US Congress leader Pelosi calls Bush 'a total failure'

AFP - US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called President George W. Bush "a total failure" who "has no ideas," in an interview with CNN.

Responding to stinging criticism from Bush on the Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress and the slow pace of the legislative agenda, as Congress prepares for its one-month summer recess in August, Pelosi let loose:

"You know, God bless him, bless his heart, the president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject."

Pelosi, 68, said the House and Senate were busy "trying to sweep up after (Bush's) mess over and over and over again ... The president knows it. He needs something to talk about. Because he has no ideas."

The speaker was especially critical of Bush's proposal to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling as a means to ease the current fuel price crisis, calling it a ploy to draw attention away from his failures...........