The Boston Globe sheds a little light into the dark corridors of oppo research. Of course we already know Dubya was a alcoholic cokehead who went AWOL for a year to escape a drug test and had so little sense that he’d drive around drunk…and we still elected him for four years. So skeletons in the closet just ain’t what they used to be.
Tag: George W. Bush
What would Strom do?
Found via TNR‘s Etc., Trent Lott tells us what he really thinks of helping poor children: “Although almost every Senate Republican voted for the [child tax credit], some clearly were unhappy at having to do so under what they considered public pressure from liberal groups and Democrats. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi voted for the bill, but as he did so he stuck his tongue out, put his finger in his mouth and made a gagging sound, indicating his apparent distaste for the bill.” I wonder if C-SPAN caught this – it’d make for a great campaign ad to show the families of Mississippi.
What did the President not know, and when did he not know it?
Whether or not WMDs are ever found in Iraq at this point, it has become increasingly clear that the Bushies were contradicting their own intelligence last September and overstating the WMD capabilities of Iraq to the UN, the international community, and the American people. Lying to America? Falsifying intelligence? As John Dean points out for CNN, we’re now entering Nixon territory. (Second two links via Pigs and Fishes and Medley.)
Credit Denied.
Despite growing GOP support in the Senate, Tom De Lay refuses to consider an increased low-income child tax credit in the House unless it includes more schwag for the filthy rich, such as an estate tax repeal. Speaking of which, new analyses of the Dubya debacle suggest that the middle class will end up footing the bill while the wealthy frolic. So much for “trickle-down.”
No Child Left Behind?
Surprise, surprise. Dubya and the GOP’s new tax cut leaves out an increased child tax credit for the nation’s poorest Americans. After all, gotta keep the priorities straight…Some families out there might want a second SUV.
1896 it ain’t.
Resembling nothing so much as the guy who takes out a $10000 credit card advance and suddenly feels flush, the GOP contemplates an era of political dominance. (In fact, the administration is feeling so sure of itself these days that they’re bringing old Iran-Contra hacks like Elliot Abrams out of the woodwork.) Sorry, y’all, but the “young college Hipublican” vote only goes so far…most of these kids will drop you faster than a Linear Algebra class once their parents’ portfolios finish taking the Dubya tumble. As for the purported hepcats in this pic, I guess it all depends on your definition of “hip.” I can’t say I’m too plugged into the youth zeitgeist these days, but I do live and work at a university…and somehow I doubt these five Bushies are the leading lights of campus. They just look like five angry and self-satisfied white people to me, and there’s plenty of those to go around.
Cash Advance.
As it turns out, Dubya’s profligate ways have forced Congress to increase the federal debt limit (so as to avoid a government default) in the very week they mull over his (now Voinovich-friendly) tax giveaway for the rich. Coincidence? I think not.
Capital Gains, National Losses.
The House and Senate GOP agree on a compromise bill that cuts the tax rates on dividends to 15%. (Don’t worry, Mr. Burns – the wealthy also get their fix in the form of a capital gains rate cut to 15%.) But, problems for the dividend debacle remain…particularly in that the $383 billion package goes over the $350 billion cap established by GOP moderate George Voinovich. Can the Dems mount a last stand?
Read Their Lips.
With the Dubya dividend debacle virtually a done deal, the Democratic field rethinks their election strategies in lieu of the Bush tax cuts. Given the inroads Dubya’s making into Dem territory (well, at least according to Fox News), hopefully Kerry, Edwards, Dean & co. will realize the only way to play it is straight – the tax cuts are a horrible idea and they need to be repealed.
Here Comes the Judge.
With talk of Supreme Court vacancies opening up over the summer, the Post sits down with White House counsel (and prime contender) Alberto Gonzales. Good to hear that private sources find him “insufficiently conservative”…there might still be hope for the guy. In related news, Jeffrey Toobin surveys the judicial confirmation battlefield for the New Yorker.