I'm saying it can hurt. Look at Mitt Romney vs Gingrich and Santorum.
The Towers Still Stand: An Alternate take on early 21st Century America.
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August 4th, 2003. Medicare Part D is Brought to the House for a Vote:
The morning of August 4th saw President Bush's Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan go to the House of Representatives for a vote. The Bill was Sponsored by House Minority Leader Dennis Hastert. Due to much debate over the bill, the plan was never actually voted on. Democrats opposed it for the same reasons House Majority Leader Pelosi said she opposed the bill in her interview on "Face the Nation." Even some Republicans, led by Texas Congressman Ron Paul, opposed the bill as well calling it "an expensive and unnecessary expansion of the federal government." Congressman Paul said when he spoke of his opposition of this plan on the floor of the House that "these problems are best left to the free markets to solve."
Two days later, in an interview with ABC News, Vice President John Kasich said that "The President promised to address the issues Seniors were having with the costs of their prescription drugs when he ran in 2000. I agreed with him then that something needed to be done, and we both agree now that something needs to be done to solve this issue. The administration and Republican leaders in Congress have crafted a plan that addresses the concerns and the needs of our Seniors and at the same time is fiscally responsible. President Bush and I both feel that this is the Christian thing to do and that is why I was very disappointed that this bill wasn't even voted on on Monday, and I'm sure President Bush feels the same way."
Eh, I don't think her, Gephardt, and Daschle will go as far a Boehner, Ryan, McTurtle, and Cantor. They and Bush will work to try and work out their differences. I'm not going to say whether or not something comes of it though.
Well it's not in the Democrats interests to pass it, because then Bush gets the credit and wins more senior votes, while if it doesn't pass it may be a minor talking point but gets less attention than if it's in Bush's record.
Even if it passes, Bush won't have the senior vote locked up, don't forget in TTL, he tried to partially privatize Social Security in 2002.
Bush should pull a Reagan and give a televised address from the Oval Office on the issue.
August 7th, 2003. President Bush meets with Congressional Leaders at the White House:
On August 7th, President George W. Bush met with Speaker Dick Gephardt, who took time off of his campaign to meet with the President and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to discuss Medicare Part D. Also in attendance was Vice President Kasich. After a meeting that lasted two hours, the Congressional Leaders went back to the Capitol Building, where News Reporters were waiting. Speaker Gephardt started off by saying that "the meeting was a good one and I, as well as my colleagues, thank him for having us at the White House to discuss this program. Senator Daschle and myself expressed to the President that we felt his plan did not do enough to lower costs for Seniors due to the doughnut hole and the Government's inability to negotiate prices with the Prescription Drug Companies. My hope is that the President gets back to us soon, so that we can discuss this further and see if we can't solve our differences on an issue that is so important to our Seniors. Thank You."
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It's OK, man. I'd rather have good updates slowly then bad updates quickly.
oberdada
Gone Fishin'
Liking this so far.
Just in case Gore wins and make international cooperation on climate change a mayor topic of his presidency I would like to mention that in TTL it is very likely that the German elections in 2002 would have turned out different.
Without the anti-war (Iraq) vote Gerhard Schröder would have likely lost after one term, so there goes the coalition with the Green Party.
New Chancellor would be conservative Edmund Stoiber.
So one potential international partener for such politics will be butterflied away, as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Just in case Gore wins and make international cooperation on climate change a mayor topic of his presidency I would like to mention that in TTL it is very likely that the German elections in 2002 would have turned out different.
Without the anti-war (Iraq) vote Gerhard Schröder would have likely lost after one term, so there goes the coalition with the Green Party.
New Chancellor would be conservative Edmund Stoiber.
So one potential international partener for such politics will be butterflied away, as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel.
August 11th, 2003. The President Reaches an Agreement with Democrats on Medicare:
On the Morning of August 11th, 2003, President George W. Bush, with Congressional Leaders of both Parties, held a Press Conference at the White House to announce that an agreement had been reached on Medicare. Bush said in his statement that "Over the Course of the past few days, Congressional Leaders and myself have reached an agreement on a Prescription Drug plan to Medicare. We can now say that Seniors have some help paying for their prescriptions. I want to thank members of both parties for working with my administration to address this problem. While there are parts of this legislation that we still disagree on, we still have made progress. This plan still has similarities to my previous plan, only the Government and the Pharmaceutical Companies can now negotiate prices for Prescription drugs, which will decrease the size of the doughnut hole. The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader have pledged to me that they will get this legislation to the floors of Congress for a vote in the coming days. We had our debate, concerns were addressed, let's now get this plan passed so that Senior Citizens can have the help that they need. Thank you and God Bless."
Thank you, glad you Like it.Great job so far! Keeping track of this timeline.
Yes! Bush's numbers will definitely go up with this major policy victory under his belt. With the GOP favored in the Senate (most likely), a strong reelection win can deliver Bush the house and set him up for a productive second term
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