Cheney Exercising Muscle on Domestic Policies

[Rose Siding]

Vice President Dick Cheney is playing a potentially pivotal role in shaping the Bush administration's ambitious domestic agenda, supporting larger personal investment accounts for Social Security than many other Republicans and helping gauge how the White House should proceed on Capitol Hill, administration officials and associates of Mr. Cheney say.

On issues like Social Security and overhauling the tax code, they say Mr. Cheney tends to mix an instinct for free-market conservatism with a pragmatic knack for vote counting, being the former House member that he is. Although Mr. Cheney is most identified in the public mind with foreign policy, he has also begun assertively rebutting administration critics on domestic issues, as he did in a speech last week on Social Security, while he works behind the scenes to hold together an increasingly fractious Republican Party.
...
On Social Security, Mr. Cheney, in internal administration discussions, has been advocating that the personal accounts Mr. Bush wants to create within the retirement system be at the large end of what has been under consideration, a position likely to hearten many conservatives in Congress who also want to establish the biggest possible accounts, they say. But he has also been supportive of benefit cuts that some conservatives are telling the White House would be political suicide.
...
Administration officials say Mr. Cheney sits in not only on nearly all policy discussions with Mr. Bush, but also some of those at lower levels, and he has lunch each Wednesday with the senior members of the administration's economic team to stay on top of things. He is the White House's main pipeline to Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, a friend since they both worked together in the Ford administration in the mid-1970's and someone whose support the administration needs for much of its agenda. Mr. Cheney is "involved in everything," said Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff.

http://nytimes.com/2005/01/18/politics/18cheney.html?hp&ex=1106024400&en=325ef8af2a900127&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[greenbriar]

1. Mr Cheney

f$#k off

[rodeodance]

4. "he predicted "fiscal collapse" for Social Security if something was

not done" Just listening to him is/will be enough to scare peeople into believing there IS a crisis!!!


....Mr. Cheney's stance, they said, was a major factor in Mr. Bush's final decision to call for cutting all the income tax rates immediately, as well as in the president's call as part of the same proposal in early 2003 to eliminate taxation of corporate dividends. Much of what Mr. Bush proposed ultimately became law.

While Mr. Cheney's influence within the White House is considerable, he continues with his minimalist approach to public appearances, even when he takes on the classic vice-presidential role of attacking the administration's critics. There were no White House banners, slogans or music at the Social Security speech that Mr. Cheney gave on Thursday at Catholic University in Washington. Mr. Cheney simply walked to the podium, briefly thanked the university, dispensed with any warm-up jokes or anecdotes and went straight to the text of his speech.

He delivered his remarks in a monotone - even when he predicted "fiscal collapse" for Social Security if something was not done - finished within 15 minutes, then left the room without any handshaking or back-slapping.

[Just Me]

5. In reality, he's been advocating bringing on SocSec's collapse.

Why does he hate Americans so damn much? :shrug:

[genieroze]

9. ditto.

[Old and In the Way]

2. His instincts on domestic issues will be no better than his Iraqi

expectations. Let them push it....the perfect issue for Democrats to beat them with in 2006.

[sweetheart]

3. "..pragmatic knack for vote counting" my arse

How about a deliberate knack for shredding the constituion and persecuting
high crimes against the american people and crimes against humanity...
disenfranchising voters and at the very last, making sure that under no
circumstances whatsoever, EVER to count the votes."

[lovuian]

6. I want to see the republicans all sign to Bankrupt the USA

lets see them do it!!!

And we will watch if Americans get ticked off!!!

[Betty]

7. everyone knows he's really the president

with his hand way up puppet george's ass.

[Cha]

8. They're selling the Invasion

of Social Security like they did the Iraqi Invasion.

When are the fucktards who are gonna be screwed by this ..gonna wake up?

[genieroze]

10. After we are put in slave labor camps. eom

[genieroze]

11. delete dupe

[TankLV]

Oh, No! - Not THAT muscle! He's gonna fuck us all again!

And we're still bleeding from the last thousand times!

[TankLV]

12. Oh, No! - Not THAT muscle! He's gonna fuck us all again!

And we're still bleeding from the last thousand times!

[SoCalDem]

13. Three words that should NEVER appear together:

(even if used metaphorically)

1. Cheney
2. Exercising
3. Muscle

:puke:

[catzies]

14. Does this mean he's going to leave his undisclosed location?

I liked it better when he lived in a cave. Now he comes out during the day to gloat and wreak more havoc.

[LynnTheDem]

15. Cheney to now LIE about domestic issues, to add to his LIES on FP.

bush & Cheney sure do like to lie. I guess it's easy to lie to Americans when you really don't give one fuck about any American other than your haves and have mores pals.