Word: gop
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Conrad gets ready to grill Daniels, Republicans are putting together a public counterattack of their own, which will be two-pronged. First, "we'll say we're working on it," explains a senior Senate GOP aide. Tax relief is on the way and it will help strengthen the flagging economy. The second prong will put the ball in the other side's court: Democrats complain that the tax cut isn't letting them have enough money to spend on social programs. So they have two choices. They can cut spending or raise taxes. "We'll be asking them this question...
...last thing Bush wants to do is veto a patients bill of rights. It would just fuel public perception that he and the Republicans are tied too closely to big business. "Sure, there's some nervousness about it," one GOP senator admitted. "This is not an issue where we've been on the offense. The Democrats have been on the offense. We've been on the defense...
...Other House GOP leadership aides report their phones are now jangling with calls from White House aides who want to get reacquainted. "All of a sudden, we're their best friends," says another senior GOP House staffer. "Their presence in my life has increased one-hundred-fold." Bush invited GOP congressmen over to the White House for chats on the patients' bill while his aides swarmed over the House side of Capitol Hill to schmooze. "There's been a wakeup call," says this senior House GOP aide. "The President is finding his new love for House Republicans...
...they get him out of this fix? Fletcher got some Republicans to bolt from the Norwood bill to sign on to his. But even with Hastert and the GOP leadership behind him, he doesn't yet have a majority. Many moderate Republicans are holding off and only a few Democrats have defected to his measure. "A lot of Democratic members would like to vote for this bill but they're getting unprecedented pressure from their leadership to vote against it," Fletcher tells TIME. Fletcher isn't helped by the fact that the Senate finally passed the Kennedy-McCain-Edwards bill...
...Finally, the old GOP strategy of stringing out the debate to give attack ads more time to work now seems to be out the window as well. Time may be working against the GOP. "The patients bill is getting tilted more to the left the longer it hangs out there," worries a House Republican leadership aide. "We might as well do it and get it over with." Hastert is now mulling whether to bring up the bill as soon as he can after congressmen get back from their July 4th recess...