BCT Editorial – 6/19/05

This page was last updated on June 19, 2005.

Burned bridges; Editorial; Beaver County Times; June 19, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“One reason President Bush is having trouble getting the Central American Free Trade Agreement through Congress is that he has burned too many bridges with moderate and conservative Democrats for them to trust him.”

[RWC] I’d love for the Times to identify these so-called “moderate and conservative Democrats.” For example, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently referred to a couple of Democrat senators as “moderate” even though their liberal ratings by Americans for Democratic Action were 95% and 100%!

“The Washington Post reported that ‘many pro-trade, centrist Democrats also are declaring their opposition in order to voice their broader disagreement with the Bush administration tax and domestic spending policies that they argue are not doing enough to equip the workforce to deal with a changing global economy.’

[RWC] As above, I’d love for the Times to identify these “many pro-trade, centrist Democrats.”

“Basically, Bush has ridden roughshod over them for the last five years and now, when he needs their support to offset losses in the GOP ranks, it’s their turn to return the favor.

“As supporters of the principle of free trade, we hate to see that happen. But as realists, we can’t blame centrist Democrats for spurning Bush on this matter.”

[RWC] Did you notice the author provided no specific examples to support his position that President “Bush has ridden roughshod over [Democrats] for the last five years?”

Also, did you notice the author said it was OK for Democrats to act for purely partisan reasons despite the actions being against the best interests of the United States?