New Congress and Bush`s magic “veto pen”

The day (January 1) when democrats took over the Congress has finally come. Now they control everything, the Senate as well as the House of Representatives. With newly appointed feminist Nancy Pelosi leading the way, it seems that they’ve adjusted to their new role quite quickly. There is no doubt that the “hammer” which made order in the chamber numerous times suited her predecessor Dennis Hastert more. It remains to be seen if Nancy Pelosi was the best choice by Democrats for their speaker of the House. But for now it looks like the Democrats are giving more and more power into women’s hands, which is shown by the unprecedented support for their next presidential candidate, ex-president Bill Clinton’s wife Hillary.

(picture source: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/images/20010607.jpg)

The question ”What will the new breeze in Congress bring?” remains to be answered. But it will not be long before we’ll see the drawer in which the dusty and almost forgotten George W. Bush`s old veto pen lies, open. Veto is the presidents’ last resort, with which he can stop proposals accepted in Congress. The pen hasn’t seen much daylight in the last six years while George W. Bush has been in office, since Republicans had the majority in both Houses of Congress, and therefore almost all decisions were smooth and without problems. Believe it or not, the president used his veto right only once in the past six years.

Judging by the announced Democratic proposals, the veto will have to be used more often. Lets look at a few of them:

• Taxes: The Bush administration has been lowering taxes for quite some time now, which has subsequently lead to a high rise in the number of newly founded companies and employees. Lets not beat around the Bush and let the numbers tell the story for themselves. Due to tax relief, the economy has become more powerful, stable, and more than 7.5 million new jobs have been created since August 2003.The minimum wage is still rising and the deficit has been cut in half 3 years earlier than planned. These are only a few of the many facts that tell in favor of successful economic policies that the administration of Geogre Bush jr. has made. So why do the Dems want to change this successful story? Who knows, ask them! Most likely even they don’t know the answer!

• Security resolutions:
• “Patriot Act” ( the renewal), in different terms “resolution for detecting and preventing terrorist acts ”. This resolution has a strong influence on the security of the American nation and subsequently on the security of other democratic nations. The renewed Patriot Act was voted through by Congress (back then Republicans led the Senate and House of Representatives) last March. The majority, more than 75% of Democrats in the House of Representatives, voted against the Patriot Act.
• Resolution which allows the CIA to continue the interrogation of potential terrorists. This is only one of many good security resolutions that should be welcomed with open hands, but almost 80% of Democratic representatives voted against it.
• Resolution which allows the NSA to continue monitoring phone calls of potential terrorists. When balloting, a staggering 90% of House Dems voted against this resolution. Although they never clarified their decision, they still voted against it. You’re probably still wondering why? Simply, because they just want to oppose!

• War in Iraq: currently the most talked about topic in politics all around the world and the decisive factor in the mid-term elections in November. There is not a single one of us who doesn’t know at least a few things that are happening in Iraq right now. In spite of unprecedented democratic achievements (fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, democratic elections and Saddam`s execution that finally, after many years, brought hope and joy to the nation of Iraq), we can say that not all is going as planned. It is hard to fight against enemies which will do anything to satisfy their egoistic needs. They are not afraid to blow themselves up, to kill fellow citizens, their friends and, most frightening of all, innocent civilians. In these hard times the young Iraqi democracy needs help and support, because their new, inexperienced army and police (most of Saddam`s ex-Republican guard is now fighting against coalition forces) can’t look after their own security and survival alone. And in these hard times, the only thing the Democrats can come up with regarding new Iraqi strategy is immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. But why? How can we expect to win a war against terrorism in Iraq with even less soldiers? How can only a small group of soldiers protect innocent Iraqi civilians, who are victims of daily terrorist attacks? How can fewer soldiers prevent even more war casualties in Iraq? That kind of strategy will sadly never bring us to victory in Iraq.

You’re probably wondering why all the questions above still haven’t been answered? Well, it’s because the Democrats haven’t answered them yet. They still don’t have solutions to all of the important questions, and they probably won’t have them in time to come. They’ve just followed a simple principle - “Just say no!”…to Republicans. We can only hope that Bush’s “veto pen” still works after such a long holiday and that it’ll be used when needed.

Till next time, have a nice time and God Bless America!

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