As His Social Security Measure Falters, Bush Shifting to Other Issues

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBWO4Y386E.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Running into heavy resistance to his Social Security overhaul, President Bush has started emphasizing other parts of his domestic agenda and is promoting his foreign policy goals of defeating terrorism and spreading democracy.

"These are amazing times," he tells audiences. Yet no matter which way he turns, he is finding a bumpy road.

Just short of two months into his second term, Bush still wields vast political clout and, by his accounts, has plenty of "political capital" left to spend. Still, polls show his approval ratings stuck at around 50 percent.

Failure to generate more public support for his plan for individual investment accounts for Social Security seems to have thrown the rest of his agenda off stride.

Among recent setbacks:

more

[marcologico]

1. cut your losses and go home Chimpster, and take your corrupt WH with you.

:hi:

[Seabiscuit]

52. Yeah, quit paying our hard-earned taxpayer money on your junket to find

a left-handed broom - ain't gonna happen.

[Redstone]

2. "Bush still wields vast political clout"

Uh-huh.

Redstone

[Fridays Child]

11. The US still wields vast political clout, but Bush is spending it...

...faster than a black hole sucks in light.

[Cha]

18. It's called "diebold" and the ..

whoremedia..which without bush would be less than nada.

[lonestarnot]

43. Cheaters Never Win 101, he should read it when he finishes Pet Goat n/t

[ebayfool]

40. "... by his accounts" LOL

Uh-huh is right!

[Thor_MN]

58. Well, he does.. in a way. All he sees is the hand-picked freeps

in the audience. From his viewpoint, everything is going great, everyone (except for the occaisonal little old grannie with a sob story) is doin' well, makin' money, lookin' positive. It's mazin' tha way Merucah's dealin' with things, workin' hard, productivizin', an' evrah one's rich.

He isn't a shrub, he's a shroom - the neocons (really the neofascists) are growing him in the dark and feeding him bullshit. They don't even have to worry about keeping newspapers away from him, because the idiot couldn't be paid to read anything other than PNAC comic books.

[xray s]

3. He's spending his political capital faster than....

...he's spending the Social Security Trust Fund.

[Cha]

19. Wondering what he's saying to rove

in private? WAHHHHH! Why aren't the sheeple believing all these clever lies we cooked up? x(

[cliss]

4. ....more.....

Yes, that was quite a few setbacks mentioned in the link. Why do I celebrate stuff like this? Why are we going to have a champagne dinner tonight? Our finest china will be on the table. The candles will be lit. White tablecloth.

We will be clinking our glasses together, and toasting Bush's Setbacks.

How did it ever get to this, that we rejoice over Bush's setbacks? And pray for more, lots more.

The most beautiful part of this article:

(Bush is out on the road, facing opposition to his ideas):

"All ideas bring them forward. I'm interested in listening," Bush said in Memphis Tenn. "There will be no political retribution when you put an idea on the table. As a matter of fact, you will get kudos."

Really? Just the fact that Bush mentions the word 'retribution' tells you everything. :smoke:

[Nay]

16. Yeah, remember when Mao said "let 10,000 flowers bloom"

when he 'invited' criticism and discussion of his regime? Anyone who stepped forward at this invitation got sent to the camps to be re-educated and disappeared.

[NYC]

24. Enjoy the champagne.

In case others wish to share in your celebratory mood:

Among recent setbacks:

-His initiative to control power plant emissions was rejected last week by a Republican-controlled Senate committee. His energy plan remains stalled after two unsuccessful attempts to get it through Congress in his first term.

-His proposal to extend tax cuts for five years ran into opposition from Senate GOP leaders who were supporting a budget that holds tax cuts at $70 billion, rather than the $100 billion Bush proposed.

-Bush's effort to allow religious groups receiving federal grants to consider a job applicant's religious beliefs has an uncertain future in the Senate after close passage in the House.

[ailsagirl]

31. Thanks for enumerating his setbacks-- I hope those setbacks

keep multiplying. It's a cinch that whatever * thinks is good for the country, is BAD for the country.

[doublethink]

5. Isn't this like day 4 or

something of his 60 day 'national social security tour'? HA ! By the time he gets done I'm sure whatever political capital he pretends to have left on this issue will be bankrupt. Unlike the truth on Social Security for many years to come. Geesh ....

[rodeodance]

8. be vigilant--he has the big sour face Cheney out there now also.

[Robbien]

6. Again AP is distorting Bush's support by saying it is around 50%

Since when is mid 40% "around 50%"?

[rodeodance]

7. it is down to "59 cities in 60 days (did not go to Sarasosa yesterday--

last minute cancellations. Paper hinted it was not to embarrass Katherine

[Cha]

20. Why would it "embarrass

katherine"? she's an embarrassment all by herself!

[NYC]

25. Around.

Montreal is "around" New York, if you are looking at the map from China.

Conveniently vague word, isn't it?

[Art_from_Ark]

28. Sarasota

Home of Booker Elementary School

[hatrack]

38. On SS "Reform" it's between 34% and 37%

At least, those are the most recent numbers I've seen. :evilgrin:

[Straight Shooter]

9. Let's translate: "bush still wields vast political clout"

He is a Republican in the Oval Office, and Republicans are the majority in Congress, Scalia is on the Supreme Court.

What is the AP and Tom Raum smoking lately? Whatever it is, I don't want it. It seems to obliterate cognitive functioning.

edit: apparently my cognitive functioning is already faltering :)

[hickman1937]

10. No he's not. This is another of his "hey look over there"

tactics. While he's got everyone focused on something else, with the help of his tame media, he'll be advancing his SS agenda.

[leQ]

30. iran

[Festivito]

36. Or, have us quit looking at Iraq, Iran, Syria, and a draft.

SS or whatever they think they can make resonate on media can take people's thoughts from war troubles as much as wars can take people's thoughts from SS.

The confusion of too many things keeps Bush plans from being scrutinized.

[Me.]

12. Setbacks Are Good

It's not like any of his proposals are good for most of us. But I won't be able to breathe a sigh of relief until he is booed out of office.

[Ian David]

13. Even though it's so un-popular, will the Republicans vote for it anyway?

[tblue37]

56. Well, just think how unpopular the bankruptcy bill was,

and yet all the Republicans and 14 Democrats voted for it. Obviously they don't think they need to worry about the wrath of the voting public. They must realize that (1) the lapdog media will not expose them and (2) they can always arrange to steal elections anyway, so why should they worry about whether the public supports any given bill?

A long as their big donors support a bill, what the public thinks doesn't matter.

[VegasWolf]

14. Bush is Superman!

He outsources American jobs faster than a speeding bullet, he
creates deficits higher than the tallest building, and you can
see right through him.

[Pithy Cherub]

15. This happens when your 'mandate' is artificially primed and pumped.

:eyes: it goes up in smoke...* SOS signals shortly.

[louis-t]

17. terra alert coming soon.

[LibDemAlways]

21. Finally something I agree with chimp on....

"These are amazing times." Yep. I find it amazing that the country is so dumbed down that half the voters would choose a dumbass moron for President. I find it amazing that the media that thirty years ago exposed Nixon and Agnew have descended into absolute whoredom, proping up the aforementioned dumbass and giving him a pass on every crime imaginable. I find it amazing that the American people don't seem to give a shit that their freedoms are disappearing, Americans are dying in Iraq for absolutely no reason, their jobs are being outsourced, their social security is being threatened, a new draconian bankruptcy law could destroy their lives, school funding is disappearing, environmental regulations are disappearing, and on and on and on...

[doublethink]

22. It is the person who is blind .....

to what goes on around him that is most surprised when the same thing happens to him .... THOMPSON.

[ailsagirl]

32. You said it, LibDemAlways n/t

[sickinohio]

53. It seems like no one is paying attention either

people just go about their daily lives, and it seems like they are all living in a fairy-tale world. What is wrong with people in America?? Why don't they seem to care at all about any of this mess this administration has gotten us into?? I truly don't understand!!!

:shrug:

[LibDemAlways]

57. They don't care at least in part because they don't know.

A majority of the adult population no doubt could identify Michael Jackson and have some knowledge of the crimes he is charged with. The media whores have made sure of that.

While the public is fed crap about celebrities, the chimp is getting away with a multitude of crimes. If the media won't report it, it isn't news.

[deadparrot]

23. Damn, I was hoping he'd keep pushing it.

It seems the more he cavorts around the country, the more support he loses. It's quite funny.

[applegrove]

26. His tax reform is dependant on the SS reforms. I knew it! He wants to

erase income tax (that way it will be impossible from anyone to raise taxes on the rich againg). If you replace the whole dam system with Sales tax - you can no longer be progressive with the rich in any sort of efficient way.

[Laurab]

27. My favorite line

"by his accounts, has plenty of "political capital" left to spend." I think "his accounts" are...well, divorced from reality, to steal a phrase from Gannon/Guckert.

He's trying to spend his "political capital", and no one seems to want it.

[porkrind]

29. Breaking News: "chimp, out of bubble of sycophants, stunned by real world"

[GinaMaria]

33. Anyone see Klugman on the Daily Show this week?

He talked about how this SS effected red states more than blue. SS keeps peoples mothers and grandmothers above the poverty line. He felt * would get a lot of resistance from the people who voted for him. Interesting thought. I never considered that red staters depend more heavily on SS.

[onhoth2o]

34. Don't use Britain as model for Social Security, official warns

Don't use Britain as model for Social Security, official warns

By Kevin G. Hall, Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The man in charge of recommending changes to Great Britain's retirement system offers Americans a warning: Beware of changes to Social Security (news - web sites) such as those President Bush (news - web sites) is urging.

Nearly 20 years ago, Britain adopted a form of personal investment accounts much like the one Bush proposes. Britain also changed the way it calculates retirement benefits to adjust for inflation, keying them to consumer prices rather than wages, as Bush and others are considering for Social Security.


The result: "We have created the most complicated pension system in the world," said Adair Turner, a Merrill Lynch vice president and the chairman of the United Kingdom Pension Commission.


Moreover, Turner said, contrary to the benefits promised when the British changed their system, their new approach isn't increasing national savings, isn't fostering an "ownership society" and workers are retiring poorer than they did before.


As a result, Turner is looking at revising Britain's system again to make it more like the traditional U.S. Social Security system that Bush proposes to change.



http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2270&u=/krwashbureau/20050311/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_socialsecurity_britain_wa&printer=1

[UrbScotty]

35. Our President wouldn't flip-flop, would he? (nt)

[hatrack]

37. Doesn't he still have about 56 more cities/days to go?

Please, please keep pimping your SS "plan", Chimpy! America NEEDS more staged pre-scripted prearranged photo-op bullshit sessions, especially if some hecklers can get thrown out.

[lonestarnot]

44. Still waiting to welcome him and send him out as always! n/t

[Imagevision]

39. Iraq war going bad, Bush shifts to SS. SS going bad? Back to Democracy

MSM still won't inquire into exactly who it was that approved Gannon for a secret service background check for the White House press corp??!!-- The WH won't even comment on it.

It's like chucking 10 years of your life because of Bush's leadership, Greenspawn announces this week that in order to keep the tax "relief to the wealtiest 2% in this country -- medicaid & medicare benefits would be necessary.

Cool plan, they'll just die off, no biggie -- but it's the kids who needs the wheel chairs that bug me!

[FreeStateDemocrat]

41. NYT/Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged Television News

Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged Television News
By DAVID BARSTOW and ROBIN STEIN

Published: March 13, 2005

THE MESSAGE MACHINE
How the Government Makes News

It is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.

This winter, Washington has been roiled by revelations that a handful of columnists wrote in support of administration policies without disclosing they had accepted payments from the government. But the administration's efforts to generate positive news coverage have been considerably more pervasive than previously known. At the same time, records and interviews suggest widespread complicity or negligence by television stations, given industry ethics standards that discourage the broadcast of prepackaged news segments from any outside group without revealing the source.

[mcscajun]

42. Finally, * says something hopeful and funny

Only he doesn't realize it, 'cause he meant Social Security.

"There is difference of opinion, and I've got mine," Bush said. "I'm going to continue traveling our country until it becomes abundantly clear to the American people we have a problem."

Yes, America. We Do Have a Problem -- his name is Bush.

[lonestarnot]

45. I would call that more than just a problem! DEVASTATION!

[Catchawave]

46. Maybe he should try to win the public's confidence?....

This isn't good news for him either:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5&u=/ap/20050313/ap_on_re_us/sunshine_week_poll

Americans feel strongly that good government depends on openness with the public, with seven out of 10 people concerned about government secrecy, a new poll says........(more at link.)

[Mark E. Smith]

47. Chimpy Con Artist Routine Ain't Working Anymore

Article points out 3 Chimp failures recently

1) "The "Clear Skies Initiative" down in flames.

2) GOP leaders balked at his 5 year tax extension.

3) Bush's efforts to allow religious groups receiving fed cash to consider a person's religious beliefs when hiring looks like it will die in the Senate.

Seems the Chimpster has maxed out his BS quotient. Republicans worried about getting reelected in 2006 are starting to put some distance between themselves and the Debt Monkey.

[jefferson_dem]

48. Analysis: Bush Shifts From Social Security (LOL : Tough Times For Chimpy)

BE SURE TO RATE IT UP ^, FRIENDS!

WASHINGTON - Running into heavy resistance to his Social Security (news - web sites) overhaul, President Bush (news - web sites) has started emphasizing other parts of his domestic agenda and is promoting his foreign policy goals of defeating terrorism and spreading democracy.


"These are amazing times," he tells audiences. Yet no matter which way he turns, he is finding a bumpy road.


Just short of two months into his second term, Bush still wields vast political clout and, by his accounts, has plenty of "political capital" left to spend. Still, polls show his approval ratings stuck at around 50 percent.


Failure to generate more public support for his plan for individual investment accounts for Social Security seems to have thrown the rest of his agenda off stride.


<SNIP>

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&u=/ap/20050313/ap_on_go_pr_wh/repositioning_bush&printer=1

[Sporadicus]

49. The Spectre of Domestic Terror Attacks Looms Once Again

right on cue. Check out the plethora of 'related stories.'

Zarqawi planning US attack
13/03/2005 17:35 - (SA)

Related Articles
Al-Qaeda mocks Zarqawi claims

Zarqawi 'almost arrested'

Zarqawi group vows revenge

Zarqawi group 'spoilt party'

'Close' to catching al-Zarqawi

Zarqawi gets bin Laden blessing

Washington - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States, including "movie theaters, restaurants and schools," Time magazine reported on Sunday, citing reported comments by a former top aide to the Islamic extremist.

The comments, cited in a restricted bulletin sent out to US security agencies and published by Time on its website, come two weeks after intelligence officials confirmed that Osama bin Laden had sent a message to Jordanian-born Zarqawi, urging al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq to plan attacks on US soil.

US intelligence officials who have interrogated the aide told the news magazine that Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, has also talked about entering the United States through its leaky southern border, by obtaining a visa to Honduras and then traveling across Mexico.

Zarqawi's aide also reportedly told interrogators that attacks on US targets might already have begun if not for a lack of "willing martyrs."

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1675742,00.html

[chomskysright]

60. ORANGE ALERT next...

[sundancekid]

50. time to rate up the story -- needs the proper DU treatment

[earth mom]

51. Vast Political Clout?! What a JOKE! More like Massive Fear Mongering!

[0007]

54. You can bet this is one of junior's paid journalist

junior is a vast fucking joke

[babzilla]

55. "An AP News Analysis" Where is the analysis part?

I love the full headline:

As Social Security Measure Falters, Bush Shifting to Other Issues An AP News Analysis

By Tom Raum Associated Press Writer

I'm sorry, I'm not seeing the "analysis" part of this article.

In fact this article seems to be the very antithesis of analysis.
It has a flavor of the Gannon/Guckert/Talon News style of cut and paste the White House press release style reporting that tries to pass itself off as journalism these days. It also has a lovely woody note of passive aggressiveness in its bullet pointed recent setbacks segment.

Among recent setbacks:

-His initiative to control power plant emissions was rejected last week by a Republican-controlled Senate committee. His energy plan remains stalled after two unsuccessful attempts to get it through Congress in his first term.

-His proposal to extend tax cuts for five years ran into opposition from Senate GOP leaders who were supporting a budget that holds tax cuts at $70 billion, rather than the $100 billion Bush proposed.

-Bush's effort to allow religious groups receiving federal grants to consider a job applicant's religious beliefs has an uncertain future in the Senate after close passage in the House.

Where are the support points for the argument that Bush is shifting to other issues? Nowhere to be found in this article because it is a bogus "analysis". This is another example of the "liberal media" lowering the bar of expectations for shrubbies bold scripted and rehearsed "town-hall meeting" cross-country blitzkrieg.

How about this totally out of context quote for a perfect example of random content:

"These are amazing times," he tells audiences. Yet no matter which way he turns, he is finding a bumpy road.

In what context did * make the "These are amazing times" statement? We don't know and unhelpfully the reporter gives us no clue.
Yet it is supposed to mean something to us, I guess the reader should just accept this fucked up segue.

"These are amazing times," he tells audiences. (fucked up segue) Yet no matter which way he turns, he is finding a bumpy road.

amazing times = hard work
:boohoo:
:tiniest violin smilie:

I would catagorize this piece more as an emotional rollercoaster than an "analysis".

chimpy's not shifting to other issues, the real issues shift themselves to the surface no matter how much the propogands gurus protest.

Perhaps Tom Raum really does believe that he can succeed in being all things to all people. Poor lazy Tom. Bring me the head of Tom Roum's editor.

For some reason this article really pisses me off.

[0007]

59. Great post!

[rodeodance]

61. bet these signing ceremonies will be televised by all !!

.........His proposal to limit class-action liability lawsuits has become law. A Bush-supported bankruptcy bill to make it harder to shed consumer debt won Senate approval last week and is headed toward House approval. A bill to limit medical malpractice judgments seems to be advancing.

“He will be able to have signing ceremonies and gain a little capital. But it’s going to be tricky,” said Norman Ornstein, a political analyst with the American Enterprise Institute.

“The whole approach that Bush normally works is to push the envelope, then embrace the opposition and claim victory. The trouble is, the only way for him to cut his losses on this may be to abandon private accounts,” Ornstein said.

That may be a bigger concession than the president is willing to make.