‘Me too, pal,’ says Bush, hanging up (Trouble in the ranks)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.thehill.com/news/120303/bush.aspx

Conservative Republican frustration over the failure of the Bush administration and the House Republican leadership to restrain federal spending has boiled over in recent days, producing a rare confrontation between GOP lawmakers and party leaders.

The internal conflict, fueled largely by recent passage of the $78 billion Iraq reconstruction effort and the $400 billion prescription-drug benefit for senior citizens that squeaked through the House on Nov. 22, came to a head last week when President Bush abruptly terminated a phone conversation with a Florida Republican who refused his plea to vote for the landmark bill.

Well-placed sources said Bush hung up on freshman Rep. Tom Feeney after Feeney said he couldn’t support the Medicare bill. The House passed it by only two votes after Hastert kept the roll-call vote open for an unprecedented stretch of nearly three hours in the middle of the night.

Feeney, a former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives whom many see as a rising star in the party, reportedly told Bush: “I came here to cut entitlements, not grow them.”

Sources said Bush shot back, “Me too, pal,” and hung up the phone.
<snip>

[Deja Q]

1. Bush, stick your finger somewhere and spin on it...

More good will come out on your finger than any ink from your pen onto your disasterous policies... x(

Go Feeney! It's nice to see some idependent thought.

[aquart]

6. Do you REMEMBER Feeney?

Oh, after his whole-hearted support of the Florida theft, my heart just swells to have Bush treat him like dirt.

Hee hee hee.

[kskiska]

10. Yeah, I remember him

He was that smarmy guy with the tight, curly hair who said that Florida would send up a new slate of electors – for the Chimp, regardless of what the vote count was. Sounds like he won't be in Congress long.

[Kahuna]

7. Feeney help bush steal the election in Florida.

"Go Feeney?????"

[Noordam]

14. Feeney was the biggest asshole FL Leg and

carved himself a nice safe US house seat.

[davhill]

26. Feeney Unopposed?

I live in Mr. Feeney's district. So far no Democrat has announced intent to run against him for re-election. The last one who tried spent $3,000,000 of his own money and only got 37% of the vote. If I win the lottery I may run against him myself.

[neuvocat]

2. My way or the highway, huh?

That highway can be a mighty lonely path if you're not careful.

[Catch22Dem]

3. Jesus!

"I came here to cut entitlements, not grow them."

Who's the bigger asshole here?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. Hey, they're both Republicans....

Your question is like: "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of rocks?" :toast:

[Jazzgirl]

4. I guess American's aren't "entitled" to a decent health care plan.

Seems to me shrub and Feeney are probably trying to accomplish the same thing for the same reason but in different ways. Feeney just wants to out-and-out cut 'em back and shrub wants to starve 'em!

Jazzgirl

[ramapo]

11. Are Americans stupid or Republicans masters of deceit?

Here're two powerful Republicans stating they want to cut entitlements. Not welfare, which so many love to hate but basic health care (I think we can draw that conclusion).

It's so odd that they think there is something wrong with all Americans being "entitled" to something as fundamental as prescription drugs. Like that is winning the friggin lottery or something.

Yet tens of millions happily voted for these two.

[54anickel]

15. Isn't that the truth that is buried in this story! Too bad most in the

general population won't catch it.

[Sagan]

8. pretty typical chimpy

Says one thing, does another. Pretends like he did what he said.

Delusion isn't pretty.

[Rex]

9. Asshole vs. asshole

You know Dubya is rotten to the core when traitors like Feeney hate him. I bet even HIS MOMMA don't like em!

[snippy]

24. Your astute observation reminded me of these pictures.

The make up of these mosaics is shown here. http://www.artofresistance.org/bush_mosaic/index.html

[librechik]

12. Feeney helped get Shrub selected

what, irony?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

20. Irony? No, I think karma. n/t

[bluestateguy]

13. The enemy of the enemy is not my friend

This is like Iran vs. Iraq in the 80's. I refuse to praise Feeney. He's a loudmouthed drunk who insulted Al Gore.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Hooter Boy Tom?

What's the matter Tommy? Now that you got your cushy seat in the House, you don't like the idea of sucking W dick?

[Kurovski]

18. it's not the idea...

it's the bad taste it leaves in his mouth.

[Kurovski]

17. George's tacit admission

that he is indeed out to destroy medicare.

[rumguy]

19. I bet the Freepers

don't know what to think...you know lots of them have doubts about all this new spending...I mean, hell the government has grown massively under Bush...police state, etc...new entitlements...tax cuts that create debt...

Independent types too have to be wondering...

[truthspeaker]

23. just like under Reagan

Republicans always claim to be for small government but Reagan blew the deficit sky-high with defense spending and corporate welfare. Their "small government" claim is an obvious lie, but voters keep falling for it.

[underpants]

25. Well.............really this shows that no one can control spending

Not an out for W.

The Repubes have complete control over the executive and legislative branches so there is no one to blame but themselves. Much of this spending is quite simply raiding the Treasury third world style.

No one has ever been able to control spending, even these clowns. During the Reagan administration they were NOT (on edit)as in lockstep as they are now, nothing happens without all the political angles being examined (but not necessarily the policy itself) so the bills all have the defacto seal of approval. It's gonna be hard to spin this onto the Dems so W will blame Congress for it or refer to "the beaurocracy" thus blaming it on Dem ghosts of the past.

[priller]

21. "freedom of expression"

"One of things we do in our party is appreciate freedom of expression", says Dick Armey, after being told pointedly by Hastert and DeLay that they most definitely did NOT appreciate his expressed opinion on the subject.

He should have said, "One of the things we do in our party is say the opposite of what is true, as often as we can".

[Philostopher]

27. I would add a key phrase/concept, priller.

<<He should have said, "One of the things we do in our party is say the opposite of what is true, as often as we can until the voting public believes it, even though it's unsupportable by evidence".>>

Actually I, at least, would add the bolded words above. That's been their style for as long as I can remember. I only remember the late Nixon Admin on, but ain't a one of them except maybe Gerry Ford who didn't play that game. That's the way they created 'Reagan Democrats' in the first place.

You cultivate Republican voters the same way you cultivate mushrooms: keep them in the dark, and keep shoveling on that horseshit.

[SpiralHawk]

22. "You're either with us, or against us." - Chimp-in-Chief*

"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you."
- George W. Bush* Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002


* AWOL while honor-bound by solemn oath to be serving with the Texas National Guard in the 1970s; defeated by a clear majority of patriotic and discerning American voters in the 2000 election; appointed to office by the so-called supreme court.

[davhill]

28. About time Conservatives realized

That Bush is not out to conserve anything except his own power and the wealth of a small circle of friends.

[snippy]

29. Bush wants to conserve the amount of mercury and other toxic pollutants.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=249854

[goforit]

30. Way to go Feeny!!!!..Stand up for the elderly!!!!.....(all parties aside)

Politicians are at the fork in the road!!!

You can chose to do right or do wrong!!!

It is your choice!!!!

[Dhalgren]

31. Feeny isn't standing up for the elderly!

Good God!!! He wants to have all the elderly not able to pay their own way taken out and shot! He wants every person who cannot or will not support themselves and the wealthy to die. Bush and Feeny are criminal thugs who deserve severe prosecution.

[Aristus]

32. Well, he didn't have to get snippy.

B-)

[snippy]

33. True.

[The White Rose]

34. Feeney is obviously out of the loop.

Bush knows that this Medicare bill will ultimately lead to the collapse of the program. They're going to subsidize the HMOs that "compete" with traditional Medicare with as many federal dollars as it takes. Then, when enough seniors have been drawn into the privatized system, they'll shut the traditional program down as a superfluous waste of taxpayers money. It's the same scam that was tried in the '80s and '90s only this time they're going to shovel even more of our money into HMO coffers as an incentive to provide prescriptions.

The corporations have already proved what they'll do once the seniors they've cherry-picked start to become unprofitable (tens of thousands have been rolled back into Medicare sans prescriptions in recent years). Of course, when it happens again there won't be a traditional Medicare program to roll the seniors back into, so the government (Dem or Rep) will HAVE to continue the subsidy at ever-increasing levels. In other words, this bill is designed to allow medical corporations and insurers to blackmail the federal government with impunity.

Feeney is clearly clueless about the Administration's intentions; like most pols he's a short-term thinker. The neocons have been planning this for decades.