Cheney: Obama a one-term president
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
He's ba-aaack.
In his first interview since heart surgery last summer, Dick Cheney says he thinks President Obama will be a one-term president.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/01/18/art.cheney.jpg caption="Former Vice President Dick Cheney"]
The former vice president - who hasn't exactly been shy about his opinions since leaving office - tells NBC News that Mr. Obama chose a course of action that didn't have as much support as he thought it did.
Cheney points specifically to lack of job creation, deficit spending and big government programs, including health care. He insists there's a lot of support for repealing the health care law.
Cheney also suggests that President Obama has taken lessons from the wisdom of the Bush Administration. He says the president has "learned from experience" that some of his predecessor's decisions on terrorism were necessary. The former veep believes Mr. Obama has changed his tune on a lot of this stuff since he was a candidate.
Things like not being able to close the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison camp. Also, Cheney cites the Obama administration's expanded use of drones in Pakistan. He believes now that he's president, Mr. Obama "found it necessary to be more sympathetic to the kinds of things we did."
So how about Cheney's prediction that President Obama won't get a second term?
A new poll out shows the president's approval rating is up five points since December - and that more Americans think he's a strong leader who can handle a crisis.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll puts Mr. Obama's approval at 53 percent. And what might be most significant here is that the increase comes from the ever-important independent voters.
Also, President Obama's rating at the start of his third year is six points higher than Bill Clinton's was, and a whopping 16 points higher than Ronald Reagan's.
Here’s my question to you: Dick Cheney says President Obama will be a one-term president. Is he right?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
CIA Director: Cheney almost wishing for terror attack
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
CIA Director Leon Panetta says it's almost as if former vice president Dick Cheney is wishing for another terror attack on the U.S. in order to make his point. Panetta tells The New Yorker that Cheney "smells some blood in the water" on the issue of national security.
Cafferty: Cheney has been a very vocal critic of Obama.
He suggests Cheney's actions are like "gallows politics" and also calls it "dangerous politics."
Dick Cheney - whom we barely saw or heard from for eight years - has been a very vocal critic of President Obama these past few months... especially when it comes to national security. He has said that the new president is making the U.S. less safe by rolling back Bush era policies.
Cheney has criticized President Obama for ordering the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison and for stopping the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. In a speech last month, Cheney called some of Obama's decisions "unwise in the extreme."
And guess what? Cheney's carping may be working. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll taken last month shows Cheney's favorable rating at 37-percent - that was up from 29-percent when he and President Bush left office in January. Go figure.
In response to Panetta's comments, Cheney says: "I hope my old friend Leon was misquoted. The important thing is whether the Obama administration will continue the policies that have kept us safe for the last eight years."
Here’s my question to you: CIA Director Leon Panetta says it's "almost as if" Dick Cheney is wishing for another terrorist attack on the U.S. Do you agree?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Cheney says no link between Saddam and 9/11
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Dick Cheney says he doesn't think Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks. More than six years after the Bush administration took us to war in Iraq - after 4,310 Americans died there, and with U.S. troops possibly staying in that country for years to come - the former vice president says the Iraqi dictator had nothing to do with the planning or execution of the terror attacks.
Saddam Hussein is pictured in a file photo from January 2001.
Shortly after 9/11, Cheney was singing a different tune... Then he said it was "pretty well" confirmed that one of the leaders of the attack, Mohammed Atta, had met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official in Prague in 2000.
Nonetheless, Cheney continues to defend the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq - saying Saddam's previous support for known terrorists was a real threat after 9/11. And he insists there was an ongoing relationship that went back years between al Qaeda and Iraq - saying that information came primarily from CIA Director George Tenet.
The former vice president is now explaining away the early uncertainty of the so-called Iraq-9/11 link by saying that intelligence gathering is "more an art form than a science." However, he failed to mention those Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that never seemed to materialize - another supposed reason for the invasion.
Here’s my question to you: Six years after the invasion of Iraq, how does it make you feel when Dick Cheney says there was no link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Who would Republicans be better off listening to?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Republicans making the most noise seem to be attracting the fewest followers. According to a CNN opinion research corporation poll 70% of Americans favor former Secretary of State Colin Powell while 30% favor right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Let's factor in a previous CNN poll which found 37% of Americans favoring former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has had no loss for words lately. After being virtually silent for eight years he can't, or won't stop talking.
If you narrow it down further and look at the responses of only Republicans, 66% favor Cheney, 64% favor Powell and 62% favor Limbaugh.
At a time when the GOP is trying to rid itself of the legacy of the Bush administration, two former government leaders and a talk show host are the ones making headlines, and two out of three for the wrong reasons.
These three have been butting heads lately. Powell has said Republicans need to stop listening to Limbaugh while Cheney and Limbaugh have proclaimed that Powell is no longer a Republican, which Powell has denied.
Here’s my question to you: Who would Republicans be better off listening to Colin Powell, Rush Limbaugh, or Dick Cheney?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why has former Pres. Bush been silent on torture debate?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Since the release of those Bush-era interrogation memos, former Vice President Dick Cheney hasn't been able to stop tallking. This was a guy who we barely saw or heard from for eight years. Cheney insists the harsh techniques kept the country safe and President Obama should release more documents to prove that.
As president, George W. Bush denied that his administration authorized torture of prisoners.
Bush's former top political adviser, Karl Rove is accusing Mr. Obama of seeking "show trials" of former administration officials. Even Senator John McCain, who fought for limits on interrogation during the Bush administration, says any talk of prosecution is about "settling old political scores." I guess the fact that laws may have been broken doesn't matter to McCain.
But with all the talk - one person we haven't heard from is former President Bush himself. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy insists an independent commission is needed to find out who exactly authorized this stuff, saying: "I want to know who was it who made the decisions that we will violate our own laws; we'll violate our own treaties; we will even violate our own Constitution."
While president, Bush repeatedly denied that his administration authorized torture of prisoners. But just last week a Senate report showed top Bush officials as early as 2002 gave the CIA approval to use techniques like waterboarding - which has been considered torture since the Spanish Inquisition.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the torture debate, why has former President Bush been silent?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Does anybody care what Dick Cheney thinks anymore?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Dick Cheney is at it again. This time the former vice president is criticizing Pres. Barack Obama on the economy. Cheney tells the F-word network that the president's expansion of the federal government into the financial sector is likely to have "devastating" long-term effects.
He says he's "very concerned" about where the Obama administration is taking the country economically. Cheney adds that there doesn't seem to be any kind of limits on spending - this coming from a member of the administration that more than doubled the national debt in eight years and gave $700 billion to Wall Street with virtually no questions asked.
Cheney said beyond growing deficits, he questions if the White House is redefining the relationship between government and the private sector. These comments are just the latest in a string of criticism aimed at the sitting president.
Cheney has previously questioned Mr. Obama's national security policies, saying the president is increasing the risk of another terror attack. And he's also been very vocal in the debate over those Bush era interrogation memos.
Obama aides say the former vice president is out of line in his role as an elder statesman; but Cheney disputes that, saying he hasn't been personal in his criticisms and he thinks these issues are too important not to speak out.
Note to the former vice president: you and your friends had eight years to run the country... and lots of people think you botched it up pretty good. Now it's President Obama's turn.
Here’s my question to you: Does anybody care what Dick Cheney thinks anymore?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Cheney: Obama policies raise risk of terror attack
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Former Vice President Dick Cheney suggests President Obama is endangering the American people by reversing some of the Bush administration's anti-terror policies.
Cheney says some Obama choices raise the terror attack risk.
Speaking to CNN's John King, Cheney said harsh interrogations of terror suspects and the use of warrantless electronic surveillance were "absolutely essential" to get information that prevented more 9/11 like attacks.
He says Mr. Obama "is making some choices, that, in my mind, will, in fact raise the risk to the American people of another attack."
Since taking office, President Obama has announced plans to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, to halt military trials of suspected terrorists there and to make CIA officers follow the Army field manual's rules on interrogations. Critics of the Bush administration have said the so-called "alternative" interrogation techniques amounted to torture; and that the warrantless wiretapping violated laws that were enacted after Watergate.
Meanwhile, a secret 2007 report by the Red Cross suggests treatment of al Qaeda captives constituted "torture." The report alleges detainees were routinely beaten, doused with cold water and slammed head-first into walls during interrogations. At other time, they were stripped of clothing, bombarded with loud music, exposed to cold temperatures, and deprived of sleep and food for days. Some captives say they were forced to stand for days with their arms shackled - wearing only diapers.
You may recall - the Bush White House repeatedly promised that the U.S. "does not torture"...
Here’s my question to you: Is former Vice President Dick Cheney right that Pres. Obama's policies "raise the risk" of a terror attack in the U.S.?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Will History Be Kinder to Pres. Bush or V.P. Cheney?
(PHOTO CREDIT: SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Vice President Dick Cheney gave an interview to ABC's Jonathan Karl in which he defended the administration's decision to invade Iraq, the war on terror, water boarding, Guantanamo and more. Yesterday President Bush gave a similar interview to our Candy Crowley.
With only 34 days left in office both men are reflecting on the past eight years and perhaps thinking about their legacy and how they'll be remembered. It's a time to talk up their accomplishments in the hopes that critics attention will be diverted from the other stuff.
Bush and Cheney are leaving Washington in the middle of two wars and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
There is certainly no shortage of memories of our 43rd president. Everything from speaking at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks to the time he choked on a pretzel and fainted while watching Sunday night football.
Then there's the Vice President. He has redefined the role of the Nation's second in command. He will long be remembered for that but also for shooting his hunting companion in the face in 2006.
Here’s my question to you: Who will history be kindest to: President Bush or Vice President Cheney?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Cheney the right person to try & bring down oil prices?
Pumps draw petroleum from oil wells before dawn as the cost of crude oil tops $104 per barrel in its surge to new record high prices March 6, 2008 in Signal Hill, California. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Click on the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Vice President Dick Cheney is on his way to the Middle East to do something about skyrocketing oil prices. We'll pause here to give you a chance to stop laughing. Cheney will meet with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Turkey. The White House says it wants OPEC to increase production.
This is the same Dick Cheney who was chairman and CEO of Halliburton before becoming vice president. The same Dick Cheney who headed up the administration's highly secretive energy task force. The administration's energy policy, such as it is, was crafted with the help of oil industry executives and lobbyists including former Enron Chairman Ken Lay. These meetings were held behind closed doors and the records from them remain secret to this day.
Here is what has happened since Cheney's secret energy meetings: When George Bush was sworn in as president in January, 2001, a gallon of gas cost $1.47 and a barrel of crude oil cost $30. Today gasoline costs an average of $3.22 and many experts are predicting it will hit $4 this spring. This morning, the price of a barrel of crude oil nearly hit $110.
And, while ordinary Americans suffer with increasingly crippling energy costs, the oil companies continue to rake in record profits. Exxon Mobil earned more than $40 billion last year. Oh, and they all get tax breaks, too, courtesy of your friends at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Here’s my question to you: Is Vice President Dick Cheney the right person to go to the Middle East to try to bring down skyrocketing oil prices?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Time to impeach Bush & Cheney?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's time for Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
So says George McGovern, the Democratic Party's 1972 candidate for president.
In an editorial in yesterday's Washington Post, McGovern writes that although the chances of impeachment are unlikely, the facts most definitely point in that direction: "Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' to use the constitutional standard."
McGovern points to specific instances, like Iraq, which he calls a "murderous, illegal, nonsensical war"; the administration's strategy to encourage a climate of fear; denying prisoners of war habeas corpus and shipping them off to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other countries; and the administration's dismal response to Hurricane Katrina.
In fact, McGovern insists that the case against impeaching the current president and vice president is far stronger than was the case against President Nixon. He goes so far as to say the U.S. would be "much more secure and productive" under a Nixon presidency than what we have today.
But, as we all know, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi long ago took impeachment "off the table”. And, even though there are some in the House who are calling for an immediate start to hearings, don't hold your breath.
Here’s my question to you: Why won't Congress impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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