Bush Now Would Give Intelligence Chief More Power.....(FLIP FLOP)

[RedEarth]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under election-year pressure, President Bush said on Wednesday he supported giving "full budgetary authority" to a new national intelligence director after initially balking at the recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission.

"We believe that there ought to be a national intelligence director who has full budgetary authority," Bush said before meeting with U.S. congressional leaders with oversight over the intelligence agencies.

But Bush stopped short of spelling out what such authority would entail, and said the White House would work out the details with lawmakers. Bush plans to unveil his own legislative package in the coming days.

Revamping U.S. spy agencies is expected to dominate the U.S. Congress in the run-up to the Nov. 2 elections. Lawmakers are pushing to act on reforms after the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks found major failures in intelligence gathering and sharing information before the hijacked commercial airliners slammed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing almost 3,000.

The U.S. intelligence community has also been faulted for its handling of information on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction ahead of the U.S.-led invasion. No such weapons have been found.




http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6181648

[Cravat]

1. Stop flipping.

Every time we say flip/flop or Kerry says flip/flop it gives power and credibility to Bush. These words are damning in the minds of the average blue collar worker/voter. They have attached themselves to the Kerry Camp and we need to let these words die into the shadows. Don't make the Bush Co. job any easier.

[CarolynEC]

4. I agree. "Caving in to political pressure"...

... might be a better way to say it. Or "following the polls" when it appears he's going to be on the losing side of a political fight.

And underlying it all: Bush doesn't give a damn about our nation's security. It's all about political image for him, all about maintaining the appearance that he's in control -- when in fact he has failed to set a national security agenda for this country from the day he took office.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi Cravat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[progressivebydesign]

2. Geez.. what a flip-flopper!!! n/t

[CarolynEC]

3. self-delete

[truthisfreedom]

5. w stands for wrong. w apparently also stands for waffle. indecisive george

waffle bush.

[TheFarseer]

6. This is so idiotic

The candidates are playing a game of one-ups-man-ship with giving power to the Intelligence Chief? "Well, I'd put him in charge of getting everyone coffee!" "Well, I'd put him in charge of coffee and doughnuts!" "Well, I'd give him the power to choose doughnuts or breakfast tacos" Does anyone even care? I don't think it's so much the structure as the people in and the attitute of the structure.