Posted on 03/12/2006 7:51:39 AM PST by SmithL
Washington -- The Republican rebellion that President Bush smacked into with the Dubai ports deal was the tip of an iceberg of Republican discontent that is much deeper and more dangerous to the White House than a talk radio tempest over Arabs running U.S. ports.
A Republican pushback on Capitol Hill and smoldering conservative dissatisfaction have already killed not just the ports deal but key elements of Bush's domestic agenda, and threaten GOP control of Congress if unhappy conservatives sit out the November midterm elections.
The apostasy in some quarters runs to heretofore unthinkable depths.
"If I had a choice and Bush were running today against (Democratic President) Bill Clinton, I'd vote for Bill Clinton," said Bruce Bartlett, a former Reagan administration Treasury Department official whose book, "Impostor: How George Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," is making the rounds of conservative think tanks and talk shows. "He was clearly a much better president in a great many ways that matter to me."
Bartlett may lie at the extreme, but his critique taps into a strong undertow -- reflected in a sharp drop in Bush's support among his typically solid Republican base, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Friday.
"Bush's compassionate conservatism has morphed into big government conservatism, and that isn't what the base is looking for," said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union. "The White House and the congressional leadership have got to reinvigorate the Republican base. In off-year elections ... if your base isn't energized, particularly in a relatively evenly divided electorate, you've got more problems than you think you have."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The country wouldnt support any of that...teh solution is quite simple and was successful in the 1990s...limit spending growth so that tax revenue growth > spending growth, you get a balanced budget with a few years...happened between 1995 and 2000
"And they cannot win by running away from Bush"
They win by being conservatives. In many areas, this means "running away" from Bush.
I noticed no one was answering your question.
For starters, eliminate the following agencies:
National Endowment for the Arts
Department of Education
Stop Transportation pork
Stop paying farmers for not growing
Eliminate Social Security.
"So the Congress passes the bills and it's Bush's fault for not vetoing them?"
Yes. That's one of his executive powers.
He threatened to veto the Transportation Spending Bill "if it comes to my desk a dollar over $255 Billion".
The final, unvetoed bill was close to $300 Billion.
NO VETO.
Yeah don't let any thing like FACTs or REALITY get in the way now of regurigtating the same old rants you whiners have posted 10,000 times before.
Tell us how you REALLY feel, there, Johnnie. Had you read the thread, you'd have seen that all of your points have been already mentioned, albeit in a somewhat less frantic way.
There are a handful of subversives on FR, friend. They are maneuvering to try to undercut GOP activism and generate Democrat seat gains. In general, the best defense is do not respond to them and then their pro Democrat threads stop being bumped unless they do it themselves -- which is counterproductive to their intent. Just letting you know. Concentrate your attention on the threads that engender enthusiasm for victory, both in Iraq and in 2006 vulnerable districts.
totally unrealistic...especially the last suggestion.....
"the point is that the LP is not and will not be taken seriously until they abandon their legalized drugs position."
Not to mention their insane open-borders policy.
Also their "amnesty for illegals" policy.
Ooops - that last one is Bush's idea!
Yeah, it is just easier for the Whine All The Time Choir to simply post and repost the same old rants day after day. God forbid they ACTUALLY tried to learn anything.
My goodness... the department of agriculture actually has a MOHAIR SUBSIDY!
WTF??
"ALL, SOME, or NOTHING... I'll take "some" any day"
I'll take conservatism as a winning strategy over anything else. The reason the MSM can successfully bash republicans is that "republican" no longer is equated with "conservative" - nobody seems to know what it means to be "republican" anymore.
If you do, please let me know.
Same with open borders.. it seems to me that Congress has to grant the authority to seal off the borders with the miltary.
Perhaps not actually putting them there but Congress could earmark extra money for the military for additional troops for the purpose of guarding the border.. why not do that and send a strong message that's what needs to get done?
Why? Because congress is as spineless as the President on the issue and that includes democrats too.
What about overhauling Social Security? Isn't that something conservative we all wanted done? The president tried that and the republican congress is the one that backed out on that.
Sounds like to me there is plenty of blame to go around.
It also sounds like to me we can knock some incumbants down onto the chopping block and get some new people in there. I think conservativism is winning strong over liberalism. We just need some new people in Congress bold enough to assert that authority.
"There are a handful of subversives on FR, friend."
By 'subversive', you must mean "fiscal conservatives tired of a fiscally-liberal President".
Count me as one of those. Record increases in non-discretionary (i.e. non-9/11, non-Iraq, non-WOT) spending such as the insidious, socialist Medicare debacle are what us fiscal conservatives are ticked off about.
"Conservative" doesn't mean "Party over Principle" amongst us non-Bushbots.
Let's see. MNJohnnie's hysterical posts or Micheal Savage's comments on the radio.
Yep. We have a winner.
Savage!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well said!! And at the same time, Congress refuses to grant the line item veto, by writing it into law, and making it constitutional.
""What about overhauling Social Security? Isn't that something conservative we all wanted done? The president tried that and the republican congress is the one that backed out on that.""
Here is where conservatives desperatly need a history lesson. No one should ahve thought that SS was going to be overhauled in 2005, it wasnt. Overhauling SS is a long process that will eventually occur.
In 1975 Roanld Reagan gave a speech on welfare reform, he was dismissed even by conservatives. In 1996, welfare reformed was signed into law by a Democrat President.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.