Congress has chosen “political posturing” over priorities like funding military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and changing the tax code so more Americans aren’t hit with the alternative minimum tax, President Bush said today.
The so-called AMT is designed to ensure that the wealthy pay some taxes despite write-offs, but an estimated 25 million people will have to pay the tax unless Congress exempts them, as it has in recent years. Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing an emergency war spending bill that would require troop withdrawals from Iraq to get the money.
The president used his weekly radio address to urge action on both issues before the end of the legislative year in a few weeks. “[U]nless they complete this work soon, middle-class Americans will pay higher taxes and American troops will not receive the critical funding they need to fight and defeat our enemies,” Bush said.
Sen. Bob Casey, R-Pa., criticized Bush in the Democratic address and challenged Republicans in Congress to support the Democratic effort to link troop withdrawal to additional war spending.
“President Bush has asked for nearly $200 billion more to continue the war indefinitely, with no accountability,” Casey said. “This request is unacceptable, and we are negotiating a way forward that will responsibly deploy our troops out of Iraq so that we can transition the mission to training Iraqis, protecting our forces and fighting terrorists.”
President Bush on Thursday compared Congress’ Democratic leaders to people who ignored the rise of the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Lenin and Germany’s Adolf Hitler early in the last century. AP reports that Bush said “the world paid a terrible price” then and risks similar consequences for inaction today.
“Unfortunately, on too many issues, some in Congress are behaving as if America is not at war,” Bush said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Bush’s remarks were his second this week alleging inaction on Capitol Hill. You can listen to bothspeeches below.
Or if you prefer to watch, here is video of the Heritage speech:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi served the National Republican Congressional Committee a video feast on an online silver platter today when she responded to Congress’ low approval ratings by saying that she is among those who would give low marks to the legislative body she helps lead.
Pelosi, D-Calif., made the comment in the context of Democrats in Congress not being able to stop President Bush from implementing his policies on the Iraq war, and she ultimately blamed Congress’ ineffectiveness on Bush. But that’s not the headline embraced by the NRCC, which is the campaign arm of House Republicans, or by the media.
Ironically, Pelosi’s admission that she disapproves of Congress’ record came on a day when she and other House leaders celebrated the first year of the 110th Congress
C-SPAN’s “Newsmaker” program: House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., discusses spending on military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other issues facing his panel.
Having learned a lesson from the criticism leveled at him after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, President Bush this week traveled to California to see firsthand the damage wrought by ongoing wildfires there. He talked about the trip and his efforts to help the state recover in the weekly radio address.
Bush praised state and local officials for moving quickly to evacuate people in danger and to provide shelter for them. He also noted the efforts of firefighters. “Many of these brave men and women have battled the blaze in triple-digit heat,” Bush said. “Some have worked around the clock. And more than once, firefighting teams were forced to take emergency shelter in their fire tents when threatened by approaching walls of flame.”
The president further outlined his own official responses to date — two emergency declarations over a short time to bolster the state and local responses to the wildfires and to help families recover. “I went to Southern California with a message: We want you to know the country cares for you,” he said. “We’re concerned about you, your neighborhoods, and your homes. Things may look dismal now, but there is a better day ahead. And we will not forget you in Washington, D.C.”
Democrats, meanwhile, continued their fight to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean taking Republicans to task for fighting S-CHIP legislation while continuing to fund military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The Republican leaders have made their choice,” Dean said. “They want to stay in Iraq and deny our kids health care. It is wrong for the Bush Republicans to stand in the way of legislation needed to protect the wellbeing of our kids.”
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