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Pew Research Center on Obama and Bush
As I was compiling a list of reports from the Pew Research Center for an undergraduate class, I came across two that I would like to share with you. The first one, America’s Pre-Inauguration Mood: Strong Confidence in Obama, shows that Americans have great confidence in Obama’s capacity to deal with the economy, Iraq, and terrorism issues. They also believe that Democrats and Republicans will work together to resolve the country’s problems. According to the Pew Survey Report, 70% of those who were surveyed think that Obama has clearly explained his policies and plans for the future, and 66% endorse his choices for his cabinet.
While Obama’s ratings have gone up, Bush’s have gone down. The Pew Research Center article reveals that 24% of Americans approve his performance as he exits the national stage. Only 11% think that history will look at Bush positively. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index sunk to 38% in 2008 from 128.6% in 2000. The article claimed that it is the “lowest level since the index was first tabulated in 1967.”
What’s worse than 18 1/2 minutes of deleted audio?
What could be worse for a President than 18 1/2 minutes of missing tape (Listen to Nixon’s Watergate Tapes here)? How about 10 MILLION deleted emails? Yup, that’s right, White House email from March of 2003 to October 2005 (which would include the start of the Iraq War right up through the aftermath of Katrina) have "mysteriously" gone missing. The National Security Archive filed a motion back in October to find out what e-mails are missing from the White House e-mail system or backup tapes. This could be huge because the Presidential Records Act of 1978 mandates that White House communications be preserved.
House to investigate Bush’s signing statements
The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), has launched an investigation challenging repeated assertions by President Bush that he need not enforce aspects of laws he deems unconstitutional. “The signing statements amount to a line-item veto, according to critics, and frustrate the legislative branch by not giving lawmakers the opportunity to override a presidential veto.”
Interestingly, the article says that a collection of Bush’s signing statements is not “readily accessible to lawmakers or the public,” but check out this remix by Coherent Babble. This site gives an index and full-text from 2001 – present scraped from whitehouse.gov and gpoaccess.gov (has anyone noticed gpoaccess’ terribly broken site search? I sent it in @ Aug, 2006 😐 ). Or if you want them farther back in time, UC Santa Barbara’s Presidency Project has all the signing statements from Hoover to G.W. Bush — as well as Public Papers, State of the Union addresses, inaugural & radio addresses, fireside chats, news conferences, executive orders, proclamations, debates, convention speeches and party platforms to boot!
Anyway, read the rest of the article:
House Panel Convenes Hearings on Bush’s ‘Signing Statements’
[Thanks Crooks and Liars!]
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