Fox News: Election Results Show ‘Conservative USA’
By on Nov 10th, 2006 at 10:01 am
Fox News: Election Results Show ‘Conservative USA’
Fox news is trying to spin Tuesday’s election as a victory for conservatives:
The argument made on Fox and elsewhere is that the new members of Congress elected on Tuesday are conservative.
But according to a Media Matters analysis of the 27 House candidates who (as of the morning of Nov. 8) unseated majority Republicans or won open seats previously held by the majority party, all support a core progressive agenda. All 27 candidates back raising the minimum wage, advocate changing course in Iraq, and oppose efforts to privatize Social Security. Only two of the 27 oppose embryonic stem cell research, and only five describe themselves as “pro-life.”
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Frist?
I think we’re seeing the results of people wanting a moderate gov’t, Not the Radical Right we’ve seen for 12 years.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:06 amThis is the FOX news equivalent of sitting naked on the floor, rocking back and forth, sobbing “This can’t be happening” over and over to no one in particular.
Perhaps denial is the first stage…
Yep. This was definitely a victory for conservatives. Even if every one of these Dems was conservative- his/her opponent was, by definition, even more conservative- and they were rejected by the voters.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:09 amFox is only watched by Repugs so who gives a cr*p if they continue to delude themselves. It really is comical.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:10 amI think they misspelt “Progressive”
November 10th, 2006 at 10:10 amHow very sad. Sore losers anyone? Disconnected from reality? lol
November 10th, 2006 at 10:10 amI won’t actually watch FNC to see this, but I can easily imagine their regular viewers seeing heads explode as these Fox anchors and spokespeople try to wrap their tiny little minds around the fact that America has rejected conservative rule and the moronic talking heads (like Fox and Rush) that support them. I could easily imagine a lot of freaking out at Fox. I can also imagine them complaining constantly about the failed Pelosi Speakership (even before ti starts). In short, I imagine Fox Newx Channel having a very hard time adapting to the fact that America has caught on to these liars (FNC, RNC, WH).
November 10th, 2006 at 10:11 amThe argument made on Fox and elsewhere is that the new members of Congress elected on Tuesday are conservative.
So…the people they beat were liberals?
Hoooo-boy. That’s some twisty turny kinda logic there.
I think Fox News just became Comedy Channel II.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:11 amNovember 10th, 2006 at 10:11 am
If the democratic candidates were truly as conservative as Fox and the GOP spin-meisters are now exerting, the reublicans would have supported them in the first place. I am sure if you went back to each of the individual races, the republican smear campaign were touting the dem. candidates as left wing liberals and friends of Nancy Pelosi. These peopl have no morals and can not accept loss with grace.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:11 amFux News can join Rush Limpballs in descending ratings, lack of credibility, screaming morons, misplaced labels and distorted views of reality.
Personally, I believe they should be sued via a class action suit for numerous libel & slander incidents, outright lies and a host of other instances where media became ‘government’.
I’ve heard, but not seen substantiated, that ratings are down 25-30%.
Limpballs’ are crashing even quicker.
Maybe Fux News can begin ‘carrying the water’ for Limpballs…he needs all the help he can get right now.
Oh, and by the way Fux News…PROGRESSIVES WON!!!
November 10th, 2006 at 10:15 amGo ahead, say it. Cat got your tongue?
PROGRESSIVES WON!!!
To paraphrase a former president–It all depends on what the meaning of conservative is. Considering how radically right winged is Fox News Agency Tass, anything to their left might be considered conservative.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:18 amThe world according to Fox: Casey ripping Santorum a new one was a victory for the reactionaries.
As Jon Stewart said a few weeks back, the great thing about propaganda is it requires no internal logic. Ailes knows this. He’s just trying to make his poor bruised viewers feel a little less violated by Democracy.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:19 amThis is too funny. I mean American Pravda can be quite entertaining sometimes.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:19 amOn election night, George Will was the first to put forward the meme that the Democrats that were winning had to be Conservative to win.
I knew right then and there that this would be the next Talking Point from the Right, and sure enough!
November 10th, 2006 at 10:20 amcan not accept loss with grace.
How very sad. Sore losers anyone?
Come on now, you guys wern’t saying that in 2000 and 2004, why does it only apply when it happens to the R side?
November 10th, 2006 at 10:20 amFOX, like the Bush administration must feel that it’s days of spin and lies are numbered. Rush, O’Rielly, Hannity, must all know that the last election was not just a referendum on the Iraq war, it was also a referendum on the lies and spun the conservative talking heads have been spewing for the last 6 years.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:24 amI’m voting for a rehaul of the Fox network. The new slogun should be “Fair, and Centered.”
it’s great to see these people rending their garments & gnashing their teeth, for a change. another example is Rush claiming that he ‘never wanted to carry their water’ in the 1st place, when in fact he was running up the hill w/their overflowing buckets.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:26 amIt will be interesting to see how the MSM, who have basically ignored the Dems for the past 6 years, reacts to this power shift. Notice that Timmeh’s 1st Meet The Press after the election has no Dems on the show!?
same old, same old.
oy!
Nothing says “there’s been a shift to conservative political thought in the U.S.” like a sweep of the House, Senate, Governorships, and state legislatures by the Democratic party.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:26 amThe equivocating on the right is astonishing. Soon, they’ll attempt to rewrite history and try to tell us that supporting stem cell research, raising the minimum wage, getting the he@* out of Iraq, rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy 1 percent, and not privatizing SS have always been conservative beliefs.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:31 amSo, when the House conducts investigations into the Downing Street Memo, it’s really a Conservative Value of holding government officials accountable.
When the House conducts investigations into violations of the 4th Amendment via warrantless wiretaps, it’s merely the Conservative Value of a less intrusive government into our private lives.
When the House conducts investigations into the practices of the War Profiteers, it’s really the Conservative Value of fiscal responsibility.
When Congress repeals tax cuts, restoring the tax base to what it was when we were paying off the national debt, it’s really the Conservative Value of fiscal responsibility.
When Congress votes to end the War in Iraq, it’s really a Conservative Vote for smaller government.
When Congress votes to impeach and convict individuals of “high crimes and misdemeanors” including war crimes and crimes against humanity, Congress is upholding Conservative Moral Values.
When Congress votes to extent the protections of the 14th Amendment to women and all individuals regardless of sexual orientation, it is following the lead of the Party of Lincoln.
When Congress votes to protect the medical decisions between a doctor and patient, it is upholding the Conservative Value of limited federal government and non-intrusion into personal decisions.
When Congress votes to allow States the right to permit the medicinal use of marijuana, it is upholding the Conservative Value of State’s Rights.
When Congress votes to repeal the No Child Left Behind Act, it is upholding the Conservative Value of leaving educational decisions to State and Local Communities.
When you get right down to it, there’s a great congruence between Conservative and Liberal Values.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:32 amFox News — catapulting the propaganda.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:33 amswitching gears…
after a nasty campaign where the conservatives regularly claimed that the democrats were the party of wild-eyed far-left hippies, the sudden appearance of this new claim that the democrats’ electoral victory was really a victory for conservatives …….
November 10th, 2006 at 10:34 amYes, yes, Fox, it’s a conservative victory.
Changing course in Iraq will conserve lives.
Raising the minimum wage will conserve real wages.
And protecting Social Security will conserve the middle class.
The crazy radicals who wanted to destroy it all lost on Tuesday.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:34 amfrom #8
media reform.
now.
Comment by Briseadh na Faire
Darn right. What I hope will happen is that we get the Fairness Doctrine reinstated, a breakup of the media monopilies and something to insure that never again will 8 businesses own 90% of the media in America.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:36 amI’m afraid that many people will be lulled into complacency, arguing that since there’s a divided government now, the media must be free and fair.
Media monopoly isn’t good for anybody anywhere on the political spectrum. If the internet remains as free as it has, there’s hope for those with regular internet access. Many people’s opinions are shaped by what they hear passively on TV and radio, and those media are still under a monopoly by and large
#24 David
What I hope will happen is that we get the Fairness Doctrine reinstated, a breakup of the media monopilies and something to insure that never again will 8 businesses own 90% of the media in America.
Breaking up a monoply is all well and good, but something like the Fairness Doctrine shouldn’t be allowed to happen, interepreted poorly or vaguely enough, it could shut down all sorts of programming through out the airwaves.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:41 amIt isn’t just Fox News that’s making this claim. I’ve heard the same thing from numerous pundits across the board from the Charlie Rose show to the Washington Post. The beltway pundits, Corporate Media and DLC hacks started this meme even before the elections. They’ve totally ignored the economic populism expressed by most of the winning Democrats and the historic election of Bernie Sanders to the Senate. I was listening to Morning edition on NPR today and after interviewing Jim Webb who stated his candidacy was not just about the Iraq war but about the growing divide between the rich and the middle class the NPR “journalists” dismissed his claim. The pundits have had their marching orders from the big corporate interests in hand since before the election. Here’s a good article slapping down the spin:
November 10th, 2006 at 10:43 amhttp://alternet.org/story/44108/
The people at Fox News are professional propagandists employed by a corporate fascist who will not give up the mission. The election is a mere setback. They still have the presidency, and can’t afford to lose it. l expect that Fox will get even meaner and lie more boldly than ever before. They will continue to spew disinformation, spin, and lies, whatever it takes to hold the 30% base together and divide the opposition. The next election is only two years away, and campaigning has already begun. Expect Fox to show extreme aggression in revising recent Republican history in whatever way helps their presidential candidate.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:45 amBWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAH
[catching breath]
AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAH!!!
[weeping tears of astonished bemusement]
November 10th, 2006 at 10:47 am#26 If anything, the opposite is the case- as Krugman pointed out today, The Democratic majority in Congress doesn’t turn on the support of conservative Democrats in the South.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:48 amRemember, we need to hold people accountable. Let Speaker Pelosi, the media, etc. know that we want our gov’t to fix this mess. You can go here..http://democraticleader.house.gov/. Here is a letter I sent. If a message isn’t sent now, I thnk that all the crimes are going to be overlooked or pardoned. This makes me sick to think about. Please write!
Dear Speaker Pelosi,
First of all I would like to offer my sincere congratulations on the Democratic takeover the House and soon to be Senate. I hope you realize that the American people voted this way because we are tired of the corruption and lies, the do nothing attitude of the people in power.
I would also like to urge you to make a different stand on reconciliation with this administration. Americans have spoken; we want to see those who abused America pay for their crimes. We want impeachment. We want investigations. We want accountability. How else is justice going to be served? How can we as a nation make sure a clear message is sent that we will not tolerate a repeat of the travesties that have occurred in the last 6 years to our nation and Constitution?
Yes, unity as a nation is important. Showing those who would abuse us that it is not acceptable to do so again will be the foundation that strengthens America into progress, both foreign and domestic.
We have spoken, and like Lady Liberty, we want justice for all, justice for us.
Thank you,
November 10th, 2006 at 10:49 am#26 Yes, this is a common theme among Beltway-poisoned pundits who are nominally Democrats, like Weisberg and Reed at Slate, and most of the Washington Post, for example. Reality has left these people behind, and right now they are more confused than the folks at Fox, who at least understand their mission.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:49 am“Liberal”s been a dirty word for so long, even people who really are liberal are reluctant to identify themselves as liberal. For so long we’ve heard that “America is a conservative country” that we just assume that’s what it is.
What is and isn’t “conservative” (or “liberal) has gotten completely unobjective- assuming there ever was a time when these labels could be objectively applied.
Conservative administrations in the US for the last 30 years have thrown taxpayers money around way more than liberal ones, and yet people claim that being careful with taxpayer’s money and staying under budget is a conservative value. Same thing with “shrinking the government”, even though there’s not much evidence for conservatives in power shrinking the government, it’s considered a conservative value.
“Family values”, that vague and amorphous concept, is something which conservative families claim to have in greater amounts than liberal ones. People taking polls automatically assume that “family values” IS something real, and the pollsters automatically associate it with conservatism. My family is fairly liberal, and yet our values are 90% the same as those values of a conservative family.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:49 amTPers — this is my first chance to weigh in after the election….
First, congratulations on the Dem win. I think the vote was pretty much a repudiation of the Repubs lack of ability to lead — both domestically and on the war on terror. To be honest, if I could have voted for Dems who showed even a slight inclination on fiscal restraint I would have done so.
That said, I don’t think the election result was a vote for progressivism so much as a vote against ineptness. Fox is probably over-spinning but so is TP in the other direction.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:52 amHow do they explain that the most conservative democrat running Harold Ford Jr. lost?
November 10th, 2006 at 10:54 amThe folks at Faux will say just about anything (and I do mean anything, no matter how ludicrous) in order to make it appear as though their team is the one which is really winning even when it isn’t — whether it’s misidentifying Mark Foley as a Democrat or trying to suggest that this election was a conservative victory because the Republicans who were booted out of Congress weren’t real conservatives.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:54 amNext they’ll be reporting that all those elected were really republicans.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:55 amIf they now want to call progressive Democrats “conservative” in order to make themselves feel better about the election, I say fine. They can use whatever label they want.
I guess liberal is the new conservative. Whatever.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:56 amNo need to get all fussy about them saying that. Cause guess who Fox New’s viewers are? The SAME Americans who voted for these Democrats.
It’s as if Fox is trying to tell it’s viewers what they think. But as stupid as Fox viewers may be, I think they know why they made the decisions they did when they went to vote. Everyone going to vote had strong feelings this time.
Another thing is, no matter how much Fox News tries to spin this, we’ll see that the government will not lean to the right anymore - and there will be your proof that Fox is wrong.
So why complain about this? The voters already know what they beleive, and the news members of congress with further illustrate it. Doesn’t matter what Fox News says.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:56 amA vote for a Democrat is a vote for Republicans?????
Wierd logic ….er no logic.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:57 amHow do they explain that the most conservative democrat running Harold Ford Jr. lost?
He was black in Tennessee.
November 10th, 2006 at 10:58 amThe centrist Dems aren’t conservatives, they are pragmatists. And if there’s anything our country needs right now, it’s a healthy dose of pragmatism rather than faith in ideology. Conservatism is dead.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:00 amWith commentary like this, who needs msm TV anyway.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:07 amFox is very out of touch as are a lot of conservatives.
The guy that won the Senate for Democrats (Webb) worked for Reagan. Many of the Republicans who lost were the liberal ones from new england and the midwest. You also have pro-life, pro-gun Christian Democrats winning in the South. Lieberman won as an Independent over the more liberal Democrat. I think their strategy of moving to the middle was smart for the democrats. This is not sour grapes. The Democrats mopped up in this election. It is however, an honest assessment of were the country is trending.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:08 amDitto re: Krugman.
It was a brilliant point that this is the first solid Dem majority that didn’t rely on dixiecrats. If you look at congress maps of everything up to the 92 and compare to now the blue has shifted to the northeast bigtime.
This is a not your papa’s dem house majority.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:08 am#25
Breaking up a monoply is all well and good, but something like the Fairness Doctrine shouldn’t be allowed to happen, interepreted poorly or vaguely enough, it could shut down all sorts of programming through out the airwaves.
Comment by squegeeboo
Hmm. Could be right.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:08 amLimiting the monopolies, though, is some government action which is more easily defined and less subject for interpretation. I think that many of us are afraid that someday we’ll turn on the TV at 6:30 to see somebody sitting a desk, and a voiceover announces “This is Viacom/Disney/Touchstone Pictures/Time-Warner-Popular Mechanics/AOL/ General Electric/MSNBC/Newsweek/Newscorp/Clearchannel/Exxon-Mobile/Glaxo-Smith-Wellcome/ Citycorp (formerly Bank of America, formerly M&T Bank, formerly Fleetbank, CVS, Highlights Magazine and Monro Muffler-Brake) Evening News.”
let’s be fair. “when you ain’t got nothin’, you got nothin’ to lose”
if all we have to comment on is the press, we will miss the boat. it isn’t the press that is going to expose the crime. they seem to have given up on that in favor of book deals
November 10th, 2006 at 11:10 amIt was SO refreshing to read “respected” newspapers and world leaders applauding the Dem sweep!! Besides the bird cage liners all over Europe, the Iranian President, his new BFF, Hugo Chavez and “Dr.” Zawahiri applaud the Dem takeover!! Such august company!
Conservatives have sent a strong and clear message to Repubs - we want ear marks and out of control spending kicked to the curb, and a strong national defense to protect our country and her interests while the “head in the sand” folks break into the Kumbayaa/Imagine chorus.
Busy day, Progs…..’til later….
November 10th, 2006 at 11:10 am#45 Dave
Limiting the monopolies, though, is some government action which is more easily defined and less subject for interpretation.
Right, and I’m all for that, you just have to be willing to rebreak them up every couple of decades, as ‘Ma Bell’ is showing us currently with her Voltron like rebuilding.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:17 amThis corporatist counter-intuitive spin from corporations and their mouthpieces in the media, Republican party and the DLC is pure Orwellian BS that’s not supported by the facts. But what more can you expect from people who believe that war is peace, freedom is slavery and “free” (corporate and elite controlled) markets are a substitute for democracy?
November 10th, 2006 at 11:20 amTalk about your revisionists! Now Liberals and Democrats are now conservatives?
Thats one way to keep the ‘Conservative Dominance’
BAWAHAHHAHAHAA!!!!
This is soo Lame, is Karl still drunk, or WHAT!!!?
November 10th, 2006 at 11:24 amYes let me call myself a Conservative to show how I ridicule them!!
November 10th, 2006 at 11:27 amOf course I am not suprised by the Neo-cons confusion with words and History!
Black Madonna is honored as a true Goddess figure, and has been since Christianityv [watch George Allen flip] entered Europe. She is honored by many as Isis, Gaia, Kali, Mary, “the Other Mary” (Mary Magdalene), Diana, Sheela Na Gig, and the Ancient Primal Earth-Mother Goddess, Diana Artemis, etc etc..there are as many names for Mary as their are for God!!
I am a Christian, this is true, but a progressive, and not regressive one!
November 10th, 2006 at 11:39 amThats what happens with privatization. The corporations leave out any public scrutiny. Media privatization = they say what they want. Nobody can do anything.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:41 amLike I said before. First the right wing gasbags said that there is no room in the Democratic party for conservatives like Zell Miller and Joe Loserman, but now they are saying Democrats won the 2006 election because they ran more conservative candidates.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:45 amRight wing “news” like Fox News really does think that “some” Americans are totally stupid.
They certainly know their base, that’s for sure.
The election results are obvously invalid due to the Democrats being in bed with Diebold and the disenfrnachisement of white voters in predominantly black neigborhoods!
Pelosi = Hitler!
November 10th, 2006 at 11:48 amCorporations are a creation of mankind to produce useful products for the consumption of mankind not to control or manage society. Man does have life so he can liveto work he works so he can live and enjoy the fruits of his labors.
He who yokes man to his labor surely is a sinner of the worst kind for the corporation in effect, wishes to enslave mankind and yoke him to profits, and the lust of money is the root of all evil!!
A very bad sin that is to be a usurer of man and woman.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:48 amHeh!
November 10th, 2006 at 11:50 amOh, and I forgot — if a Dem wins the Presidency in 08 I’m moving to France!
November 10th, 2006 at 11:51 amgood. let ‘em spin until they fall down.
First step has been accomplished: grab the reigns of power
Next step: consolidate position, start rolling back “the bush accomplishments”, and implement the progressive agenda.
Third Step: make sufficient progress to position democrats for further gains in 2008 including winning the presidency.
Long term: continue moving the democratic party in small steps to the left, complete with so-called conservative democrats and incorporating increasing progressivity.
Lastly: populate the history books with the period of 1980 to 2006 as the dark days of the US regressive movement that nearly destroyed the US as a nation of indivdual freedom, equality, civil rights, and the common good.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:53 am.
Wow - So this is the new madness?
So then …
… When Mike Tyson knocked out Micheal Spinks in 90 seconds - Spinks actually won the fight?
… By losing 101 games - the Tampa Bay Devil Rays actually won the 2006 World Series. The Devil Rays then got to pick two random teams to play meaningless exhibition games in October.
… The Arizona Cardinals are the best team in the NFL. Probably the best team to ever play the game. Their dominance is easy to see. They have only won one game all year.
… Serial killers are probably the most mentally stable, well adjusted people you could ever hope to meet.
… Pat Robertson can leg press over 2000 lbs.
… Halle Berry and Jessica Alba are not attractive women … ( whoa … THAT was hard to type - even in sacrcasm … )
… And for you Red State Republicans - according to the new FOX standard - Johnny Cash was just an amateur putz. Billy Ray Cyrus, on the other hand, is arguably the best musican to ever play country music.
(Sorry, … Halle and Jessica are attractive women. Even I can’t be that sarcastic …)
November 10th, 2006 at 11:53 amI think FOX can claim that because they have reduced the meaning of “conservative” to “anti-gay”. That’s it. That’s the whole ball of wax these days.
November 10th, 2006 at 11:56 amBwahahahhahahaaaa!!
November 10th, 2006 at 12:03 pmUntil Mark foley, Haggard and many others blow that hypothesis right out of the water!!
November 10th, 2006 at 12:05 pmRE: #15
Give me a break. There were no democrats saying that the republican win in 2000 & 2004 meant that America had shifted to the left because Dubya was a progressive.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:07 pm#30 Bluedahlia,
Good letter. I think I’ll write one to her also. I understand how if impeachment is not handled correctly, it could backfire on the Dems. I agree that there have too many high crimes and misdemeanors committed by this administration to ignore. Something has to be done. Even if they don’t actually press for impeachment, they MUST investigate the abuses of power, and the contractor fraud committed by people who didn’t have to bid for our money (it was just handed to them.) Expose the corruption, for the record, for all of America to see. And too bad who gets hurt in the process. I couldn’t care less if this means the end of Halliburton, KBR, Bechtel and all the other thieves.
We have waited too long to be told that our concerns aren’t important enough to be addressed. Our concerns are the reasons the Dems are in power. They better listen to us. We can vote them out, too.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:09 pmThey’ll do anything to not break their view on reality. It’s just sad, really.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:13 pmTalk about clinging to relevance!!! What a hapless batch of loser/liars…..
November 10th, 2006 at 12:13 pmYou know that I love what TP does for the true patriots of this country….and I appreciate it; however, please don’t continue to be a mouthpiece for Faux News. They’re a disgrace and the most illegitimate, unrealistic news program on the air. They neither deserve blog space nor air time. Soon they may realize that the JohnStewart Comedy Central show has more honest, fair, balanced, and realistic news than they do. they’re both a comedy & a tragedy.
They’re “yesterday’s news”…..outed as an unfair, biased, and a GOP mouthpiece. They’re a bunch of low-brow buffoons whom no one will be watching at all because it’s become painfully obvious and hideous that they are spinning BS 100% of the time. What a waste of air space!
November 10th, 2006 at 12:25 pm#47 Hey mighty hermaphrodite, busy day huh? Got a long list of imaginary clients to talk to you in your imaginary law office?
Yes, you’ve summed it up, pretty much everyone, decent and non-decent alike, hates bush. Hating Bush and the thugs pulling his strings is not a measure of a persons moral character.. its just a measure of their intellectual quotient.
Smart conservatives know Bush is ruining thier reputation. Everyone else knows that bush is ruining… well.. everything else. Unless your a war profiteer making more money off killing children than abortion docs could ever dream of, or your a shortsighted, scandal ridden corporate bigwig, your not going to like bush. There are dozens, probably hundreds, of very varied, very legitimate reasons to hate bush.
And I’m sick and tired of this “bad men think X so X is automatically bad. If the terrorists were against incest would you argue we should incourage incest or the terrorist win?” Please answer that.
Also, why dont you follow the feeble neural spasms you call “logic” to its ultimate train wreck of a conclusion and apply your same standards of judgement to bush lovers as to bush haters. How many meth addled rednecks are crying in thier white pillowsheets because bush’s boys got whupped? I’ll bet there were alot of Klansmen rooting for Bush and Macaca..
ps. if your really a lawyer do you mind telling us what the legal test is for
determining whether a law is establishing a religion?
also, whats the difference between a contract and a promise?
you should have learned these things in your first year of law school.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:26 pmI don’t know where someone to whom logical thought is so alien could have gotten their law degree from… maybe MacacaKlansman University?
Aren’t there rules for the “truthful presentation of news” mandated by the FCC? Surely, Faux News and their outright lies can be investigated and brought to justice for their “fakery” and “fictitious account of reality”, can’t they?
November 10th, 2006 at 12:27 pmFaux News deserves to have complaints filed against them for presenting fiction as fact…..
November 10th, 2006 at 12:28 pmIf Americans want to think they Democrats are conservative, I really don’t care if it means they will then vote Democrat because they think we are conservative.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:35 pm“that,” not “they”
November 10th, 2006 at 12:36 pmA very bad sin that is to be a usurer of man and woman.
Comment by Dog_named_Boo
English Protestants invented usury.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:46 pmI think this is a good thing that Fox is doing this. They are in sulking mode right now trying to reassure the “base” that everything is still okay and the country really does still like conservatives. If they keep saying this long enough, it will HELP the Democrat incumbants in two years! Because, after all, if FOX NEWS said they were “conservative” enough for conservatives to vote for, it MUST be perfectly okay to vote for them again! The Democrats have a lot of “redistricting” work to do to roll back the unfair advantages put into place over the past twelve years so that Americans are, once again, truly represented by their House Representative. If Fox wants to help them out like this by making them appealing to the conservative base, GO FOR IT! The only thing they are doing is making “Democrat” no longer a bad word for conservatives.
Keep it up, Fox!
November 10th, 2006 at 12:48 pmWelcome to the Twilight Zone, where a turn left brings you to… the right. I always said that Fox believers live in an alternate reality…
And, #58, Cynicon Implant I see you are anxious to know LePen. Two of a kind, I figure. But I predict that you will suffer a lot of headaches and fear in France. People tend to be far more progressive than any Dem in the USA. And there are a lot more muslims than in the USA. And wear weapons isn’t allowed to civilians.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:52 pmLiberal is the new Conservative.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:03 pm#75
November 10th, 2006 at 1:14 pmI agree with you completely! These guys at fox are such idiots! And we should not be offended at being labelled as conservatives. Hey! Yes we are conservatives, please vote for us! The downfall of these idiots is their infantile thought process. They never ever think things through!
Jim Webb supports a few republican ideals, but that’s because he’s a thing we’ve forgotten called a MODERATE.
A democrat, in theory, is a moderate who /tends/ to lean left.
A republican, in theory, is a moderate who /tends/ to lean right.
Unforunately, we’ve grown to the point where a democrat is left and only ever left. And a republican is right and only ever right. And because of this, it has destroyed our country.
I hail people like Jim Webb.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:24 pmThank you, Commenter #22. Now I understand, we are all just wild-eyed far-left hippie conservatives! In a way, that may be true. We want to conserve our Constitution, we want to conserve our Bill of Rights, we want to conserve free and honest elections, we want to conserve our environment, we want to conserve human life, rather than destroy it in stupid criminal wars of aggression.
We need to enforce the notion of the public airwaves (radio and over-the-air television) serving the public interest by broadcasting the truth and not just pumping out right-wing corporate neo-con GOP propaganda. Time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Have the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) serve the people and not just the corporate interests.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:27 pmCheers.
Does this mean we can expect FauxNews to give more air time to Democratic candidates? Will FauxNews endorse the Democratic presidential candidate in ‘08?
If that is the case, I really don’t care what label they use as long as they help keep the Republicans out of the White House.
The last thing the US needs is another arrogant, go-it-alone, swashbuckling, anti-science, gay-bashing Republican cowboy in Pensylvannia Ave who will finance his childish fantasies of being a war-time president by borrowing, and denying help to the poor, the disabled.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:28 pm#81 Gregor,
That’s a good point. Once Democrats take official control of Congress, are we still going to see more conservative guests than liberal guests on Fox News Channel shows (or any of the others for that matter, since many of them feature mostly conservative guests)?
November 10th, 2006 at 1:40 pm#2:”This is the FOX news equivalent of sitting naked on the floor, rocking back and forth, sobbing “This can’t be happening†over and over to no one in particular.”
The Macaca version of coping…
November 10th, 2006 at 2:10 pmFOXNews is correct IF it defines “conservative” as wanting to preserve checks and balances in government, save the oppressed, maintain privacy rights, continue the right to a fair trial for an accused, and conserve natural resources. Otherwise, they are conserving their own spinning in their World of Mass Denial (WMD).
November 10th, 2006 at 2:22 pmThen why did the democratic candidates the won have to move more towards the center in order to win? The fact that Ned Lamont lost to Lieberman is a good indicator of this.
November 10th, 2006 at 3:30 pm#78
Can you explain why the Democrats lost more seats in 1994 than the Republicans did in 2006? Senate and House. In the house I think was +54 for the GOP in 1994 vs. +30 for the Donkeys in 2006. Scandals and corruption I think it was
A swing to the left? Doubt it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15643639/site/newsweek/
November 10th, 2006 at 3:45 pmTracy,
Can you explain what you mean by “the democratic candidates had to move towards the center to win”? Where did they move from, and how is their current position different from what it used to be?
November 10th, 2006 at 3:48 pmTracy - thanks for summarizing all the current GOP talking points for us so we don’t have to tune in to Fox. Great cut-and-paste job….or whatever….
November 10th, 2006 at 3:56 pmEr - Fock Snooze…
November 10th, 2006 at 4:30 pmHate to be the one to break it to ya, the Dems didn’t lose a single seat, house or senate. Hmmm. That sounds like a conservative landslide to me.?
Not!
This is clearly the new talking point. In the past two days I’ve heard three different Republicans comment that this is a “center-right country”. It’s the equivalent of sitting on the floor, sticking your fingers in you ears, and whining “I can’t hear you”!
These assholes are just pathetic. If the American populace boots them out of power, they stand there in all their flaming arrogance and stupidity and tell the American people what they really meant by thir votes.
But I have news for these losers: The American people stopped listening to your bullshit on November 7, 2006. Now go the hell away - we’re all completely sick and tired of you.
November 10th, 2006 at 4:41 pmThere’s another meme floating around that needs some attention as well — “the election was a referendum about the Iraq war.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
In summary, the election was about corruption/ethics, the economy, and terrorism with the Iraq War and Values coming in 4th or 5th, depending on how you sum the numbers. The conventional pseudo-conservative hot-buttons like homosexuality and abortion just didn’t play well this time out.
The actual statistics can be seen here on TruthDig.
As for this report from Faux, they are actually right, even though they intended to obscure the truth rather than enlighten. In fact, it was the radical right which was thrown out — the pigs who sought to profit from the destruction of traditional US institutions such as Habeas Corpus, Congressional Oversight, Separation of Church and State and Dirigist Economics. The Democrats who replaced them are more conservative by far. Let’s get it right for once — Bill Clinton was a paragon of conservative values compared to Reagan, Bush41 or Bush43. It has been quite a long time since the Republican party fielded conservative politicians of any kind.
November 10th, 2006 at 4:49 pm#93 - Stoner - Beg to differ.
http://www.gqrr.com/index.php?ID=1824
Clearly points out that Iraq was the primary issue in this election. Asked which one or two issues are most important to them in making up their minds, 37 percent identify Iraq (36 percent in House races, 39 percent in Senate races). No other issue comes within 10 points of this mark.
November 10th, 2006 at 5:10 pmIraq was the number one issue among key swing groups. Iraq was the top issue among seniors (42 percent), Independents (39 percent) and moderate voters (43 percent). Nearly half of voters who supported Democrats in congressional (50 percent) and Senate (47 percent) campaigns identify Iraq as one of their most important issues.
The a-holes at Fox News would refer to a turd in a punchbowl as a “flavor enhancer.”
November 10th, 2006 at 6:07 pmHey, we ALL know that it’ll ONLY be the Repubs who’ll pay the higher taxes.
It will ONLY be the Conservatives and Faith-Nazi Christians who’ll be attacked by terrorists.
These things are true because 1) we Democrats NEVER raise taxes on ourselves; and, 2) the loving folks in Al Quaida only wanted to kill their hateful, Yankee, pig-dog, infidel oppressors–which means only Christian, rich, white people. (Just like all those rich, Christian, white, Republican oppressor-imperialists who died on September 11, right?)
Yes, the sun shines a bit brighter, and we can all breathe a bit easier now that we don’t have to worry about the hateful border security issues, those dumb-headed tax cuts (because who DOESN’T like paying MORE taxes, it is for the greater good, right?), not to mention all that boring God talk, because we ALL know there’s no man sitting on a cloud, right?
Yep, this was a GREAT election!
November 10th, 2006 at 7:25 pmDems who go on FOX are conservative/pro Israel/pro wiretaps.
November 10th, 2006 at 7:34 pmI’ve noticed how the MSM has tried to paint populist democrats as conservatives who will not be able to play nice with Nancy.
November 10th, 2006 at 8:47 pmThese guys just cannot accept the country hates the conservative movement and sees it as a failure and wants change.
They just cannot accept that the Dems are in power and the country wants it that way.
#101
“Jumpwings”
I am perfectly serious, too.
Go f#ck yourself.
November 10th, 2006 at 9:47 pmWhat is conservative about the past six years? The Deficit, illegal, unilateral attacks on nations who have not attacked us, governement intervention in our lives? What part is conservative?
The idiots who think this is conservative are too stupid to know the difference and should not be expected to accept reality…they are truly delusional dumbasses and losing an election will not make any difference to them.
Rave on catshit, somebody will cover you up!
November 11th, 2006 at 1:24 amDid anyone watch Olbermann last night. He just added much needed insult to injury by mentioning about O’Lielly’s ratings dropping again as KO’s ratings were up again. And making Faux News as World’s Worst Person in the World.
Faux News is losing it big time. Hannity and his so-called bitch Colmes are privately crying in their beers. Even Colmes who hadn’t had the balls our Democratic heroes have.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AMERICA IS BACK!!!!!!!!!
November 11th, 2006 at 3:10 amWhat? True conservatism now occupying Congress instead of Democratic moderates? Is that what the neoconservatives are trying to convince us now? I’m too stupefied to respond. So here’s something that should refocus all our thoughts:
We are oft to blame in this—‘Tis too much proved. –that with devotion’s visage and pious action we do o’er the devil himself.
from V for Vendetta
November 11th, 2006 at 3:15 amConservatives are responsable for the disastrous war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11 or terrorism. Conservatives(!) led the US into this huge budget deficit, placing debt on all Americans while giving tax cuts to the wealthiest, extreme measures that no sensible economist can agree with. Conservatives have conserved absolutely nothing of the America the world was proud of. This is exactly the reason why democrats kicked some republican/neocon butt last election, mkay? The fact that Fox can continue to assert these OBVIOUS lies unhindered is the epitome of an America that has lost its intelligence, an America that has lost all reason, an America that is in total confusion, total ignorance, or total stupidity. TAKE YOUR PICK.
November 11th, 2006 at 9:10 am#88
“It’s called GERRYMANDERING!!!”
This helps the incumbent not the challanger! Good liberal whinning response though. Try again.
“Many PUNDITS talked about it going into the election.”
Yeah many LIBERAL pundits!
“So you’re NOW CLAIMING that SCANDALS and not a SWING TO THE RIGHT are what brought about the 1994 into office?”
BOTH! With a more informed electorate, i.e. with the internet, the people found out a few things about liberalism that all the years of limited MS media control had surpressed over the last fourty years. The Democrats lost 30 seats in 1980 and the GOP lost 35 in 2006, and both we a result of the rebuke of the commander-in-chief’s policies (BTW I am glad Rumsfeld is gone). Carter’s economic and Bush’s Iraq policies. The 1994 election couldn’t have been a rebuke against infintile Clinton’s policies but rather the public being more informed. You and I both know that if the Iraq war was going well the is no way in hell the Democrats would have taken back Congress. Although I an not so sure it wasn’t a good thing anyway for conservatives, something this congress wasn’t.
November 11th, 2006 at 10:57 am#94
“The GOPerverts themselves ADMIT that Lieberman has ONE OF THE MOST LIBERAL voting records in the SENATE!!”
But even in LIBERAL Connecticut, he beat Ned Lamont! LOL!
November 11th, 2006 at 11:12 amOK, this is like when people still think Bush is doing a good job, they just look like nuts.
November 11th, 2006 at 11:23 am#86, Tracy
I can give no explaination for the loss for democrats in “94″ It happened before I started paying attention to politics.
November 11th, 2006 at 11:38 amThe reason why republicans lost this year has to do with the last 6 yrs. The only thing the republicans did right in the last 6 years was the Afganistan war. They have failed on everything! The Iraq war, Katrina, the economy (only good for the wealthy), environment and most of all massive, massive corruption, the levels of which we will find out in the cominng months.
None of this has anything to do with liberal or conservative. The people got sick of this bunch of greedy corrupt faliures who to top it all are a bunch of hypocrites.
I am an idependent who voted for Gore and Kerry, but I was dismayed to read on talking points memo that top commitee chairs and leadership positons are going to democrats with dubious ethics. If the democrats are not careful, they will be the ones crying into their soup in ‘08′ and no Howard Dean and 50 state policy will save them!
“I am perfectly serious, too.
Go f#ck yourself.
Comment by Triumph”
Now THAT is the kind of love, tolerance and embracing of diversity that I’m talking about!
I guess my honesty as a Progressive touched a nerve and engendered all these loving responses.
I mean, that is what we as Liberals are about, right?
Love, understanding, and tolerance of diverse ideas
Because I thought the hate and intolerance thing was a hallmark of the arsehelmet neo-cons.
Oh, and hypocrisy too.
You know, that whole thing where you yell and stomp and swear up and down that you’re FOR one thing…while ACTUALLY showing that you’re about the complete opposite.
Like wearing a ” I (heart) Diversity” sweatshirt while spreading little hatebombs for anyone who ISN’T like you.
Why are so many of my fellow Progressives AFRAID to admit they want every neocon knee to bow, every soul to kow tow with the advance of the Liberal Long March to the Peoples Victory in ‘08?
We KNOW better that the silly retrograde neocons, right? Pffffft tax cuts! MORE revenue enhancement makes for BETTER government involvement in ALL out lives, right?
We ALL know that our individual lives will be SO much BETTER with MORE government oversight, right?
Just so long as that government involvement in our lives is overseen by caring people like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid… and NOT by retrograde, knuckle-dragger, neocon arsehelmet tools like Hastert and Delay, right?
Because with the Progressive movement advancing now we can be assured of an end to all this God-talk, anti-choice talk, pro-gun talk. And a government that keeps out god, let’s a woman decide if that thing inside her is a glob like a melanoma to be cut out, or keeps guns out of the hands of anybody NOT in law enforcement is the BEST kind of government, right?
Progressives should look towards this new government with eager anticipation (just like they did in Germany in the 1930’s…because THAT government CARED about its citizens too.)
Yes, a new day dawns…let’s greet it with a proud, statist smile!
November 11th, 2006 at 12:20 pm#113
“Dumpwings”
I think you mispelled a few words in your post. I think what you really meant to say was …
“I guess my dishonesty in pretending to be a Progressive touched a nerve …
I guess so.
That, and your actual mockery of tolerance and diversity through your bullsh#t sarcasm.
Write whatever you want. If, however, it is in the same vein as the other crap that you have written, my response can found found in post #102.
November 11th, 2006 at 12:35 pm5 Point Liberal Agenda For New Democratic Congress
1. Mandatory homosexuality
2. Drug-filled condoms in schools
3. Introduce the new Destruction of Marriage Act
4. Border fence replaced with free shuttle buses
5. Osama Bin Laden to be Secretary of State
6. Withdraw from Iraq, apologize, reinstate Hussein
7. English language banned from all Federal buildings
8. Math classes replaced by encounter groups
9. All taxes to be tripled
10. All fortunes over $250,000 to be confiscated
11. On-demand welfare
12. Tofurkey to be named official Thanksgiving dish
13. Freeways to be removed, replaced with light rail systems
14. Pledge of Allegiance in schools replaced with morning flag-burning
15. Stem cells allowed to be harvested from any child under the age of 8
16. Comatose people to be ground up and fed to poor
17. Quarterly mandatory abortion lottery
18. God to be mocked roundly
19. Dissolve Executive Branch: reassign responsibilities to UN
20. Jane Fonda to be appointed Secretary of Appeasement
21. Outlaw all firearms: previous owners assigned to anger management therapy
22. Texas returned to Mexico
23. Ban Christmas: replace with Celebrate our Monkey Ancestors Day
24. Carter added to Mount Rushmore
25. Modify USA’s motto to “Land of the French and the home of the brave”
November 11th, 2006 at 12:41 pmRe: Post 114:
“Dumpwingsâ€
Comment by Triumph
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, cut me to the QUICK!!
Is THAT what passes for deep, insightful, intellecutal ripostes?
What’s next, friend, you going to bust out with a chorus of “neener-neener-nyah-nyah” and break out the withering, and utterly bone-crushing “your mamma” insults?
So much for the joining of hands and the being of one gentle, unified accord.
Do continue to prove my points…it’s ever so much better when there are more backs bent to the lifting in a collective, for the lazy worker is the resented worker.
November 11th, 2006 at 1:14 pmAddendum to comment on Post 114:
#113
“Dumpwingsâ€
I think you mispelled a few words in your post.
No, IF I HAD misspelled anything it would look like this:
kno, ef ay hed mizpeld enneytheng et wud luk layk thez.
What I thinkyou meant to say, but did not—possibly owing to a mediocre public school education–, was that you “think” (heh) I OMITTED a few words.
Which I didn’t.
November 11th, 2006 at 1:37 pm#112
“the economy (only good for the wealthy), ”
I am an architect in Dallas and this idea that only the wealthy are only benefiting is bogus. My family income is about 83k and I have so much work to do that my work weeks are 55+ hrs. If I have alot of work to do then the building industry has alot to do which as you know include thousands of different product that go into commercial buildings from HVAC equipement to masonry products to gypsum board.
November 11th, 2006 at 3:43 pmDear JumpWINGS - How refreshing to read a sane post here at TP!! The “tolerance” of many Progs/Progettes can usually be attributed to one or more reasons:
a.) They feel guilty about the inequity of their trust fund- not enough to forego it - BUT they DO feeeeel guilty.
b.) They made poor choices in life (got pregnant before they got married, dropped out of school, etc.) and resent haivng THERIR decisions affect THEIR lives.
c.) Their lives attain more meaning due to their generosity and caring. Their actions might be honourable but they enjoy self-congratulations like a WINO gulps Ripple.
Welcome!!! Please visit often!
November 11th, 2006 at 6:25 pmFunny, some of Mama’s items are worth considering…
November 11th, 2006 at 8:36 pmmostly though, this thread has gone to the trolls.
#118
November 11th, 2006 at 8:38 pmMaybe your comment about the economy is valid (by the way its more shame for the republicans that they lost, if the ecomomy is good). I think that when ordinary people talk about the economy they relate it to their own situation (maybe I will get ridiculed for saying this). In this respect I do not think that there has been an improvement in the financial lives of people. Health care costs have skyrocketed. I (and presumably others) am paying much more for health insurance than I was 6 yrs ago. The minimum wage has not been raised for 10 yrs (whilst the congress has been giving itself pay raises!). I can go on and on. I do not think that the lives of middle class Americans have improved under the republicans. That I think is he bottom line. Maybe you see things differently. But I think this time enough people have seen things the way I see them and hence the election results.
Bush Administration, Dying at the Border
This is from “Skeptical Economistâ€. This is the one of the best articles I have ever read on economics and illegal immigration.
It is no secret that the Bush administration is failing and failing badly. The woes of the administration are legion, Iraq, immigration, the economy, Katrina, health care, gasoline prices, etc. The impact on public opinion is profound. Bush is well on his way to being one of the least popular presidents in U.S. history. His current popularity rating of 31% may be a high water mark. The twenties and perhaps teens are not that far off. Increasingly he has lost, not just liberals and mainstream Americans, but conservatives as well. The key question is why? Why has this once promising administration gone downhill so far and so fast? Is it just bad luck or is their a deeper force at work? In my view, the ideology and practice of Open Borders has condemned this president to complete failure. Could the Bush administration turn itself around by changing its stance on immigration? Yes, but it is exceedingly unlikely to happen. Bush is doomed and may not finish his term in office.
It is clear that the immigration polices of this administration are deeply unpopular and contrary to what the public wants. Clearly, immigration is contributing mightily to the low standing of this president. However, immigration is also directly responsible for the economic failings of this president and is (one step removed) also responsible for the debacle in Iraq. Immigration is also partially responsible for all of the other problems (Kartrina, gasoline prices, health care, Dubai ports, etc.). The links between immigration and what ails Bush (and America) are explained in more detail below. What should be clear by the end, is that immigration is either directly or partially for everything (and there is a lot) that is weighing down this president.
The immigration failures of this administration are obvious. The border is totally out of control and Bush completely refuses to even try to control it. Ordinary Americans are demanding immigration control and Bush has abandoned even the pretense of enforcing our laws (by some measures enforcement has declined by 95% at least, but other measures 100%). Ordinary Americans fiercely resent illegal aliens taking over their neighborhoods, jobs, and schools. Bush actually proposed legislation to replace every American worked with a foreigner who would do the same job for less (the “willing worker†program).
To call the administration out of touch on immigration would be an injustice to the language. Polls show strong support for greatly intensified enforcement. Bush is still trying to have the Kennedy Amnesty bill passed. Why the administration is so committed to policies that the American people regard as toxic is another matter. However, the reality of a president at war with his own people on this issue, should not be in doubt. Astoundingly, Zogby finds that only 17% of Americans approve of Bush’s immigration policies (7). On border security, Bush gets a 16% approval rating.
Immigration is also responsible for Bush’s economic woes. Superficially the economy should be a source of considerable strength for Bush. The high level numbers are actually rather good. Unemployment is down to 4.6% from a peak of 6.3% in June of 2003. GDP growth in Q1 2006 was 4.8%. The economy grew by 2.7% in 2003, 4.2% in 2004, and 3.5% in 2005. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied from a low of 7286 on October 9th, 2002 to a recent high of 11,643 on May 10, 2006. That a gain of 59.8% in less than four years. The S&P is up 57.25% in the same period. Definitely a lot for investors to cheer about, particularly in the aftermath of the Tech Bubble and corporate scandals (Enron, Tyco, Health South, etc.).
The zooming stock market has reflected fast rising corporate profits. Pretax profits bottomed out at $714 billion (annual rate) in 3Q2001 and have since risen to $1,293 billion in 3Q2005 (not adjusted for inflation) (11). As a percent of GDP profits have grown from 7.0% of GDP (3Q2001) to a peak of 10.9% of GDP in 2Q2005 (down to 10.3% in 3Q2005). At 10.9% of GDP, corporate profits were higher than any year since 1968.
The productivity numbers have also been very, very good. Nonfarm productivity has risen by 17% or more since 2001. What the BLS calls multifactor productivity is up almost 8% since 2000. Per-worker/GDP is perhaps the broadest measure of productivity growth. In chained 2000 dollars, per-worker GDP is up by 8.73%. CPI-U adjusted, per-worker GDP has grown by 7.95%. The strong growth in productivity has almost completely offset nominal wage growth. Unit labor costs have only risen by 4.3% since 2001 (9).
Of course, Americans haven’t been shy about spending under Bush. Indeed, it’s been party time for several years as anyone who travels or frequents upscale restaurants can attest. The number tell the same happy story. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) rose by 15.64% from 1Q2001 to 4Q2005. Not bad given that GDP only rose by 13.9% in the same five years (13).
As you can see it is easy to come up with a whole panoply of good economic news. But still… The American people just don’t agree. Poll after poll give gloomy views on the economy. Indeed 59% of Americans rate the economy as only “fair†or “poor†(8). Is the public wrong? Deluded? Confused by liberals? Where it only so. The sad truth is that the economic boom has passed the American people by. Indeed, they are suffering more from the backwash of inflated prices than enjoying any of the fruits. Why? As is all too frequently the case, Open Borders is killing the American Dream by making sure that only immigrants (legal and illegal) and the elites get richer while ordinary Americans get poorer.
This is not some liberal/left-wing fantasy. Indeed the left goes to great pains to avoid using the “I†word when they are talking about jobs/wages/incomes. The sad reality is that from the standpoint of ordinary working Americans, the economy is weak, at best. Some of the facts are downright scary. For example, only 9% of the new jobs created from 2000 to 2005 when to the American people even though Americans accounted for 61% of adult population growth (1). Worse, labor force participation has been falling since Bush took office (10). In January of 2001, it was 67.2%. Now it is 66.1%. You have to go back to the first days of the Clinton administration to find numbers this low (actually 66.2% in January of 1993). Labor force participation does not normally fall in an expanding economy… (12). Indeed, this appears to be the first recovery with declining labor force participation.
Sadly, the minority data is worse. Black male labor force participation has fallen from 69.4% in January of 2001 to 67.7% in May of 2006. Black female labor force participation declined from 60.1% to 59.1% in the same time period. Hispanic labor force participation (both sexes) has also declined, from 69.9% in January of 2001 to 68.7% in May of 2005.
The jobs growth numbers all point in the same direction. This is, by far, the worst recovery in modern history for employment. The last recession ended in November of 2001. Since then (actually the next 48 months) employment has grown by 4.7%. The worst prior recovery enjoyed jobs growth of 6.2%. The average recovery since the 1960s has produced 9.5% growth in jobs. Sadly, the payroll employment data is much worse (14) showing only 2.6% growth over 4 years.
Average weekly earnings peaked back in November of 2003 and have since declined. Amazingly, weekly wages are now back where they were in 1959 and 17% below the high in 1972. Forty six years without a raise. Something to be proud of. Not surprisingly the poverty rate has risen steadily since Bush took office. Back in 2000 the poverty rate was 11.3%. By 2004 it reach 12.7%. The poverty rate always rises in recessions. This may be the first boom with rising poverty (3).
Median household income tells the same tale of woe. Median incomes have declined every year Bush has been in office and are now 3.8% ($1740) below the 1999 level (4). Quite an accomplishment for a president who thinks tax cuts for the wealthy will make us rich.
The superficially nice consumption numbers (15.64% growth in five years) start looking rather dodgy once you look under the covers. Cleary GDP didn’t grow nearly fast enough to pay the piper. Nor did compensation keep pace. Indeed, compensation of employees rose by only 8.3% in the same period. Something had to give. Indeed, the savings rate fell from 2.4% of disposable income in 1Q2001 to -0.5% in 4Q2005 and -1.3% in 1Q2006. Where is the money coming from? Greenspan found the home equity extraction reached $600 billion in 2004 (15)(16) an immodest 7% of disposable income. Are folks using their homes as ATM machines really thrilled with the economy? Does ever rising debt pave the road to heaven? Or would that be hell?
Of course, none of this had to be true. Productivity has risen strongly in recent years (see above). Soaring productivity could have brought large wage and salary gains to ordinary Americans. Productivity alone should have increased incomes by 8% since 2000. No one likes paying $3 for gasoline. However, not too many people would be complaining with fast rising wages. This is not a fantasy. In the 1950s and 60s, wages and median incomes rose right along with the economy. Then we abandoned our borders…
There are other dismal numbers as well (after all economics is the “Dismal Scienceâ€). Household inequality has increased under Bush (5). Inequality also went up under Clinton (â€no interior enforcementâ€). Back when we took our borders seriously it declined, from 1947 to 1968. Inequality only started to soar when mass immigration resumed in the 1970s. Predictably, male median earnings fell from 2002 to 2004 and are now lower than they were back in 1973. The percentage of Americans without health insurance has risen from 14.2% in 2000 to 15.7% in 2004. Employment based health insurance fell from 63.6% in 2000 to 59.8% in 2004 (6). Why bother proving benefits when you have illegals?
If the economic statistics weren’t bad enough for Bush, we have the Iraq debacle. Is Open Borders really responsible for Iraq? At least indirectly, the answer is clearly yes. No we aren’t fighting illegal aliens in Ramadi or Sadr city. However, the connection to Open Borders is far from trivial. The easiest linkage is simply the cast of characters. Almost without exception, the cheerleaders for the Iraq war were Open Borders fanatics. Of course, the WSJ and Senor Bush fall into this category. However, you will also find the likes of Fred Barnes (The Weekly Standard), William Kristol (The Weekly Standard), Ben Wattenberg (AEI), and Michael Barone (US News & World Report) in this group.
By contrast, the strongest advocates of immigration reform were generally skeptical of the Iraq war or overtly opposed (Michelle Malkin being a rare exception). What is the connection? Both the Iraq war and Open Borders were/are based on a panglossian view of human nature. If you think America can tolerate massive legal/illegal third world immigration, then the idea that Iraq could be transformed into a model Middle Eastern nation with human rights, free elections, a free-market economy, peace with Israel, and U.S. bases might make sense. Saner voices recognized both ideas as deeply crazy. Crushing Saddam’s murderous and ultimately dangerous (sanctions were fading) regime might have made sense. Pouring American blood into the desolate soils of the Middle East to nurture “democracy†was, and is, folly.
Is immigration responsible for the other problems weighing on the Bush administration? In many cases, the answer is yes, at least to some extent. Only a president deeply wedded to Open Borders would have threatened his very first veto over the Dubai ports deal. A saner administration would have quashed the deal upfront or authorized it only after deep and credible scrutiny. Gasoline prices? The population of the U.S. has risen by 82 million since the mid-1970s when we built our last oil refinery. Most of the growth has been do to immigration. Runaway population growth doesn’t work with highly limited energy development. Something has to give, prices it would seem. A different president would make these choices clear or simply tell the American people that immigration must be stopped until we have a consensus in favor new pipelines, power plants, refineries, offshore drilling, etc. Hard choices in the Pollyanna world of Senor Bush? They don’t exist.
The immigration sickness infecting U.S. health care has already been mentioned. Of course, as the uninsured population explodes the costs fall on taxpayers and those with private insurance. These burdens make insurance even less affordable, pushing more and more folks into the ranks of those without. Why so-called conservatives would demand an immigration policy than can only end with socialized medicine boggles the mind. Perhaps non compos mentis explains it all.
Did Open Borders bring Katrina to the Big Easy? Actually, No. Even the most ardent restrictionists don’t suggest an enforceable ban on category 5 hurricanes. However, in a normal economy the reconstruction work would be providing well paid job opportunities for poor and working class Americans. Such a thing will never happen with Bush in office.
The Bush administration is clearly infected with some kind of “End of History†globalist worldview where mass migration is both inevitable and desirable. In this wonderful future fantasy, borders will disappear and all of mankind will embrace capitalism, free markets, free trade, democracy, etc. Sadly, this Pollyannaish view of the human condition has led to tragedy abroad, and economic failure at home. What should be clear is that the ideology of Open Borders is directly and indirectly responsible for the woes of the Bush administration. As of this late date there is little they can do about it. After 9-11, Bush had a perfect moment in time, to change course and save his presidency and his country. With malice and forethought he threw it away.
November 11th, 2006 at 8:43 pm#121
“I do not think that the lives of middle class Americans have improved under the republicans.”
Raising the minimum wage is not going to help the middle class. The middle class does not make minimum wage as a matter of fact. The only thing that the government can do to help the middle class it to keep taxes low and control spending so costs like Medicare don’t get out of control.
What is your definition of the middle class BTW?
November 12th, 2006 at 5:47 pm[…] Newsweek is the latest major media outlet to repeat the falsehood that the 2006 election was an endorsement of conservatism. The latest Newsweek cover story notes: The American people, as politicians like to say, spoke last week - and spoke in no uncertain terms. The 2006 vote does not suggest an eagerness for a sharp left turn. It seems, rather, to be a plea for a shift from the hard right of the neoconservatives to the center represented by the old man in Houston [President George H. W. Bush]. […]
November 13th, 2006 at 1:47 pm[…] Newsweek is the latest major media outlet to repeat the falsehood that the 2006 election was an endorsement of conservatism. The latest Newsweek cover story notes: […]
November 13th, 2006 at 8:41 pm[…] The Soggy Biscuit Award: A) Lee Seigel and “sprezzaturaâ€, The New Republic “Lee Siegel is a genius” B) Asorted, “Glenn Greewald is eeeeeeevil” C) The Wingnutosphere, “James Webb writes kiddie porn!” D) The Washington Post, “stop being mean to Deborah Howell!” E) The Wingnutosphere, “John Kerry sez our troops are stoopid!” F) Assorted, “Bush is a liberal!” G) The Wingnutosphere, Slightly-more-smokegate H) Everybody, the great conservative victory in 2006 […]
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