Posted on 01/09/2002 6:05:22 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Bush on Kennedy: 'I actually like the fellow'
01/09/2002
WASHINGTON President Bush had warned his fellow Texans just last weekend.
"A lot of my friends in Midland, Texas, are going to be amazed when I stand up and say nice things about Ted Kennedy," the president said Saturday during a town meeting in California.
Related Bush signs far-reaching education bill |
And Tuesday in Ohio, as he signed his keystone education bill into law, Mr. Bush did just that.
"He is a fabulous United States senator," the president said. "When he's against you, it's tough. When he's with you, it is a great experience."
In the first year of the Bush presidency, this political odd couple has come full circle from Merritt Elementary School in Washington, where the Democratic senator from Massachusetts first appeared with the new Republican president five days after his inauguration, to Hamilton High School near Cincinnati, where Mr. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The president did not get every reform he proposed during his 2000 campaign, but he got many of them. And he was determined to make the most of it Tuesday during a daylong three-state tour that had Mr. Kennedy riding up front with him on Air Force One.
"I actually like the fellow," Mr. Bush allowed at their first stop in Ohio, before flying off to other education events in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where Mr. Kennedy was the host at Boston Latin School.
Education reform nearly stalled after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mr. Kennedy said, but congressional supporters and the president pressed on.
"President Bush was there, every step of the way, making a difference," the senator said in a warm introduction of the president in Boston.
Tuesday's Bush-Kennedy road show was a long way from Texas, where not so long ago, the senator from Massachusetts was often pilloried in Republican campaigns.
In the old days, too, Mr. Kennedy, no stranger to political hardball, used to take after Mr. Bush as the governor of Texas.
"George Bush doesn't have a credibility gap. He has a credibility chasm," Mr. Kennedy thundered on the Senate floor a few weeks before the 2000 presidential election.
But that was then. This is now.
Folks back home might be "somewhat in shock" at the turn of events, Mr. Bush muses. But, in fact, this seemingly topsy-turvy turn of events was carefully nurtured by the new administration to rally congressional support for education reform.
In just the first two weeks of the Bush presidency, the two men met five times, including a private but well-publicized White House screening of the movie Thirteen Days, the story of the Cuban missile crisis during the administration of the senator's brother John F. Kennedy.
The senator, who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says he shares "common ground" with the president, though they still differ mightily over myriad health care and economic issues.
Mr. Bush says their relationship shows that politicians at the opposite ends of the political spectrum can work together.
"It's a great symbol of what is possible in Washington," Mr. Bush said.
In this case, too, there's a little something for both men.
"For the president, it symbolically shows that he's willing to reach across partisan and ideological lines to get the job done," political analyst Charles Cook noted.
"For Kennedy, it's just a further sign that he is an 800-pound gorilla on Capitol Hill and that people, if they want to get something done, need to deal with him."
Oxymoron?
How can abortion, homosexuality, sloth, tax pater theft, etc. be considered Christian?
This always amazes me. By their fruits you will know them, and they believe in the left wing agenda?
Haven't they read the book?
The budget for goals 2000 was cut so low, it has to be shut down. Goals 2000 is out of existance. Schools can now say no to gays, tree huggers, muslim prayer rooms....they're allowed to choose reading, writing, math, science.
With goals 2000, the left wing Clinton gov. was choosing what had to be taught, or the schools would not get their funding. Now, the schools choose.
With testing pressure now on thanks to Bush, the schools may start to choose academics over Satanism. They may not have a choice but to choose academics, whether they like it or not.
Committee on Education and the Workforce
http://edworkforce.house.gov/
About 1/3 - 1/2 way down, there is a link "(See Education Accomplishments. . .". That may have what you are looking for. Other links on that page as well.
If that doesn't have enough information, check this. It's the Google Search (above is first link on this search):
Google Search for "Congressional Legislation - education bill"
http://www.google.com/search?q=Congressional+Legislation+-+education+bill&btnG=Google+Search
That is simply not the case. The entire Democratic Party, Ted Kennedy included, can and will turn on a dime and viciously attack the President. Don't think for a moment that Ted Kennedy is sweet on Bush. Kennedy is a cold political player and will do whatever he has to do to maintain his power base.
He is making smiley face with Bush because he got virtually everything he wanted in the education bill - no vouchers, massive increase in the budget of the DOE, and a largely toothless "accountability" scheme that the unions will finesse like Michael Flatley.
Speaking of vouchers, does anyone know the % of Americans that favor them?
I didn't like vouchers the way they were sold. Only one segment of society would get the goods. (I'm for all out school choice.)
I have no hard numbers at my disposal for public support for vouchers. Regardless, it has been a thumping bust, politically speaking. It has been responsible for a lot of lost votes in suburbs, because the Democrats have claimed repeatedly that vouchers are "taking money from our public schools." Republicans have no response, and the upper-middle class residents who have good public schools vote for the Democrat.
The voucher issue was supposed to be the Republican gateway to black, Hispanic, and other inner-city voters. While most poor blacks support vouchers, they have continued to vote for the anti-voucher Democrats.
All in all, Republicans should demand an education tax credit that can be used by families for school choice. Drop the "voucher" terminology altogether. Of course none of this was in the recent education bill.
What I envisioned was Daschle and a few others eating lunch by themselves. Here are the two main culprits:
Besides, after a year of dealing with Tom Daschle, I can see where Fat Ted would begin to look pretty good in comparison.
I agree. BUT, there's that problem with the uninformed, or non political masses. They fear great change. It would have to be slow, and the vouchers would have been a good start.
Even the vouchers confused many, and with the democrap lies, it was just too much change for them.
It's important to keep this issue front and center. Pro-school choice should be a little more assertive with the truth, eh?
I doubt that this woman would share that opinion.
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.