This has not been a good year for the Republicans.

[CBright7831 0]

Now before you think that I'm rubbing it in, I'm not by any means, I'm just making an analysis. It's amazing, this time last year, the Republicans were pretty much on cloud nine, and now a year later, everything has turned against them, due to events like:

 

+ Hurricane Katrina (as a whole)

+ Delay and Libby indited

+ Bush's approval rating plunges

+ Democrats kept govenors in VA and NJ

+ Iraq

 

There's more, but those are the most well known.

 

What do they have to keep to save face?

 

Thoughts?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Don't forget that us Canadians were responding to Katrina victims faster then most of your emergency response teams.

 

Now, before you think I'm rubbing it in........wait.......I guess I am. Ah well.

[cbacon 0]

There's more, but those are the most well known.

 

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Iraq getting swept under the rug I take it?

[Lord of The Curry 0]

The first two posts are from hippy canucks.

 

This has not been a very good year for this thread.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

+ Lott...indited

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Do you mean Delay?

 

I would add the Terri Schiavo debacle to the list.

 

And Mess O Potamia.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

+ Lott...indited

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Do you mean Delay?

 

I would add the Terri Schiavo debacle to the list.

 

And Mess O Potamia.

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* doesn't hold anything against Republicans for Schiavo. She's in a better place now, isn't she? The fact they were trying to keep her alive is essentially moot.

 

And I'm even one of the aforementioned hippy canucks.

[2GOLD 0]

And it won't matter because the Democrats will fucking bobble the ball in 2008 AGAIN. God fucking dammit! There is no way the Republicans should win the White House again. None, zero, absolutely nadda. I still don't know how they fucking won in 2004.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I know the Dems aren't the brightest bulbs but surely they can't fuck this one up, right? Bush has handed them the election on a silver platter.

 

*Remembers gays and terrorists*

 

Ok, so maybe the Republicans do have a shot.

[2GOLD 0]

I still don't get how you can fuck up terrorism. The Democrats just need to take a stance on something, ANYHING, and they can win easily. Unless they take a stand on something incredibly stupid, which I'm really afraid they will.

 

There is no way they can lose this time. They would have to be complete morons to blow this. He has given them a 10 lap lead. And no way he recovers enough over the next three years to even make the Republicans look remotely good. I want to vote Democrat but they have to show me something. In 2004, they showed me a pile of shit and said, "at least it's not Bush..did you read our website?"

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I want to say it was Lewis Black who eluded to this in a Maxim last December:

 

This was the greatest chance for the Democrats ever last election, and they couldn't get it done. Kerry was just so iffy, how could you get b ehind a guy like that?

 

Blackbasically said "Anyone but Kerry".

 

Maybe it's wishful thinking being as leftist as I am, but I just can't imagine the Dems coming up with this bad a candidate.

[2GOLD 0]

I'd pick Kerry over Lady Clinton.

[Quit Calling My Mama 0]

+ Democrats gained govenors in VA and NJ

 

 

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They didn't gain any governors. They had Democrat governors before.

[CBright7831 0]

I fucked up my entire post from getting facts to getting names wrong.

 

I guess that's what you get when you're tired and don't want to go bed.

 

[Red Baron 0]

So the Democratics have...

 

A stiff corpse

A lunatic

A wife of a cheating husband

And a Black guy.

 

 

As each day passes, and by the way the Dems are moving, the Republicans will win the 2008 election.

[gWIL 0]

The Democrats have Evan Bayh and he's all we need.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

The Dems need to bring an Evan Bayh/Mark Warner ticket for 2008. Keep all the idiots like Hilary out of there.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

The Dems need to bring an Evan Bayh/Mark Warner ticket for 2008. Keep all the idiots like Hilary out of there.

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Amen, that ticket would kick some serious BUTT, but I dunno if they'll nominate both of those guys. I'd give Warner a better shot at winning the primaries than Bayh b/c of his tremendous approval ratings in VA, but knowing the Dems they'll go with Hillary due to the crazy interests that are trying to take over the party.

 

In fact, as a conservative I've seen Bush's two terms as a major disappointment and don't even feel like he represents conservative views all that well. Heck, I voted for Nader in the last election. I think in 2008 my vote will be up for grabs again and to some degree it'll be the Democrats to lose (but they already lost it in 2004).

 

If the Dems are going to do anything in the midterms it'd be to take back the House b/c in the Senate they are defending 18 of the 33 seats (and that includes Jim Jeffords seat in Vermont which is up for grabs), have to protect 'freshman' senators from 2000 (ex. Bill Nelson of FL), and protect vacant seats (ex. Paul Sarbanes in Maryland, Jeffords in Vermont, etc.). I think the Democrats could pick up a seat from Mike DeWine in Ohio and possibly Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, but if they lose Bill Nelson's seat and lose Kwesi Mfume's shot at succeeding Paul Sarbes in Maryland to Lt. Gov. Michael Steele then they're back to that 55-45 ratio. Thus, after the midterms I wouldn't be surprised to see a Democratically controlled House and a GOP majority in the Senate along the lines of 52-48 or something around there.

 

Edit: And also the Democrats have to avoid being dumb in dumping all of their attention and money into getting Hillary re-elected in New York in what promises to be a nasty campaign against Jeanine Pirro.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

The Dems need to bring an Evan Bayh/Mark Warner ticket for 2008. Keep all the idiots like Hilary out of there.

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but if they lose...Kwesi Mfume's shot at succeeding Paul Sarbes in Maryland to Lt. Gov. Michael Steele then they're back to that 55-45 ratio.

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I think there's another guy running in the primaries against Mfume in MD that is leading himi in primary polling and leading the incumbent in general election polling.

 

Edit: Ben Cardin is the guy.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

The Dems need to bring an Evan Bayh/Mark Warner ticket for 2008. Keep all the idiots like Hilary out of there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

but if they lose...Kwesi Mfume's shot at succeeding Paul Sarbes in Maryland to Lt. Gov. Michael Steele then they're back to that 55-45 ratio.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think there's another guy running in the primaries against Mfume in MD that is leading himi in primary polling and leading the incumbent in general election polling.

 

Edit: Ben Cardin is the guy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks for the correction. I was just doing some research on this race and everyone kept talking about Mfume, go figure.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

The Dems need to bring an Evan Bayh/Mark Warner ticket for 2008. Keep all the idiots like Hilary out of there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

but if they lose...Kwesi Mfume's shot at succeeding Paul Sarbes in Maryland to Lt. Gov. Michael Steele then they're back to that 55-45 ratio.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think there's another guy running in the primaries against Mfume in MD that is leading himi in primary polling and leading the incumbent in general election polling.

 

Edit: Ben Cardin is the guy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I messed up, too. Cardin is leading Steele, not the incumbent.

[CBright7831 0]

I thought we would up this for a little bit more discussion.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Bush trying to open the locked doors in China was absolutely hilarious.

 

LOTC- Political fountain of knowledge

[slimm44 0]

Umm it really hasn't been a good year...period!

[Art Sandusky 0]

Psh, every President does dumb crap like that door thing. I like how he played it off. The moment of standing properly and looking out at the press was awesome.

[2GOLD 0]

Psh, every President does dumb crap like that door thing. I like how he played it off. The moment of standing properly and looking out at the press was awesome.

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Guy has a wicked sense of humor, I'll give him that.

 

As for his approval ratings...why should he care? He's leaving and he knows he has no impact on what happens to the Republicans. Others may think he does but he doesn't. He could take his final few days to sleep on the roof of the White House while Alabama plays on the front lawn and bikini girls mud wrestle in the rose garden.

[Art Sandusky 0]

That'd redeem him a pretty good bit in my eyes. Seriously.

[2GOLD 0]

That'd redeem him a pretty good bit in my eyes. Seriously.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think it would be a 50 point spike or more.

[SuperJerk 0]

Congressman resigns after bribery plea

California Republican admits selling influence for $2.4 million

 

(CNN) -- Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham said Monday he is resigning from Congress after pleading guilty to taking more than $2 million in bribes in a criminal conspiracy involving at least three defense contractors.

 

After entering his plea in San Diego, California, the eight-term California Republican said he was "deeply sorry."

 

"The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office," he told reporters, his voice strained with emotion. "I know I will forfeit my reputation, my worldly possessions -- most importantly the trust of my friends and family." (Watch: 'Now I know great shame' -- 2:16)

 

Asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted cash and gifts and then tried to influence the Defense Department on behalf of the donors, Cunningham said, "Yes, your honor."

 

Cunningham's plea agreement with federal prosecutors stemmed from an investigation of the 2003 sale of his California home to a defense contractor for an inflated price.

 

Under the agreement, Cunningham acknowledged a conspiracy to commit bribery, mail and wire fraud and tax evasion. He also pleaded guilty to a separate tax evasion violation for failing to disclose income in 2004.

 

Prosecutors said Cunningham had taken bribes from contractors, which enabled him to buy a mansion, a suburban Washington condominium, a yacht and a Rolls Royce.

 

A government statement said Cunningham received at least $2.4 million in bribes and will forfeit his $2.5 million mansion and about $1.8 million in cash, antiques, furnishings and other valuables.

 

The charges carry a potential penalty of 10 years in prison and up to $350,000 in fines. Sentencing is scheduled for February 27.

 

"The citizens who elected Cunningham assumed that he would do his best for them," said U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. "Instead, he did the worst thing an elected official can do -- he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there."

 

Cunningham, 63, sold his San Diego-area house in 2003 for $1.6 million to defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who then sold it for $700,000 less.

 

The transactions sparked allegations that the contractor had bought the house at the higher price as payback for Cunningham's pressing the Pentagon to award contracts to the defense contractor.

 

Cunningham, whose annual salary is about $160,000, then bought the $2.5 million mansion.

 

Over the summer, federal agents raided Cunningham's California home, a boat he lives on while in Washington and the Washington offices of Wade's former employer, defense contractor MZM Inc.

 

A decorated former Navy fighter pilot who shot down five MIGs in Vietnam, Cunningham served as an instructor in the Navy's famed "Top Gun" program.

 

"I learned in Vietnam that the true measure of a man is how he responds to adversity," he said. "I can't undo what I have done, but I can atone."

 

"I'm almost 65 years old and I enter the twilight of my life. I intend to use the remaining time that God grants me to make amends, and I will."

 

Cunningham would not respond to questions.

 

"This is now a personal matter for the congressman and his family," said Harmony Allen, his chief of staff, in a written statement. "The office will not comment any further on today's proceedings other than to say that we are praying for Duke in these exceedingly difficult times."

 

Cunningham was first elected in 1990. He represented the 50th District, which includes parts of San Diego and its northern suburbs. The district is solidly Republican.

 

He served on a powerful defense appropriations subcommittee that approves spending for defense programs.

 

Cunningham said in July that he wouldn't seek a ninth term next year; denying any wrongdoing at the time, he said that he intended to finish the remainder of his current term.

 

The congressman said then that he decided not to run for re-election in part because of the toll the investigation had taken on his family and standing in the community. (Full story)

 

"I publicly declared my innocence because I was not strong enough to face the truth," he said Monday. "So I misled my family, friends, staff, colleagues, the public, and even myself."

 

In a written statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the case "is just the latest example of the culture of corruption that pervades the Republican-controlled Congress, which ignores the needs of the American people to serve wealthy special interests and their cronies."

Special election

 

Cunningham's resignation will trigger a special election for his Southern California House seat, and at least half a dozen candidates are expected to make bids to succeed him.

 

Some had begun taking steps to run for the seat after Cunningham announced in July that he would not seek re-election.

 

Under California law, all candidates will appear on the same ballot in a special primary election to be held in January.

 

If no single candidate receives more than half of the votes, a general election of the top vote-getters representing each political party would be held in March.

 

The governor must specify within 14 days a date for the election.

 

Despite Cunningham's admission of guilt, Democrats could have a hard time winning his seat. Last year, Cunningham easily defeated his Democratic opponent, Francine Busby, 58 percent to 36 percent.

 

And President Bush beat his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, 55 percent to 44 percent in the district.

 

"It is a Republican seat," said Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "Even before the resignation, Democrats didn't have anybody running, and I wouldn't expect that to change."

 

Busby is running again, and several Republicans have already announced or are eyeing a run, including ex-U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, ex-state assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, state Sen. Bill Morrow, businessman George Schwartzman and businessman Alan Uke.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/28/cunningham/index.html

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I'm voting for Sharpton again.

[SuperJerk 0]

House extends capital gains tax cuts

$56 billion measure passed along mostly party lines

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House voted Thursday to make sure investors hang onto lowered tax rates for capital gains and dividends for an extra two years.

 

Voting mostly along party lines, the House narrowly passed a $56 billion, five-year package of tax cuts that retains reduced tax rates on capital gains and dividends in 2009 and 2010. The vote was 234-197.

 

Republicans said their record of tax cutting revitalized a sluggish economy, and the White House praised the bill. "These extensions are necessary to provide certainty for investors and businesses and are essential to sustaining long-term economic growth," the president's budget office said in a statement.

 

Democrats said tax cuts for investment income, and much of the GOP's economic agenda, help Republican friends and ignore average workers.

 

"Everybody loses under this bill. Everybody, that is, except the top one-fifth of 1 percent," said Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia. "Some might call them the superrich. Apparently, the majority calls them donors."

 

The tax bill includes some items popular with both Republicans and Democrats. Most of those provisions preserve tax breaks that would otherwise expire in a few weeks, including deductions for state and local sales taxes, tuition and classroom supplies purchased by teachers.

 

Businesses won extensions of two major benefits, a tax credit for research and development and write-offs for small business investment.

 

Four tax cuts bills in two days

 

The tax cut package was passed a day after the House pushed through three other tax bills by overwhelming majorities. One offered businesses incentives to stay or establish in hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast communities. A second extended some small tax breaks expiring at the end of the year, including one that helps soldiers in combat claim the earned income tax credit.

 

A third bill blunts the bite of the alternative minimum tax, which threatens to hit some 17 million individuals and families with higher taxes next year.

 

It's unclear whether these bills can be reconciled with different versions passed in the Senate in the short time that lawmakers have the rest of this year.

 

The Senate earlier struggled to get enough support for a two-year extension of capital gains and dividends tax cuts. They ultimately decided to drop the effort for a short time to get their tax agenda moving. Senate leaders vowed to make sure the final version of the legislation keeps the investment tax cuts alive.

 

The 15 percent tax rate for investment income is currently scheduled to disappear at the end of 2008. If the reduction runs out, the top capital gains tax rate would be 20 percent and dividends would be taxed like ordinary income at rates up to 35 percent.

 

The House rejected an alternative tax package drafted by Democrats that would have omitted the tax breaks for investment income. It also would have replaced $43 billion in government revenue lost to tax cuts by raising taxes on individuals earning more than $500,000 and couples earning more than $1 million.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/08/con...s.ap/index.html

 

I can't wait for the Democrats to win an election so the GOP can go back to bitching about the deficit again.