Regardless of who-likes-what, GWB is going to win re-election by a landslide. Just watch…
Andersons
I agree that Democrats do not always work in a bi-partisan fashion, but much more often you would previously see Democrats vote on issues whereas Republicans vote along party lines.
Democrats do vote along party lines (more often now) because the GOP are pushing through legislation that will make radical changes in America. Congress is trying to undo the New Deal legislation that created a social safety net and protects the most vulnerable and weakest citizens.The President and his administration are attempting to undo the separation between Church and State that our country was founded on. Special interests such as pharmaceutical and energy companies are directly involved in writing legislation… Instead of these laws being written by GOP and Dem legislators, the GOP is writing this legislation with lobbyists from big business. That is not how our democracy is supposed to work.
Instead of trying to be a “uniter and not a divider” as he promised, Bush (and the Republican-dominated congress) has used this advantage to ramrod through radical right-wing legislation that makes fundamental changes to our country.
If you noticed during the speech, the Democrats often would not stand up and applaud the President while he recounted his last year “accomplishments” such as the Patriot Act. In fact Congress is at WAR with itself, with Republican-dominated Senate and House beating the crap out of the Democrats, and refusing to work in a bipartisan way or allow Democrats to contribute to legislation in a meaningful way.
I’m sure if you are a Republican then I am sure it is fun to see “your team win” but in truth there are no longer any checks and balances in our government, and the Republicans are making big changes to our domestic and foreign agendas, and pushing through an extremist right wing agenda. Do you want a one-party government? That’s pretty much what we have right now, in Congress and the White House.
If you actually think that is good for America, I could not disagree more. I have NEVER been so worried about the state of our country.
Recidivism is when ex-convicts go back to a life of crime after getting out of prison, rather than going straight. It’s hard for these people to get hired with a criminal record. Hopefully this program can help these people re-enter society and become productive citizens. This is good for our society, and more than that it is the right thing to do.
The question is “How are we going to pay for this program?” I assume that this program will be under-funded and not accomplish what it is supposed to, like other programs we currently have (No Child Left Behind for example). Or it will stay on the shelf, like Bush’s promise to fund AIDS programs in Africa. That iniative never got off the ground.
But you wanted me to say something good about his speech, that program is one thing he said that I applauded.