Bill Clinton’s impeachment and near conviction made Al Gore a dead duck.  Al lost the election and the more conservative George Bush was elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2004.  An attempt by the democrats to make the country more liberal in the 2004 election failed.  The Republicans lost ground in the senate in 2006 and the democrats got both more cocky and tried to make the country more liberal. Unable to stomach this liberalism a third party, the Labor Party was formed and it split the Democratic Party just as effectively as had Ross Perot’s party emasculated the Republican Party in the late eighties.  Most unions defected from the Democrats and Labor representatives ran in nearly every race, the deep pockets of the unions made this possible and the unions turned their wallets inside out to impress their will on the country.   With a labor candidate, a Democratic Candidate and a Republican Candidate running in a race, the Republican won almost every time.  And the Republicans, freed from the need to be popular, ran slightly more conservative candidates to insure a strong vote from the conservative wing.  With the more conservative Republicans on some of the tickets, third party conservatives sat out the election in almost every district giving the Republicans an even greater edge because their voters supported the conservative Republicans.  Republicans were winning races in counties and districts that had been Democrat strong holds for over a hundred years. The price of the much watered down version of the welfare bill had gone up.  The conservatives now wanted not only the AIDS bill but also the repeal of the striker replacement bill in trade for emasculating the welfare bill and they demanded that there be no challenges from the government lawyers.  They would have what they demanded or the welfare cutoff would happen.  Even with that the welfare bill will be presented but in the watered down form.

Finally in frustration the president agreed to the compromise.  Privately he called it blackmail and referred to the congress and their parents sexual acts with less than complementary words.  The legislation hit his desk and he did not veto it.  Within weeks the AIDS bill became law.  There were several legal challenges by private organizations and they failed in the conservative court.  The striker replacement repeal went to the president’s desk a week later.  The unions called for the president to veto it but he refused.  It too became law.  He could not veto any legislation as long as the congress could still pass the welfare bill and destroy the whole system.  He had promised to not reveal the terms of the compromise and thus took the heat for the results.  The unions and the Gay Rights activists blamed him for the action.  Within weeks the legislation was being translated into medical practice.  Just after the midterm election AIDS patients were routinely being denied life extending procedures and drugs.  

The First Family: Chapter 1 – Introduction

The First Family 8: The Third Year of the Donaldson Presidency

The First Family 10: David Caden Makes a Plan