President Bush announced on Thursday that he had selected Representative Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who is one of his closest friends in Congress, to be the next United States trade representative....
....In making his announcement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Mr. Bush referred to Mr. Portman as a "good friend, a decent man and a skilled negotiator."
How can anyone have any confidence in Portman after that endorsement by Bush?
*** Then there is the New York Times article from February 8, 2007 in which Rob Portman who was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, came under fire because he continued to push the Bush economic plan for more tax cuts even when it became evident that there was damage being done:
“The question I keep putting to you is, ‘Is your side prepared to really compromise?’ ” Mr. Conrad asked Mr. Portman.
He said that Democrats had agreed to cut spending in popular retirement programs but that they needed Republicans to agree to tax increases to make possible a deal on saving them. Mr. Conrad said Mr. Portman was “divorced from reality” by not being willing to accept responsibility for tax increases.....
Let me repeat that phrase---- "Mr. Conrad said Mr. Portman was “divorced from reality” by not being willing to accept responsibility for tax increases..."
.....Portman was "divorced from reality"....
>> MarioPiperni.com found this little gem about Portman that he found in a National Journal article:
Rob Portman, a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, has now admitted in an interview that the GOP doesn’t have a position on health care. Worse, he says he came to that conclusion after multiple discussions with GOP Congressional leaders about the issue.
Check out this nugget buried in a National Journal article (subscription only) about Portman:
Republicans have also taken some heat nationally for not focusing on health care in their campaigns in recent years, but Portman already has been speaking on the issue frequently.
“We have to have an alternative. … I will tell you, I don’t think there is a Republican alternative at this point,” he said. He said he reached that conclusion after talking to Senate leaders and lawmakers about the GOP’s position. “There isn’t one,” he said. “There’s a task force, and I applaud them for that.
Thank you, MarioPiperni, for providing us with more facts about Portman and the Republicans.
