Daschle: Congress won't 'rubber-stamp' Bush

CNN ^ | 3/3/02

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Declaring it was not the job of Congress to "rubber-stamp" the president's priorities, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle insisted Sunday that the Bush administration must keep Congress better informed of its plans for the war on terrorism.

[mewzilla]

Congress? Con-gress?? Is this the same body that lets Gary Condidit sit on an intell committee? Is this the same outfit that allows its members to see classified info without first subjecting those same members to backround checks? Is this the same body that allows members like Leaky Leahy to shoot their mouths off without any kind of penalty?

Congress ought to just sit down and shut up until they can get their own damn houses in order.

[VRWC_minion]

I'm with you on this. Dashcle and the rest of the democrats needs to be more visible about questioning each and every move that the military make under Bush. They must not only question, they must be critical of everything. How long it takes, how much money, lack of knowledge of where the bad guys are and when we win. There can be no sacred cows.

Dashcle has not done his job since 9/11 and I for one want to encourage him and all of the democrats, especially those up for re-election, to be way more vocal about this.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Condidit's replacement won't be on the committees.

[okiedust]

Of course they have a constitutional right to carefully consider any bill proposed by the White House, and they must expect to be "carefully" questioned about their own positions. That is how it all works. The problem that Daschle has is that he has "carefully questioned" everything that has been proposed by the administration and has found it wanting,(think trying to brand Bush's judicial appointments as racist) and now he doing the same for a war that is only several months old, and is a seeming success.

When Daschle was carefully questioned yesterday on FNS, his answers seemed disingenous at best and his position hostile for the sake of political gain. If he cannot offer any more rational arguments for his "questions" then he looks like a naysayer for the sake of naysaying. That is fair too. A war against an often unknown and shadowy enemy will not neccesarily proceed to a quick and tidy end, and Daschle appears either too stupid to understand this or crassly partisan.(pick one). Frankly his only complaint was that he wasn't informed enough and his stupid reply to Snow that he didn't ask the president directly when he met with him, because he only learned later that day that he didn't know much was pretty pathetic. Daschle sounded like a whiner and it was not a good day for his case. His position was analagous to say Columbus crossing the Ocean to find India. If he had decided about midway across that he didn't really know where he was going even tho he had made great progress,and turned back because he hadn't found land, history would have recorded that as failure of nerve. That is what Daschle looks like if regarded in the kindest light, but of course, he is not experiencing a failure of nerve at all, he is simply trying to breed doubt and fear, for political gain. That is his right. It is the opppositions right to call him on it.

regards

[jwalsh07]

I'm not selling and I don't care what you're buying and yeas I remember the Vietnam War.

It was run by politicians for policitians who had no interest in winning on the battlefield and you and Daschle are endorsing a return to that time honored tradition.

Is that what you want? Congressional committees and LBJ consulting o what targets to hit? Those are "operational details".

Comprende'?

[VRWC_minion]

Daschle is the Senate Majority leader and should be in the loop.

Yes, a once per week meeting to get an update is hardly enough. Maybe he should be given veto power over every decision.

But the important thing isn't the information. The key is that Dashle needs to convey all of our insecurities and feelings of weakness and lack of direction to all of the American people. This is stuff the American people need to know about their leaders. They need to know which leaders are ones that can make and implement battle plans and which ones have no clue.

[mewzilla]

I'm not worried about Condidit's replacement. I'm worried about what Sleazy Rider's had his hands on and what he could get his hands on before he leaves. Know what I mean?

And doesn't it bug you that members of the House and Senate are allowed access to classified info that other people have to undergo backround checks to see? And don't you ever wonder if someone, or maybe a few someones, among those 535 people is doing something unsavory with that info?

[okiedust]

Yes. I am with you all the way on this. I hope they take your advice.

regards

[daler]

Given Daschle's track record, I doubt that either you or Al-Quaeda will be disappointed in the long run...

[VRWC_minion]

When Daschle was carefully questioned yesterday on FNS, his answers seemed disingenous at best and his position hostile for the sake of political gain

We must give him so room to develop this idea of being critical of a president at war. Its not easy to do because so few poltico's have done it in the past. I have faith that the American people will see the spirit in which Dashcle is offering his critical analysis and will come to appreciate him as much as we Freepers do.

[mwl1]

Congress of course has a role to play, but they need not ever be informed of operational details. Daschle is lying, as usual, and no one bothered to ask him yesterday if the chairmen of the Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate were appropriately briefed by the Administration. My guess is that they are, routinely.

If Daschle is not kept in the loop, it is because he is a despicable liar and people in his caucus have proven themselves hostile to national security secrets (ie, Leahy et. al.).

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

What's his wife going to do if he loses? What will she do with the money from the suit if she wins?

[VRWC_minion]

Given Daschle's track record, I doubt that either you or Al-Quaeda will be disappointed in the long run...

I do hope your right. Daschle has been disappointing in that each time he seems to be taking a stand, he drops it and moves to something new. First the tax cut, then the economy, then deficit, then Enron. I really do hope he latches on to this issue and develops it fully.

I am confidant the American people will truly treasure a politician that stays critical of each war time action and development that our president. We need the consistancy.

[rdb3]

Senate majority leader or not, what does Daschle need with operational information? He should be told the overall objectives of the fight, but how it's done is the sole discretion of the Commander in Chief and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Again, why does he need all of the military information?

[VRWC_minion]

I remember an administration that conducted a secret and illegal bombing campaign...

LBJ ?

[rdb3]

Surely you jest, right?

[mwl1]

The executive and legislative branches are already co-equal branches with jurisdiction over foreign policy. Check your Constitution. They are not co-equal with regard to roles and responsibilities, nor should they be. Do you want the United States of American to have a foreign policy made by 535 persons?