President Bush’s Vetoes More Politics than Principle August 18, 2007
Posted by Judy in A Culture of Life, Budget & Government, Campaigns & Elections, Lindsey Graham, Perspective, Protect America, Safety& Security.Tags: Executive Orders Perspective, George W. Bush, Lindsey Graham, Stem Cell Research, The Heritage Foundation
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In 2007 President Bush has threatened slightly more than twice the number of vetoes he did in 2003, according to USA Today. This marker is important because in 2003 there was a Republican led House Senate that was drawing threats for similarly spending above what the president requests or attaching disagreeable legislative provisions. The Democrats took over in January 2007 and continue this practice of spending over the president’s request. Those who argue that well the Democrats spend further over than the Republicans are missing the point. When your principle is capping spending on a program to control it shouldn’t matter who spends how much more than the president’s request. The principle dictates that you veto bills no matter who they come from when the break your cap or contain provisions unacceptable to you.
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Glad to be Sen. Graham’s Friend June 15, 2006
Posted by Judy in Judges & the Courts, Lindsey Graham, Perspective.Tags: Executive Orders Perspective, Judges, Lindsey Graham, Politics, William Haynes
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Paul at PowerLine is as disappointed in Sen. Graham’s lack of a response to the issue of weather he is blocking the Haynes nomination as he is in the senator’s recent letter to conservative groups. The partisanship of the retired military officer does not matter as long as his concerns are valid. I am sure that Paul would be siging a different turn if this military officer were a partisan Republican. The other man mentioned, Mr. Guter is not incoherent just becasue he disagrees with a policy. If Mr. Haynes could not break from his ’superiors’ as General Counsel of DoD than it is right to question his indepedence as a judge when dealing with the cases that are sure to come before the court in the interceeding years.
Sen. Graham is relying on the testimony of former officers that either worked with Haynes or in the environment that Haynes created when he sold out his DoD position to go along with the Jusitce Department position. It is unfair to say that Sen. Graham is ignoring pro-Haynes viewpoints of the officer cited. If Maj. Gen. Michael Marchand would go in and talk to him or write a letter to him than He would consider his viewpoint as well.
He is talking about the JAG memos, which took him a year and one-half to get and they were classified for some unknown reason. He refers to these memos because they represented DoD policy and the concerns about the effect on the service men and women were valid. If the advice was followed than why couldn’t the Senator have them sooner? If they weren’t doing aything wrong why classify the opinion of the JAGs when the memos between Bybee, Haynes, Gonzales, and the other civilian lawyers were made public? Why did Secretary Rumsfeld later have to decertify some of the methods and why are we still dealing with this if he listened to their advice and the document addressed their concerns?
The argument that Sen. Graham did not consider the views of Maj. Gen. Roning or supoprters of Haynes is wrong because just the fact that he called someone that poisitively assessed Haynes is telling about his willingness to consider views contrary to his own and the critics.
The letter does not directly address the issue of his role in stopping the Haynes nomination, but conservatives have drawn the conclusion from the wording that he is the impediment. This is no surprise to me because he has said that there was one nominee that he would vote against and I think Haynes is that nominee. If the Haynes nomination goes through committee and to the floor there will be a filibuster and I would rather see Sen. Graham do everything in his power to preserve the civility and working order of the Senate.
Modeled After Sen. Graham May 26, 2006
Posted by Judy in Campaigns & Elections, Lindsey Graham, Perspective.Tags: Executive Orders Perspective, John Edwards, Lindsey Graham
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Two years ago when I traveled for the campaign of John Edwards I never dreamed I would be writing about modeling myself after Lindsey Graham because at the time I didn’t know who he was and hadn’t cared much to watch C-SPAN. I began watching C-SPAN during the campaign hoping to see John Edwards give the blockbuster speech on the Senate floor that would set me swooning. However, this never happened because John Edwards was out campaigning.
Lindsey Graham Doesn’t Disappoint Me May 26, 2006
Posted by Judy in Immigration, Jobs & Economy, Judges & the Courts, Lindsey Graham, Perspective.Tags: Executive Orders Perspective, Lindsey Graham, Politics
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Response to Mike Reino at SC6.
I started out volunteering for the Presidential campaign of John Edwards two years ago. I went to Iowa and Milwaukee as a volunteer. I cam home from one of these trips and I was watching the Senate on C-SPAN 2 when I happened across a specch by Lindsey Graham, who was the Jr senator from South Carolina at th time. The speech was about trade. I remembering who would dare present the unorthodox position that he did.
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Sen. Graham’s Wit, Wisdom, and Leadership January 2, 2006
Posted by Judy in Jobs & Economy, Judges & the Courts, Perspective.Tags: Executive Orders Perspective, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Politics
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Sen. Graham is one of our sharpest sneators. He seems the best interests of South Carolina and the country in mind with every action. I am specifically proud of the action he in being a part of the Group of 14. He also has a wonderful sense of humor and is thoughtful.
He stands up to the administration when his conscience tells him he must, like on the issue of torture. He has been honest with the country about Iraq and the chance we have of succeeding there. He asks tough and penetrating questions of officials in committee hearings.
The first stance he took that I liked was on trade. He went against the grain of the party and voted “no” on CAFTA. He made his ‘South Carolina pockets’ speech and said “If we are not here to fight for American jobs then I do not know what we are here for.” I appreciate him standing up for American jobs.
I know he will be a leader. Sen. McCain thinks he looks like an attractive vice presidential candidate. I tend to agree, but wish him to stay in the Senate, where he could do more good for the country at this particular time.
Proud to Have Sen. Graham Serving in Washington November 15, 2005
Posted by Judy in Budget & Government, Judges & the Courts, Lindsey Graham, Safety& Security.Tags: Executive Orders Perspective, Lindsey Graham, Politics
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When Sen. Graham was mentioned as a potential nominee for the Supreme Court I was proud as a Gilbert Peach. However, the pride soon faded into a realism that we would lose a great Senator to the nomination. Sure, the seat would have been filled by a capable individual but it just would not be the same because no one is like Sen. Graham, who is one in a million. He would make a good Justice, but he makes an even better Senator and enjoys the hand to hand combat of politics. He also likes finding solutions to America’s problems.
While proud that he may have received the nomination I am even more proud that he is a United States Senator. This pride comes from having watched him and understanding who this remarkable man is as an American. He loves his job as a Senator because as he said “I’m a kid in a candy store. You can play at every area of the government that intrigues you. They can’t deal you out of the game. And I’m loving my job,” he said to the Charlotte Observer in June 2005. I love this attitude, it absolutely shines. I wish there were more like him because than Washington would be a more pleasant place.
Paying for a Disaster: Take no Option off the Table September 23, 2005
Posted by Judy in Budget & Government, Jobs & Economy.Tags: Budget, Economy, Jobs, Tax
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The current debate within the Republican party is how to pay for Hurricane Katrina. Three options are spending cuts, tax increases and borrowing.
Spending cuts, especially of pork barrel projects like the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, are an appealing option. However, House Majority leader Tom DeLay (TX-22) claims that federal spending has been cut to the bone. On the other hand Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says there should be cuts in outlays across the board. The House Republican Study Committee has also released a list of spending cuts with the the beginning of “Operation Offset.”
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) said, “This really is the time for the president to use the bully pulpit to ask the American people to sacrifice, and to ask the leaders of the Congress to set (budget) priorities in a different way than we are setting them now so that we don’t pass this debt on to future generations.” Sen. Graham suggested that there were many ways to cut the spending in order to offset the cost of Katrina. The Taxpayers for Common Sense suggest several cuts that congress could make in the budget to offset Katrina’s budget.
Some suggest using a temporary sales tax to offset the cost of hurrican relief. Graham says that everything from spending to taxes should be considered in determinig how to pay for the disaster. I think this is correct, however, I beleive that taxes, and even more so, borrowing which would explode the debt further should be last resorts after all prok-barrel projects are cut from the budget. This is especially true for the transportation and energy legisation passed this summer.
Welcome fellow netizens! September 22, 2005
Posted by Judy in Welcome & Introductions.add a comment
Welcome to Executive Orders. This blog is about politics from the perspective of a moderate conservtive republican. I hope you enjoy my perspective.
