Going for Broke May Break Bush

[truthpusher]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/weekinreview/06conf.html

Going for Broke May Break Bush
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Published: February 6, 2005

ARELY has a domestic policy proposal so monumental come down the pike with so little obvious reason for being.

Opinion polls show no public clamor to change the Social Security system; citizens are not yet marching on the Capitol demanding that they be allowed to invest a portion of their payroll taxes in the stock market. Nor does the program face an imminent threat that demands immediate action: According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security trust fund won't run out until 2052, after which payroll tax receipts will still cover 81 percent of the benefits promised senior citizens. Even many Republicans seem cool to the idea.

<snip>

"Presidents tend to attempt big things at the peak of their powers, meaning recently being elected, re-elected or in mode of momentum," says Joel Johnson, a former senior adviser in the Clinton White House. "Bush has made a few big moves that were not necessarily destined to succeed, and has had success in grinding out victories on them."

The question is whether Mr. Bush has the power to persuade Congress again. Most transformative presidents of the past have acted with the wind at their backs. When he set out to birth the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt enjoyed high approval ratings and Congressional majorities that were gigantic by today's standards. Lyndon Johnson capitalized on the shock of President Kennedy's assassination to pass the Great Society legislation. And the public was already deeply disillusioned with détente when Ronald Reagan set out to upend American policy toward the Soviet Union.

When presidents set out to move a recalcitrant public toward their point of view, they usually took care to lay the groundwork first. Woodrow Wilson won only a 42 percent plurality in 1912, in a three-way election. When it came time to push through large-scale tariff reform through Congress in 1913, he took the radical step of appearing personally before a joint session, which no president had done since John Adams.

Complete Story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/weekinreview/06conf.html

[BeatleBoot]

1. I'm waiting for them to tie SS Reform to Terrorism...

[msgadget]

7. ROFL!

I know it's not supposed to be funny but protecting our freedoms will enter into it at some point!

[Undercover Owl]

2. I really wish

his winning streak would come to an end.

It's truly amazing what Bush has been able to accomplish. He pushed, and the Senate and Congress rolled over like an overfed dog. Whatever he wanted, they indulged him.

It just goes to show you how weak this country has become. I believe he at least expected more of a fight than he got. Nope -- they just went along with whatever Einstein wanted.

[Corgigal]

3. If this was such a GRAND idea

why didn't he mention it during his re-election campaigning? You would think he would have had plenty of time.

Yes, we all know the answer. He would not have been re-elected that's why.

[EVDebs]

4. Fumbling in the dark for a legacy beside being the Worst Prez EVER

With jobs barely keeping up...A screwed up war by deception, and an occupation that wasn't supposed to happen - but did. How did George manage to blow it so badly ? Try "I'm a uniter, not a divider".

LMFAO ! You try to destroy the Democratic Party and look what you end up with. Trench warfare. Get ready for a long seige Georgy-boy. Oh, BTW, when will the Enron trials begin so we can FOIA the CIA's complicity in all that jazz ? Talk about a proprietary !

[freethought]

5. Well let's hope so!

Shrub seems to have his proverbial "foot to the floor" with SS. May he'll drive of a cliff!

[leesa]

6. Every policy Bush makes has little reason for being. Haven't they

noticed that yet? There was no reason to invade either Iraq or Afghanistan but we did it anyway. No reason to give rich people a tax break but we did it anyway, etc, etc...

[calimary]

8. One can only hope!

I'd like to see him break at an impeachment trial, myself.

[struggle4progress]

9. kick