Posted on 08/18/2006 1:48:59 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush on Friday criticized a federal court ruling that said his warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional, declaring that opponents "do not understand the nature of the world in which we live."
"I strongly disagree with that decision, strongly disagree," Bush said, striking his finger on a podium to underscore his point. "That's why I instructed the Justice Department to appeal immediately, and I believe our appeals will be upheld."
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit on Thursday was the first to find the National Security Agency surveillance program unconstitutional. The program involves monitoring international phone calls and e-mails to and from the United States involving people with suspected ties to terrorists.
"If al-Qaida is calling in to the United States, we want to know why they're calling," Bush said.
Critics say the surveillance program skirts the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires court warrants for domestic eavesdropping. The administration has argued that obtaining warrants from a secret court set up under FISA is a time-consuming process unsuited for the government's fast-moving war on terror.
The judge said the government, in defending the program, appeared to be saying the president had the "inherent power" to violate laws of Congress.
"It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control," Taylor wrote in a 43-page opinion. "... There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all 'inherent powers' must derive from that Constitution."
On other issues, Bush said it would take the world time to view the war between Israel and Hezbollah as a loss for the Islamic militant group.
"The first reaction, of course, of Hezbollah and its supporters is, declare victory," Bush said. "I guess I would have done the same thing if I were them, but sometimes it takes people a while to come to the sober realization of what forces create stability and which don't. Hezbollah is a force of instability."
Bush also expressed some disappointment with France's contribution to an expanded peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
France had been expected to make a significant new contribution that would form the backbone of the expanded force. But French President Jacques Chirac disappointed the United Nations and other countries by announcing France would contribute just 200 combat engineers to its current 200-member contingent in Lebanon.
"France has said they will send some troops," the president said. "We hope they'll send more."
Members of Bush's economic team stood alongside the president as he spoke under bright sunshine at the Camp David helipad. Among attendees were Vice President Dick Cheney, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, National Economic Council Director Allan Hubbard and White House budget chief Rob Portman.
The meeting came at a time when only 37 percent of Americans support Bush's handling of the economy, according to AP-Ipsos polling in early August. It's also just weeks before congressional midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans continue to control the House and the Senate.
Bush declared the economy solid and strong because of tax cuts his administration pushed through Congress. He rattled off a series of economic indicators, including the nation's 4.8 percent jobless rate in July and 4 percent annual economic growth rate through the first half of the year.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took issue with Bush's upbeat comments on the economy, saying, "President Bush may think the economy is moving forward, but many hard working Americans are stuck living paycheck to paycheck.
"Under President Bush and the Republican Congress, the economic situation for too many Americans is going in the wrong direction," said the California Democrat. Since Bush took office, she said, "real median family income has dropped by $1,700 while families are paying $3,200 more in household costs."
Bush did not mention that the July unemployment rate had inched up from 4.6 percent in June, reflecting a slowdown in job creation that reflects weaker economic growth. And while the gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 5.6 percent in the first quarter, it slowed to just 2.5 percent in the April-June quarter.
On Friday, a University of Michigan survey showed consumer confidence fell sharply in early August to the lowest level in 10 months as Americans were rattled by new terrorism concerns and gasoline prices above $3 per gallon.
Bush did not mention the jump in gasoline prices, although he did discuss the need to invest in new energy technologies.
Paulson, speaking to reporters later, said the team spent much time talking about long-term challenges such as changing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in view of the pending retirement of 78 million baby boomers.
"We think it is quite possible to come up with a fix that is quite doable," Paulson said of reforming the government programs. "The question is whether we can get the support of Congress to get something done."
___
AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed to this report.
I wasn't aware of this. Thank you for you response.
The freedom we have now relative to the '50's is remarkable.
The reason the fifties were better was that there was a higher level of morality and decency within the culture. But regarding freedom for women, for blacks, for anyone for that matter, I agree with you that we are more free now than we were then.
(Again, with the caveat that 'freedom' in morality...i.e. license to do whatever you wish....is not a good thing).
I guess you ain't one! ;-D
I remember how good they were...
From my perspective, I suppose those were someone else's problems. These are problems I acknowledge existed then, but they weren't obvious in my life. But we didn't have SWAT teams shooting someone in the wrong house, either.
...any fewer freedoms than I had when I was 25. And I suspect you don't either...
Whoops! I guess you haven't tried to order propellant constituents or buy dynamite fuse lately. My circle of friends messed around with a number of "chemical experiments" when we were young. (Things that go boom, whoosh, screech, or bwaaaa.) They will hunt you down and put you away for a long time for those things now. No child got arrested for bringing a TOY gun to school in those days, either. Shoot, I even started a rocket club at school ... and there were no paper ESTES rockets then. Nowadays they threaten to call the cops if you volunteer to sponsor one of those.
I'm 57. I do see a great deal of difference. It is not imagined. I think you and I view life from different perspectives.
I would gladly die to save my Nation. I will surely bitch as long as I think it serves some purpose. Right now, this Nation is way off course.
I misstated nothing. I didn't yours.
That is 'misstating the facts.' What your purpose is in doing so, only you know.
I'm a 57 year old white guy of German/French/Candian/Irish decent. I'm a software engineer, with advanced electronics capabilities. I've been all but discarded in my prime by "globalization". Sinkspur wails about the hard-working men and women in the 50s and 60s, but cheers the process that puts guys like me out of work. So much for balance.
I don't believe that someone should be black or female or even brown to get ahead. It should always be based on merit. The field should be level. It should be an American playing field. Let the rest of the world build their own industry and technology. We are giving away our birthright. We are giving away what our people have paid for with blood.
Why it most certainly is! Thousands of people come across that border every day. There are 35 million people in this Nation right now who were not processed by the INS. How can you believe what you type?
If an adult male is still "blowing things up" or holding magnifying glasses over ant beds, he ought to be put away, for a much different reason.
No child got arrested for bringing a TOY gun to school in those days, either.
That's because so many kids have brought REAL guns to school and used them. Children don't need to be taking toys to school, of any kind, unless they're in kindergarten.
I believe life is grand, right now. Technology has increased the knowledge base ten-fold, more and more people are able to travel due to the low cost, and medical science has prolonged our lives by a full decade.
I wouldn't go back to the 50s if you gave me a million dollars to do it.
I'm the same age as you are, and I don't happen to believe that a person as young as you are should be giving up and blaming the President for his own problems.
Take responsibility for yourself, and quit playing the victim role like a liberal.
Sorry if that sounds rough, but I don't believe conservatives should sit around and feel sorry for themselves when there's a world of opportunity out there for every American...........even middle aged white guys like you.
It is not by definition, 'wide open.' Period.
Was not deployed in a role to intercept illegals.
Building and perfecting rocket motors is a bit beyond those things to which you refer. Hobbies are good for a man. Technical people seek technical hobbies. There is a great deal of engineering in amatuer rocketry. I find pleasure in all of my hobbies, which are numerous.
It is clear that you have no interests in the internals of technology. This is what makes my world go around. You enjoy the benefits of engineering ... I make them happen.
By the way, check these out. Tell me if you think this sort of thing is "burning ants with a magnifying glass":
http://www.nakka-rocketry.net/nozmach.html
http://www.rrs.org/
I'm not doing this. I'm blaming Bush for keeping the border porous while pretending to secure our Nation.
I'm blaming greedy corporations for discarding damn good talent.
Take responsibility for yourself, and quit playing the victim role like a liberal.
I'm employed. Others are not. Many have left the engineering disciplines because of outsourcing. My concern if for my fellow Americans, unlike yourself. My concern is also for the long-term viability of our technical edge.
I am complaining about the heavy-handedness our government shows its own citizens. I'm complaining about the stupid behavior that the government calls "security". I didn't once complain about my own situation, save the impact the government's distrust of it best citizens has on my hobbies. I gave you my profile because you seemed to find it necessary to guess about it.
I'm a bit brighter than you give me credit for, Gingis.
You spend a lot of time accusing the President of being a 'globalist' (which he is decidedly not), and then you whine that you're "all but discarded" in your 'prime by "globalization."
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the two concepts together and see that you're holding him responsible at least in part for your being 'discarded.'
Stop whining. The President isn't to blame for your problems.
And he's NOT a 'globalist.' He's just not an isolationist (thank heavens), and he's a man whose walk with Christ gives him a love for all people.
I don't have a problem with either of those qualities.
An isolationist who doesn't care about people will never be our President, so you'd better be prepared to be angry the rest of your life.
He IS a globalist.
I blame him and his ilk for systematic destruction of the middle class in this Nation. He does indeed support policies that tear down our way of life for the benifit of the big corporations.
I have been discarded more than once, but I have been able to make a come-back each time. I am a technical person. It is getting a lot more difficult to find work, and this is because of policy supported and fostered by Bush.
I voted for him twice. I am very ashamed of that. It is a pity that there was not then, nor ever will be a viable aternative to the "leaders" presented by either party.
I guess I wore my rose-colored glasses when I was young. I took mine off. You did just the opposite. Now you wear rose-colored welding goggles. Well, you'll be able to sing "Zippity Doo Dah" when this Nation takes up its third world status.
The swarm of Mexicans is a portion of our problems. At this point in time, Bush is nearly entirely to blame. That open border is a very serious threat to our security. There are scads of articles about this. I can handle my presonal problems. The problems aided and abetted by the Bush administration are something I can do little about.
It is illegal to enter this Nation without inprocessing with the INS (Or the new entity that still doesn't do its job.) Bush took an oath to uphold the laws of the land. Then he turns a blind eye to serious infractions of the laws he swore he'd protect. This is not an issue about me. This is an issue about my Nation and the malfunction that leads it. There are many issues that concern me within this Nation right now; and, I see the government just making matters worse.
I gave you personal information to fill in where you were guessing and infering. I can do this because I am not ashamed of anything about myself. I presume you, being the good Christian, were hunting for leverage to disqualify my opinuions. Everytime I divulge details about myself, people on this site take it as an opportunity to attack me personally. You behave just like the leftest you pretend to abhor. I was discussing national security, or the lack of meaningful security under this administration. How about discussing that rather than attacking me personnally? Its the old leftest trick: can't win the discussion, so I'll just discredit the opponent.
I am discussing my opinion and giving the reasons for my opinion. If you'd do the same maybe this exchange would be useful for both of us. But, I suppose in your great Christian heart you'd rather attack me for differing with you.
How does it feel to have personnal information about yourself used as a weapon? It doesn't help the discussion, does it?
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Absolutely correct!
Still you won't hear anything about that in the mainstream media.
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Back in March during the heat of all of the NSA program the Washington Times is the ONLY paper to report the FISA judges' findings. Not one single paper besides the Times reported it. They buried that story. The MSM is disgusting.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060329-120346-1901r.htm
There is no way for a rational, grounded person to respond to the comments in either of your last two posts, so I will bid you farewell, and wish you Godspeed in your recovery from whatever has led you down this strange path.....
You didn't respond rationally in any of your previous posts, so I can surely understand why you can't respond now. Throughout this thread you would merely state the opinion you wanted me to have, then end with "period". That isn't the way rational people debate. I was telling you what I see wrong with this Administration and how it adversely affects Americans. You would tell me I was whining. Women just can't debate.
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