Thursday, March 13, 2008

Not a Lame Duck

When the voters put in a Democratic majority in the House and Senate they hoped to rein in President Bush. It didn’t happen. He soon found that they would cave under pressure to where he essentially ignores them altogether. He is pushing forward as fast and as hard as he can to assure that his programs will continue no matter who is the next President. He is negotiating many treaties and trade agreements which will continue on long after his term is finished such as, to name a few.
1- He is negotiating a secret agreement with the President of Mexico to give $1.7 billion in military hardware, ostensibly to fight the drug trade, the funds to be taken from Iraq appropriations. Remember the Iran Contra deal. The beat goes on.
2-He is negotiating a missile base agreement with Poland. They are asking us to modernize their armed forces as compensation. Placing this base this close to Russia is not acceptable to Mr. Putin. He will take steps to keep it from becoming operational.
3-He is pushing for free trade agreements with S. Korea, Columbia and Chili, all of which in my opinion will continue to accelerate unemployment for American workers as the other agreements have done.
4-He is pushing the Iraq government to sign a long term agreement which will condone the permanent bases we have already built in their country. He will assure that we stay in perpetuity as we have in Japan, Korea and Germany.
5-He has just vetoed legislation to stop the CIA from using water boarding as an interview procedure. What must the rest of civilized states think about this? He is pushing hard to return to eavesdropping on all conversations without restrictions.
The above are only the ones I have made note of from the media. I am sure there are many more. His legacy will be long lived for sure.

Jack B. Walters
3961 N. Hillwood Circle
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 722-2958
March 13, 2008
jackbwalters@yahoo.com

1 comment:

drsam93 said...

Americans, as well as our U.S. Congress, seem to be taking the next 10 months off, between now and the time a new president takes office in January 2009.

In the news media, the Democratic race between Clinton and Obama, is declared over. Yet, some states have yet to have their primaries. The Florida and Michigan primaries have yet to be officially counted. The primary season is only HALF over (let me say the running for president goes on TOO long - primaries should start later and end closer to the National Conventions). The media should not be pushing candidates out, but allowing a full primary series to play itself out.

Second, ten months is a long time for a President, and Congress, to solve many of the nations problems. I blame the Congress for their inaction, and willingness to wait for January 2009, when it is hoped that the Executive and Legislative branches of the government will be party aligned (will that be Republican or Democrat?).

I think Democrat and Republican elected officials in Washington, D. C. need to start using their leadership and communication skills to find compromise in needed solutions to national problems. The solutions to problems should not be Democrat, Republican, conservative, or liberal. The solutions should represent the best of all of the different ideas brought to the table.

I don't want to wait 10 months.