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'Today': W's Poll Numbers Fallen - and They Can't Get Up
Today Show/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

Posted on 04/12/2006 5:06:55 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest

by Mark Finkelstein

April 12, 2006

On a light news day, why not run a generic piece on President Bush's low poll numbers and his assertedly bleak prospects for reviving them? That was apparently the thinking at the Today show this morning.

Today themed the segment "Can Bush Save Presidency?", and NBC White House reporter Kelly O'Donnell seemed to answer the question in the negative, kicking things off with this gloomy assessment:

"For President Bush, low poll numbers have not just been a dip or temporary rough patch but appear now to be a sustained pattern that is different than his predecessors of both parties who went through their own tough times." She continued: "His . . presidency appears to have a chronic case of the below-40 percent blues."

After David Gergen was shown suggesting that "presidents have sometimes broken out of slumps when they've had big, bold initiatives and unexpected victories - that often shake things up" O'Donnell reappeared to dump cold water on the notion that W could have any such luck:

"Looking back, some second-term presidents have been able to rebound. President Reagan's approval fell to 34 percent with the arms-for-hostages scandal. Pres. Clinton hit 41 percent around impeachment. But both bounced back up to the 60s as they left office. Analysts say the prospects for Mr. Bush are not as good because of the weight of ongoing events: Iraq, gas prices, the CIA leak case and hurricane response."

Gergen popped back up to pessimistically proclaim: "After a while those negative feelings really do congeal, they crystallize, they become firm and then it's very hard to break out."

O'Donnell: "political observers claim big speeches and staff changes won't turn things around and suggest the president may have to wait to seize on any good news."

Commentator Stu Rothenberg then observed: "If there is something he can brag about he needs to quickly then be able to go to the American public and make his case and drive home the point. But for now he simply doesn't have much ammunition at his disposal."

Count on Today and its MSM cohorts to do their best to keep things that way.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bush; gergen; kellyodonnell; nbc; polls; rothenberg; todayshow
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To: chris1

So why do you call a guest worker program amnesty when the President proposes the same thing? Some attorney, who calls everyone who disagrees with him an idiot.

What do you get when you have 50 lawyers up to their necks in sand?

What do you get when 50 attorneys go off a cliff in a bus?

Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters


221 posted on 04/13/2006 1:24:25 PM PDT by bray (Racists for Rice '08)
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To: bray

The reason it is a sham is because there is no real enforcement provisions to police this thing and basic economics dictates that employers will try to subvert the system to get cheaper labor since these new "guests" will not be so cheap once on the books. The "guests" will not be happy since they will be getting a pay cut in the form of FICA, etc.

The illegals who are here don't want to be legal in the sense that you are if it means that they will not be able to continue the scam.

Here is how the scam goes, I know this from personal knowledge (not because I did it!), a contractor bids on a public job, say for a school or something.

The bids are based upon the contractor paying prevailing wages or union wages. The money allocated for that project takes this in to account. Let's say the low bidder wins with a bid of $50,000.00. The usual industry standard is 20% profit and overhead, the rest being labor and materials. So now, the labor is supposed to cost around $40,000.00 by paying the men prevailing wage. By the way, part of winning the bid is that you certify to pay the men prevailing wage.

The contractor never intends to pay prevailing wage. What he does is get illegals to work 8-10 per hour where the wage rate should be say 35-40 per hour. Do you see how the employers get rich off this now???????

The illegals love it because they get cash which is easy to wire home and no taxes are taken out. The employer loves it even moreso since now his worker's comp liability is less because he is only declaring part of the salaries being paid out.

They then falsify the certified payroll or claim to havepaid the wages and tell the illegals if they say a word they will get no more work. Since most of them are only here for the season or don't care, they keep quiet out of fear for being deported and the cash flow ceasing.

If they don't seal the border and impose severe penalties agains the employers, we will have 12.5 million new illegals here in a few years since the scam since the employers will not be able to get away with this scam under the proposed bill and they, the employers, will just get new illegals to scam the system.

Did this make sense to you?


222 posted on 04/13/2006 2:43:11 PM PDT by chris1 (I)
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To: onyx
I wondered why I have spotted you, even though your screen name, is invoked alot on the bash-Bush threads. :)

Sorry, I don't have a clue as to what you're talking about.
I used to post nearly every day. Now I post around once or twice a week..and don't bother reading the responses half the time.

As far as my name being "invoked alot on the bash-Bush threads"...you mean I am recognized as a Bush supporter? Perhaps you can clarify. :)

223 posted on 04/13/2006 5:52:47 PM PDT by Jorge
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To: chris1

You are explaining the exception to the rule. Most businesses will get caught in such an easy scam. You are also talking about illegals with skills and not the average Manuel Mexical that makes up 75% of the illegals. These guys travel from job to job and are impossible to track which is why a guest worker card could track them.

So you are for the guest worker program if they enforce the laws after they install it? That sounds like a good starting point.

Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters


224 posted on 04/13/2006 6:51:37 PM PDT by bray (Racists for Rice '08)
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To: Jorge

"Jorge" is used in place of "Gerorge" W. Bush.


225 posted on 04/13/2006 8:19:09 PM PDT by onyx (It's easier to indict a ham sandwich or Tom DeLay than it is to indict a Democrat.)
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To: onyx
"Jorge" is used in place of "Gerorge" W. Bush.

Oh, you're right! :)

226 posted on 04/13/2006 8:21:55 PM PDT by Jorge
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To: Jorge
I should have been alot more clear in my first post to you.

:)


227 posted on 04/13/2006 8:29:29 PM PDT by onyx (It's easier to indict a ham sandwich or Tom DeLay than it is to indict a Democrat.)
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To: bray

Its no exception. Ask anyone who knows how construction jobs run. They don't have to have ALL illegals doing these jobs to make a killing off the project.

The problem, at least to me, is that if they can't manage the system now, how are they going to manage a guest worker program?


228 posted on 04/14/2006 4:31:10 AM PDT by chris1 (I)
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To: chris1

You must not understand the forces of competition if you think that construction jobs can charge anything they want. They have to cut wages because much of the work is labor intensive. Many can afford union scale and many can't but don't expect to see huge profits because they are cutting labor, it is actually a market necessity.

With your ability to see into the future you should be playing the lottery. Your Guest Worker plan will work, but President Bush' Guest Worker plan is amnisty and won't work.

Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters


229 posted on 04/14/2006 6:16:04 AM PDT by bray (Racists for Rice '08)
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To: chris1

Oh yeah, the answers to my questions were:
More Sand and 500 lawsuits.

Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters


230 posted on 04/14/2006 6:18:09 AM PDT by bray (Racists for Rice '08)
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To: bray

Many of the jobs that you pay for as a taxpayer set the wage as a condition to bid on the contract.

Most of these contractors make money one of two ways:

1. Hiring illegal aliens and not pay the prevailing wage; and

2. Hoping to get "Change Orders" on the project.

I don't do criminal law, personal injury, divorce, or other unpopular areas everyone likes to gripe about. I do collection work for contractors, mostly sub-contractors and see this garbage day in and day out.

The general contractor makes money by screwing the subs and making it hard to get "retainage" back after the job is done. Its all a big scam and game of who can get over on who.


231 posted on 04/14/2006 6:23:28 AM PDT by chris1 (I)
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To: bray

I'm not playing lottery, I am probably much closer to this than you are and know how these people operate and think. They don't care to be legal American Citizens. They wan't to work for cash to send home to Mexico and not be bothered by laws, taxes, etc etc.


232 posted on 04/14/2006 6:26:14 AM PDT by chris1 (I)
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To: Puppage

Eisenhower got a truce in Korea by threatening the Chicoms with atomic attack. Quietly, of course. Wonder how the Libs look at that?


233 posted on 04/14/2006 6:28:19 AM PDT by RobbyS ( CHIRHO)
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To: chris1

If we could cut you out of the mix there would be more money to go around. Your industry is a big reason industry needs unregulated/taxed labor. When businesses are paying 1.50 for every dollar earned for Workmans Comp thanks to lawyers, illegals look pretty good.

Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters


234 posted on 04/14/2006 6:30:09 AM PDT by bray (Racists for Rice '08)
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To: RobbyS

Good question


235 posted on 04/14/2006 6:31:57 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: bray

I agree, but I am never on that end of things. Worker's Comp fraud is insane and rarely prosecuted. By then you have medical professionals who milk the system just the same since they know a third pary is paying.

I only get involved when someone can't get paid for work they performed. You want to talk about illegals?

Stupid clients of mine do work for these people, rent tools to these people, send containers to jobs for these people, and can't figure out why they can't get paid.
Most of these people operate a business via the UPS Store and Cell Phone. How do you go after a guy like that?

I tell my clients they are only getting practice if they do business with illegals since they pop up and are gone faster than you can blink. Since most have no ties to the community and really have nothing to lose like you or I, the fraud is rampant.


236 posted on 04/14/2006 6:39:14 AM PDT by chris1 (I)
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