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Tuesday, March 07, 2006

GOP is panicked over the politics of port security

by Joe in DC - 3/07/2006 08:32:00 AM

AP has an analysis of how the GOP has really stumbled on the port security issue. Take it from the mouth of a top GOP operative:

''This ports issue has ricocheted around the country and made it to people's dinner tables like nothing I've ever seen,'' said Scott Reed, a GOP consultant. ''It's now an out-of-control political problem.''

While the GOPers in Congress scurry from Bush like rats on a sinking ship with a 34% approval rating, Democrats can't let them escape. They had a role in the failure of port security, too:

''When it comes to protecting the ports, Republicans really do have a pre-9/11 mind-set,'' said Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

Among the votes:
--In 2003, House Republicans, on a procedural vote, agreed to kill a Democratic amendment that would have added $250 million for port security grants to a war spending package.

--Two years later, nearly all House Republicans voted against an alternative Homeland Security authorization bill offered by Democrats that called for an additional $400 million for port security.

--Senate Republicans stood together in 2003 to set aside a Democratic amendment that would have provided $120 million more for port cargo screening equipment.

--One year later, all but six Senate Republicans voted to reject a Democratic attempt to add $150 million for port security in a Homeland Security appropriations bill. That ''record of failure'' presents ''an important opportunity for Democrats to argue that they are the ones who have the right approach to protecting the country,'' maintains Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster.

House Republicans were put on record again last week on port security when Democrats tried to force a debate and vote on legislation that would require congressional approval of DP World's takeover. The effort failed. Only two Republicans voted with Democrats.

Bush and the Hill Republicans have both failed on national security. They can't escape from each other.
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The Dems have been screaming about the ports for years now but you would have never known. It took Katrina to wake the media up from its republican induced coma and to come it senses. These points need to be recited everytime a Dem has air time, they need to be driven into the heads of ordinary americans. The repubs have excelled with this tactic and now its time to use it against them. Think about how much is spent every day in Iraq and how that hasn't done anything to aleviate terrorism. I think we need to bring that money back home and put it to good use.

Posted by mardenhill 3/07/2006 09:26:00 AM    

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