Bush Is Expected to Scold Congress Again

[Ghost in the Machine]

Bush Is Expected to Scold Congress Again
Published: 12/4/07, 8:05 AM EDT
By DEB RIECHMANN

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, entrenched in disputes with Congress over spending and the war in Iraq, wants to intensify pressure on lawmakers when he addresses the media on Tuesday. It will be his first news conference in nearly seven weeks.

The president is expected again to admonish Congress for not sending him spending bills, intelligence legislation and tax-law changes. Bush, taking advantage of his veto power and the largest bully pulpit in town, regularly scolds Congress as a way to stay relevant and frame the debate as his presidency winds down. {emphasis mine}

Democrats counter that Bush is more interested in making statements than genuinely trying to negotiate some common ground with them.

The news conference is scheduled for 10:01 a.m. EST Tuesday.

It comes one day after a new national intelligence estimate found that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003, largely because of international scrutiny and pressure. That finding is in stark contrast to the comparable intelligence estimate of just two years ago, when U.S. intelligence agencies believed Tehran was determined to develop a nuclear weapons capability and was continuing its weapons development program.

http://www.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=7816&eeid=5554076&_sitecat=1504&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=0&ck=&ch=ne

[King Coal]

1. Who will scold Bush's ass? Oh, I forgot. Impeachment is off the table.

Damn it.

[pdxmom]

2. There is something fishy about all this. The timing and the behaviors are

just off. They release the NIE, which they've been hiding for months, and it blows their Iran policy out of the water. Then we get advanced notice of a press conference, which is totally out of character. Something is going on and I don't have a good feeling about this press conference. Why the "scolding" yesterday, if he's just going to say the same thing again today, plus open himself up to questions? Not liking this at all.

[C_U_L8R]

3. I've got a tinfoil hat on

I don't necc trust this NIE "release" and i certainly don't trust Bush.

On one hand the whole thing could be preemptive leaking
by brave intelligence folks who want to foil the administration's attack plans
and on the other hand it could be some nefarious rovian plot to
discredit the dems (and the intelligence community).

Might need two layers of tinfoil for this one

[Skidmore]

4. Why don't they just put a life-sized cardboard cutout of him and a tape recorder

out there everyday, and trot Jenna's fiance out to push the button at a designated time? * can stay in side and play with his Wii.