A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos) 1.5.04

Yahoo, Reuters, AP | Jan. 5, 2004 | TruthNtegrity

[TruthNtegrity]

Pres. Bush traveled to St. Louis to promote his "No Child Left Behind" education law. Pres. Bush spoke at the Pierre Laclede Elementary School, which he said in his Saturday radio address had risen "to meet our new standards."

Pres. Bush also visited with about 50 fourth-graders. One asked Pres. Bush if he had wanted to be president when he was a child.

"No," Bush told the children, all nearly a decade shy of voting age. "It can be pretty hard." Still, he called his job "a very rewarding experience" and took credit for "a world that's more peaceful, (where) more kids are learning to read."

He also appeared at his first campaign fund-raiser of the year, adding to a record total of more than $110 million in contributions for a primary race in which he has no Republican opponent. Pres. Bush now has $120 Million in his campaign bank account.

On Thursday, the second anniversary of the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act, Pres. Bush will hold a similar event at West View Elementary School in Knoxville, Tenn. Both events are paired with re-election campaign fund-raisers.

[Maigrey]

But hasn't the overall society slipped towards socialism for the last 50 years or so (due to lawyers thinking they know how to run things?)

I'd rather see "things" run like a business, with no freeloading (well, maybe a camel's nose worth) to make the competition work, and make "things" better for all?

I remember when the company I used to work for changed the pay policies from hourly + commission to straight hourly because someone high up thought the system was being abused.

I argued that doing such, that the employee loses the motivation for real customer service, and the customer (and the company) lose out from the loss. Needless, people didn't see it my way, and the company did suffer (and still does to this day!)

Personally, I'd take a person who is motivated and untrained, than someone with a large chip and ego and unmotivated. The motivated person will get better, and maybe improve and grow with the company, rather than the piece of job-protected deadwood. (I personally thhink this is why socialism and communism won't work in a large scale environment - lack of motivation to improve your personal lot.)

[Maigrey]

Most of the people who are advocating securing our boarders tighter say that they would use the military to secure the boarders. This won't fly (Some law on the Federal Books about using Military for domestic action. (Possee Comittius????)

How can the US utilize a tighter boarder control, besides building a huge wal and putting razor wire on top?

I know that most people won't abuse the system, but there will always be a bad apple of the bushel. How can we prevent the bad appple (or, in this case, keep an eye on the bad apple without trampling the liberties?)

[kitkat]

Hmmm...I don't know. That article about Dean's mommy came from Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff . Would they pick it up from the Onion?

[NordP]

Thanks for posting the link, DrDeb!

[hoosiermama]

My dad who will be 84 this week is still practicing law. He, as are all lawyers, is required to take workshop every year to keep up-to-date with the new laws. He says the workshop are just instructions on how to get around the laws!

Blames the liberal universities for not giving the lawyers the education they need. Several judges, law firms and local banks come to him to "straighten things out" after the young one make a mess of people's estates.

He won't retire, because he knows his clients "friends" would have no one to trust with the legal business.

[Maigrey]

Mike---

But at what point does plausable denyability come into play? Does the foreman who hired the illegal with fake papers get slammed? The subcontractor who had the foreman, or the contractor who owned the company who contracted for the subcontractor?

(My step-brother is a construction company subcontractor with legals on his books (so he says.....))

How high and low do we go to take the food off the table?

[hoosiermama]

If you ask someone if they are legal and they say "yes" are you liable if they lied?

[tommix2]

I believe that the Bush adminstration's getting tough on the employers of illegals will be more effective in the long run than swatting flies, as it were.They already are tough on employers. My son is a construction superintendent in California and hires a lot of immigrants. The government inspectors check the documentation of his crew quite often. The size of crew fluctuates and there is a high turnover,and the job sites change. He does his best to avoid hiring illegals but it is hard to verify their documentation and he has been fined a few times. The government inspectors are doing the best they can.

[Maigrey]

It should be!

[Maigrey]

I wish everything was on a case-by-case basis, but with that possibility, comes the happenstance of corruption and bribery from the people in question.

If any policy is made into law, someone innocent might get hurt. But if the policy/law is too lax, then there is the possibility of corruption/letting someone who isn't innocent into the system.

What would be a good balance?

[speekinout]

I think we made a serious mistake years ago (Carter era, I think) and just don't have an easy way out now.

Prior to that, we had "guest worker" programs. There were companies who brought in seasonal workers. I am familiar with the ones who brought in agricultural workers and hotel workers on the East Coast (many from Jamaica, Barbados and Haiti) and agricultural workers on the West Coast (mostly from Mexico).
Most of them just came for the season, went home for the winter, and then came back the next year.

The guest worker programs solved our labor problems and gave money to the people from the poorer countries. But we decided that we shouldn't do that. And now the people who want the wages come illegally (uncontrolled, which they weren't before) and the employers who want them don't have any restrictions on them either.

I firmly believe that these guest worker programs were good for everyone involved, and we need to have them again.
That said, I'm not convinced that I will like every part of the programs that the Bush Admin. is going to propose, but starting to discuss a reasonable guest worker program is a step in the right direction.

[tommix2]

Does the foreman who hired the illegal with fake papers get slammed? In my son's case, I think the contractor was fined, and asked my son, the foreman, to be more careful.

[azGOPgal]

Oomph!!!

The soccer ball is back on your side of the field. Should I expect the return sometime tomorrow?!

[tommix2]

Prior to that, we had "guest worker" programs.Yes, I remember the bracero program. It seemed to work pretty well. But I remember a lot of controversy about it. There was a lot of agitation to discontinue it. I don't remember what faction was opposed to it. But it was better than we have now. I agree that we should discuss a reasonable guest worker program.

[Maigrey]

Not if I can help it. I'm trying to stay up a little late tonight.

[DrDeb]

Whew -- just finished my workout and now I'm ready to shower and collapse into bed! In addition to being physically tired, I'm mentally exhausted as well -- today was the first day for Winter Quarter classes at the University of Cincinnati and I must have answered over a million questions (only a slight exaggeration) posited by desparate/confused parents and students!

Before bed, however, I want to post one more article AND make a comment about our President and immigration.

FIRST THE COMMENT: Mexican immigration is an extremely complex and politically vexing problem that presidents have ignored for the past 15 or so years. The last president to deal with the problem was Reagan and he ended up granting BLANKET AMNESTY -- that's why I just laugh when some of the most vicious attacks on GWB's immigration policies (which haven't even been released yet) are made by Freepers with some version of 'Reaganwuzthebest' in their by-line.

What distinguishes our discussion of this topic from the "perpetually disgruntled, I'll never vote for GWB again" crowd, is that we DOSERS start from the premise that President Bush is a man of great moral integrity who will do what is RIGHT for this country, not what is politically expedient (if he wanted to be politically expedient, he'd just pull a Clinton and ignore the whole situation). Bottomline: We TRUST President Bush to propose a rational, reasoned immigration policy based on the best information/research available. We can subsequently agree or disagree with the policy, but we won't doubt the President's moral or political sincerity!


ARTICLE: The following is another GREAT article from Ralph Peters

HOWARD THE COWARD

January 5, 2004 -- IT'S fashionable in left- wing circles to describe anyone who admires America as a fascist. But the real totalitarian threats of our time come from the left. And no public figure embodies the left's contempt for basic freedoms more perfectly than Howard Dean.
One secular gospel of the left preaches that the Patriot Act has drastically curtailed American freedom. Free speech, the teacup Trotskys claim, is a thing of the past.

Whenever one of my forlorn leftie pals raises the issue, I ask him or her to cite a single example of how the Patriot Act has limited their personal liberty. They never can. Instead, they rail about what-ifs and slippery slopes.

But Howard Dean and his Deanie-weenies do all they can to restrict the free speech of others. I can predict with certainty that Dean's Internet Gestapo will pounce on this column, twisting the facts and vilifying the writer, just as they do when anyone challenges Howard the Coward.

Free speech, you see, is only for the left.

Dean wants to muzzle his Democratic competitors, too. He believes the Democratic National Committee should shut them up. His followers try to intimidate other presidential aspirants by surrounding the cars delivering them to their rallies and chanting to drown out their speech. Of course, Dean denies any foreknowledge or blame.

These are the techniques employed by Hitler's Brownshirts. Had Goebbels enjoyed access to the internet, he would have used the same swarm tactics as Dean's Flannelshirts.

Then there are Dean's endless "Big Lies": Liberating 25 million Iraqis was "wrong." Saddam's capture doesn't make any difference. Osama bin Laden should be presumed innocent, despite his own admission of responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. Bush knew in advance about the 9/11 attacks. The Global War on Terror is a failure. The economy's a disaster. And the administration is hiding terrible secrets.

Paranoids and conspiracy theorists rejoice! You finally have a candidate of your own.

Of course, when Dean seals his gubernatorial records so Americans can't examine his own back-room deals, that's perfectly legitimate.

In Dean's alternate reality, everything the Bush administration has done and might do is a failure, no matter the facts. The president's even responsible for Mad Cow Disease. It's Goebbels again: Just keep repeating the lies until the lies assume the force of truth.

I met Dean a few times while taping a TV panel show in Montreal. The first time I saw him, chattering on a monitor, I had no idea who he was. I assumed he was some small-time politician on the hustle, Babbitt at the ballot box.

I was stunned to learn he was (then) the governor of one of our 50 states - even if the state was the People's Republic of Vermont.

After a few tapings, I declined to continue doing the show. It was a waste of time to travel so far just to spend all the air-time politely explaining why Dean's comments on foreign policy bore no relation to the reality I'd seen with my own eyes.

Dean was already practicing the Big Lie. Montreal was just a stop on his journey from Munich to Berlin. He was already looking around for his Leni Riefenstahl.

Listen to Dean's rhetoric, especially on security and international issues. He never offers specifics; it's all hocus-pocus. He knows how best to deal with terrorists. We voters from the humble Volk need to take it on trust. He understands how to employ our military more effectively - despite dodging the draft during the Vietnam War.

Dean's going to improve our intelligence system, too. How? If pressed, he may go so far as to mention HUMINT - a term he doesn't understand - or the need for more Arabic speakers. Great, Herr Howie. We agree. But how does he intend to develop our human intelligence capabilities?

Which presidential directives and findings would he rescind or issue? Precisely what would he do that isn't being done?

He has no answers. None.

As for the need for more linguists, how would he recruit them, then train and retain them? Does he intend to reinstate the draft?

Dean never deals in specifics on security issues. Because he doesn't know the specifics. It's all Big Brother Doublespeak.

Perhaps it would be easier for those on the left to grasp this column's arguments if we cast the drama with characters closer to their hearts.

Dean began his campaign as an uncompromising Lenin. Now that his Bolsheviks have been organized, he's trying to pose as Gorbachev for the masses. But for anyone who pays attention to what this power-hungry huckster says and does, he comes off as a down-market Brezhnev.

Of course, I don't really see Howard Dean as a potential dictator - just another hollow man soiling the halls of power. And this is America. Our system is far stronger than any individual. Besides, even the vilest dictators have a vision of something greater than themselves. Howard Dean has nothing beyond ambition.

And a shameless disregard for the First Amendment.

Ralph Peters is a retired Army intelligence officer and the author of "Beyond Baghdad."

http://nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/4965.htm

[GUIDO]

Thanks for the great pics and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. I heard the President was going to be in St Louis because I work for an airline and a woman called in early at about 630am or so to ask if her flight was going to be running late because the news said the President was flying in and would probably delay flights. I had the pleasure of telling her that THIS PRESIDENT NEVER DELAYS FLIGHTS, that all flights out of ST Louis would be on time to day, and not to worry.

[hoosiermama]

Doesn't do much good to shut the barn yard gate once the livestock has already gotten out!
If it were just a matter of driving across the border at the entry gates, we'd have no problem. Do we fence in the entire nation? Build a WALL like they did in Germany? The Great Wall of America?!?!?!? I think not!

[speekinout]

Yes, I remember the bracero program. It seemed to work pretty well. But I remember a lot of controversy about it.

The biggest controversy was about how these people were housed and treated. They were given housing in camps. Not luxury quarters, but probably better than most had at home - they had electricity, running water and showers.
They also worked long hours. They got paid for hours worked, but I don't remember if they got overtime pay. Probably not.

The bleeding hearts thought we were taking advantage of them.

[tommix2]

The biggest controversy was about how these people were housed and treated.Yes, that was it. Thanks for your memory.