WHAT REFORM? [Democrats have dug themselves into a hole]

New York Post ^ | Monday, March 25, 2002 | By ROBERT A. GEORGE

[JohnHuang2]

LONGTIME Republican political strategist Rich Galen likens money in politics to water in the ocean: "You can put up dams all you want. Nothing will change the amount; you can only move it around."

That's Galen's reaction to the passage - and expected enactment - of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law.

[TLBSHOW]

The House, Senate and

President

all failed their sworn duties to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
Congressman Billybob

[TLBSHOW]

Like I said the rats are going to go after him if he does or does not sign it

Bush Makes Joke About Bill Signing
Bush Jokes Around About Bill Signing

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020325/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/bush_campaign_finance_5

It all started with either the WP story or reuters the commie media, and is now being picked up everywhere.

[TLBSHOW]

The media commies are here with their spew

[rintense]

Love it!

[MamaLucci]

He warned them, but they did NOT believe him when he said for them NOT to count on him doing THEIR job.

Oh, yeah. The WH did everything but send up smoke signals to the morons in congress telling them NOT to rely on a veto.

[Ben Ficklin]

Allow me to edit a line from JH's "My Two Cents:

Bottom Line: Bush is unAmerican--that's been the essence of the Free Repubic Bush bashers "message" of hate, paranoia, and division.

[Howlin]

Well, what I cannot figure out is, if you and I, sitting at our computer, knew it, why didn't they?

[hattend]

Instead, much to their utter dismay, Bush signaled his intention to sign CFR, throwing Democrat campaign strategy into upheaval. The party had planned to use the issue as a sledge hammer to whack Republicans in the fall. Tarnishing the President's reputation as a bellhop for Enron was pivotal. Now Democrats are worried they're headed for heavy losses in November.

I hope you're right...that's it's been planned this way all along. Do you get published anywhere other than FR? :-)

[Howlin]

FYI.

Some FACTS about CFR.

[PhiKapMom]

Guess another lesson in politics and Government 101 is due!

The DemocRATS were going to use this against the President with the help of John Mccain and against our Senate candidates that are in close races. With a veto, President Bush would be handing mccain and the DemocRATS this as a campaign issue that we didn't need to do. There was also the possibility that a veto could be overridden according to some things I have heard. That would have been even worse. The President and his team decided to put this bill into the Court System knowing full well that the parts they didn't like and are unconstitutional are going to be tossed out by the SCOTUS.

IMO it was not the President's job to rule on the Constitutionality of this bill -- that is what we have a Supreme Court for and let them earn their keep. Last I checked we had three branches of Government -- The Congress makes the laws, the President signs the laws, and the SCOTUS determines if they pass the constitutional test. It really doesn't seem that hard to understand!

It has amazed me the trashing that has been done of this President on here in recent weeks about this bill. In the end this bill favors Republicans or can't people see that. This bill doesn't take away my freedom of speech IMO as I can still donate money to my candidates and now twice as much. As for Issue Ads, I don't care if I don't see another one of them on my TV ever! I have gotten irritated more than once at an Issue ad that appears right before the election and there is no time to refute it.

The bottom line IMO was that mccain was prepared to go everywhere trashing this President for vetoing CFR and he would have been on all the shows trashing him. We didn't need that as we campaign to TAKE BACK the SENATE. If some Freepers cannot see that, then they really do not understand that sometimes you have to do things for the end result. Standing on principle is fine, but I don't want to give the RATS one issue to use and take a chance of losing the Senate. This Senate Campaign is too important!

Just my two cents worth!

[Liz]

I would imagine the Bush Brain Trust is telling him:
"This is a win-win Dubya. Sign CFR. You'll please those who want it.
But it's unconstitutional, will get overturned. That'll please the anti-CFR's.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Thanks to both of you for the pings.

JH2, your 2 cents is worth a whole lot more. I am thankful and heartened by your analysis.

I think Bush knows full well what he is doing and I think too many people sell him short. He seems to have the Dems' number and continues to sit high in the driver's seat. I have great faith !!!!!!!!

[CedarDave]

Bush has lost me over this (CFR), and he will have to work very hard to get me back in 2004.

[Howlin]

Enjoy President Clinton -- again.

[Howlin]

I don't know what anybody told him; I'm just reading it all as it comes along, trying to get the best view of the issue. I am NOT happy about it.

I do know that I'm NOT going to give my vote away, period.

[PhiKapMom]

Then you couldn't have supported him that much to begin with. Enjoy electing a RAT Senate this fall too! Don't want to hear any crap if that happens because some of you folks cannot see the forest for the trees!

[ImpBill]

There is a problem with your hyperlink. Or on my end. Anyway can't get to the page.

Oh, I have no doubt the presstitutes will attack GW, regardless of a signature or a veto. They are not just liberal ... they openly, in the main, support DemocRATS.

Actually, I am more concerned about the Constitution and a Presidential Oath of Office than I am about appearances or political gain. Somewhere down the line, we (Americans) are going to have to get more concerned with the conservation of our God given and Constitutionally guaranteed rights than we are about "political power". I know, as I used to preach the same message, "we" need control over the branches of government to protect the constitution, but it seems to me that the GOP is becoming more and more willing to "throw out the baby with the bathwater" in an effort to save it.

There has to be a point even Republicans won't cross. I was hoping it would have been this assault on what I view as our most cherished freedom; free political speech which includes the vote.

I don't want to get started again. I am exhausted just thinking about CFR, its ramifications and GW's unwillingness to pay more than lip service to his oath.

[CedarDave]

You and I went around the pole on the Pickering nomination (josh comments about the junior senator from NC). We both want the same thing. Bush could have gone to the mat on this too, but instead he folded by coming out to late with a strong statement of support. I'm reading all this supposed strategy on how were falling back to fight in the Supreme Court. But at some point continued strategic retreat becomes defeat, and if Bush continues not to standup for principled constitutional issues, he will become no better than Clinton, who needed to take a poll before he used the bathroom.

[Destructor]

"That means that, ironically, the big-buck soft-money ban will initially hurt the Democrats more than the GOP."

If this is true, then that would explain why President Bush doesn't have much of a problem with signing it into Law.

[Howlin]

Oh, I agree; IMO, he's SLOW coming out of the gate on almost everything domestic. Something has GOT to be done about that, period.

I do NOT like this bill; I think he should veto it, but I don't see how he can just arbitrarily decide a bill is unconstitutional, declare it such, and move on.

First of all, it would give "them" a HUGE issue, and I am including the press, who is desperately looking for ANYTHING they can hit him with.

And, secondly, as I mentioned above, unless he signs it, and sends it right up to the SC, we will NEVER hear the end of this and we'll never know if it's constitutional or not, will we?

If Bush says it's unconstitutional, McCain and his fellow travelers will go bezerk and be all over TV; IMO it's just better to let the USSC tell McCain HE wrote an unconstitutional bill he tried to push off on the American citizens.