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The next windmill for the President to fight

President Bush has gone out of his way to rally the American people behind inflated or imagined problems. Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, death tax, without tax cuts the economic will sputter, do you remember those oldies but goodies? Well, earmarks are the latest boogie man. Are earmarks bad? Yep. Are they worse than spending billions in Iraq? Doubt it. Are they worse than leaving New Orleans in the lurch? Nope.

I don’t believe that the President has any real intention of stomping out all earmarks. Instead, he is trying to get the public whipped up about something that he can pin on the Democrats (see Hoyer’s quote below).

OH, BTW, Bush signed an executive order to ignore earmarks that aren’t explicitly enacted into law. There is nothing like a democracy by executive order.

Update: Senator Bob Casey takes issue with Bush and his signing statements.

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From WaPo:

Bush warned he would veto any spending bill that does not cut in half the number and cost of earmarks from the year before. He also said he will sign an executive order requiring agencies to ignore any earmark not included in the language of legislation. “The people’s trust in their government is undermined by congressional earmarks,” Bush said.

Bush’s pledge was met with skepticism from many Democrats and even some in the GOP, who noted that the practice increased dramatically while Republicans controlled Congress. “The number of earmarks exploded under Republican leadership in the House, and for six years President Bush did nothing to slow their growth,” said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.). (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2008-01-29T21:01:56-04:00January 29th, 2008|Bush Administration, Congress|Comments Off

Romney should not be the next president

That is the headline of the New Hampshire Concord Monitor. There must have been an overwhelming amount of support for the paper to endorse what is a negative endorsement.

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Here are the highlights from the Concord Monitor:

If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit. You’d add a beautiful wife and family, a wildly successful business career and just enough executive government experience. You’d pour in some old GOP bromides – spending cuts and lower taxes – plus some new positions for 2008: anti-immigrant rhetoric and a focus on faith.

Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped.

Now that is straight and to the point, the Monitor goes on (I have added emphasis):

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1994, he boasted that he would be a stronger advocate of gay rights than his opponent, Ted Kennedy. These days, he makes a point of his opposition to gay marriage and adoption.

There was a time that he said he wanted to make contraception more available – and a time that he vetoed a bill to sell it over-the-counter.

The old Romney assured voters he was pro-choice on abortion. “You will not see me wavering on that,” he said in 1994, and he cited the tragedy of a relative’s botched illegal abortion as the reason to keep abortions safe and legal. These days, he describes himself as pro-life.

There was a time that he supported stem-cell research and cited his own wife’s multiple sclerosis in explaining his thinking; such research, he reasoned, could help families like his. These days, he largely opposes it. As a candidate for governor, Romney dismissed an anti-tax pledge as a gimmick. In this race, he was the first to sign.

They finish up with the obvious:

When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state’s first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we’ll know it.

Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no.

I’m looking forward to hearing from Romney’s supporters. How are they going to spin this?

By ecthompsonmd|2007-12-23T22:09:43-04:00December 23rd, 2007|Election 2008|Comments Off

Bloomberg positioning himself to be the next Ross Perot

Rumors are flying about Mayor Bloomberg. To be honest I’m a little tired of millionaires or in this case billionaires running for political office. Why can’t a college professor run for political office and win? Why because it costs too much money to run for office. That brings us back to the millionaires and billionaires. The whole thing kinda makes me ill.

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From NYT:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Tuesday that he was dropping his Republican affiliation, a step that could clear the way for him to make an independent bid for the presidency.

The announcement was released during a campaign-style swing through California, during which Mr. Bloomberg, 65, a billionaire businessman, used increasingly sharp language to criticize both parties in Washington as too timid to take on big problems and too locked into petty squabbling to work together. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2007-06-20T00:23:37-04:00June 20th, 2007|Election 2008|Comments Off