Oh how I have missed him. It appears that retirement is agreeing with him though. Just look at the message he sent out:
This week is the one-year anniversary of Democrats winning Congress. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid probably aren’t in a celebrating mood. The goodwill they enjoyed after their victory is gone. Their bright campaign promises are unfulfilled. Democratic leadership is in disarray. And Congress’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point in history.
That is Karl being kind. Here is the breakdown:
Democrats criticized Congress for dragging its feet on the budget and pledged that they would do better. Instead, they did worse. The new fiscal year started Oct. 1–five weeks ago–but Democrats have yet to send the president a single annual appropriations bill. It’s been at least 20 years since Congress has gone this late in passing any appropriation bills, an indication of the mess the Pelosi-Reid Congress is now in.
Democrats have made clear all their talk about “fiscal discipline” is just that–talk. They’re proposing to spend $205 billion more than the president has proposed over the next five years. And the opening wedge of this binge is $22 billion more in spending proposed for the coming year. Only in Washington could someone in public life be so clueless to say, as Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi have, that $22 billion is a “relatively small” difference.
Let’s also be clear about what it means to roll back the president’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, as the Democrats want to do. Every income-tax payer will pay more as all tax rates rise. Families will pay $500 more per child as they lose the child tax credit. Taxes on small businesses would go up by an average of about $4,000. Retirees will pay higher taxes on investment retirement income. And now we have the $1 trillion tax increase proposed as “tax reform” by the Democrats’ chief tax writer last month.
Beholden to MoveOn.org and other left-wing groups, Democratic leaders have ignored the progress made in Iraq by the surge, diminished the efforts of our military, and wasted precious time with failed attempts to force an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. They continue to try to implement this course, which would lead to chaos in the region, the creation of a possible terror state with the third largest oil reserves in the world, and a major propaganda victory for Osama bin Laden as well as for Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah.
Democrats tried to cut off funding for our military while our soldiers and Marines are under fire from the enemy. For 19 Senate Democrats, this was simply a bridge too far, so they voted against their own leadership’s proposal.
Democrats also tried to stuff an emergency war-spending bill with billions of dollars of pork for individual members. Now the party’s leaders are stalling an emergency supplemental bill with funding for body armor, bullets and mine-resistant vehicles.
He was just warming up and saved the best for last:
Democrats had a moment after the 2006 election, but now that moment has passed. They’ve squandered it. They have demonstrated both the inability and unwillingness to govern. Instead, after more than a decade in the congressional minority, they reflexively look for short-term partisan advantage and attempt to appease the party’s most strident fringe. Now that Democrats have the reins of congressional power, their true colors are coming out and the public doesn’t like what it sees.
The Democratic victory in 2006 was narrow. They won the House by 85,961 votes out of over 80 million cast and the Senate by a mere 3,562 out of over 62 million cast. A party that wins control by that narrow margin can quickly see its fortunes reversed when it fails to act responsibly, fails to fulfill its promises, and fails to lead.
I have said time and again, that this is a do-nothing-congress and that Pelosi and Reid are failures in their leadership positions. Based on the reaction at memeorandum, I’m not the only one thinking that!
November 12, 2007 - 09:20 AM on November 12th, 2007
DOWN,DOWN,DOWN,DOWN GRAVITY Wow what a difference a year makes
November 12, 2007 - 10:16 AM on November 12th, 2007
I wonder if he’ll be a consultant for the Repoublican Presidential candidate. If he is it will be fun to watch, as it wa fun watching him outsmart the elitist Democrats during the Bush campaigns.
November 12, 2007 - 10:19 AM on November 12th, 2007
If he is a consultant, it be be a silent one that works in the shadows…Heck Ted, he’ll get credit for years to come for things he had nothing to do with…He is good at what he does.
November 12, 2007 - 10:30 AM on November 12th, 2007
I think the appropriate word isn’t “credit” Pam, but “blame” may be it in light of Plamegate.
Another laughable “scandal du jour” of the Dems that amounted to a hill of beans. I sure hope the Republicans play the same game if the Dem is elected to the Presidency.
November 12, 2007 - 01:32 PM on November 12th, 2007
This was a very well written article. I was sad to see Karl go but I’m betting he’s sitting behind stage somewhere just waiting to come out. How can he not when we need him so badly.