Democrats Preparing for Big Fight with Bush
by James Buchanan
The Democrats have announced that they will spend their first week in Congress passing several bills which poll well among Americans. One recent news article notes the “Democrats’ ‘first 100 legislative hours’ agenda includes measures to bolster national security, increase the minimum wage, cut the interest rate on student loans, reduce the price of prescription drugs, overturn Bush’s restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and end some subsidies to big oil companies.” Surprisingly the Democrats have proposed a “Pay (as you) go” bill which will require Congress to either raise taxes or cut spending after each new bill is passed. Perhaps the Democrats hope to build up some mainstream support for themselves after being out of power for twelve years.
The truly important issues facing the Democrats are the Iraq War and restoring the Bill of Rights. George Bush has started off his relationship with the new Congress much like an old chimp reacting to invading chimpanzees. Bush has decided to “fling his poop” at the newcomers –figuratively in the form of a “Troop Surge” trying to reassert his dominance. The invading chimps however are bigger and stronger. A vast majority of Americans know that the Democrats were elected to bring the troops home from Iraq. The same majority knows that Iraq is a hopeless quagmire. Bush’s situation is hopeless and digging in on the Iraq War –effectively “dissing” the Democrats and the anti-war movement is a great way for Bush to alienate and insult the new Congress, which will be investigating him for the next two years.
In just the last week, Democrat leaders have openly challenged Bush’s troop surge as the wrong way to go. Nancy Pelosi has hinted that Congress would not make money available to support the troop surge. If Bush vetoes several of the populist moderate bills put up by the Democrats in their “hundred hours” campaign and if he puts up a bitter fight over the troop surge, that kind of behavior may convince less radical Democrats that the best policy is to begin the criminal investigations and to begin them immediately.
And there will be investigations!! The Democrats are not going to let Dick Cheney and Halliburton get away with hundreds of billions in no-bid contracts. To highlight this point, George Bush has fired his sycophantic lap dog, Harriet Miers, and replaced her with a high power Washington attorney now that he is facing the most serious legal challenge of his presidency. No longer can Republican Congressmen stifle investigations and sit on evidence. The Democrats have a majority in the House and Senate and they can now investigate anything and everything.
Bush has been growing more arrogant with each year of his presidency. He thinks his Iraq War can go on forever in the vain hope that it will some day “succeed.” Bush is willing to sacrifice the lives of another three thousand more soldiers in a long shot gamble to redeem his legacy. If Bush tries to brow beat and intimidate the Democrats, the same way he treated his fellow Republicans, he will find the investigations of his administration growing in number every week and Bush will be testifying before Congress on a daily basis. The sharks are circling Bush’s rubber life raft. And the raft is springing a new hole every minute. Now that the Democrats control Congress, the big question isn’t “Will Bush be forced to resign?” The big question is “When will Bush be forced to resign?”