Posted on 01/31/2006 4:16:56 PM PST by Big Guy and Rusty 99
WASHINGTON
Democrats, who hope to regain control of the House and Senate this year, are expected to counter President Bush's take on the state of the nation, saying "there is a better way" to govern.
"The federal government should serve the American people. But that mission is frustrated by this administration's poor choices and bad management," Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine plans to say Tuesday. The Democrat was tapped to deliver the minority party's official response to the State of the Union address.
"Families in the Gulf Coast see that as they wait to rebuild their lives. Americans who lose their jobs see that as they look to rebuild their careers. And our soldiers in Iraq see that as they try to rebuild a nation," Kaine is expected to say, "There is a better way." Kaine, in remarks prepared for delivery following Bush's evening speech before a joint session of Congress, is to urge bipartisanship and a focus on service.
A rising star in the party who has been on the job just weeks after winning election in a state that Bush won comfortably in 2004, Kaine is to deliver the Democratic Party's rebuttal from the governor's mansion in Richmond, Va.
The president's fifth State of the Union address comes during tumultuous times for the scandal-plagued Republican Party. Democrats are seeking to regain power in Congress by emphasizing GOP woes.
Ten months before Election Day, support for Bush has soured and public sentiment favors Democrats.
Although Democratic aides said Kaine's speech was not going to be overtly political, the Virginia governor would seek to offer a sharp contrast between two different visions for the United States and suggest that the country can be stronger than it's been under Republican leadership.
On the economy, Kaine is to deride the president for a "failure to manage our staggering national debt" and to accuse the administration of "reckless spending." He will bemoan soaring health care costs and note that Republicans and Democrats have worked together to "fight the Bush administration's efforts to slash Medicaid and push more costs on to the states."
On Iraq, Kaine is expected to say the administration gave the public inaccurate information about the reasons for invading Iraq and then failed to give troops the best intelligence or body armor. Now, he will point out, Bush wants to decrease National Guard and Reserve troop levels and further reduce military and veterans' benefits.
"Our commitment to winning the war on terrorism compels us to ask this question: Are the president's policies the best way to win this war?" Kaine is expected to say.
"There's a better way. Working together, we must give our troops the tools they need to win the war on terror. We can do it without sacrificing the liberty we have sent our troops abroad to defend. Our support has to begin at home," he is to say.
Assailing a culture of partisanship and cronyism, Kaine also is expected to seize on the corruption investigations that have befallen Republicans.
"If we want to replace the division that grips our nation's capital, we need a change," he will say. "Democrats are leading that reform effort."
I'm glad to see the speech won't be overtly political:
. . .On the economy, Kaine is to deride the president for a "failure to manage our staggering national debt" and to accuse the administration of "reckless spending." He will bemoan soaring health care costs and note that Republicans and Democrats have worked together to "fight the Bush administration's efforts to slash Medicaid and push more costs on to the states."
On Iraq, Kaine is expected to say the administration gave the public inaccurate information about the reasons for invading Iraq and then failed to give troops the best intelligence or body armor. Now, he will point out, Bush wants to decrease National Guard and Reserve troop levels and further reduce military and veterans' benefits.
Incidentally, as usual for Democrats, I don't see anything in this article to suggest that this speech will actually tell us what the "better way" is.
Ther emay be a better way, but as sure as I am typing this message, the rats on the left sure as heck don't know and cannot even fathom it.
No interns, but he's already put in a proposal to raise our taxes the second week he was in office ......... after saying he wouldn't during the campaign. Nothing new here ... another liberal Democrat spouting the party line. It's really a shameful thing for the grand old state of Virginia to have voted in the likes of 'Little Timmy' Kaine.
Only on auto purchases? Consider yourself lucky ..... here's what "Governor Democratic Rebuttal" has proposed:
* a higher tax on car purchases
* a higher tax on car insurance
* higher fees to register vehicles
* higher fines for traffic offenses
* a new tax on auto repairs
Oh yeah, Timmy's got a 'better way' all right!
Guaranteed to cause a recession. My house delegate tells me the Republicans all oppose it. These proposals are already DOA:
* a higher tax on car insurance
* higher fees to register vehicles
* higher fines for traffic offenses
* a new tax on auto repairs
The car sales tax remains, get on your delegate if they are a Rino.
Here is a chance for Bolling to torpedo Dim Paine and render him a lame duck before he even gets started
I think when Democrats try to raise taxes when they get into office, Republicans should support it, but only if they can postpone it until the year before the election. It's such a trend now. Rendell did it, they all raise taxes in their first year so that the electorate forgets. So bloody cynical.
My son and I got a good laugh out of Kaine's speech when he said
Thanks - after his performance tonight, his proposals aren't the only thing that are 'DOA' .......... 'Missionary Man' is NEVER going to live down that dancing eyebrow!
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