Redstate

1986 was pretty bad - 8 Senate seats and control of the chamber lost is a rout, and led to two years of crippling investigations.

On the other hand, 1998 is a great and encouraging parallel - Clinton turned defeat into victory through the perceived overzealousness of his adversaries.

Anyway, there's a fundamental point here: if we play to win, we also have a better chance to draw. Getting overly defensive is the wrong play right now.

On the other hand, much though I like Ricketts, I will be staggered if beats Ben Nelson. Have you seen the polls from Nebraska? And Nelson's right - he actually isn't that bad.

"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill

Amen.

"Conventional wisdom" is usually media spawned, a bad rumor which takes a life of its own.

Looking at what the opposition offers, there is no way we should be labeled pollyanna.

Let's rock the house.

Every Republican candidate ought to be on the offensive against the amoral, anti-American, cut and run, loser attitude of the Democrats.

Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.

There are enough signals to hope that a "win" occurs in 2006 and to try to make it happen. It is still possible. But if the election were today, there are 5 incumbent Republicans polling significantly below 50%. There are 2-3 Democrats in that situation and only one (NJ) that is consistently so. My take on the lay of the land (via polling) is that there is a strong anti-incumbent feeling in the country. It is mainly affecting marginal Republican seats but it could threaten WA, MI, and FL as much as OH, MO, and MT. Rs need to swing things about 3-5 more points in their direction to really "win" in November. It's possible, but not easy.

Social Security Choice - Club For Growth

I would love to think that you are right, but I am afraid that you are underestimating the extent of frustration in the country. Let's assume that the election will not be a referendum on the Administration but on Congress. Let's look at Congress' record:

1. Budget deficit out of control.

2. Sleaze. Abramoff. Cunningham. No reform on earmarks/lobbyists.

3. Immigration paralysis. Illegals flooding into the country.

4. Inadequate oversight of spending. I'm thinking of the waste of $$$ appropriated for Katrina, Iraq, etc.

5. No progress on reforming our unsustainable entitlements.

You get the idea. Why should we reelect our congresscritters? What have they really done to deserve reelection? Congress is clearly dysfunctional at this point.

Now of course the Democrats have caused a lot of the paralysis and would be worse if they were in charge. But what a weak reason to reelect the Republicans: "Vote for us. Our opponents are even worse!"

As much as I would hope to do well reality keeps hitting me in the face. On the list above, please spend your money with DeWine and Talent as they are the best hope for incumbents to hold on and on the challenger side McGavick, Kean and maybe Steele are the best bets.

While I like Pete Ricketts, he's a non-starter.

Ben Nelson is hugely popular and actually lines up in many ways with the state. It's a small state and he's a trusted person known by many. Osborne might have been able to beat him. Johans probably could have because they have equal levels of popularity.

On top of that, Ricketts is to the left of Nelson on illegal immigration (based solely on a bill related to giving illegal immigrants in-state tution break).

And Nelson has been with Bush on judges (individually although not for the nuke option).

The other Senate candidates all have a solid chance as you point out.

In the house, the problem has to do with vulnerability. There are 15 vulnerable GOP seats and 7 vulnerable DEM seats. Hence, it's a bit harder to make up ground here. Still, there is no reason not to fight for it and every state has other issues where GOTV will be the deciding factor.

I hate to pimp for another site, but Jay writes over at realclearpolitics.com. He is rather bullish on the GOP, and he has posted several essays explaining why over the last few weeks.

To me, just keeping the House and Senate is enough to send Kos and Olbermann over the cliff. That should be our rallying cry.

I think the real key is to have the President stay on message and stay focused. He actually does well, I believe, when he goes out and gives speeches and does news conferences. If someone somewhere can just reinforce with him how important it is to keep on giving his side of things, I think he can move his numbers up. I think that's the real key to having a good showing this November.

If the congressional Republicans win by a comfortable margin then won't they just take that as a sign that they can continue to ignore the base of the party?

"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle

I firmly believe that we can win this thing and perhaps even add to our seats in the House and Senate. There are so many invidual polls that don't jive with the general sentiment that the GOP is in such big trouble.

Consider that today a DEMOCRATIC internal poll for NM's 1st District found that Wilson was leading 46%-44% over Madrid. It was presented as a shocker, like Wilson was in such big trouble, but, folks, partisan internal polls are of dubious virtue and Wilson beat Madrid just 54%-46% in 2004. This is classified as one of the Dems biggest and best pickup opportunities in 2006. Similarly, a Survey USA poll in Colorado's 7th found Rick O'Donnell and the Dem tied at 45% a piece in this open race. The last time the seat was open (in 2002 - a great GOP year) it was also a dead heat on election day. In other words, the Republicans seem to be polling very similarly to where they were in 2002 or 2004. There are other polls pointing to the same result - (and don't forget Brian Bilbray in California's 50th!) There's much work to be done but IT IS NOT HOPELESS.

In the Senate, I know there's a lot of ground to be gained, but as the author of this post mentioned, the Dems have LOTS of sleeper races (NJ, MD, WA, MN, MI, etc). Have some faith, people. I believe we can and will win this thing!

Remember when he read the articles pretending it was the media talking about this year's election and it turns out those articles were 4 years old yet sounded like they apply to this years elections? No need to get all doomy and gloomy, i never bought into the theory that were going to sink. I think a senate gain is actually possible.

Yes, we have 5 vunerable incumbents, but let's take a look at each one:

1. Santorum - we have been counting him out for a long time but as we can see casey is just sitting on his lead doing nothing. he's done this before and history is repeating itself. Santorum is a great campaigner and has usually been the underdog in his races, i think he'll pull through

2. Talent - Yes, he's polling under 50 but his last race was also a tight one and he pulled through. He's not done anything uber egregious, he was just being dragged down last year because of Matt Blunt's low poll numbers, but those seem to have rebounded. I think he'll pull through.

3. Dewine - Yea, dewine is under fifty and having a tough race against brown. Dewine though is a very good campaigner, and won his last race by a healthy margin. Much of the negativeness for dewine is coming because Bob Taft's stench is hurting all the republicans in that state, but dewine will probably be boosted as blackwell's campaign rebounds and pushes itself into high gear.

4. Burns - burns last race was a tough one and closely fought. There is no doubt that any other gop candidate would easily win in Montana and that burns is damaged goods. However as recent polling is showing burns is pulling even and this one could be a nail biter. Remember, the strongest democrat in the state(now the governor) couldn't unseat burns when things looked bad then, his challenger is soso so what makes us think he can be ejected now? This one is up in the air to be honest, although i think if were going to loose any seat it's likely to be this one.

5. Chafee - if chaffee wins the primary this seat isn't that much of an issue since we all know chafee will run to the left of marx. hell, he was to the left of hillary clinton and russ feingold last year. If laffey wins this seat likely leans democrat, but don't count laffey out, he did win mayorship in an overwhelmingly democrat city, who knows what he could do at the state level.

Democrats on the other hand are on the defensive in new jersey, washington, michigan and maryland. All four are potential pickups despite what the media seems to be saying.

So where does this leave us? Potential -5 to +4. My guess though i think we're likely to pick up 1-2 seats. As for the house, well i have no frikking clue to be honest. I was planning on taking a look at the 'competitve districts' and analyzing their history in the form of a diary perhaps.

Save the planet, Kill yourself

My two cents are as follows. Burns + Santorum easy if they get our finacial support. Talent will pull ahead shortly and never look back. Dewine has an uphill battle 50-50 shot. New Jersey, MD, MI all have a great shot at a pickup. Don't wait donate today. These guys need to come out after labor day running & with deep pockets. In the end 57-58 Gop Senators. A net pickup of 2-3.

Burns should have gotten out of the way for Rehberg. Having to defend a state Bush won by 20 points with resources that could otherwise be spent elsewhere is not good.

If you want the party to lose, then quit making excuses for a victory being a bad thing, and just come out and admit you want Nancy Pelosi to be the Speaker of the house.

Confess you want Chairman Conyers to put his mock impeachment hearing to use, by replaying it in the real chamber.

Admit you want Pelosi and Reid to do to the Iraqis what another generation of Democratic leadership did to the South Vietnamese.

Throw your hands up and show that you're ready to quit fighting the War on Terror.

Open up the door and announce to Mexico that you want an amnesty for illegal aliens, with no security, no limitations, and no fuss.

Open up your wallet and toss your money into the black hole of big government, since we'll never keep taxes as low or lower.

Surrender your guns because President Bush will be held to his promise and sign Senator Feinstein's new assault weapons ban.

CONFESS!
--
If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.

While we may disagree often, one thing he is definitely not is a Kos Kid. I'll add a few more for your entertainment and voting pleasure if we surrender to the Dims in November.

Any judicial picks that GWB makes will be indefinitely postponed with a never ending filibuster as the GOP ponders why we didn't listen to Frist and vote for the nuclear option.

Senator Feingold will impeach Bush on the grounds of the "unconstitutionality of the NSA program."

Any vacancy on the Supreme Court will have to be filled by another Souter, as anyone else will merit a filibuster-abortion on demand continues as is, rendering an enourmous defeat for right to lifers who are one vote away from overturning the genocide that is Roe and Doe.

Iran will become a nuclear power and fuel more money into Venezuela, funnel money into Somalia where militant Islamic warlords already have control of that country-Al Qaeda takes roots and springs up in Africa.

As Michael Corleone said, it's not personal Sonny-it's stricly business. This is not a personal vendetta, this is our safety, our security, and our way of life. For those who are willing to stay home to send a message on Nov 2nd, be warned that on Nov 3rd, you may be tuning in to a message much worst than anything you would have voted for. Purge in the primaries and pummel in the generals. If you don't vote, don't complain later.

"When possible we are bringing terrorists to justice. And when necessary, we are bringing justice to the terrorists."-Secretary Rice

I live in Baltimore. I think that Michael Steele will win in MD. But not because Russell Simmons threw his endorsement at Steele.

In my opinion Bob Ehrlich will win re-election easily over the liberal mayor of Baltimore Martin O'Malley. O'Malley's Baltimore has a horrendous record and is falling apart at the seams. City Hall is a joke!

Nonetheless, I think that the Steele win is going to be right there with the Ehrlich win. Steele, the Lt. Gov., is out there talking to voters. He exudes common sense, something that is absent and sorely missed in MD's representation in D.C.! He and Bob Erhlich are very approachable and responsive politcians! If you call them or write to them you get a signed or voice response. I have, from both.

He has fully explained his Bush and "R next your name is a scarlet letter" comments. His explaination isnt BS, it is understandable and logical, oh, and in context. He has been on Laura Ingraham, plus all the local radio shows to make sure that people know the truth.

And then there are the pi** poor options; Ben Cardin, a liberal, is offering to cure cancer by 2015 if elected and Mfume has too much baggage.

If Cardin is the candidate his record in Congress will be his downfall and did I mention that if Mfume gets the nod, he has too much baggage!

If I can live in MD and be optimistic about our overall chances this November, it could be real! We will crush the Dems in November and the MSM will not know how to report it any other way than the truth!

Ah yes, it is true that 'he who laughs last laughs best'!

I like the cut of your jib sir! However, it is a bit pollyannish. Santorum might make it close, but he really can't win in PA. We are going to lose in RI, PA, and probably MT. While we will come close in the lib open seat Senate races, we won't win any of them except maybe Michigan.

The point though, is that we need to keep a MAJORITY in both Houses. For psychological reasons, and to allow the President to face off with Iran without worrying about Impeachment. Bottom line, donate as much as you can- work as hard as you can- get out and vote!! I am here in Maryland for Mike Steele..

United States Air Force
Cross Into the Blue

Why the hell are conservatives so worried about losing the upcoming election? This is a perfect opportunity for us to return to our roots as the obfuscating, negativistic, opportunistic, mean-spirited opposition that we excel at.

Look at the mess we have left the Democrats to deal with. We are in an unwinnable war that they will have to figure out how to end. Whatever they come up with, we will be able to attack them at will for "cutting and running." It is bound to be a disaster in the Middle East and no matter what horrible events develop we will be able to stand on the sidelines and blame them for all the problems. I can see it now; we will be able to claim the high road while they get all the blame for what happens when they finally do the only thing they can do, pull out and look like we lost the war.

Not only that, but they won't be able to deal with all the fiscal problems we have left them. Thanks to what we did, every new baby born in the United States will already be in debt to the tune of $50,000 or more to pay for the war and the other disasters we have left them. Ha ha. Watch them while they try to fix the Department of Homeland Security, Social Security, Medicare and all those issues that we hate to deal with anyway. There's no money left, kids! We made sure of that.

They will be forced to raise taxes and just think of the opportunities for us when that happens. I love it!

I think we have forgotten how fun it was to be in the minority . After all, we don't really want to run all those government agencies. Help poor victims of hurricanes? What fun is that? Take care of old people? Oh, please, gag me with a spoon. Draft all of them and send them to Iraq. It's much more fun to invade other countries and leave a total mess of the world and leave people hating America. Let the Liberals deal with that!

Remember what a blast it was to impeach Clinton? We'll never be able to top that blue dress and making him give a DNA sample. Oh man, what great memories.

And then there is the filibuster. Thank God we were never able to put that nuclear option into place. The filibuster still exists. We will be able to stop everything they try to do.

And as for the Supreme Court, the Liberals are stuck with our guys for decades. And if they try to put any of their own guys in, there is that filibuster again.

So think of the bright side of things, fellow Neo-Cons. Let the Dems win and see how much fun we will be able to have. It wouldn't be the same without Delay and Cunningham and Abramoff anyway. Those days are gone. But it sure was fun while it lasted.

To say "we still might win in 06" gives the perception that there is some doubt. I'd rather see us as confident going in. There are several reasons why we ought to be.

Never underestimate the power of incumbency. The little old ladies (read: values voters) that show up rain or shine and never seem to get asked by Zogby or Gallup because they hang up on "telemarketers" will show up again in November and vote GOP as they have since the 50s. They'll come out in force again and surprise the pollsters yet again.

Even though the polls say a number of our guys are behind, there's still more than a month until the general election. In today's news-in-an-instant culture, that's an eternity. The electorate can change its mind in a matter of minutes. Even an October Surprise could be premature. Because of the lightning-fast turnaround of news, elections have the potential of even turning in November.

Here in Illinois, we are watching our Dem Governor implode through a series of hiring scandals that will likely cost him the election. As recently as a month ago it looked like the race was his to lose.

Lastly, the media is giving the (IMHO) illusion that Dems have great momentum and will win back congress. That's giving them a false sense of security. The Dems could very well think it's in the bag and not show up at the polls. Whereas the little old ladies who made up the GOP core head to the polls rain or shine win or lose.

Honk if you sacked Brodie.

you're wrong. But, some of your poll data seems a little off. Like TN, where Ford is a longshot, but not as much as you make it seem. A head in the sand approach is never a good option.

are the illegals who will be voting in this election. If you look at the Washington state 2004 governor's election and the
King County election dept, you'll see that nothing has changed. Just a few more ballots in the bottom of the file
cabinet, changes the outcome.
Several days ago, there was a post saying you need a prescription filled out by a doctor to buy cough syrup in Oregon. Look up the Oregon state election site, and you'll see the requirements for a driver's license require a photo, but if you want to register to vote. Don't have a Social Security number? just send a utility bill or a pay stub. Protecting
cough syrup is more important than protecting the right to vote?
The demonstations by illegals over the past months have shown sign after sign-register to vote, don't worry bout papers. Why have illegals register to vote, unless you intend for them to vote? In state after state, where
photo id laws have passed the legislature, the Democrat governor has vetoed them, or the Democrat Party has taken them to court to stop enforcement.
I think there will be serious voter fraud in the upcoming elections, how many races will that effect?

photo ID or any other election laws, why call them elections.
They are really just polls.
I propose a test, eliminate photo ID requirement for cashing checks. See if the numbers of check fraud cases increases.

It has been well documented here and on other blogs that Bush's approval ratings have rebounded from the low 30s to the low 40s. Rasmussen has it between 42-43 for the past four days. Gallup has it at 42%. CNN has it at 42%. Should this trend continue, that is great news for GOP candidates in November.

I think it is a mistake to hook the legislative horses to the President's approval.

Newsweek - 36%
TIME - 38%
ARG -36%
NY Times/CBS - 36%
Gallup - 42%

The top four have been SINCE the Gallup poll, so it qualifies as an anomaly at this point. Still hovering in the ...I was going to say upper, but really MID 30s. Don't forget that in the 94 sweep Clinton's disapproval was NOWHERE near this low.

[It is a sad commentary upon the modern American Left that its power has been reduced to being able to force readers of right-wing weblogs to keep rolling the scrolldown wheel on their mouses. But, hey, talking truth to power beats working on a phone bank, right? They always want you to volunteer to call at personally inconvenient times, after all. - Moe Lane]

the Republican track record speaks for itself...

Iraq

1. Failing to build a real international coalition prior to the Iraq invasion, forcing the US to shoulder the full cost and consequences of the war.
2. Approving the demobilization of the Iraqi Army in May, 2003 – bypassing the Joint Chiefs of Staff and reversing an earlier position, the President left hundreds of thousands of armed Iraqis disgruntled and unemployed, contributing significantly to the massive security problems American troops have faced during occupation.
3. Not equipping troops in Iraq with adequate body armor or armored HUMVEES.
4. Ignoring the advice Gen. Eric Shinseki regarding the need for more troops in Iraq – now Bush is belatedly adding troops, having allowed the security situation to deteriorate in exactly the way Shinseki said it would if there were not enough troops.
5. Ignoring plans drawn up by the Army War College and other war-planning agencies, which predicted most of the worst security and infrastructure problems America faced in the early days of the Iraq occupation.
6. Making a case for war which ignored intelligence that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
7. Deriding "nation-building" during the 2000 debates, then engaging American troops in one of the most explicit instances of nation building in American history.
8. Predicting along with others in his administration that US troops would be greeted as liberators in Iraq.
9. Predicting Iraq would pay for its own reconstruction.
10. Wildly underestimating the cost of the war.
11. Trusting Ahmed Chalabi, who has dismissed faulty intelligence he provided the President as necessary for getting the Americans to topple Saddam.
12. Disbanding the Sunni Baathist managers responsible for Iraq's water, electricity, sewer system and all the other critical parts of that country's infrastructure.
13. Failing to give UN weapons inspectors enough time to certify if weapons existed in Iraq.
14. Including discredited intelligence concerning Nigerian Yellow Cake in his 2003 State of the Union.
15. Announcing that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, below a "Mission Accomplished" banner – more U.S. soldiers have died in combat since Bush's announcement than before it.
16. Awarding a multi-billion dollar contract to Halliburton in Iraq, which then repeatedly overcharged the government and served troops dirty food.
17. Refusing to cede any control of Post-invasion Iraq to the international community, meaning reconstruction has received limited aid from European allies or the U.N.
18. Failing to convince NATO allies why invading Iraq was important.
19. Having no real plan for the occupation of Iraq.
20. Limiting bidding on Iraq construction projects to "coalition partners," unnecessarily alienating important allies France, Germany and Russia.
21. Diverting $700 million into Iraq invasion planning without informing Congress.
22. Shutting down an Iraqi newspaper for "inciting violence" – the move, which led in short order to street fighting in Fallujah, incited more violence than the newspaper ever had.
23. Telling Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan about plans to go to war with Iraq before Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Counterterrorism

24. Allowing several members of the Bin Laden family to leave the country just days after 9/11, some of them without being questioned by the FBI.
25. Focusing on missile defense at the expense of counterterrorism prior to 9/11.
26. Thinking al Qaeda could not attack without state sponsors, and ignoring evidence of a growing threat unassociated with "rogue states" like Iraq or North Korea.
27. Threatening to veto the Homeland Security department – The President now concedes such a department "provides the ability for our agencies to coordinate better and to work together better than it was before."
28. Opposing the creation of the September 11th commission, which the President now expects "to contain important recommendations for preventing future attacks."
29. Denying documents to the 9/11 commission, only relenting after the commissioners threatened a subpoena.
30. Failing to pay more attention to an August 6, 2001 PDB entitled "Bin laden Determined to Attack in U.S."
31. Repeatedly ignoring warnings of terrorists planning to use aircraft before 9/11.
32. Appointing the ultra-secretive Henry Kissinger to head the 9/11 commission – Kissinger stepped down weeks later due to conflicts of interest.
33. Asking for testimony before the 9/11 commission be limited to one hour, a position from which the president later backtracked.
34. Not allowing national Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to testify before the 9/11 commission – Bush changed his mind as pressure mounted.
35. Cutting an FBI request for counterterrorism funds by two-thirds after 9/11.
36. Telling Americans there was a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
37. Failing to adequately secure the nation's nuclear weapons labs.
38. Not feeling a sense of urgency about terrorism or al Qaeda before 9/11.

Afghanistan

39. Reducing resources and troop levels in Afghanistan and out before it was fully secure.
40. Not providing security in Afghanistan outside of Kabul, leaving nearly 80% of the Afghan population unprotected in areas controlled by Feudal warlords and local militias.
41. Committing inadequate resources for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
42. Counting too heavily on locally trained troops to fill the void in Afghanistan once U.S. forces were relocated to Iraq.
43. Not committing US ground troops to the capture of Osama Bin Laden, when he was cornered in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in November, 2001.
44. Allowing opium production to resume on a massive scale after the ouster of the Taliban.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
45. Opposing an independent inquiry into the intelligence failures surrounding WMD – later, upon signing off on just such a commission, Bush claimed he was "determined to make sure that American intelligence is as accurate as possible for every challenge in the future."
46. Saying: "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories."
47. Trusting intelligence gathered by Vice President Cheney's and Secretary Rumsfeld's "Office of Special Plans."
48. Spending $6.5 billion on nuclear weapons this year to develop new nuclear weapons this year – 50% more in real dollars than the average during the cold war – while shortchanging the troops on body armor.

Foreign Policy

49. Ignoring the importance of the Middle East peace process, which has deteriorated with little oversight or strategy evident in the region.
50. Siding with China in February, 2004 against a democratic referenda proposed by Taiwan, a notable shift from an earlier pledge to stand with "oppressed peoples until the day of their freedom finally arrives."
51. Undermining the War on Terrorism by preemptively invading Iraq.
52. Failing to develop a specific plan for dealing with North Korea.
53. Abandoning the United States' traditional role as an evenhanded negotiator in the Middle East peace process.

Economic

54. Signing a report endorsing outsourcing with thousands of American workers having their jobs shipped overseas.
55. Instituting steel tariffs deemed illegal by the World Trade Organization – Bush repealed them 20-months later when the European Union pledged to impose retaliatory sanctions on up to $2.2 billion in exports from the United States.
56. Promoting economic policies that failed to create new jobs.
57. Promoting economic policies that failed to help small businesses
58. Pledging a "jobs and growth" package would create 1,836,000 new jobs by the end of 2003 and 5.5 million new jobs by 2004—so far the president has fallen 1,615,000 jobs short of the mark.
59. Running up a foreign deficit of "such record-breaking proportions that it threatens the financial stability of the global economy."
60. Issuing inaccurate budget forecasts accompanying proposals to reduce the deficit, omitting the continued costs of Iraq, Afghanistan and elements of Homeland Security.
61. Claiming his 2003 tax cut would give 23 million small business owners an average tax cut of $2,042 when "nearly four out of every five tax filers (79%) with small business income would receive less" than that amount.
62. Passing tax cuts for the wealthy while falsely claiming "people in the 10 percent bracket" were benefiting most."
63. Passing successive tax cuts largely responsible for turning a projected surplus of $5 trillion into a projected deficit of $4.3 trillion.
64. Moving to strip millions of overtime pay.
65. Not enforcing corporate tax laws.
66. Backing down from a plan to make CEOs more accountable when "the corporate crowd" protested.
67. Not lobbying oil cartels to change their mind about cutting oil production.
68. Passing tax cuts weighted heavily to help the wealthy.
69. Moving to allow greater media consolidation.
70. Nominating a notorious proponent of outsourcing, Anthony F. Raimondo, to be the new manufacturing Czar—Raimondo withdrew his name days later amidst a flurry of harsh criticism.
71. Ignoring calls to extend unemployment benefits with long-term unemployment reaching a twenty-year high
72. Threatening to veto pension legislation that would give companies much needed temporary relief.

Education

73. Under-funding No Child Left Behind
74. Breaking his campaign pledge to increase the size of Pell grants.
75. Signing off on an FY 2005 budget proposing the smallest increase in education funding in nine years.
76. Under-funding the Title I Program, specifically targeted for disadvantaged kids, by $7.2 billion.
77. Freezing Teacher Quality State Grants, cutting off training opportunities for about 30,000 teachers, and leaving 92,000 less
teachers trained than the president called for in his own No Child Left Behind bill.
78. Freezing funding for English language training programs.
79. Freezing funding for after school programs, potentially eliminating 50,000 children from after-school programs.

Health

80. Not leveling with Americans about the cost of Medicare – the president told Congress his new Medicare bill would cost $400 billion over ten years despite conclusions by his own analysts the bill would cost upwards of $500 billion over that period.
81. Silencing Medicare actuary Richard Foster when his estimates for the Administration's Medicare bill were too high.
82. Letting business associate David Halbert, who owns a company which stands to make millions from new discount drug cards, craft key elements of the new Medicare bill.
83. Underfunding health care for troops and veterans.
84. Allowing loopholes to persist in Mad-Cow regulations.
85. Relaxing food labeling restrictions on health claims.
86. Falsely claiming the restrictions on stem cell research would not hamper medical progress.
87. Reducing action against improper drug advertising by 80 percent.

Environment

88. Abandoning the Kyoto Treaty without offering an alternative for reducing greenhouse effect.
89. Counting on a voluntary program to reduce emissions of harmful gasses—so far only a tiny fraction of American companies have signed up.
90. Gutting clean air standards for aging power plants.
91. Weakening energy efficiency standards.
92. Relaxing dumping standards for mountaintop mining, and opening the Florida Everglades and Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest to mining.
93. Lifting protection for more than 200 million acres of public land.
94. Limiting public challenges to logging projects and increased logging in protected areas, including Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
95. Weakening environmental standards for snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles while pushing for exemptions for air pollution proposals for five categories of industrial facilities.
96. Opposing legislation that would require greater fuel efficiency for passenger cars.
97. Reducing inspections, penalties for violations, and prosecution of environmental crimes.
98. Misleading the public about the Washington mad cow case and the likely effectiveness of USDA's weak testing program.
99. Withdrawing public information on chemical plant dangers, previously used to hold facilities accountable for safety improvements.

Other

100. Cutting grants to state and local governments in FY 2005, forcing states to make massive cuts in job training, education, housing and environment.

partial timeline of transition from Clinton to Bush:

President Clinton urged Congress Tuesday to act swiftly in developing anti-terrorism legislation before its August recess.
"We need to keep this country together right now. We need to focus on this terrorism issue," Clinton said during a White House news conference.
But while the president pushed for quick legislation, Republican lawmakers hardened their stance against some of the proposed anti-terrorism measures.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, doubted that the Senate would rush to action before they recess this weekend. The Senate needs to study all the options, he said, and trying to get it done in the next three days would be tough.
Clinton said he knew there was Republican opposition to his proposal on explosive taggants, but it should not be allowed to block the provisions on which both parties agree.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emerged from the meeting and said, "These are very controversial provisions that the White House wants. Some they're not going to get."
...He also said he had some problems with the president's proposals to expand wiretapping.

... Sen. Don Nickles, R-Oklahoma, while praising the bill, said the country remains "very open" to terrorism. "Will it stop any acts of terrorism, domestic and international? No," he said, adding, "We don't want a police state." Some lawmakers took a more prudent view of the bill. "The balance between public safety and order and individual rights is always a difficult dilemma in a free society," said Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-New York.

Jan 2001. After the elections US Intelligence agencies are told to "back off" investigating the Bin Ladens and the Saudi Royals. ( BBC, 11/06/01)

Spring 2001. US Government documents legitimize military force in the pursuit
of oil. One advocates Presidential subterfuge and hiding the reasons for warfare "As a necessity for mobilizing public support." ( Sydney Morning Herald, 12/26/02)
Another advocates war with Iraq to control it's oil. ( Sydney Morning Herald, 10/5/02)

May 2001. For the THIRD time the US Security chiefs reject Sudan's offer of a thick file on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. A senior CIA source calls it "The worst single intelligence failure in the business." ( Guardian, 9/3/01)

June 2001 German intelligence warns the CIA that middle eastern terrorists are training for hijackings and targeting American interests. During that summer Russian President Putin ALSO alerts the US of suicide pilots training for attacks on US targets. ( Fox News, 5/17/02)

July 4-14 Bin Laden may have received kidney treatment at an AMERICAN hospital in Dubai. During his stay Bin Laden is alleged to have been visited by two CIA agents. ( UPI, 11/01/01, London Times, 11/01/01 AND Guardian, 11/01/01)

July 26, 2001 Attorney General Ashcroft stops flying on commercials aircraft due to threat assessment. ( CBS, 7/26/01) In May 2002, Ashcroft walks out of his office rather than answer questions about it. ( AP, 5/16/02)

Aug, 8-23. Israeli Mossad agents go to Washington and warn the FBI AND CIA that up to 200 terrorists have slipped into this country and are planning a major assault here. (Los Angeles Times, 9/20/01) The Mossad gives the CIA a list of terrorists. FOUR of the names are 9/11 hijackers including their leader, Mohammed Atta. ( BBC 10/02/02)

Aug 27, 2001 An FBI supervisor says he is trying to keep a hijacker from "Flying a plane into the WTC." ( Senate report hill #2 10/17/02)
Headquarters chastises him for notifying the CIA. ( Time 5/21/02)

Sept 10, 2001 "Newsweek has learned that a group of top Pentagon officials SUDDENLY canceled travel plans for the NEXT morning, apparently because of "security concerns". ( Newsweek, 9/24/2001, fifth to last paragraph)

Sept 11, 2001 Data recovery experts extract data from 32 damaged WTC computer drives. The data reveals a SURGE in financial transactions shortly before the attacks. Illegal transfers of over 100 MILLION may have been made through some WTC computer systems immediately before and during the disaster. ( Reuters 12/18/01)

Sept 11, 2001 Described as a bizarre coincidence, a US intelligence agency was planning an exercise on Sept 11 at 9 AM which an aircraft would crash into one of it's buildings in Washington DC (AP, 8/22/02)

Sept 11, 2001 Warren Buffet, the second richest man on earth ( BBC, 6/22/01) schedules an event at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. A group of business leaders attend, including at least ONE who would otherwise have died in the WTC. (SF Business times, 2/1/02)
President bush flies to the SAME base later that day. ( CNN, 9/12/01)

Sept 11, 2001 Hours after the attacks, a "shadow government" is formed. Key Congressional leaders say they didn't know this government-in-waiting had been established. ( CBS 3/2/02, Washington Post, 3/2/02)

Sept 13-19 Bin Ladens family is taken under FBI supervision to a secret assembly
point. They leave the country in a private plane when airports open three days later. ( New York Times, 9/30/01)

Sept 15-16 Several of the 9/11 hijackers, including Mohammed Atta, may have had training at secure MILITARY installations (Newsweek, 9/15/01, Washington Post, 9/16/01 AND New York Times 9/15/01)

DEC 2001-Feb, 2002 The US engineers the rise to power of two former UNOCAL OIL employees, Hamid Karzai, The interim President of Afghanistan, and Zalmay Khalizad, US envoy. The big American bases created in the Afghan war are completely identical to the route of the projected pipeline. ( Chicago tribune, 3/18/02)

March 13, 2002 President bush on Bin Laden, " I am truly not concerned about him." ( White House, 3/13/02)
Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Myers says, " The goals has NEVER been to get Bin Laden". ( DOD/CNN 4/6/02)

May 17, 2002, Dan Rather says that he and other journalists haven't been properly investigating since 9/11. He graphically describes the pressures to conform that built up after the attacks. ( Guardian, 5/17/02)

May 23, 2002 President bush says he is opposed to establishing an independent commission to probe 9/11. ( CBS, 5/23/02)

May 30, 2002, FBI Agent Wright formally accuses the FBI of deliberately curtailing investigations that might have prevented 9/11. He is threatened with retribution if he talks to Congress about this. ( Fox News, 5/30/02)

Oct 5, 2002 Congressional investigators say that the FBI attempted to block their 9/11 inquiry. The Justice Dept. also fought Congressional requests, while the CIA has been antagonistic. ( New York Times 10/5/02)

Oct 27, 2002 Defense chief donald rumsfeld's board recommends the creation of a super-intelligence body that would launch secret operations to "stimulate reactions" among the terrorists and states owning weapons of mass destruction. It would prod terrorists into action to force "quick-response" attacks by the US. ( LA Times, 10/27/02)

Republican pedophiles

Evil members of the Republican Party and supporters thereof who have abused children despite their high-and-mighty crusades for the return to moral values. The following is a partial list; due to the neocon obsession with NAMBLA, names with asterisks next to them are suitable for membership in that organization through their repulsive actions.

And feel free to research these people independently.

Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.

Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor.

Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

*Republican activist Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

*Republican lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.

Republican activist Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child.

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

Republican activist and Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell admitted to an incestuous relationship with his step daughter.

Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger allegedly had sex with a 16 year old girl when he was 28.

*Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

Republican activist Marty Glickman (a.k.a. "Republican Marty"), was taken into custody by Florida police on four counts of unlawful sexual activity with an underage girl and one count of delivering the drug LSD.

*Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.

*Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.

Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.

Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.

*Republican politician Andrew Buhr was charged with two counts of first degree sodomy with a 13-year old boy.

Republican politician Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).

Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was charged with sexual misconduct involving a 15-year old girl.

*Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a male child.

Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.

Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two daughters.

Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.

*Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.

Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.

Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000.

Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography was found in his possession.

*Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet.

Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a "good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Republican businessman Jon Grunseth withdrew his candidacy for Minnesota governor after allegations surfaced that he went swimming in the nude with four underage girls, including his daughter.

Republican director of the "Young Republican Federation" Nicholas Elizondo molested his 6-year old daughter and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Republican benefactor of conservative Christian groups, Richard A. Dasen Sr., was charged with rape for allegedly paying a 15-year old girl for sex. Dasen, 62, who is married with grown children and several grandchildren, has allegedly told police that over the past decade he paid more than $1 million to have sex with a large number of young women.

When republicans do the things you cite they are asked to leave. If they don't leave they are shown the door.

For dems there is a long list but the two most recent william jefferson and cynthia mckinney come to mind off the bat.