Monthly Archives: November 2004
‘A Mandate for Conservative Leadership’
House GOP says the way is paved for Bush agenda=The Hill.com=
Pence: ‘Dems lost their leader. That speaks spades.’
By Jonathan E. Kaplan
House Republican lawmakers, flush with victory, said President Bush’s reelection, combined with their slightly improved margin in the House and a four-seat gain in the Senate, demonstrates public approval of how they have governed the country the past four years.
”It’s an affirmation of the direction we’ve been going,” said Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (Va.)….
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), new chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said: “There’s a mandate for conservative leadership in the outcome of this election. The American people have spoken in deafening terms that they want
Republican leadership in the White House and Capitol Hill.” …
“It is time for the majority to be heard.” He said he hopes Republicans will focus on changing the budget process, reforming Medicare and Social Security, defining marriage as between a man and woman and banning RU-486, a pharmaceutical used to induce an abortion.
I liked someone’s observation that more people voted against Bush than against any candidate before. That won’t even slow down the raging Right. mjh
The Christian Republic of America
I remember when Tricky Dick Nixon won re-election using fear to defeat liberals. This is worse because we were much closer to winning and now we’re still going to endure BUllSHit about a “mandate.” More lies; four more years of lies.
I feel sorry for John Kerry, John Edwards, and their families. They worked very hard and deserved better. I feel sorry for the nearly 50 million of us who saw that change is necessary and good.
I don’t feel sorry for the homophobes, the dangerous fools who would tinker with the Constitution to codify bigotry; the Security Mom’s who are so afraid they’ll sacrifice their own rights for nothing; the zealots who think they voted for the man who agrees with their “moral values” (like lying, slander, making war).
At least we can all look forward to the dumbfounded look on Bush’s face when he finally has enough rope to hang himself — he sure has plenty now. I look forward to his impeachment and great shame when the lies finally aren’t enough. I can’t wait to see his party raise taxes (as they will have to) and institute the draft. In the short term, I’d like to see the faces of those who bought the “culture of life” lie while missing the fact that the abortion rate has risen under Duhbya, who also has the blood of 100,000 Iraqis on his hands — will we ever be even?
Already, the Democrats are arguing. One blog I used to respect mentioned a “too liberal” candidate and agenda — buying Rove’s lie about liberalism. Well, Kerry was almost too conservative for me, and I have a right to representation. I do NOT live in the Christian Republic of America. Rove is not my Ayatollah.
I think it’s time to break free of the Democrats who envy Republicans. We need to shatter and destroy these two old parties. Then, let there be a Liberal Party, a Conservative Party and a Moderate Party. Let us show our true colors, stay true to ourselves, and govern through shifting alliances that might represent 2/3rds of America on some issues instead of 50% united in fear, lies and hatred. mjh
Good News for Big Oil
Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com
Bush Win Sends Oil Near $51 a Barrel
Wed Nov 3, 2004 03:34 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices surged more than $1 on Wednesday as the re-election of President Bush countered the impact of a big increase in spare oil supplies ahead of winter.
Crude dealers said Bush’s victory over Democrat Senator John Kerry could bolster U.S. fuel demand and underscore anxiety over the security of Middle East oil shipments. …
A second Bush administration will likely continue filling U.S. emergency oil stockpiles despite high prices and could stoke nerves about U.S. policy in the Middle East, particularly OPEC’s second-biggest producer Iran.
“A Bush victory will be big for oil demand and keep prices high,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago. “Not only will the SPR be filled, but I think they may expand it.”
The Bush White House has said it plans to fill the final 30 million barrels of the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by next year, which adds to already strong demand from end-users.
Prices had tumbled from last week’s record high at $55.67, pressured by speculation that a win for Kerry would halt deliveries into the SPR, and do more to encourage energy conservation.
Dealers had also speculated that Kerry’s policy in the energy-rich Middle East would be less aggressive than Bush’s and more prone to move through diplomatic channels.
“If another Bush government moves on to Iran, then oil prices would go very high and really threaten China’s economic development,” said Andy Xie, Morgan Stanley’s chief Asia economist.
Something Smells
Updated Late Afternoon Numbers – Mucho flattering to Kerry; plus Nader makes an appearance. By Jack Shafer
Updated Late Afternoon Numbers
Mucho flattering to Kerry; plus Nader makes an appearance.
By Jack Shafer
Updated Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004, at 4:28 PM PT
Florida
Kerry 51
Bush 49
Ohio
Kerry 51
Bush 49
One in seven people who voted yesterday did not participate in the 2000 election, and 60 percent of those voters said they supported Mr. Kerry, according to surveys of voters leaving the polls. A survey of voters leaving the polls suggested that the turnout was at least partly inspired by anger among Democrats lingering from Mr. Bush’s disputed victory in 2000.
WTNH.com – Bush wins second term as Kerry phones to concede
Nationwide, with 98 percent of the precincts reporting, 112 million people had voted — up from 105 million in 2000. Bush was ahead in the popular vote, which he lost in 2000, and independent Ralph Nader was proving to be much less of a factor this year than four years ago.
So, at least 7 million more people voted yesterday than 4 years ago. Say 4 million evangelicals jumped to Rove’s call. Three million or more are left — and yet, supposedly, new voters and young voters didn’t “turn out as expected”? Seven million more voters plus those who voted for Nader in 2000, plus moderate Repulicans who are embarrassed by Bush. And, still, everything went Bush’s way. What a lucky Devil! mjh
20 Crucial Electoral Votes May Be Stuck in Limbo (washingtonpost.com)
To complicate matters further, some voters in the state were still casting ballots as late as 2:30 a.m. today because of long lines at the polls. Nearly three-quarters of the state’s registered voters cast ballots.
In central Ohio, voters primarily from Kenyon College in Knox County waited for more than eight hours at a polling place that had not prepared for an onslaught of newly registered voters.
Diebold Voting Machine Owner Committed To Give Votes To Bush in 2004 August 28, 2003
The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”
Bin Laden aims to bankrupt United States
Bin Laden aims to bankrupt United States – (United Press International)
The complete transcript of Osama bin Laden’s most recent videotape reveals his intention to attempt to bankrupt the United States.
The Arabic-language network al-Jazeera aired portions of the videotape Friday, but released the full transcript of the tape on its Web site Monday to dispel rumors it had edited out direct threats.
Among comments not released until Monday, bin Laden said: “We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy,” adding it was “easy for us to provoke and bait this administration.”
As part of the “bleed-until-bankruptcy plan,” bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al-Qaida about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, an amount he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States.
“Every dollar of al-Qaida defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs,” he said.
U.S. intelligence officials confirmed Monday the transcript made public Monday was a complete one, CNN reported.
Bin Laden learned this technique from Ronald Raygun who put the US in a race to bankruptcy with the Soviets, who lost. Another reason to DUMP BUSH! mjh
Election Day Turnout
Up to 121 million people will vote, compared with 105 million in 2000, according to Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate. That would be 60 percent of eligible voters, the highest percentage since 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, when 61.9 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.
A heavy turnout probably hurts Bush, said Larry Sabato, who runs the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics in Charlottesville, Virginia.
”If this turnout goes about 120 million, which it might, he’s gone,” Sabato said. ”That many new people are not showing up to say, `Good job, Mr. President.”’
The Writer’s Almanac – NOVEMBER 1 – 7, 2004
Today is Election Day. Millions of people across the country will be going to the polls today to elect new legislators, judges, sheriffs, school board members, and of course, the President. Generally between fifty and fifty-five percent of eligible voters actually vote in each presidential election year. There have only been four presidential elections in the last seventy years that inspired more than sixty percent of eligible Americans to vote: 1952, 1960, 1964, and 1968. The lowest turn out in the last seventy years was in 1924, with 48%. Turn out in 1996 was the second lowest, with 49%.
But the lowest turn out in the history of American elections was the first federal election under the US Constitution, held in 1788. Only eleven percent of eligible voters voted in that first election. To be eligible to vote at the time, you had to be a white male property owner. But different states had trouble defining what a property owner was.