GOP Infighting Rises, Poll Standings Fall

[RoyGBiv]

GOP Infighting Rises, Poll Standings Fall
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON - One lawmaker lectures a second about the need for sacrifice in time of war. A third accuses others of preening for television cameras rather than working on Iraq (news - web sites). And that's just the Republicans, scuffling out of the Capitol for a 10-day break, legislative accomplishments hard to come by and their own election-year poll ratings in a slump that rivals President Bush (news - web sites)'s.

"They have no new ideas and no new answers for the American people," jabbed N.J. Rep. Robert Menendez, third-ranking Democrat in the House.

Republicans disagree strongly. And the Democrats have been fractious, too. Fifty-eight of them parted company with their party leaders on Thursday to support legislation making the federal child tax credit permanent.

The vote occurred a few hours after Bush visited the Capitol to deliver a pep talk designed to boost the spirits of lawmakers of his own party. "We are asking the world to do hard things," he told them, according to one Republican in attendance. He drew repeated ovations when he defended his policies on Iraq, the economy and more and proclaimed an eagerness to fight for a second term.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=7&u=/ap/20040523/ap_on_el_pr/gop_in_charge

[Nashyra]

1. What was wrong with making the federal child tax cut

permanent? I thought our candidate only wanted to pull back the tax credits given to the top 1%? or those making over $200,000.00? So how was the child tax credit bad?

[RoyGBiv]

3. Tax credit...

The one that was passed extended the credit to those making up to 300K/year. It was this extension that was the source of a lot of the argument. This article glosses past that.

[Monte Carlo]

2. The GOP is much more fractured than they let on.

They certainly give the appearance of unity, and they may all be pushing for Bush in November, but they are not some monolithic force. They were fine when they all had a common enemy in Clinton, but now that they have power, they don't really know what to do with it.