Posts Tagged ‘George W Bush’
October 24th, 2011 by John Feehery
Politicians in Washington rushed Nevada into Statehood in 1864 to assure Abraham Lincoln a comfortable margin in his bid for reelection smack dab in the middle of the Civil War, and ever since then, the Silver State has played a unique role in American political history.
Nevada is mostly desert, so it has always been a bit creative in how it has looked at its growth potential. In the early 1900’s, it went the libertarian route, allowing prostitution and gambling, as way to draw more settlers from California. It worked, and Nevadans found a formula that has kept it growing for most of its relatively short history. That is, up until the Obama years.
It was Bugsy Siegel who first thought of building a strip in Las Vegas and the mobsters that followed him gave the city its well-deserved moniker of “Sin City.” An ad campaign that ran a few years ago – “What Goes In Vegas, Stays in Vegas” – helped cement that reputation.
Las Vegas is not necessarily family-friendly. You drive into the city and you see ads on the billboards that would make you blush if you were going with your inquisitive five-year old, for example. In fact, it has one of the highest crime rates in the country, although most of that is attributed to boorish behavior by out of town visitors. Read more...
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bugsy Siegel, Civil War, George W Bush, Las Vegas, Mitt Romney, Nevada, Silver State, Sin City
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Gambling, Government, History, Politics, Religion, Theory, bad news, election | 2 Comments »
October 4th, 2011 by John Feehery
Originally posted on THE HILL – October 3, 2011
It might be too early to start analyzing what went wrong with the Obama administration in its first three years, but I am going to do it anyway.
Here are seven turning points that led to the president’s decline and fall, seven places where Obama or his Democratic allies made critical errors that forever altered the course of his presidency. He hasn’t done everything wrong, but he has made enough mistakes to make his reelection extraordinarily difficult.
1. Failed to veto the initial stimulus package: Imagine for a moment if Obama had vetoed that initial stimulus package. Imagine if he insisted that Democratic leaders take out all the pork and cleanse the bill of unworthy projects. Imagine if he had insisted that congressional Democrats work with Republicans to include their ideas, because we are all in this together. He would have immediately branded himself as a different kind of president, as someone above the fray, as a leader who cares first about the country, not the Democratic Party. And if he had done that, he would have had the Republicans hopelessly divided. Of course, he didn’t take that step, congressional Democrats were able to walk all over him and Republicans stiffened up their resolve and presented a united front against the president and his plans. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Bush’s tax cuts, David Plouffe, Democrats, dollar, election, George W Bush, Government, healthcare, House Republicans, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Administration, Obamacare, olympics, Politics, Republicans, spending, White House
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, Politics, Presidential election, election, health care, medicare, national security, spending | 1 Comment »
September 27th, 2011 by John Feehery
Craig Fugate
In an Administration full of disasters, one appointment stands out…in a good way.
When my wife worked for the State of Florida office, she told me about this guy who headed up the Florida’s disaster response unit. She told me he was awesome, that he knew what he was doing and that he was a really great guy.
I’ve never met Craig Fugate, but he is Obama’s best staff pick by far.
I was thinking about disaster response this week because Congress was flirting with political disaster – as it often does – by not coming to an agreement to fully fund FEMA.
Eventually FEMA came to the rescue by divulging that it had some extra money in the bank, and the crisis over a government shut-down was averted.
Fugate knows a thing or two about crises.
When he was the head of Florida’s version of FEMA, his state got regularly pounded by huge hurricanes and tornadoes. He got good at helping people recover and organizing quick responses. And he developed a pragmatic philosophy. Help first and help quickly, worry about the technicalities later. Read more...
Tags: Charlie Crist, Craig Fugate, FEMA, George W Bush, Hurricane Katrina, Jeb Bush, national disaster, Politics, President Obama
Posted in Government, History, Politics, election, national security, spending, tragedy | No Comments »
September 21st, 2011 by John Feehery
Presenting caption contest week three. The winning caption will be announced next Wednesday and its author awarded their very own Feehery Theory mug.
Week two was competitive. Can’t wait to see what gets posted this week.
Caption this photo!
Post your captions as comments below to be entered to win.
Tags: Barack Obama, Caption Contest, George W Bush, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama
Posted in Contests | 8 Comments »
August 31st, 2011 by John Feehery
Hurricane Irene blew in to Washington over the weekend and the biggest casualty was the Martin Luther King Memorial ceremony.
It turns out that the weather was pretty nice on Sunday afternoon, and the event could have still occurred, but it is hard to predict the weather.
It’s also hard to predict the future.
Are we as a country moving forward on the whole concept of racial harmony or are we moving backward?
Congressman Andre Carson said today that certain members of the Tea Party want to see black lawmakers “hanging on a tree.”
I wonder if Alan West and Tim Scott, two of the most influential Tea Party members of Congress (who coincidentally happen to be black), want to hang their fellow Congressional Black Caucus members up a tree.
I doubt it.
Carson believes that the Tea Party is to blame for the fact that unemployment is so high in the black community.
I find that hard to believe.
I guess it is far easier to blame a bunch of white conservatives than it is to blame the nation’s first black President.
The Tea Party hasn’t really had much of an impact on the President’s policies, not yet anyway. Read more...
Tags: affirmative action, African-Americans, Al Sharpton, Alan West, America, Barack Obama, Congress, Congressman Andre Carson, Conservatives, Democrats, Economy, election, first black President, George W Bush, GOP, hurricane Irene, Martin Luther King Memorial ceremony, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, Msnbc, Obama, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Politics, racism, raising taxes, Republicans, spending, taxes, Tea Party, Tim Scott, Washington
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, History, Media, Politics, Presidential election, Religion, Theory, bad news, election, poverty, spending, taxes, terrorism | No Comments »
August 11th, 2011 by John Feehery
So why are so many political reporters traipsing to Iowa this August?
Well, it must be the Ames Straw poll, a tradition like no other.
The Iowa Republican party plays host to this political beauty contest that has little actual bearing on the actual race for the White House.
Since the straw poll was first started in 1979, it has picked exactly one candidate who went on to become President, George W. Bush.
In fact, since 1980, the Iowa caucus system itself has picked exactly one candidate who went on to become President.
If that is the case, then why should we care what Iowans decide at the Ames Straw poll?
Who cares if Michele Bachmann wins? Who cares if Ron Paul comes in second?
Well, to be candid, we shouldn’t care.
Unless, of course, you are Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty probably needs to do pretty well if we wants to raise enough money to stay in.
But Pawlenty has bigger problems than Ames, Iowa.
Right now, he doesn’t look like he will be able to compete long-term even if he was able to convincingly sweep the straw poll. Read more...
Tags: America, Democrats, Economy, election, George W Bush, GOP, Government, House Republicans, Iowa caucus, Iowa Republican party, Michele Bachmann, Politics, President, Presidential election, Republicans, Ron Paul, The Ames Straw Poll, Tim Pawlenty, Washington, White House
Posted in GOP, Government, History, Media, Politics, Presidential election, Promises, Theory, election | No Comments »
August 8th, 2011 by John Feehery
Democratic spinmeisters have concocted a nice little phrase to describe the actions of the Standard and Poor’s Ratings Agency, which was used to little effect over the weekend: The Tea Party Downgrade.
Nice try. That is kind of like blaming the fire department for not putting out the fire fast enough.
The S&P believes that we spend too much as a nation and that we don’t have the political will to stop spending. The Tea Party was formed primarily to send a message to Washington that America needs to stop spending money we don’t have.
The Tea Party won’t get the blame for the debt rating downgrade. President Obama will get the blame and it will hurt him with the American people in the next election.
This 30-second ad takes less than 30 seconds to create. A picture of the President hanging out with his Democratic colleagues fades in and fades out. A screen shot fades in: “The first President to ever lose America’s AAA credit rating. Had enough?”
The President’s men know this is a bad hit. That is why Tim Geithner is attacking the S&P so harshly. That is why the spinners are trying to pin the blame on conservative Republicans. But it won’t work. Read more...
Tags: AAA rating, America, American people, Barack Obama, Bush administration, Congress, Congressional leaders, Conservatives, debt limit, Democrats, election, FDR, George Bush, George W Bush, GOP, health care law, impson-Bowles deficit commission, JFK, Media, medicare, Politics, President Obama, Presidential election, recession, reform, Republicans, Senate, spending, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Agency, tax increases, taxes, Tea Party, Tim Geithner
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, History, Laws, Media, Politics, Presidential election, Theory, bad news, election, health care, medicare, national security, spending, taxes, war | No Comments »
July 19th, 2011 by John Feehery
There are two kinds of politicians.
Fixers come into office to fix things. They seek to fix problems for their constituents, fix the legislative process and fix government.
Breakers come into office to break things. They seek to take down the political order, break up the status quo and destroy icons.
Fixers occupy the political middle on both the left and the right. They like to work within the system, they don’t demonize their opponents; they tend to be workhorses who find the media a necessary, but tedious evil.
Breakers occupy the political fringes on both the left and the right. They hate the current system. They hate their opponents. They tend to be show horses who use the media to carry their message.
Breakers can become fixers, but fixers rarely become breakers.
Newt Gingrich was a breaker. Denny Hastert was a fixer.
John Boehner is a fixer. Nancy Pelosi was a breaker.
Both Bush’s were fixers, as was Bill Clinton. Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama started as breakers. Franklin Roosevelt campaigned as a fixer, became a breaker when he took the White House (his Hundred Days was a prime example of how the breaker operates) but became a fixer during the Second World War. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, budget amendment, Democrats, Denny Hastert, Economy, election, Franklin Roosevelt, George W Bush, George Washington, GOP, Government, Haley Barbour, Hermann Cain, John Boehner, Jon Huntsman, Media, Michele Bachmann, Mitch Daniels, Mitt Romney, Nancy Pelosi, Napoleon, Newt Gingrich, Patrick Henry, politicians, President Bush, Republican Conference, Republicans, Robespierre, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Second World War, Tea Party Caucus, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Tim Pawlenty, White House
Posted in Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, History, Laws, Liberal Media, Media, Politics, Presidential election, Promises, Theory, election, spending, taxes | 1 Comment »
June 27th, 2011 by John Feehery
Ben Franklin was the one who first said that the only inevitable things in life were death and taxes.
These days, the same could probably be said for debt and taxes, but that doesn’t mean that the debt limit should include tax provisions. Here are seven reasons why:
Raising taxes during a slowing economy is bad policy: The economy is in danger of backsliding into a recession. There are more signs of a double-dip than there are in a Baskin-Robbins. Democrats seem intent on raising taxes on rich people, but right now, that could take money out of the private marketplace, inhibit investment and push our economy off the cliff.
The Republicans won’t, because the Democrats didn’t: Six months ago, with overwhelming majorities in the House and the Senate, the Obama administration decided that the Bush tax cuts they hated so much were good enough to extend for two more years. It is awfully hard for the president to make the case that the policies he put into place only half a year ago are now null and void. It strains credibility for the president to ask Republicans to raise taxes when he wouldn’t do so when his team ran the Congress. Read more...
Tags: America, Barack Obama, Ben Franklin, Bush tax cuts, Congress, debt limit, Democrats, dollar, Economy, election, ethanol subsidy, George W Bush, Obama, Obama Administration, reform, Republicans, spending, tax reform, taxes
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, Government, Laws, Theory, election, spending, taxes, welfare | No Comments »
April 7th, 2011 by John Feehery
Balancing the federal budget (or at least making the unbalanced budget look more respectable) usually requires two kinds of actions from policy makers: cutting spending and raising revenue.
Republicans like to focus on cutting spending. Their political philosophy includes an innate distrust of government interference and an abiding faith in the free market, so cutting spending works well for them.
Democrats usually like to focus on raising taxes, especially on rich people. They believe deeply that government can solve all problems, and they also believe that rich people have plenty of money and that they can afford to give a few bucks to hire a few more bureaucrats.
Neither cutting spending (unless you are talking about foreign aid or earmarks) nor raising taxes is politically very popular.
Some may think that cutting spending is now suddenly the cool thing to do, but believe me, when Republicans actually try to pare back Medicare spending, they will find out the hard way how unpopular such spending cuts are with the voters who actually vote.
In fact, polls show that spending cuts for education, health care, national defense, veterans, science research and almost every other kind of government spending (except for foreign aid or earmarks) is not very popular with the voters. Read more...
Tags: Bill Clinton, Congress, Democrats, Economy, George W Bush, Government, health care, Politics, Republican, Republicans, spending, taxes, White House
Posted in Economy, Government, Politics, Theory, health care, spending, taxes | No Comments »
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