GOP's current position mirrors Democrats' spot in 1993

[Guest guest]

[ I cant stop laughing when I read this kind of

corporate media babble. You gotta hand it to the

corporate media though, they certainly work vigilantly

at keeping the sheep as brain washed as possible. When

are the sheeple in this country going to wake up and

realize we don't have two different political parties

anymore. We've become a complete plutocracy. Hell,

there's not even a U.S. anymore. We're just a bunch of

corporate zombies, and we're to ignorant to even

realize it. Talk about mass delusion! Rick.]

 

 

 

GOP's current position mirrors Democrats' spot in 1993

 

Source >

http://news./s/krwashbureau/20050519/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_congress_polit\

ics_wa

 

By Steven Thomma, Knight Ridder Newspapers Thu May 19,

5:26 PM ET

 

WASHINGTON - Republicans are starting to find

themselves in the same kind of political environment

that Democrats faced in the summer of 1993 - the year

before the Democrats lost control of both houses of

Congress for the first time in 40 years.

 

 

Reverse the party labels and the circumstances are

strikingly similar.

 

Now, as then with the other party, Republicans' ethics

are under assault. Their opposition denounces their

vicelike control as " arrogant. " Their ambitious agenda

risks overreach and public backlash. Their popularity

is sinking. A unified opposition party is holding off

until closer to the next election before offering its

own agenda - thus withholding any good target for

counterattack.

 

There's one major difference. Both parties have

redrawn House of Representatives district boundaries

to make their members safer. That makes it much more

difficult than in 1994 to sweep the ruling party out

of power in a single wave of voter anger. Also,

Republicans have more than a year to improve their

standing, plenty of time in politics.

 

Still, Republicans have cause for concern, and

Democrats for optimism.

 

" The mood we have now is not the mood we had then, but

it is developing in that direction, " said Stuart

Rothenberg, an independent political analyst and the

publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report.

" Possible gridlock on Capitol Hill. Questions about

ethics or abuse of power. Fatigue about incumbent

president. All that could lead to an anti-politics,

anti-Washington mood not favorable to the incumbent

party. "

 

Many Americans already are in a down-on-Washington

mood. Three polls show support for Congress dropping,

with some measures rivaling lows of 1993-94.

 

An NBC-Wall Street Journal survey last week showed 33

percent public approval of how Congress is doing its

job, while 51 percent disapproved. That was near the

32 percent approval-56 percent disapproval rating of

May 1994, six months before Democrats lost control of

Congress.

 

Perhaps more telling is the weak support that

Americans give their own members of Congress. A recent

survey by the Pew Research Center found that only 49

percent of Americans approved of their own

representatives, while 23 percent disapproved. That's

comparable with 1993.

 

" A 49 percent approval rating is not exactly a

stunning endorsement for members of Congress, who

typically have extraordinarily high re-election

rates, " said Andy Kohut, the director of the

nonpartisan Pew center.

 

Neither party is scoring well with the public, but

Republicans fare worse, largely because they're in

charge. What's behind this? Violence in

Iraq, high gas prices, economic anxiety.

President Bush's approval ratings also are near

all-time lows, but Republicans in Congress have extra

burdens.

 

First is the ethics cloud hanging over House Majority

Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. He's accused of taking

foreign trips financed by lobbyists or foreign

interests, and last year he was rebuked three times

for other ethics violations.

 

House Democrats are using DeLay's troubles to bludgeon

his party, which is ironic given his nickname: the

Hammer. Democrats are raising money for their " Hammer

the Hammer Fund, " $82,000 so far. They charge that

DeLay's actions aren't isolated, but rather

illustrative of a corrupt party. They're trying hard

to find ethically clean candidates to challenge

Republican incumbents.

 

While DeLay's everyone-does-it defense has led to

revelations that other members, including Democrats,

have taken lobbyist-financed trips, even that worries

some Republicans, who fear it could bring the entire

House under a cloud, much as the 1991 House bank

scandal tarred members for years.

 

Also, Republicans are sharply limiting the Democrats'

role in decision-making. Last week they began moving

to strip Senate Democrats of their ability to block

judicial nominees. Earlier, they excluded Democrats

from House-Senate negotiations on an energy bill and

all but two Democrats from bargaining over a major

Medicare overhaul. Such sessions traditionally have

been bipartisan.

 

" Abuse of power, " said a group of Democrats protesting

outside the Senate last week. " Put an end to DeLay's

House of Scandal, " said a House Democratic Web site.

 

Compare those slogans with Republican vows in 1994 " to

restore accountability to Congress " and " end its cycle

of scandal and disgrace. "

 

Today's Republican agenda also adds risks.

 

Bush's proposal to overhaul

Social Security has cost his party and him support,

much as

President Clinton's plan to overhaul health care did

in 1993-94. The Republican attempt to intercede in the

case of

Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman whose

husband wanted to remove her life support, proved

popular with the party's base but prompted a broader

backlash, much as Democratic efforts to let gays serve

openly in the military did in 1993.

 

Finally, Democrats refuse to lay out an alternative

agenda until they get closer to the 2006 elections.

Republicans in 1994 didn't unveil their " Contract With

America " until September, late enough to avoid months

of counterattacks from Democrats but early enough to

capture voters' attention.

 

" We want them to focus on the Republicans now, " said

Mike Erlandson, a congressional aide and the chairman

of Minnesota's Democratic Party.

 

DeLay said Republicans had little to worry about.

 

" The American people have no idea what we're passing.

And we have plenty of time to show them what we're

passing, " he said. " Polls mean nothing. "

 

He added that the Democrats' strategy will fail: " They

have no agenda, they have no ideas, they have no

leadership. If that's how they think they're going to

take back the majority, they're going to be sadly

disappointed the day after the election in 2006. "

 

For more on the Pew poll, go to www.people-press.org.

 

For the Republican perspective, go to

www.majorityleader.gov or www.nrcc.org.

 

For the Democratic perspective, www.dccc.org.

 

 

 

 

 

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