“If there was a magic wand to wave, I’d be waving it, of course,” Mr. Bush said, referring specifically to gasoline prices, which have climbed $1.40 a gallon in 18 months. “But there is no magic wand to wave right now. It took us a while to get to this fix.”
Instead of embracing new proposals, Mr. Bush mainly dusted off old ones. He called on Congress to address the cost of energy by opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for petroleum and expanding nuclear power, two plans that have long been on the legislative shelf.
Mr. Bush also said, “Those who worry about recession, slowdown, whatever you want to call it” ought to make his tax cuts permanent…
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"Bush Urges Congress to Act": President Bush has spent seven years invalidating Congress with his endless signing statements and stubborn oppositionalism, even when his own party was in control. He has reduced Congress to ‘advisory’ rather than legislative, and he’s not one to be advised. Bush’s only comments about Congress are to pass what he wants passed. And, by the way, he had a Republican Congress, both Houses, for six of the last seven years. Our current economic problems have only one relationship to Congress. They’ve gone along with his insanity way too often.
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"It took us a while to get to this fix": Yeah! About the seven years known as the Bush Administration].
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"…opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for petroleum and expanding nuclear power": There’s no one with any expertise of any kind that suggests that "more" petroleum is what the world needs, or this country needs. From the first weeks of the Bush Administration, starting with Cheney’s cryptic "Energy Conference," all they’ve done is pander to oil companies and build our foreign policy around getting other people’s oil. There have been no real initiatives at solving the energy problem. Only obstructionism in the service of corporate interests.
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"…make his tax cuts permanent": This is the most psychotic suggestion of all. He’s plummeting us into debt overseas, watching the dollar deflate, and cutting taxes for the rich. Making his tax cuts permanent is hardly a reasonable agenda, particularly with his delusional "stimulous package." Give away money we don’t have to get people shopping! Brilliant!
This is not a speech by a real President. This is a "filler" – something to say to keep from doing anything about the problem before him. He’s channeling Herbert Hoover, another ineffective non-President from times gone by. Hoover said. "Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves." He wasn’t right about that. In fact, the opposite turned out to be true. Our woes today are the woes of a country allowed to spend seven years corrupted in government and unregulated in business. It was a time to position ourselves carefully in the new world-wide economy instead of pretending to be policemen for the world and alienating everyone on the planet. No one has minded the helm. They’ve been too busy lusting after foreign conquest and personal power. His comments today were blaming, dismissive, insulting, and immature. We’d be better off if he’d spend the next six months clearing brush at his ranch, coming back after the election to clean out his desk…
As crude as it may sound the first thing I thought when I first read this headline earlier was, “So, Bush has taken a dump and now wants Congress to wipe his bum.” This man has crapped on our country and is now leaving up the mess for someone else. He needs to be tried and convicted of treason. Nothing less. Throw Cheney into that trial, too. *harumph*
Glenn Greenwald of Salon had a really good piece yesterday,about how the media should spend all their time writing and talking about Rev. Wright because we don’t have any other problems in this country and how it’s the right thing to do. Of course he is trying to point out that there are many very serious problems and that the hype about the Wright and Obama is wasting precious time that could be spent pointing out the problems and having the candidates offering real solutions.