Posted on 03/29/2002 3:08:59 PM PST by TLBSHOW
WASHINGTON --
It looks as if President Bush 's honeymoon is over. He's fine with the American people -- his personal approval rating is still in the 80 percent range -- but his own natives, Republican movement conservatives, are already restless.
Like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan before him, Bush is already being branded as an appeaser of liberals and a sellout on a range of issues dear to the right-side hearts of many of his party's faithful. These are, it must be mentioned, impossible people who, more often than not, prefer to lose on principle than win through compromise.
They hate Washington and all it stands for, which is compromise and government of all the people. Unfortunately for them, presidents, even their own, have to work in this town -- and that means compromising, however reluctantly, with the opposition in Congress and the vast bureaucracies of governance and liberal constituencies.
Like baseball, it happens every spring. This year, even with overwhelming conservative (and liberal, too) support of the president in our officially undeclared war on terrorism, there are the right's gripes of the moment:
The president from Texas, lusting for Hispanic votes in his own state and in California, is too friendly with Mexico, pushing amnesty for illegal immigrants from south of the Rio Grande and San Diego.
He has sold out free-traders by imposing old-fashioned tariffs on the import of foreign steel -- or he is just chasing Democratic voters in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
He may have been holding his nose when he did it, but he signed the campaign-finance reform bill pushed by Democratic senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and apostate Republican senator John McCain of Arizona.
As part of the war effort, he is advocating a 50 percent increase in the United States' minuscule foreign aid program. This one rebukes conservatives who were determined to set in stone the idea that there is no connection between poverty in the poor regions of the world and hatred and terrorism directed at the richest of nations, the United States.
He is pushing Israel to compromise in its endless war against the Palestinians in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
He is pushing education policy and legislation that would increase federal influence in states, counties and towns across the country -- a big no-no to movement conservatives.
He is not pushing tax cuts the way he did during the campaign, partly because war and educational reform cost huge amounts of taxpayer revenues. Most of this was bound to happen, and any ideological president, Republican or Democrat, is eventually forced to betray campaign promises and core constituencies. The only difference this time is that because of continuing public support for military action (and its high costs), Bush is beginning to take more flak from his own kind than from the loyal opposition.
In the conservatives' favorite newspaper, The Washington Times, political columnist Donald Lambro began a news analysis last week by saying: "President Bush's about-face on trade tariffs, stricter campaign-finance regulations and other deviations from Republican doctrine is beginning to anger his conservative foot soldiers but does not seem to be cutting into his overall popularity -- yet."
John Berthoud, president of the National Taxpayers Union, puts it this way: "We're very disappointed about these new tariffs on steel and lumber. That's two new tax hikes on the American people. ... There's a concern among our members that in his effort to build and keep this coalition for the war, which is certainly needed, he's given Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and the forces of big government a free pass."
Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum, added: "He's been getting a pass from us until now, but the amnesty bill is what tipped it over for us. I agree with Sen. Robert Byrd (a Democrat). This is 'sheer lunacy.' ... A lot of people thought Bush's education bill was terrible. But we didn't rant and rave about it because we wanted to support him on the war. That's changed. The amnesty bill is the hot issue out here. It's out of sync with what grassroots Americans want."
Finally, Stephen Moore, president of the conservative Club for Growth, said: "The danger for us is that Bush may begin to take the conservatives for granted, and you are seeing some signs of that happening with the steel tariff decision, foreign aid and other spending increases in the budget."
So it goes. There is nothing new about this. In the 1970s, William F. Buckley and other movement conservative leaders publicly "suspended" their support of President Richard Nixon because of what they considered his liberal moves toward welfare reform, tariffs and other issues considered part of the liberal domestic agenda -- to say nothing of his reaching out to communist China.
But in the end, Nixon kept them in line by pushing the war in Vietnam beyond reasonable limits. George Bush could accomplish the same political goal of uniting conservative support by continuing to push the war on terrorism into far nooks and crannies of the whole world.
Well Tex ass, let's make no mistake about it here, you ve challenged me and it is I who said this:
1)come visit beautiful Bush DC
2)I will pay one way on your ticket when you get here after 3)you meet me at the Laurel, Md Boys club gym
Be in touch, like you said
It is easy to be "principled" when those "principles" are never tested in an elected position. Keyes is good at what he does and he lets everyone who will listen know it.
When at least half of the elected in both parties want to take this nation down a path of destruction {socialism} then yes it's time to split. Do you think the founders were chums? Do you not think their debates were not heated? Grudges were sometimes carried to the streets. Do we all fall as a nation just because a few whacko's in office want to make us a third world nation so all are equals? Why not we don't want a divided nation now do we? I want some discontent shown by the GOP leadership. I wan't Trent Lott to either lead or leave. Preferably Lott will leave as he has long since sold us out. But hey we can't let a Dem get elected right? Wrong! We can and next election a principled GOP canidate can take the seat back. I'm sick and tired of Congress being a RINO retirement plan.
Yes it is LONG before the issue ad ban was inserted. Geeze do you always lead with your chin?
A country is weakened by bilingualism. The president giving addresses in Spanish only validates Spanish as an alternative. Thus, it gives Bilingual proponents more ammunition and more support in their quest to bring an end to an English-only America.
Your allegations of bigoted are quite bigoted in themselves. I love this country, and I want to see it last. However, with the policies you seem to be supporting, it is highly unlikely that it will last more than 20-50 years, and if it does, it will be significantly weakened in social, economic, and Constitutional terms.
I wonder if your view of the world was shaped by the Liberal Media, for such accusations are disseminated by them.
Yes ... you said that about 3 time already .. now put a plug in it will ya
Some people in this country speak Spanish; live with it.
And you are avoiding my question to you; post the exact quote from George W. Bush supporting the dissolusion of the border between Mexico and the United States.
You're exactly right. They both think they are absolutely right, to the exclusion of all others, and that they and they alone know the "real" truth.
Alan Keyes will never by the current power brokers at the RNC be allowed any office with their support. The RNC is hell bent on seeing to it that only moderates occupy every vacant office. His best shot is as an Independent. BTW I laugh at the he never held office nonsense. That is not a Constitutional requirement. Even the DEM's were smart enough to realize that. Can we all say Senator Hillary?
You all do that quite well yourselves.
For those who are having hissy fits over political speeches made in any langage other than in English, some historical facts are in order. President Bush isn't the only such politician. That has been going on , yes, in this country, for a VERY long time. One example, is Fiorello LaGuardia. He made speeches in at least English, Yiddish, and Italian. If you want to garner votes, you talk in a language that voters understand. That doesn't mean that those languages are all THE official languages of this nation.
With more and more regularity, common sense and knowledge, has been replaced, on FR, by fear, paranoia, and an abject lack of knowledge. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh !
Now you are just whining.
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.