Macaca
05-26 12:01 PM
A Tough 5 Months, but Democrats Cite Successes (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/26/washington/26cong.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) By ROBIN TONER and CARL HULSE, New Yor Times, May 26, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 25 � After five months in power, Congressional Democrats headed home for their Memorial Day recess with only a few signature accomplishments on the domestic front, notably an increase in the minimum wage, and the prospect of returning to a renewed struggle with the Bush administration over the war in Iraq.
But Democratic leaders say their principal accomplishment, so far, is not reflected in the legislative scorecard: The transformation of the policy debate and the reassertion of Congressional power, especially on the Iraq war.
�We�ve moved the national debate on the war,� said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. �We were sleepwalking through this war until the Congress changed hands. And now, every month, this president faces another challenge to his policy.�
The spending legislation for Iraq that passed Thursday night, which lacked a timeline for troop withdrawal, left much of the party�s antiwar base unhappy, and carried only a third of the Democratic votes in the House. But Democratic leaders promised to ratchet up the pressure on President Bush for an exit strategy in Iraq, and they have the legislative vehicles to do so in June and July, building to what all sides expect to be a clash this fall. Top military leaders have committed to delivering a progress report on their troop buildup strategy in September.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California tried to send a clear message on Friday that any legislative victory Mr. Bush won this week, when Democrats acceded to his demands and removed the withdrawal timeline, would be short-lived. �We are going to bring an end to this war,� Ms. Pelosi said. �All of us have that goal.�
On the domestic front, Democrats passed the first minimum wage increase in 10 years this week; it was the first item in their campaign agenda from last year, called �Six-for-06,� to win final passage. Other items are prepared for final votes this summer, including an expansion of embryonic stem cell research and the recommendations of the Sept 11 commission on domestic security.
The Democrats made their mark in other ways � notably, using their committee and oversight powers for a broad challenge to administration policies, on issues including the treatment of wounded Iraq veterans and the dismissals of United States attorneys by the Justice Department. Senate Democrats said they had held 75 hearings related to Iraq in the last five months.
Even so, in the inevitable message wars, Republican leaders portrayed the Democrats as disorganized and ineffective, sending Republican members home this weekend with talking points that declare, �Democrats accomplish none in �07.� Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, said Friday that the Democrats� first five months were �marked by broken promises, missed opportunities and gridlock caused by strife within the majority party�s ranks.�
But senior Republican officials and some lawmakers privately admitted that Democrats won some victories in recent days, including progress on an immigration overhaul in the Senate and the strong House vote on new lobbying rules.
One of the biggest complaints of Republicans is that House Democrats, who promised to be fairer and more bipartisan in the conduct of floor debate after a decade of heavy-handed Republican rule, have not delivered. Top Democrats admit privately that there is merit to those complaints, and have begun negotiations to try to cool the partisan tensions.
Democrats themselves reflected that little came easily over the last five months, which offered a lesson in the difficulties of governing with very slim majorities, especially in the Senate. Moreover, there are real fault lines and divisions within the party, most apparent, perhaps, on how fast and how far to go in demanding an end to the war in Iraq.
�It�s been a tough slog,� said a senior House Democratic strategist close to the leadership, alluding to the difficulties in managing the spending bill for Iraq. �You�re asking people to vote for a moderate plan instead of the plan that�s closest to their hearts.�
Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and a leader in the antiwar caucus, said Thursday night: �A lot of us are frustrated that the war�s still going on. But the fact of the matter is, there�s movement, there�s significant movement, from where we were last November to where we are now.�
Many of the party�s liberal activists, though, remained angry at what they saw as a capitulation to Mr. Bush.
Other fault lines were re-emerging in the party. House Democrats are only beginning to deal with their deep divisions on trade, as a closed caucus this week underscored. Some freshmen, like Representative Betty Sutton, Democrat of Ohio, are intent on making major changes to American trade policy, much greater than the recent deal with the Bush administration on environmental and labor standards announced by the Democratic leadership.
�Our problems with the trading system and the fact that it is broken are much bigger than just having these standards on paper,� Ms. Sutton said.
Down the road, more internal clashes are likely over taxes and spending priorities. Julian Zelizer, a historian and expert on Congress at Boston University, said Ms. Pelosi�s job would, in many ways, get harder once she moved beyond the war. �In some ways, the divisions over domestic issues are just as great, on things like trade,� Mr. Zelizer said.
Both Ms. Pelosi and her Senate counterpart, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, have had their struggles this year. Mr. Reid drew fire for, among other things, suggesting that the Iraq war was lost. But Democratic senators have expressed strong confidence in his leadership. Ms. Pelosi, the first female speaker, has been a target of repeated Republican efforts to embarrass her. But she has weathered them and has generally held fractious Democrats together.
Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Thursday night: �To some extent, the Democratic leadership fought above its weight. They don�t really have the votes in the Senate.�
Mr. Frank argued that sending Mr. Bush the initial Iraq spending bill, with a withdrawal timeline, and forcing him to veto it would one day be viewed as a turning point after a long pattern of �Congressional ducking.�
�I think Congress has come closer to standing up this time,� he said.
WASHINGTON, May 25 � After five months in power, Congressional Democrats headed home for their Memorial Day recess with only a few signature accomplishments on the domestic front, notably an increase in the minimum wage, and the prospect of returning to a renewed struggle with the Bush administration over the war in Iraq.
But Democratic leaders say their principal accomplishment, so far, is not reflected in the legislative scorecard: The transformation of the policy debate and the reassertion of Congressional power, especially on the Iraq war.
�We�ve moved the national debate on the war,� said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. �We were sleepwalking through this war until the Congress changed hands. And now, every month, this president faces another challenge to his policy.�
The spending legislation for Iraq that passed Thursday night, which lacked a timeline for troop withdrawal, left much of the party�s antiwar base unhappy, and carried only a third of the Democratic votes in the House. But Democratic leaders promised to ratchet up the pressure on President Bush for an exit strategy in Iraq, and they have the legislative vehicles to do so in June and July, building to what all sides expect to be a clash this fall. Top military leaders have committed to delivering a progress report on their troop buildup strategy in September.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California tried to send a clear message on Friday that any legislative victory Mr. Bush won this week, when Democrats acceded to his demands and removed the withdrawal timeline, would be short-lived. �We are going to bring an end to this war,� Ms. Pelosi said. �All of us have that goal.�
On the domestic front, Democrats passed the first minimum wage increase in 10 years this week; it was the first item in their campaign agenda from last year, called �Six-for-06,� to win final passage. Other items are prepared for final votes this summer, including an expansion of embryonic stem cell research and the recommendations of the Sept 11 commission on domestic security.
The Democrats made their mark in other ways � notably, using their committee and oversight powers for a broad challenge to administration policies, on issues including the treatment of wounded Iraq veterans and the dismissals of United States attorneys by the Justice Department. Senate Democrats said they had held 75 hearings related to Iraq in the last five months.
Even so, in the inevitable message wars, Republican leaders portrayed the Democrats as disorganized and ineffective, sending Republican members home this weekend with talking points that declare, �Democrats accomplish none in �07.� Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, said Friday that the Democrats� first five months were �marked by broken promises, missed opportunities and gridlock caused by strife within the majority party�s ranks.�
But senior Republican officials and some lawmakers privately admitted that Democrats won some victories in recent days, including progress on an immigration overhaul in the Senate and the strong House vote on new lobbying rules.
One of the biggest complaints of Republicans is that House Democrats, who promised to be fairer and more bipartisan in the conduct of floor debate after a decade of heavy-handed Republican rule, have not delivered. Top Democrats admit privately that there is merit to those complaints, and have begun negotiations to try to cool the partisan tensions.
Democrats themselves reflected that little came easily over the last five months, which offered a lesson in the difficulties of governing with very slim majorities, especially in the Senate. Moreover, there are real fault lines and divisions within the party, most apparent, perhaps, on how fast and how far to go in demanding an end to the war in Iraq.
�It�s been a tough slog,� said a senior House Democratic strategist close to the leadership, alluding to the difficulties in managing the spending bill for Iraq. �You�re asking people to vote for a moderate plan instead of the plan that�s closest to their hearts.�
Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and a leader in the antiwar caucus, said Thursday night: �A lot of us are frustrated that the war�s still going on. But the fact of the matter is, there�s movement, there�s significant movement, from where we were last November to where we are now.�
Many of the party�s liberal activists, though, remained angry at what they saw as a capitulation to Mr. Bush.
Other fault lines were re-emerging in the party. House Democrats are only beginning to deal with their deep divisions on trade, as a closed caucus this week underscored. Some freshmen, like Representative Betty Sutton, Democrat of Ohio, are intent on making major changes to American trade policy, much greater than the recent deal with the Bush administration on environmental and labor standards announced by the Democratic leadership.
�Our problems with the trading system and the fact that it is broken are much bigger than just having these standards on paper,� Ms. Sutton said.
Down the road, more internal clashes are likely over taxes and spending priorities. Julian Zelizer, a historian and expert on Congress at Boston University, said Ms. Pelosi�s job would, in many ways, get harder once she moved beyond the war. �In some ways, the divisions over domestic issues are just as great, on things like trade,� Mr. Zelizer said.
Both Ms. Pelosi and her Senate counterpart, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, have had their struggles this year. Mr. Reid drew fire for, among other things, suggesting that the Iraq war was lost. But Democratic senators have expressed strong confidence in his leadership. Ms. Pelosi, the first female speaker, has been a target of repeated Republican efforts to embarrass her. But she has weathered them and has generally held fractious Democrats together.
Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said Thursday night: �To some extent, the Democratic leadership fought above its weight. They don�t really have the votes in the Senate.�
Mr. Frank argued that sending Mr. Bush the initial Iraq spending bill, with a withdrawal timeline, and forcing him to veto it would one day be viewed as a turning point after a long pattern of �Congressional ducking.�
�I think Congress has come closer to standing up this time,� he said.
wallpaper Japanese Guy With Red Hair
nhfirefighter13
August 12th, 2005, 03:50 PM
Depicting "despair" using a photo and nothing else is tough. A final in one of my photoshop classes was to make a TIME magazine cover that depicted either "despair" or "hope". It was a lot harder to do that we all originally thought.
This comes close but it could also be construed as sadness, anger, weariness, pain, etc.
As I said, that's a very tough emotion to depict in a photo without any supporting text.
By the way, I like the photo.
This comes close but it could also be construed as sadness, anger, weariness, pain, etc.
As I said, that's a very tough emotion to depict in a photo without any supporting text.
By the way, I like the photo.