posted on January 16, 2005 05:44:45 AM new
Jan. 12 - The classic fate of the second-term president is something this historically minded White House is acutely aware of. Hampered by unruly politics at home, second-termers traditionally turn their attention to global affairs, where the president can still reign supreme. Just two months after his election victory, George W. Bush is determined to push ahead with an ambitious domestic agenda. Yet his strategy is already facing sharp questions from his political allies at home and risks being overshadowed by events overseas. And we’re still a week away from Inauguration Day.
Over the last two weeks, Bush has campaigned energetically on asbestos litigation, medical liability and the darkest recesses of the tax code. But for all his attention to some of the most complex corners of domestic policy, it’s his responses to the tsunami and events in the Middle East that have grabbed most public attention. Even as he tries to convince Congress about the crisis facing Social Security, White House aides have been grappling with the humanitarian crisis in Asia and the historic challenge of staging elections in Iraq at the end of this month.
Even as the White House manages such an ambitious package of priorities overseas, its traditional backers are second-guessing Bush’s priorities at home. This week the president effectively launched his campaign to overhaul Social Security, including his long-held desire to establish private retirement accounts. Yet some of his most stalwart supporters are openly questioning his strategic wisdom. Senior officials at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents some of the nation’s biggest corporations, are now urging the White House to delay its Social Security reforms in favor of measures that would be easier to pass, such as tort reform and an energy bill. “A mandate lasts about 15 minutes in this town,” Chamber president Tom Donohue says tartly. Instead Donohue wants Bush to “address the low-hanging fruit that’s already keyed up”—not the ambitious stuff that will require so much of the president’s political capital. While the organization does support a Social Security overhaul, Donohue said the president could better preserve his election momentum by pushing legislation that would have “a lot better chance of success.”
Read the rest of the story here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6818606/site/newsweek/
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
