Them Dems

archived: 15 - 21 Jul, 2007         Back                 Next

UPDATED:  JUL 17, 2007 

                        REPUBLICANS TO BLACKS 

Republicans have touted their recruitment of blacks to the Republican Party.  Some blacks, believing their issues have been ignored by the Democratic Party; have spoken in terms of leaving the Democratic Party “plantation.”   

The NAACP conducts a candidate form for GOP presidential candidates.  How many Republicans candidates showed up?  The picture below provides the answer. 

The story: 

The one photo the GOP does not want anyone to see was snapped at yesterday's NAACP GOP Presidential Candidate Forum. The NAACP invited all the Republican candidates to the forum, put out 9 podiums, but only one Republican showed up: Tom Tancredo. All the Democratic Presidential hopefuls showed up for their forum.  

The excuses given by the Republican campaigns mostly had to do with scheduling conflicts--just too busy to make it. 

The resulting photo of Tancredo--standing on a stage of empty podiums sums up the Republican party's [sic] commitment to civil rights in America: the only Republican interested is the guy running to deny immigrant workers their rights.       

Of course, recall what happened when one Republican did meet with black Congressional leaders in 2005:

[ For Congressional black] caucus members, the Oval Office meeting was an opportunity to present their legislative agenda to the president -- an agenda that centers on eliminating disparities in healthcare, education, economic opportunity and justice. Instead of healing old wounds, however, the meeting went awry when the discussion turned to the topic of voting rights. In an episode that got a lot of play in the black press, if not the mainstream media, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., asked the president a question that seemed like a no-brainer: "Do we have your support in extending and strengthening the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it comes up for renewal in 2007?" 

According to Jackson, Bush responded that he didn't know enough about the legislation to comment. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who also attended the meeting, said he was "surprised and astounded" at Bush's remarks. Bush's effort to woo blacks on issues of concern to them clearly is not off to a good start. In attempting to sell Social Security reform to blacks, for instance, Bush pointed out that half of black men die before age 65 and therefore never receive their benefits. But instead of promising to address the causes of early death, including inadequate healthcare, he proposed to allow them to pass on the benefits to their children if they die prematurely. I doubt that was quite what African-Americans were hoping to hear. Then, in another blow to the priorities of African-Americans, Bush put more than 150 domestic programs on the chopping block in his new budget, including block grants needed to rebuild poor communities.

There are reasons we are Democrats.

_____________________________________________

 UPDATED:  JUL 15, 2007 

                        GRAND OBSTRUCTIONIST PARTY 

As Democrats launch a cornucopia of investigations of Bush’s administration to start the process of restoring checks and balances to our constitutional government, Democrats must heed the warnings reflected in public opinion polls.  Americans are gravely disappointed at the perceived lack of progress on important issues, other than Bush’s occupation of Iraq.   

A June, 2007 CBS poll demonstrates the point vividly:

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

"Do you think the current Congress has accomplished more or less than Congress usually does during its first six months?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

More

Less

Same (vol.)

Unsure

 

 

 

 

 

%

%

%

%

 

 

 

 

6/26-28/07

16

59

6

19

 

 
                           

The public’s perception could be deadly for the Democratic Party if it continues unabated.

Democrats need a twofold strategy to counter the perception.  First, while Congressional investigations are consuming the media, Democrats have continued to advance legislation that is important to America.  Two recent examples:

The House voted Thursday to overhaul the housing voucher program, the federal government's largest effort to help low-income families find affordable housing. 

The legislation, passed 333-83, seeks to make housing vouchers available to more families, makes it easier for people to use vouchers for first-time home purchases and creates incentives for employment and higher education. . . . 

What is known as the Section 8 Voucher Program currently provides housing assistance for some 2 million low-income families. It costs about $16 billion a year, more than 60 percent of the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Under the program, eligible tenants, which includes the elderly and disabled, pay 30 percent of their income for rent, with the federal government making up the difference. . . .

The bill simplifies the rules used to establish rents and subsidies and adds incentives for voucher recipients to obtain work, increase income and pursue higher education. It increases voucher availability for lower income families in rural areas.

It adds 20,000 vouchers a year over five years to the program, at a cost of about $2 billion.

Another example:

House Democrats pushed through legislation yesterday that would boost government-subsidized student loans and other college financial aid by $18 billion over the next five years, despite strong opposition from Republican lawmakers and a White House veto threat.

The legislation, passed in a 273 to 149 vote, would cut interest rates on federally backed student loans in half and increase Pell grants for low-income students. It would pay for the measures by slashing subsidies to lending companies by about $19 billion over five years and use about $1 billion of remaining savings to reduce the federal deficit.

"This is what Americans are saying at home: They are worried about paying for their education," Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House education committee, said in an interview. "This bill responds to that in a very big way."

Democrats need to do more to inform the public of accomplishments such as these. 

The second prong of the strategy is to highlight the fact that Republicans in the US Senate are obstructing a vote on important legislation.  The obstructionism extents not only from Bush’s war in Iraq but to legislation like the programs passed by the House noted above.

The DNC provides the record of Republican obstruction:

FACTS ON REPUBLICAN OBSTRUCTIONISM

Senate Republicans have obstructed almost every bill in the Senate – even ones with wide bipartisan support.

So far, in the first half of the first session of the 110th Congress, there have been THIRTEEN cloture votes on motions to proceed – each one wasting days of Senate time.  (110th Congress, Roll Call Votes #44, 51, 53, 74, 129, 132, 133, 162, 173, 207, 208, 227, and 228)

In comparison, in the first sessions of the 108th and 109th Congresses combined, there were a total of FOUR cloture votes on motions to proceed.

EIGHT times Republican obstruction tactics slowed critical legislation

The DNC has also produced an excellent video that can be found here:  “The Grand Obstructionist Party”

 Every Democrat should be explaining to their friends and associates what the GOP really stands for – obstructing consideration of legislation that America needs.

                        HISTORICAL

One new poll has been released since our last report; AP-Ipsos, with Bush’s approval rating at 33% and disapproval at 65%.  The AP-Ipsos poll represents a +1% uptick in Bush’s approval rating from their last poll.

To recap the three polls in July; Newsweek’s poll is the same result as in their June poll, AP-Ipsos’ poll has a +1% increase in approval and USA Today/Gallup a -3% decrease in approval from its June poll.  This pattern suggests that Bush’s approval rating has momentarily stabilized below 30% as reflected in TPJ’s July monthly average of all polls.  It is a horrid judgment of any President’s performance. 

Gary Langer, head of polling for ABC News, summarizes the situation in one line:

 Plainly, in politics, hell hath no fury like an unpopular war.

Langer provides puts his statement into the proper historical context:

[A]mong postwar presidents only Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter have gone lower (22, 23 and 28 percent, respectively). Bush has been below 50 percent approval in ABC News/Washington Post polls continuously for the last two and a half years, since January 2005. Truman was the only postwar president to stay that low for longer (three years).

Bush now holds one of the steepest declines in popularity on record – more than 60 points, owing to the fact that he peaked at 92 percent in an ABC/Post poll shortly after 9/11. The only larger fall in support was Truman's, from a high of 87 percent approval to a low of 22 percent; third was Bush's father's, from a high of 90 percent to a low of 33. Naturally, these reflect not only how low these presidents went, but also how high.

 

TPJ'S BUSH WATCH

 

 

Approve

Trail Mo

Disapprove

No Opinion

Spread

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USA Today/Gallup

7/6-8/07

29

 

66

5

-37

AP-Ipsos

7/9-11/07

33

 

65

2

-32

Newsweek

7/2-3/07

26

 

65

9

-39

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July Avg

29.33

-1.51

65.33

5.33

-36.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June Avg

30.85

-2.38

63.23

6.00

-32.38

 

May Avg

33.22

-1.70

61.33

5.56

-28.11

 

April Avg

34.92

1.49

59.92

5.15

-25.00

 

March Avg

33.43

-0.24

60.43

6.14

-27.00

 

February Avg

33.67

-0.22

60.17

6.08

-26.50

 

January Avg

33.89

-1.61

61.61

4.83

-27.72

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

December Avg

35.50

-0.93

59.25

5.42

-23.75

 

November Avg

36.43

-1.07

58.00

5.50

-21.57

 

October Avg

37.50

-3.42

57.11

5.36

-19.61

 

September Avg

40.92

2.64

54.23

4.77

-13.31

 

August Avg

38.29

0.59

57.14

4.64

-18.86

 

July Avg

37.70

0.49

56.40

5.90

-18.70

 

June Avg

37.21

3.05

56.79

5.93

-19.57

 

May Avg

34.17

-1.58

60.33

5.91

-26.17

 

April Avg

35.75

-1.35

57.75

6.82

-22.00

 

March Avg

37.10

-2.54

57.30

5.80

-20.20

 

February Avg

39.64