War and elections, this will be interesting.

NIBROC FAN · Senior Member

War and elections, this will be interesting.

Date: Jan 13, 2007

I agree, even his own party is distancing themselves. If sending 21,500 more troops is the answer, why didn't he do this 3 years ago? I think he is already standing alone except for a few hard-liners.

Date: Jan 13, 2007

This has been one of the most disastrous times in our history. The Bush-Cheney team will always be remembered for the poor way they have led our nation. How can you send your men and women to war and cut the taxes of the wealthiest people in America. When we go to war all of us should have to pay a price to support our troops. Our troops have shown great courage. Let's pray this horrible war will end. And let's then be sure we are prepared to keep the terrorists out of our nation.

NIBROC FAN · Senior Member

If the war doesn't end before the election, it'll be a shame that all the truly important issues, health care, education, social security, drug costs, Vetrans Care, and more, will be left out into the cold again.

Date: Jan 14, 2007

President Bush is one of the greatest Presidents we have ever had. I agree with his Stay the Course leadership, and that slightly over 20,000 more troops will make the difference in creating a long lasting Democracy not just in Iraq but across the Middle East. Lawrence of arabia is remembered as one of the historic non-Muslim people of that area. Someday in history there will be a new hero, George the mighty.

Date: Jan 14, 2007

Pictured at his retreat in Kennebunkhimain, Iraq

Date: Jan 14, 2007

NIBROC FAN wrote:

If the war doesn't end before the election, it'll be a shame that all the truly important issues, health care, education, social security, drug costs, Vetrans Care, and more, will be left out into the cold again.

Your right, this guy Bush has let us all down, as has the party I have voted for my whole life. I am a republican because my dad is a republican, but the party has become a party of greed (saw the David Williams office story on TV) and a party of not caring for anyone other than themselves and their rich friends and supporters. Health care, social security, and above all, morals and ethics, have taken a major hit the last 6 years. Clinton might have been a perv, but I only know of one major sin the guy committed, and compared to the things this president and his buddys have pulled on all of us, Clinton looks like Billy Graham.

I remember in 1999 the republicans talking about the abortion issue vs. the other party, talking Rowe vs. Wade and how morally how wrong it is. But we had control for over SIX YEARS, and NOT ONCE did we attempt to do anything about it, even though I know people voted Republican because of this issue. We had the power, but they didn't have the guts - and to this day keep trying to use abortion and morals as their holyer-than-thou platform.

Date: Jan 15, 2007

I agree. How do you make people believe you are the most devout, and religious political party and you don't even care about anyone but your rich friends? How do you send our men and women to a war, and while the nation is going into deep debt you cut the taxes for the wealthies people in our natio? we have a bunch of hypocrites running Washington and Frankfort. We had better wake up before it is too late.

Date: Jan 15, 2007

Some very Valid and Emotional Points, no question there are problems with this Administration!!! We can get in to taking care of rich friends on both sides of the Aisle also, bad period.

Some advice for everyone here, as someone who has been close to the Flame in the Middle East you should pay close attention:

Don't let your dislike for Mr. Bush cloud your Judgement, the Lifestyle we have developed over the last 100 Years of Democracy is not what the Radical Islamic folks like! This will not work period for them and now they are openly and clearly letting us know.

Whether it's Clinton-Bush-Reagan-Carter makes no difference to these folks, they will absolutley exterminate as many of us as possible. Do we have a Bad War, you bet. Can we pull out, certainly. Will they get the message if leave, Don't think so.

Be prepared folks regardless of who is in the White House this Culture War is going to rage for a while!!

Date: Jan 15, 2007

I agree, the culture will grow more dangerous, but we still need to take care of our elderly, the less privileged, our kids educational needs, those stricken with illnesses and more. We are in a war, and many U.S. citizens and their families are sacrificing except for the political leaders and their friends. $53,000 for overpriced Cherrywood fixtures and $17,000 for a plasma TV and multimedia system that could be bought for $5,000 is a great example. $17K can pay for a college tuition, meals for the starving (right here in our own country), some of the restructuring costs of a home destroyed by Katrina - these leaders don't think of the people they are supposidly serving first. You are right, there are greedy political figures on both sides, but as they say, two wrongs don't make a right, and the excess (look at our country's debt) seems to be worst when the far right is in power. As we both said, we are in a war, and some people (those in power, their friends and the wealthy) don't seem to be sacrificing anything except other people.

Date: Jan 15, 2007

These comments on this subject have been excellent and certainly help us to try to look at all the charactoristics of this dilemma. The worry I have is that when we went into Iraq they were enemies of Iran. Now Iran and Iraq are becoming closer friends. I agree, we will be coping with this hatred and terrorism for many years. The middle east has been coping with it for several thousand years. Let's get serious and get some alternative fuels and better fuel efficient vehicles and get out of being dependent on that group.

NIBROC FAN · Senior Member

This can of worms will never close.

This will drain our budget for years. We'll end up with permanent bases there, as in Korea, Europe, and the pacific areas.

Our military will increase, as it needs to, and our economy will be as it was during the cold war, only for "boots and bullets", not missles and bombers.

We'll lose another thousand or more troops before they figure it out.

I see the draft coming back, yes, I do. Unless they come up with a type of GI bill as they had in the 60's or after WWII, and give a true benefit to our vets, we will have to begin a draft. The administration that starts it, will be a lame duck from then on if they don't do it right.

I could go on and on, but, it's really no use.

Date: Jan 16, 2007

President Bush earns my vote as the Man of the 21st Century. He has brought Democracy to the Middle East. He has turned our economy into the greatest and most effective period in our History. He will be remembered across the world as the person who changed the world in a major way. He recognized that Global Warming is just a sham. He gets my vote as the Man of the 21st Century even though there are some 94 years left in this century. How could it get any better?

Date: Apr 24, 2007

I agree. He is a man who stands tall and alone. His dad and mother have had DNA tests recently hoping he does not belong to them.

His favorite comments are, "I have total confidence in him." (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, Libby, Delay, Gonzles, Wolfowitz, Frist, and all his other buddies).

God bless our brave troops in Iraq-Afghanistan who are in the middle of a religious civil war and they and their families are carrying the burden each day for this war.

Date: May 1, 2007

I am supporting former Senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson for President in the primary.
He served our government during the Watergate investigation and during the Iraq War. He reminds me a lot of former President Reagan in his style and manner. He and President Reagan were both excellent actors and this is important in the personality and leadership of our President.

He is much better than McCain, Romney, Guluani, and the others? We need to keep the Republican Party in control and Thompson is the man who can do it. He is the man for the job.

Date: May 1, 2007

It's a good thing these guys are such conservative, moralistic individuals...

ABC LINKS TOBIAS TO ESCORT SERVICE
Ex-Lilly chief, AIDS czar quits foreign aid post, tells network 'no sex' involved
Indianapolis Star and news service reports

April 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Indiana native Randall Tobias abruptly resigned Friday from his State Department post overseeing most U.S. foreign aid after telling ABC News he had used a Washington escort service.

ABC News reported late Friday that Tobias said in a Thursday interview that he had used the Pamela Martin and Associates escort services for massages, but it reported that he said there had been "no sex."

In a statement released late Friday afternoon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cited "personal reasons" for the departure of Tobias, a former chairman and chief executive of Eli Lilly and Co., who served as director of U.S. foreign assistance and head of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Reached by telephone, Tobias' wife, Marianne, said Tobias was not available and she could not comment on whether his departure was related to the escort service.

"I'm very sorry, but I cannot make any comment," Marianne Tobias said.

A call to the State Department and an e-mail to Tobias were not returned.

According to ABC News, Tobias said he contacted the escort service "to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage" and that there had been "no sex" involved. More recently, Tobias told the network, he has been using a service with Central American women.

Tobias' name was on a list of clients given to ABC by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who owns the escort service and has been charged with running a prostitution ring in the nation's capital.
In a memo Friday to the USAID staff, James R. Kunder, acting deputy USAID administrator, called the resignation "shocking" and urged workers not to be "distracted from our developmental and emergency work."

Tobias, 65, has been in the job since January 2006. He was appointed to the position under a Bush administration plan to restructure foreign assistance.

Before that, Tobias had served since 2003 as Bush's first global AIDS coordinator, leading a $15 billion, five-year effort aimed at helping prevent AIDS and treating those with the disease.
"His leadership has been critical to launching the U.S. global AIDS relief program and bringing greater coordination and focus to U.S. international humanitarian assistance," Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a friend of Tobias', said Friday. "Many more millions of lives have been made better by food and health assistance, economic development, democratic promotion and conflict prevention."

White House officials said Rice briefed President Bush on the matter early Friday before he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Bush "was saddened and disappointed and wished Dr. Tobias and his family well," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

On Monday, Tobias was at the White House for a reception for the Indianapolis Colts. On Wednesday, he attended a luncheon at the State Department with Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes and actress Angelina Jolie, who was in Washington pushing for more U.S. education aid for developing countries.

In his post, Tobias oversaw about $18 billion in U.S. foreign aid. He was put in charge of USAID and named the State Department's first director of U.S. foreign assistance in an attempt to better coordinate aid.

USAID, an independent federal agency that receives foreign policy guidance from the secretary of state, has nearly 8,000 employees.

Date: May 3, 2007

Daily revelations on the incompentency of Bush and his administration

Government Fumbles Millions in Potential Katrina Donations
Foreign Countries Offer Nearly $1 Billion, but Little of it Gets to Victims
By STEPHANIE SY
April 29, 2007

As the victims of Hurricane Katrina continue their struggle to recover, they are now learning that millions of dollars in promised aid from foreign countries never reached them.

According to government documents obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), only a fraction of the nearly $1 billion pledged by foreign governments was ever collected, amounting to $126 million. And according to a Washington Post report, only $40 million has been used for the victims.

The amount of offers that poured into the State Department after Katrina was unprecedented, and an internal report last year found that there were not procedures in place to handle international assistance.

"It was a new circumstance," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on ABC News' This Week with George Stephanopoulos. "The United States is, frankly, not accustomed to receiving large-scale foreign assistance offers."

In many cases, countries were advised to donate the money to private organizations. Kuwait, for example, made the largest offer, consisting of $100 million in cash and $400 million in oil. They gave $25 million to the Bush-Katrina fund and $25 million to the American Red Cross. They plan to donate $50 million more, but it is unclear what will come of the $400 million oil pledge.

Melanie Sloan, director of CREW, said "the government was incompetent" in its handling of international assistance.

"They were & saying, 'Thanks, we do want all that money,' but then they had no mechanism in place at all to actually get the money from the countries who offered it to the people who needed it," she said.

In once instance, she noted, medical supplies from Italy had be thrown out because they had spoiled from not being properly stored. In another case, the United States initially accepted the offer of two Greek cruise ships to house displaced residents. But when technical issues delayed the ships, the United States rejected the offer.

Former New Orleans mayor and National Urban League president Marc Morial called the revelations, "stunning, especially since many of the nations with whom we have had historically great relations & offered to help the United States and its people. I think we should welcome that assistance."

Morial recently visited the devastated areas, and said the funds are still desperately needed.

"It's painful because the needs are still real," he said. "People are still living in trailers. If you go through the ninth ward, there are large stretches where, obviously, there's been no rebuilding."

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is demanding Congressional hearings on the matter in reaction to the Washington Post report. She released a statement, which reads, "Louisiana and the Gulf Coast deserve better. America deserves better. And while we did not seek handouts, a hand up was and remains sorely needed."

State Department officials told ABC News that since Katrina, procedures to deal with accepting foreign aid have been put in place.

Date: May 3, 2007

Not a big fan of this guy, but says what we all need to be saying...

Date: May 4, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

Not a big fan of this guy, but says what we all need to be saying...

Donald Trump said it very well. This is going to take us years or decades to get over the mess President Bush has gotten us in for the past 4 plus years. The three most hated nations in the world are now Iran, North Korea, and our beloved nation. We used to be the most highly respected nation in the world. Greed, arrogance, a know-it-all attitude, and a stick our noses into other nation's business is the road this administration has travelled.

Today I heard that when our young men and women go back time after time to serve tours of duty in Iraq-Afghanistan it does severe damage to them. They should not go back for at least two years. And now we are making them stay 15 months instead of 12. And we don't have good medical facilities waiting for them when they have to be treated for physical and emotional problems.

Don't we care about the troops and their families who are carrying the burden for us in this disastrous war?

Date: May 5, 2007

Today is Kentucky Derby Day and all across our nation and the world people will gamble, dress in beautiful clothes, attend lavish parties, drink mint julips, and marvel at the greatness of this event. Some will be watching a PGA Golf event and some will be in the VIP tents at the Country Club enjoying the watching the rich and the famous as well as the top golfers in the world.

There will be others in the stands at an NBA playoff game, Major League Baseball Game, or at their favorite bar enjoying their friends as they watch their favorite teams compete. I love sports as much as just about anybody.

But as the multitude of Americans enjoy the good life a small number of our population and their familiy members and friends will have another sad and painful day as our troops continue to carry the brunt of service in this fanatic religious war. Many of those family members thought they were going to have a year of absence from their loved ones, but for some it has meant that they will never see their husband, wife, child, father or mother, or son or daughter, or brother or sister, or nephew or niece, or grandchild again on this earth.

Each day a loved one is in harms way there is a knot in your stomach. There is fear that interrupts your thoughts. Sometimes it is hard to sleep. Each time the doorbell or the phone rings or the TV gives a report about casuaties your heart palpitates. As a small boy when my dad was gone to World War II you always knotted up if you saw a Western Union delivery person in your neighborhood. It usually meant bad news for a neighbor or friend.

Life goes on for nearly all the people of our nation without having to sacrifice, or to pay more taxes to support our nation which goes deeper and deeper in debt, or to reduce our driving of our cars to save energy, or to change our daily habits in any way.

To whom much is given, much is expected. The Bush-Cheney philosophy is that "to whom much is given, much more they should receive". Some profit greatly from war. A few just pay a terrible price for a war.

Date: May 5, 2007

The last Poster has made some very good points, no question everything (Most Everything) he said is very true. To some of us Older folks we unfortunatley have been through WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and now this, there is never anything easy here and a small portion of the people, even during WWII carried the load.

All of these families suffered as War is a Terrible business. Over the years we have grown very dependent on Oil products, not just the Gas for our cars but everything made from these products? take a Google look or Yahoo search on what is being made from Oil, Clothing Fabrics, Plastics, Any small plastic Components that go in your TV's (Plasma, LCD ETC) ATV's, Obviously all transportation, IE. Boats, Waverunners, Computer Caseings, any computer Disc's, that's right, all made of Oil Types, many many other critical daily items are also listed, just take some time and look.

over the last 20 years we have been able to replace some of these daily items but are still far short of what we should have done, both Democrat & Republicans have sit back and enjoyed the good life, Private Jets, lieterally all kinds of Petroleum based products they freely use, just like everyone else.

This conflict is about unfortunatley Strategic Interest, that interest is Oil, the Government knows that and it also knows that this will effect the entire economy of the world. There is no easy way out of this, as bad as the situation is, it could be many times worse. It's awful to be tied to this Oil addition but it's almost the entire western world and now China & India are also in the mix and buying from the same Middle east.

These GREAT service people are defending all our ways of life, right or wrong the entire world economy will collaspse if that region errupts into full scale conflict ,no easy way out, thanks so much to our troops who are there fighting and trying to do the right thing!!!!!

Too many smart people in this country to continue to be a hostage to Middle Eastern Oil, one Message to send is Join the May 15th Oil & Gas Boycott! Don't buy and Gas on May 15th.

Date: May 5, 2007

What are you talking about? In 1999, I was only a multi-millionaire, having to work 40 hours a week struggling to make ends meet, and like Latrell Sprewell, trying to put food on any of my only 3 dinner tables.

Then George Bush took over, and my life changed. My Oil, Financial, Pharmaceutical, War Weapons and Halliburton stocks shot through the roof. Then from nowhere, George came up with the brainstorm that I, Lowly Joe Millionaire, needed a tax break.

Then along with my new lower tax rate, I GOT A $300 CHECK! How did George know that I would never have bought my iPod made in China with the other millions I have in the bank if it had not been for that $300 check! What an idea. Besides, if he had given it to the poor and needy, than grocery store stocks would have gone up - who buys grocery store stocks?

I still struggle - my boat docked in San Diego needs a paint job, my wife needs a boob job, my kids need bail money, and my Mazaratti costs a fortune to maintain - but with George's new tax proposal passed just before the elections, all of these expenses are now tax deductible if you make at least $5 million or more annually. Now I can get my wife, my girlfriend, my escort service "massage only" therapist, and my underage male intern the boob jobs they need for the long term health benefits and write them off under "War Contributions".

Why does one nickel of my tax dollar, or I should say "Former" tax dollar, need to go to a single mother of 4 for clothes and food? I know the Bible says to open your hand to the needy and help the poor, but I recently bought the new Republican edition of the Bible, the "King Bush Version" printed in 2001, and all the "help thy neighbor" fluff has been deleted, making the entire new Republican Bible only a half-hour read.

And the War? Some of us Republicans have always said we need a good war periodically to boost the economy, and George, along with his alter-brain Dick Cheney, have given us a good one. Hey, the economy is great according to the stock market - thats is how the economy is graded these days - and is being driven by Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, Pharmaceutical stocks, Halliburtan, American Express Financial and Carlyle War Weapons. In fact, my broker gave me some great advice - buy anything that Bush and Cheney and their family and friends are involved in, and you'll make enough to feed millions of starving poor people, or in Republican terms, enough to own 20 or 30 homes, a hummer in each driveway, plasma TV's in your office, front row seats at bowl games, and hookers in every city you visit.

You sad sacks can keep picking on poor George, but for my money, he and his Republican predecessor are who I would invest my hard-earned tax-returned campaign contribution dollars in.

Sincerely,

Always Needmore Cash

Date: May 5, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

The last Poster has made some very good points, no question everything (Most Everything) he said is very true. To some of us Older folks we unfortunatley have been through WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and now this, there is never anything easy here and a small portion of the people, even during WWII carried the load.

All of these families suffered as War is a Terrible business. Over the years we have grown very dependent on Oil products, not just the Gas for our cars but everything made from these products? take a Google look or Yahoo search on what is being made from Oil, Clothing Fabrics, Plastics, Any small plastic Components that go in your TV's (Plasma, LCD ETC) ATV's, Obviously all transportation, IE. Boats, Waverunners, Computer Caseings, any computer Disc's, that's right, all made of Oil Types, many many other critical daily items are also listed, just take some time and look.

over the last 20 years we have been able to replace some of these daily items but are still far short of what we should have done, both Democrat & Republicans have sit back and enjoyed the good life, Private Jets, lieterally all kinds of Petroleum based products they freely use, just like everyone else.

This conflict is about unfortunatley Strategic Interest, that interest is Oil, the Government knows that and it also knows that this will effect the entire economy of the world. There is no easy way out of this, as bad as the situation is, it could be many times worse. It's awful to be tied to this Oil addition but it's almost the entire western world and now China & India are also in the mix and buying from the same Middle east.

These GREAT service people are defending all our ways of life, right or wrong the entire world economy will collaspse if that region errupts into full scale conflict ,no easy way out, thanks so much to our troops who are there fighting and trying to do the right thing!!!!!

Too many smart people in this country to continue to be a hostage to Middle Eastern Oil, one Message to send is Join the May 15th Oil & Gas Boycott! Don't buy and Gas on May 15th.

Thanks for the suggestion. We won't buy any gas on May 15.

Date: May 5, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

What are you talking about? In 1999, I was only a multi-millionaire, having to work 40 hours a week struggling to make ends meet, and like Latrell Sprewell, trying to put food on any of my only 3 dinner tables.

Then George Bush took over, and my life changed. My Oil, Financial, Pharmaceutical, War Weapons and Halliburton stocks shot through the roof. Then from nowhere, George came up with the brainstorm that I, Lowly Joe Millionaire, needed a tax break.

Then along with my new lower tax rate, I GOT A $300 CHECK! How did George know that I would never have bought my iPod made in China with the other millions I have in the bank if it had not been for that $300 check! What an idea. Besides, if he had given it to the poor and needy, than grocery store stocks would have gone up - who buys grocery store stocks?

I still struggle - my boat docked in San Diego needs a paint job, my wife needs a boob job, my kids need bail money, and my Mazaratti costs a fortune to maintain - but with George's new tax proposal passed just before the elections, all of these expenses are now tax deductible if you make at least $5 million or more annually. Now I can get my wife, my girlfriend, my escort service "massage only" therapist, and my underage male intern the boob jobs they need for the long term health benefits and write them off under "War Contributions".

Why does one nickel of my tax dollar, or I should say "Former" tax dollar, need to go to a single mother of 4 for clothes and food? I know the Bible says to open your hand to the needy and help the poor, but I recently bought the new Republican edition of the Bible, the "King Bush Version" printed in 2001, and all the "help thy neighbor" fluff has been deleted, making the entire new Republican Bible only a half-hour read.

And the War? Some of us Republicans have always said we need a good war periodically to boost the economy, and George, along with his alter-brain Dick Cheney, have given us a good one. Hey, the economy is great according to the stock market - thats is how the economy is graded these days - and is being driven by Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, Pharmaceutical stocks, Halliburtan, American Express Financial and Carlyle War Weapons. In fact, my broker gave me some great advice - buy anything that Bush and Cheney and their family and friends are involved in, and you'll make enough to feed millions of starving poor people, or in Republican terms, enough to own 20 or 30 homes, a hummer in each driveway, plasma TV's in your office, front row seats at bowl games, and hookers in every city you visit.

You sad sacks can keep picking on poor George, but for my money, he and his Republican predecessor are who I would invest my hard-earned tax-returned campaign contribution dollars in.

Sincerely,

Always Needmore Cash

Hey Always,

As a Republican I have to say........ thats pretty good. Any other time in history I'd be offended, but we all have to admit, democrat or republican, Bush and his group are awful (as is Fletcher).

Signed,

A possibly soon to be former Republican

Date: May 20, 2007

LEE IACOCCA: Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Had Enough?

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

Read the entire Lee Iacocca excerpt on TRI-COUNTY STRAIGHT TALK

Date: Jul 2, 2007

Scooter Libby got his sentence communted today. Bush-Cheney didn't want him to go to prison because he may have spilled his guts out implicating them.

Bush is learning from Fletcher.

Date: Jul 4, 2007

Ratings for Bush, Congress sink lower

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer

Like twin Jacques Cousteaus of the political world, President Bush and Congress are probing the depths of public opinion polling as voters exasperated over Iraq, immigration and other issues give them strikingly low grades.

In a remarkable span, the approval that people voice for the job Bush is doing has sunk to record lows for his presidency in the AP-Ipsos and other polls in recent weeks, dipping within sight of President Nixon's levels during Watergate. Ominously for Republicans hoping to hold the White House and recapture Congress next year, Bush's support has plunged among core GOP groups like evangelicals, and pivotal independent swing voters.

Congress is doing about the same. Like Bush, lawmakers are winning approval by roughly three in 10. Such levels are significantly low for a president, and poor but less unusual for Congress.

"The big thing would be the war," said independent Richard MacDonald, 56, a retired printer from Redding, Calif. "I don't think he knew what he got into when he got into it." As for Congress, MacDonald said, "It's just the same old same old with me. A lot of promises they don't keep."

Bush was risking more unpopularity by commuting I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison term in the CIA leak case, and his refusal to rule out a full pardon. Polls in March after the former White House aide's conviction showed two in three opposed to a pardon.

The public's dissatisfaction may be more serious for Republicans because even though Bush cannot run again, he is the face of the GOP. He will remain that until his party picks its 2008 presidential nominee and through the campaign if Democrats can keep him front and center.

"Everything about this race will be about George Bush and the mess he left," Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., a member of the House Democratic leadership, said about 2008. "He'll be on the ballot."

Congress' numbers could signal danger for majority Democrats, since they echo the low ratings just before the GOP 1994 takeover of the House and Senate, and the Democratic capture of both chambers last November.

But unlike the president, Congress usually has low approval ratings no matter which party is in control, and poor poll numbers have not always meant the majority party suffered on Election Day. Voters usually show more disdain for Congress as an institution than for their own representative whom they pick.

A majority in a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. survey in late June said Democratic control of Congress was good for the country. Yet only 42 percent approved of what Democratic leaders have done this year when Democrats failed to force Bush to change policy on Iraq.

Republican strategists hope the dim mood will help the GOP in congressional elections.

"The voters voted for change and they expected change, and they see an institution still incapable of getting anything done," said GOP pollster Linda DiVall.

The abysmal numbers are already affecting how Bush and Congress are governing and candidates' positioning for 2008.

Last Thursday's Senate collapse of Bush's immigration bill showed anew how lawmakers feel free to ignore his agenda. Republican senators like Richard Lugar of Indiana and George Voinovich of Ohio have joined increasingly bipartisan calls for an Iraq troop withdrawal.

This year's GOP presidential debates have seen former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and others criticize Bush or his administration for mishandling the war and other issues. Some Republican congressional candidates have not hesitated to distance themselves from Bush.

"President Bush is my friend, and I don't always agree with my friends," said Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., facing a tough re-election fight next year. "And on the issues of Iraq and immigration, I simply disagree with his approach."

Bush's doleful numbers speak for themselves.

In an early June AP-Ipsos poll, 32 percent approved of his work, tying his low in that survey. Other June polls in which he set or tied his personal worst included 27 percent by CBS News, 31 percent by Fox News-Opinion Dynamics, 32 percent by CNN-Opinion Research Corp. and 26 percent by Newsweek.

The Gallup poll's lowest presidential approval rating was President Truman's 23 percent in 1951 and 1952 during the Korean war, compared with Nixon's 24 percent days before he resigned in August 1974. Bush notched the best ever, 90 percent days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The AP's June survey showed that compared with an AP exit poll of voters in November 2004, Bush's approval was down among swing voters. His support dropped from about half of independents to a fifth; from half to a third of Catholics; and from nearly half to a fifth of moderates.

Among usually loyal GOP voters, his approval was down from about eight in 10 to roughly half of both conservatives and white evangelicals.

Congress had a 35 percent approval rating in a May AP-Ipsos survey. Polls in June found 27 percent approval by CBS News, 25 percent by Newsweek and 24 percent by Gallup-USA Today.

Congress' all-time Gallup low was 18 percent during a 1992 scandal over House post office transactions; its high was 84 percent just after Sept. 11.

In the AP poll, lawmakers won approval from only about three in 10 midwesterners, independents and married people with children pivotal groups both parties court aggressively.

___

AP Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.