Pence: Credit Bush For Iraq Success

One of the most popular conservative lawmakers in Congress is accusing the Obama administration of unfairly attempting to take full credit for the U.S.’ ability to pull combat forces out of Iraq.

In an op-ed in today’s Washington Times, Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Republican Conference, argues that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are wrong to claim it was they who created an end to the war. “That’s not the whole story,” writes Pence.

However, in a primetime address to the nation tonight, Obama is expected to discuss his efforts to end America’s combat mission in Iraq, fulfilling a promise he made during his 2008 campaign.

According to Pence, most of the credit is owed to former President George W. Bush, who, with violence against NATO-led forces escalating, famously ordered a ‘surge’ of 60,000 American troops to Iraq in 2007. Pence wrote that contrary to the position of Democratic leaders in Congress at the time, Bush had “decided not to lose.”

Pence notes in his piece that then-Senator Obama opposed Bush’s surge and made remarks questioning whether sending additional forces to Iraq would improve the country’s condition. Along with then-Senator Biden, Obama voted 10 times to establish a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from the nation at war, writes Pence.

Republicans have generally been critical of Obama for invoking his predecessor’s name amidst debate over various issues during the past 19 months. Yet, Pence says he wouldn’t mind seeing that happen tonight.

“As the president addresses the nation tonight, let’s hope he gives credit where credit is due: to the men and women of the U.S. armed forces who wrought stability from tyranny and terrorism in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and, for once, let’s hope the president gives credit to a predecessor who refused to accept defeat.”

Transportation Industry Benefitting From Stimulus

By Sam Wechsler - Talk Radio News Service

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has been successful in providing and saving jobs in the transportation sector, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Wednesday. He also pointed out that we are only four months into a two year recovery plan, so most results aren't yet perceptible.

Durbin says the government has provided checks for $60.4 billion and has allocated $234 billion of the total $787 billion stimulus package. Ed Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, said that an historic $48 billion of the stimulus will be spent on transportation.

“I wish the recession would end tomorrow but we have to be patient...for those who say ‘accelerate payments,’ I have the same basic feeling myself. But I just know from human and government experience that haste does make waste. Let’s make sure these funds are well invested and well spent,” said Durbin.

Wytkind discussed the multiplier effect that occurs when the transportation industry spends money that simultaneously benefits other sectors of the economy, such as the steel and lumber industries.

Wytkind criticized former President George W. Bush’s administration for neglecting to use the transportation industry as a mode for job creation. “The fact is that Americans are hurting, our members are hurting, because of eight years of do-nothing economic policies. [President Obama and the new Congress] are wedded to turning around an economy that is reeling,” said Wytkind.

Iraqi Refugees need U.S. help, advocates say

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

America must invest more time, money, and human resources to help those displaced by the ongoing Iraq War, according to human rights advocates from the Washington, D.C.-based Refugees International.

The presence of 2.6 million displaced Iraqis persons is overwhelming to neighboring Middle East countries and is “undermining” to the social fabric of Iraq, said Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, at a speech made today at the National Press Club.

President Barack Obama talked about displacement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday.

Bacon is happy at what is being seen as a distinct change from the “little attention” that the Bush Administration paid to Iraqi displacement.

It is estimated that since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, 2.6 million Iraqi’s have lost their homes and have fled other parts of the country. An additional 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

Bacon said that greater American and international support in receiving refugees and providing financial-aid can help stop the crisis.

Displacement of that many people “affects the whole region”, said Bacon, which results in educated citizens and specialized workers fleeing the country.

There are only 18,000 practicing doctors in Iraq, down from 32,000 doctors in 2002. There are more Iraqi doctors in Jordan than in Iraq’s capitol city of Baghdad, Bacon said.

Last year Democratic Senators Robert Casey (PA) and Benjamin Cardin (MD) introduced a bill to increase aid to Iraqi refugees and allow more of them to enter the United States. Since the FY2010 Budget has been approved by Congress, any appropriated funds to help Iraqi citizens would have to come through additional legislation, Bacon said.

A spokesman for Senator Cardin said it has not been decided yet if similar legislation would be introduced in this Congress.

Refugee International’s Field Report on the Iraqi refugee situation said that the Iraqi government is trying to keep more of its citizens from fleeing their homeland. It is feared by the Iraqi government that the existence of so many refugees tarnishes the image of overall security within the country.

The report also said Iraq violated international refugee laws in 2007 by asking Syria not to accept any more Iraqi refugees.

Many refugees have fears of returning home, the report says, because many of those that returned already have been killed.

Kristele Younes, an advocate with Refugees International, says that security is a major issue in Iraqi neighborhoods, with each little borough acting as its own walled off “fiefdom”.

Younes said that the United Nations is trying to place a tourniquet on the flow of persons out of the country by the end of the year, but significant challenges remain in Iraq, including budgetary shortcomings due to low oil prices, corruption within the government and sectarianism.

The Refugees International’s report on Iraq can be found here.

“Have They No Shame?”

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer expressed the “outrage that all Americans feel” at AIG executives taking large bonuses on taxpayer money. “These people tried to separate risk from responsibility,” he said, but he was unsure whether there was any legal way to reclaim the money. “The right question is, how can they take these bonuses? Have they no shame? No sense of decency?” The right thing, he continued, would be for them to return the bonuses.
“They thought they would never have to pay the piper. The piper is being paid; not by them, but by the taxpayers,” he finished.

Hoyer also criticized a remark by former Vice President Dick Cheney two days ago that,”I don’t think you can blame the Bush administration for the creation of those (economic) circumstances.” Hoyer provided various quotes from Cheney, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, Republican Leader John Boehner, and former President George Bush to the effect that Republicans were not responsible for the current financial crisis.

“The last administration started with a January growth of 164,000 jobs. The Obama administration took over in a January that lost 351,000 jobs,” he said. Hoyer contrasted the $5.6 trillion surplus that Bush started with against the $4.5 trillion deficit that Obama inherited. “It’s mind-boggling that the former vice president simply said, ‘well, it’s not our fault.’”

At the end, Bush praises Transportation Achievements

President Bush said that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has had an "impressive record" on providing safety to air travelers during his presidency. He called the last seven years of air travel the "safest ever."

In a speech at the DOT today, Bush singled out Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, saying she has done a "fabulous job" and calling her "a strong leader." He praised her response to the bridge collapse on Aug. 1, 2007 of Highway I-35 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Bush, Peters led "a swift and effective federal response" to the bridge collapse, and stated that the bridge was reopened "months ahead of schedule."

The President also declared that this December the government will open military air space to civilian air craft in areas of the East Coast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West Coast. He also said that this holiday season, the government, in an attempt to protect consumers, will increase regulations on airlines. He claimed there would be higher compensation assured to consumers who lost bags on flights, and tougher penalties for airlines that do not reveal hidden fees.

According to Bush, the administration has "taken steps to address the source of most flight delays and cancellations across the country, and that would be the heavy air traffic around New York City." He said they have accomplished this because they have "improved our traffic control."

Bush said that it is important to be innovative in improving air travel over the coming years. He said the energy bill he signed last year "will save fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions by specifying a national fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020."

Bush advocated that the private sector be the leader in providing advancement. He felt that the government should "provide incentives" to "develop new technologies, invest in our infrastructure, and help make our transportation system worthy of the 21st century."