JAN:
Great photos of our AWESOME President and his courageous VP!
MUST READ . . .
IT'S ALL (PRESIDENT) BUSH'S FAULT . . . and published by the New York Times no less!!:
BILLIONS OVER BAGHDAD
By John B. Taylor
Published: February 27, 2007
Stanford, Calif.
EARLIER this month, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing that criticized the decision to ship American currency into Iraq just after Saddam Hussein’s government fell. As the committee’s chairman, Henry Waxman of California, put it in his opening statement, “Who in their right mind would send 360 tons of cash into a war zone?” His criticism attracted wide attention, feeding antiwar sentiment and even providing material for comedians. But a careful investigation of the facts behind the currency shipment paints a far different picture.
The currency that was shipped into Iraq in the days after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government was part of a successful financial operation that had been carefully planned months before the invasion. Its aims were to prevent a financial collapse in Iraq, put the financial system on a firm footing and pave the way for a new Iraqi currency. Contrary to the criticism that such currency shipments were ill advised or poorly monitored, this financial plan was carried out with precision and was a complete success.
You can read the entire 'rebuttal' here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/opinion/27taylor.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
APPEASING OUR ENEMIES WON'T BRING PEACE
By Ed Koch
A few days ago, The New York Times published a truly frightening article on insurgent battlefield tactics in Iraq. The article reported that "Insurgents are likely to continue combining car bombs with chlorine gas and other chemicals to launch attacks similar to three in recent weeks that spewed chlorine and sickened scores of Iraqi, the military warned Thursday."
You can read the entire commentary here:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/appeasing_our_enemies_wont_bri.html
AND JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED THE 'MUST READS' FROM LAST EVENING'S DOSE:
MUST READ (and save for future use against uber-con/borderbot BushBashers):
GOP IS ABANDONING BUSH? NOT QUITE
By Richard Benedetto
The Washington punditocracy has proclaimed far and wide that Republicans, disenchanted with the war in Iraq, are abandoning President Bush in droves, leaving him the lamest of lame ducks. However, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll suggests Bush might not be as wounded as he appears — at least not among his party faithful.
The Feb. 9-11 poll puts Bush's job approval at 37%, but among people who identify themselves as Republican or leaning Republican, his approval rating is 76%.
Thus, despite bad news from Baghdad and carefully crafted hand-wringing by high-profile GOP war critics in Congress such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, three of four Republicans in the country are hanging in there with the president.
The poll also shows that rank-and-file Republicans have higher regard for the president than they do Republicans in Congress. They gave GOP lawmakers a 63% job-approval rating, 13 points below Bush's. And 72% of Republicans do not think Bush made a mistake sending U.S. troops to Iraq.
So if congressional Republicans figure the key to re-election in 2008 is taking a hard line against Bush on Iraq, they could be dead wrong. They might lure some independents, but they risk alienating their GOP base. To win, you need solid support from your base plus independents, not independents alone.
Conventional wisdom also says the presidential ambitions of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could be derailed by his strong support for the war. This poll, however, shows that his stance could be a plus among the base.
What does this high approval among Republicans mean for Bush? It means that as long as his party support remains that strong, he won't fall below 30% approval, a depth that would virtually extinguish his political power. The lowest Bush has fallen is 31%, still enough to make him a significant, although wounded, force in legislative battles with the Democratic-controlled Congress.
The latest congressional skirmish over Iraq underscores the point. In the House's non-binding vote to oppose the president's deployment of more troops to Baghdad, 17 Republicans voted with 229 Democrats to pass the measure. Four GOP representatives didn't vote. Lost was the fact that 180 Republicans stuck with Bush. By that count, Bush gets a 92% loyalty standing among House Republicans who voted. Hardly a GOP exodus.
In the Senate, Democrats fell four votes short of the 60 needed to force a vote on an identical Iraq resolution. Why? Not enough Republicans would go along. Indeed, seven GOP senators broke with the president, and nine didn't vote, yet 33 held firm. Among GOP senators who voted, that's an 83% Republican loyalty rating for Bush.
Though the president may have lost the country on the issues of the day, rumors of his demise among Republicans voters and lawmakers are greatly exaggerated.
[NOTE: And Benedetto uses USAToday/Gallup poll results which always underestimate and underrepresent Republicans!]
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070226/opcomreligion66.art.htm
RASMUSSEN
Today, Rasmussen puts the President's JA rating among Republicans at 81% (and Rasmussen too always underestimates Republican support)!
http://rasmussenreports.com/Bush_Job_Approval.htm
BATTLEGROUND POLL 2007
"CONTINUING A TREND SEEN THROUGHOUT HIS PRESIDENCY, THE PRESIDENT'S PERSONAL APPROVAL RATING REMAINS HIGH at sixty-one (61%) of likely voters approving of him personally, a sign that the President has an opening to at some point move his image and JA rating net positive. On this measure 93% OF REPUBLICANS and 56% OF INDEPENDENTS APPROVE OF HIM. The President continues to have a considerable amount of personal good will not only with his base Republican voters, but also with those key Independent voters."
You will find more polling statistics and analysis at
http://www.tarrance.com/Republican-Analysis.pdf
I'm still trying to recover from my rather nasty sinus infection/cold . . . Night all!
The currency that was shipped into Iraq in the days after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government was part of a successful financial operation that had been carefully planned months before the invasion. Its aims were to prevent a financial collapse in Iraq, put the financial system on a firm footing and pave the way for a new Iraqi currency. Contrary to the criticism that such currency shipments were ill advised or poorly monitored, this financial plan was carried out with precision and was a complete success.
Gosh it is great to have a President with a brain and a degree in business. ;*)
Night thanks for your links hope you feel better tomorrow
You get yourself BETTER, OK??
Poor Ed Koch....trying to talk sense into the jackasses is blowing in the wind!