Count me as one of the many that are not frustrated with how things are going. We finally exercised some initiative and wiped out the Islam radicals, and the economy has been solid since 2002. In addition, the Democrats want to get back in there and fuck things up and have not been able too. If the republicans can get their spendaholic ways under control, get the budget balanced we will be in good shape. Keep the Dumbocrats from raising taxes. Look for the troops to start returning home in 2009 as we enter a Germany/South Korea type of situation in Iraq. Still need the Iraqi people to take control of their political situation over there, but things are looking good indeed.
To all the Anti-American, Anti-Military Bush Haters I have one thing to say to you --- You have lost so Merry Fuckin' Christmas !!!!
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>Senate Majority Leader Reid Weighs Partisan Divides, Security in Iraq
</td> <td rowspan="3" width="11"> </td></tr> <tr><td height="7"> </td></tr> <tr><td>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., discusses how partisan differences have impacted the pace of recent legislative progress on Capitol Hill, the state of the Iraq war and the next steps for the Democratic-led Congress in an interview with Ray Suarez.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" height="13"> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END headline blurb table --> <!-- top main inner table --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="5" class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="7" class="EFEFEF" bgcolor="#efefef" valign="top" width="150">
</td> <td class="C4C4C4" rowspan="7" bgcolor="#c4c4c4" width="1"> </td> <td rowspan="2" width="1"> </td> <td class="E6E6E6" rowspan="7" bgcolor="#e6e6e6" width="1"> </td> <td class="F0F3F7" bgcolor="#f0f3f7">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="F0F3F7" bgcolor="#f0f3f7" height="31"><!-- multimedia --> </td></tr> <tr><td class="DDE4EE" bgcolor="#dde4ee" width="1"> </td> <td class="DDE4EE" bgcolor="#dde4ee">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="C4C4C4" bgcolor="#c4c4c4" width="1"> </td> <td class="C4C4C4" bgcolor="#c4c4c4"> </td></tr> <tr><td width="1"> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr><td class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6" width="1"> </td> <td class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6"> </td></tr> <tr><td width="1"> </td> <td valign="top"><!-- text table 1 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="pad_l">JIM LEHRER: Now, our Newsmaker interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. And to Ray Suarez.
RAY SUAREZ: Senator Reid, welcome to the program.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader: Thank you very much for allowing me to be on your show.
RAY SUAREZ: Well, at the beginning of this year, the Democrats returned to the majority after 12 years in the minority. You and Speaker Pelosi announced a very ambitious agenda. Now that one year has passed and you look back, how has it gone?
SEN. HARRY REID: Well, we've been able to accomplish quite a bit, but not very much, certainly not as much as I wanted to. I'm kind of frustrated, like the American people.
There are a lot of things that need to be done. We found a blockage on nearly everything we tried.
But in spite of that, in spite of the fact that in just a few short months, rather than two years, the Republicans blocked us 62 times. The record for two years was 61. So in just a few short months, they had more filibusters than in the history of the Congress before.
But in spite of that, we were able to get things done, with the most sweeping ethics and lobbying reform. We were able to get good things done as it relates to a balanced budget. We passed that.
We were able to get relief for 9/11. We got the commission recommendations there. We were able to just recently get some good energy legislation passed, but not enough. We still have so much more to do.
And what I've learned, I guess, during the past year is that we want to change and the Bush Republicans want to keep things the way they are. So we want to change things, and we're going to work very hard next year to see if we can get the Republicans to join with us more often than last year, and not have as many things blocked, and try to do some more things.
</td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END text table 1 --> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END top main inner table --> <!-- bottom main inner table --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="EFEFEF" bgcolor="#efefef" width="150"> <!-- photo table 1 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="149"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="7" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" height="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="6" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" width="1"> </td> <td colspan="5" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" height="1"> </td> <td rowspan="6" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" width="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="4" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="1"> </td> <td colspan="3" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" height="1"> </td> <td rowspan="4" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="2" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" width="1"> </td> <td height="1"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" width="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td class="F7F7F7" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> <!-- quote table 1 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="143"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="3" height="9"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="3" width="9"> </td> <td class="F7F7F7" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" width="124">Senator Harry Reid
D - Nev.</td> <td rowspan="3" width="10"> </td></tr> <tr><td height="17"> </td></tr> <tr><td> If I were one of those people in one of those polls that said "What do you think of Congress?" I would vote with the people who said we're not doing very well. </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" height="9"> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END quote table 1 --></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" height="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="5" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" height="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="7" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" height="1"> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END photo table 1 --></td> <td rowspan="6" class="C4C4C4" bgcolor="#c4c4c4" width="1"> </td> <td rowspan="4" width="1"> </td> <td rowspan="4" class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6" width="1"> </td> <td><!-- text table 2 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="pad_l">Public angered at lack of progress
RAY SUAREZ: Well, earlier this week, the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, was on the program. And he said, when asked the same question, "Regretfully, we've spent most of the year having repetitious Iraq votes and investigations of the administration. It seems like all that happened was the approval rating of Congress kept getting lower and lower."SEN. HARRY REID: Well, Ray, if I were one of those people in one of those polls that said "What do you think of Congress?" I would vote with the people who said we're not doing very well.
I think we have so much more to do. And as far as Iraq, we had a responsibility. The people of this country recognize that the war in Iraq was the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. And we've done everything we can to support the troops.
It was us, the Democrats, who realized that parents shouldn't be buying armor and sending it to Iraq for their sons and daughters, so we pushed, and we got body armor.
We're the ones that pushed for up-armoring the Humvees and other vehicles. We are the ones that put in the budget we just passed $3.7 billion more for veterans.
So the soldiers have done valiantly. But we recognize that spending $12 billion a week -- I'm sorry, a month, is what we are spending in Iraq, which is all borrowed money, is too much. And it's destabilized that whole part of the world, in addition to lessened our standing in the world community.
And we need to bring our troops home. I had a long planned trip to go to Walter Reed today. I didn't know I was going to be on this show. And I went there today for lunch and met with staff and some of the soldiers who are wounded and some who weren't wounded.
And without exception, when I said, "You know, we're doing everything we can to help you, appreciate your service, but I want to get the troops home." And without exception, they said, "Get them home as fast as you can."
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
To all the Anti-American, Anti-Military Bush Haters I have one thing to say to you --- You have lost so Merry Fuckin' Christmas !!!!
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>Senate Majority Leader Reid Weighs Partisan Divides, Security in Iraq
</td> <td rowspan="3" width="11"> </td></tr> <tr><td height="7"> </td></tr> <tr><td>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., discusses how partisan differences have impacted the pace of recent legislative progress on Capitol Hill, the state of the Iraq war and the next steps for the Democratic-led Congress in an interview with Ray Suarez.</td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" height="13"> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END headline blurb table --> <!-- top main inner table --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="5" class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="7" class="EFEFEF" bgcolor="#efefef" valign="top" width="150">
</td> <td class="C4C4C4" rowspan="7" bgcolor="#c4c4c4" width="1"> </td> <td rowspan="2" width="1"> </td> <td class="E6E6E6" rowspan="7" bgcolor="#e6e6e6" width="1"> </td> <td class="F0F3F7" bgcolor="#f0f3f7">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="F0F3F7" bgcolor="#f0f3f7" height="31"><!-- multimedia --> </td></tr> <tr><td class="DDE4EE" bgcolor="#dde4ee" width="1"> </td> <td class="DDE4EE" bgcolor="#dde4ee">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="C4C4C4" bgcolor="#c4c4c4" width="1"> </td> <td class="C4C4C4" bgcolor="#c4c4c4"> </td></tr> <tr><td width="1"> </td> <td> </td></tr> <tr><td class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6" width="1"> </td> <td class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6"> </td></tr> <tr><td width="1"> </td> <td valign="top"><!-- text table 1 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="pad_l">JIM LEHRER: Now, our Newsmaker interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. And to Ray Suarez.
RAY SUAREZ: Senator Reid, welcome to the program.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader: Thank you very much for allowing me to be on your show.
RAY SUAREZ: Well, at the beginning of this year, the Democrats returned to the majority after 12 years in the minority. You and Speaker Pelosi announced a very ambitious agenda. Now that one year has passed and you look back, how has it gone?
SEN. HARRY REID: Well, we've been able to accomplish quite a bit, but not very much, certainly not as much as I wanted to. I'm kind of frustrated, like the American people.
There are a lot of things that need to be done. We found a blockage on nearly everything we tried.
But in spite of that, in spite of the fact that in just a few short months, rather than two years, the Republicans blocked us 62 times. The record for two years was 61. So in just a few short months, they had more filibusters than in the history of the Congress before.
But in spite of that, we were able to get things done, with the most sweeping ethics and lobbying reform. We were able to get good things done as it relates to a balanced budget. We passed that.
We were able to get relief for 9/11. We got the commission recommendations there. We were able to just recently get some good energy legislation passed, but not enough. We still have so much more to do.
And what I've learned, I guess, during the past year is that we want to change and the Bush Republicans want to keep things the way they are. So we want to change things, and we're going to work very hard next year to see if we can get the Republicans to join with us more often than last year, and not have as many things blocked, and try to do some more things.
</td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END text table 1 --> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END top main inner table --> <!-- bottom main inner table --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td class="EFEFEF" bgcolor="#efefef" width="150"> <!-- photo table 1 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="149"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="7" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" height="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="6" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" width="1"> </td> <td colspan="5" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" height="1"> </td> <td rowspan="6" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" width="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="4" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="1"> </td> <td colspan="3" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" height="1"> </td> <td rowspan="4" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="2" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" width="1"> </td> <td height="1"> </td> <td rowspan="2" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" width="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td class="F7F7F7" bgcolor="#f7f7f7"> <!-- quote table 1 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="143"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="3" height="9"> </td></tr> <tr><td rowspan="3" width="9"> </td> <td class="F7F7F7" bgcolor="#f7f7f7" width="124">Senator Harry Reid
D - Nev.</td> <td rowspan="3" width="10"> </td></tr> <tr><td height="17"> </td></tr> <tr><td> If I were one of those people in one of those polls that said "What do you think of Congress?" I would vote with the people who said we're not doing very well. </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" height="9"> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END quote table 1 --></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="ABBCCF" bgcolor="#abbccf" height="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="5" class="white" bgcolor="#ffffff" height="1"> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="7" class="A0A0A0" bgcolor="#a0a0a0" height="1"> </td></tr> </tbody></table><!-- END photo table 1 --></td> <td rowspan="6" class="C4C4C4" bgcolor="#c4c4c4" width="1"> </td> <td rowspan="4" width="1"> </td> <td rowspan="4" class="E6E6E6" bgcolor="#e6e6e6" width="1"> </td> <td><!-- text table 2 --> <table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="pad_l">Public angered at lack of progress
RAY SUAREZ: Well, earlier this week, the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, was on the program. And he said, when asked the same question, "Regretfully, we've spent most of the year having repetitious Iraq votes and investigations of the administration. It seems like all that happened was the approval rating of Congress kept getting lower and lower."SEN. HARRY REID: Well, Ray, if I were one of those people in one of those polls that said "What do you think of Congress?" I would vote with the people who said we're not doing very well.
I think we have so much more to do. And as far as Iraq, we had a responsibility. The people of this country recognize that the war in Iraq was the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. And we've done everything we can to support the troops.
It was us, the Democrats, who realized that parents shouldn't be buying armor and sending it to Iraq for their sons and daughters, so we pushed, and we got body armor.
We're the ones that pushed for up-armoring the Humvees and other vehicles. We are the ones that put in the budget we just passed $3.7 billion more for veterans.
So the soldiers have done valiantly. But we recognize that spending $12 billion a week -- I'm sorry, a month, is what we are spending in Iraq, which is all borrowed money, is too much. And it's destabilized that whole part of the world, in addition to lessened our standing in the world community.
And we need to bring our troops home. I had a long planned trip to go to Walter Reed today. I didn't know I was going to be on this show. And I went there today for lunch and met with staff and some of the soldiers who are wounded and some who weren't wounded.
And without exception, when I said, "You know, we're doing everything we can to help you, appreciate your service, but I want to get the troops home." And without exception, they said, "Get them home as fast as you can."
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>