President Bush is facing an interesting policy dilemma – should he announce that he's fulfilling his campaign promises or not? Normally politicians (including George H.W. Bush) are criticized for failing to enact their agenda, and the current administration has certainly had its share of unmet promises (Full funding for education? How about that opposition to nation-building?). But in an odd twist, the country has suffered some of its biggest setbacks when Bush does what he plans: huge tax cuts to the rich and special interests, energy policy handouts to oil and gas companies, etc. So when President Bush took the stage yesterday to sign the new Medicare legislation and pronounced, "We kept our promise," shouldn't that really be a sign to start worrying?
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But the benefits have already started flowing for lawmakers – just ask Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI). It seems that in the waning hours of the debate, desperate supporters of the bill offered Smith (a conservative who opposed the measure) what amounted to a bribe: $100,000 for his son's Congressional campaign if he would simply switch his vote to favor the legislation. To his credit, Smith refused, and voted against the bill.
In a newspaper column published on November 23, Smith wrote, "Bribes and special deals were offered to convince members to vote yes."
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But more recently, Smith has backed off, stating that "No specific reference was made to money," a direct contradiction of his earlier claims. So what exactly is going on here? It is still murky, but there appears to be enough smoke to call in the Justice Department and the House ethics committee for a review. This might not be the type of "grassroots work" that President Bush was referring to. Then again, maybe it is. Read more here.
http://www.bushrecall.org/DailyRealityCheck.asp?ID=31
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