somewhat pro-union, and for low taxes.

These blue collar voters is the ticket to victory, not the Jersey soccer mom.

[Cold Heat]

I'll settle for Kerry in order to spank the 'Pubbies. Now, mind you, that's only in case that Bush signs an AWB extension

LOL! Another master of the "Big Picture".

[SierraWasp]

"The posters comments were well taken by me."

Well bully for you! Maybe you can take her insessant and insulting nagging all through the CA Recall election and now we're gonna hafta hear the intermanable continuation of it all through the 2004 contest as well, no doubt!!!

I'm gonna vote for Dubya, but leaders sometimes need to look back when they're leading to see if those that brung 'em to the dance are still there to be romanced!!!

I getting more than a little tired of having conservatives getting screwed without any lovin!!!

[Jorge]

I'll settle for Kerry in order to spank the 'Pubbies.

Incredible. McAwful and the DU would love to hear from you.

[Kudsman]

I don't understand how so many can keep ignoring the obvious, even after it is pointed out to them repeatedly.

Because if the party we keep helping can't uphold the sanctity of the Constitution when they control both Houses of Congress and the Presidency then maybe it's time to hasten the end of the charade.

[Cold Heat]

Pro-life, pro-gun, anti-Nafta, Anti-Gatt, somewhat pro-union, and for low taxes.

Yeah, Kerry is their man!.........Not

[FairOpinion]

AFTER Bush gets elected to a second term, maybe we can start a grassroots movement to eliminate the IRS and substitute it with a "fair tax", i.e. salestax. I am all for that.

But he has to get re-elected first.

http://www.fairtax.org

[Tamzee]

Guess Which Candidate Our Enemies Want to Lose in 2004?

Newhouse News Service ^ | Feb. 11, 2004 | JAMES LILEKS


Let's just be blunt: The North Koreans would love to see John Kerry win the election. The mullahs of Iran would love it. The Syrian Ba'athists would sigh with relief. Every enemy of America would take great satisfaction if the electorate rejects the Bush doctrine and scuttles back to hide under the U.N. Security Council's table. It's a hard question, but the right one: Which candidate does our enemy want to lose? George W. Bush.

And some conservatives will be happy to help, it seems.

Woe and gloom have befallen some on the right. Bush has failed to act according to The Reagan Ideal.

The actual Reagan may have issued an amnesty for illegals, but the Ideal Reagan would have done no such thing. So unless Bush packs freight cars full of gardeners and dishwashers and dumps them off at the Mexican border, some voters will just sit this one out.

The Ideal Reagan would have eliminated the National Endowment for the Arts; the actual Reagan proposed a $1 million increase in his final budget. But Bush increased NEA funding -- perhaps an attempt to placate people who wouldn't vote for him if he showed up in performance with Karen Finley and a can of Hershey's syrup. So angry conservatives might just sit this one out.

And if a Democrat takes office, and the Michael Moores and Rob Reiners and Martin Sheens crowd the airwaves on Nov. 3 to shout their howls of vindication? If the inevitable renaissance of Iraq happens on Kerry's watch, and the economy truly picks up steam in the first few years before the business cycle and Kerry's tax hikes kick in? If emboldened Islamist terrorists smell blood and strike again? Fine. Maybe the next Republican president will do everything they want.

Oh, sure, Bush is fine on the foreign affairs stuff, and yes, there's a partial-birth abortion law, and the tax cuts were nice, and come to think of it, Sept. 11 wasn't followed by blow after blow after blow, for some reason. The nation endures, at least at press time. But that's hardly enough. Where's that bill requiring 60-foot Ten Commandments monuments in every capitol rotunda? Let Kerry win. Teach the GOP a lesson, it will.

continued... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1080687/posts

[RockyMtnMan]

Why buy the cow when the milk is free? Every nimrod that says "I'm voting for Bush no matter what" is validating this simple phrase. If Bush was pushing conservative initiatives left and right I'd be happy to say "He's got my vote!". Remaining undecided all the way up to election day turns up the heat and gets results. You "throw away your vote" when you support a candidate no matter his policy decisions.

[SierraWasp]

I agree! The squeaky wheel get the grease!!!

Pardon me while I register my feelings of friction loudly and clearly!!!

[Dan from Michigan]

The potential middle for Republicans are generally fiscal conservative and socially liberal.

Fiscal moderate(low taxes, somewhat protectionist) and social conservative is the other 'middle'.....and MOST of the swing voters in Michigan.

[rmmcdaniell]

Wow... you'd turn this country over to John F'ing Kerry over a nickel per gallon tax?!

Wow..the republican fanboys will tolerate higher taxes as long as the people who support it have an "R" next to their name.

[Carry_Okie]

Punishing Bush's Father worked out really well for conservatives, didn't it: gave us 8 years of Clinton.

Of course, GHWB has no accountability for that outcome...

Um, are you forgetting Ross Perot? You know, a candidate who promised to cut spending and get government to live within its means.

Naw, you wouldn't do that just to make a bogus point, would you?

The point is this: telling conservatives what to do or think is like herding cats: It can't be done. A candidate either keeps his commitments to do what he says he'll do or suffer the consequences. No amount of grandstanding, browbeating, or threats will change that (which is all you seem to offer).

Now, conservatives, unfortunately, HAVE shown themselves susceptible to wishful thinking on behalf of a cowardly liar (Consider Arnold), but that only works ONCE. Hence, Arnold cannot, under any circumstances, count on conservative support if he raises taxes, even if Prop 57 loses, any more than the President can count on them if he pulls an amnesty for illegals or fails to rein in Congress with a few line-item vetos, of which he has yet to ink a one.

If he doesn't get it together, many conservatives will stay home. Count on it. It's not my doing; it's simply fact.

[Cold Heat]

LOL!(what you said)

I have no past with the person, so I can't comment on it.

[RightOnline]

"Conservatives seem more intent on defeating Bush, than the leftist Democrats."

Sorry........but with all due respect, that's utter bulls**t.

[CindyDawg]

Wasn't that what I just said? :')

[Dan from Michigan]

Yeah, Kerry is their man!.........Not

But if they go to their union card since they are mad at Bush, it won't matter.

[old school]

Perish the thought!

[RockyMtnMan]

I'm just reinforcing your position. There are some really thick skulls around here. ;-)

[FairOpinion]

"I getting more than a little tired of having conservatives getting screwed without any lovin!!!"

==

How much "lovin" do you think you will get from Kerry?