July 19, 2004
GIVE HIM A FILIBUSTER-PROOF MAJORITY:
Bush's Agenda on Slow Track: With Democrats united and the GOP divided, the White House faces a congressional logjam. Election-year politics are a key factor, experts say. (Janet Hook, July 19, 2004, LA Times)
After three years of getting most of the major legislation he wanted through a cooperative Congress, President Bush is coming up almost empty-handed this year as he heads into the homestretch of his reelection campaign.Capitol Hill has turned into a sinkhole for the unfinished business on Bush's agenda, which includes bills to spur domestic energy production, crack down on lawsuits, extend his 2001 tax cuts and liberalize immigration rules.
The salient point being how much he achieved in his first three years. Indeed, contrary to the argument made by David Frum in The Right Man--absent 9-11 this presidency has been one of the most successful in history. Some heavy lifting remains though--Social Security privatization most importantly--and that will make early 2005 an especially exciting time. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 19, 2004 10:50 AM
The GOP is divided on what to do, and how to do it. The Dems are united in opposing anything the GOP might try to do. The first is a sign of strength, the latter, of weakness.
The key for the GOP is to keep probing for weak points in that defense, and not let up and allow the Dems to get reinforcements from without. Sieges take time, but when they collapse, defeat is total.
Does my understanding of this make me "an expert" quotable by Janet Hooks?
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at July 19, 2004 11:19 AM