The
Case against Bush and for Kerry has just gotten stronger, read on.
“W” stands for wrong. President Bush says he provides steady
leadership, but steady leadership is worthless, because it has consistently taken us in the wrong
direction. Steady leadership is no virtue when you relentlessly pursue the wrong
policies.
(Furthermore,
there are several examples when he has changed his course of action, when
pressured to do so, including finally agreeing to a 9-11 commission, a year too
late, and finally agreeing to have his National Security Advisor testify at
it. He seems to be excused for the times
that he flip flops.)
That is what this election is about, and that is
why we need new leadership in
Top Examples of taking us in the wrong direction.
1. Pursuing a war against
a. This is a war
that could have waited, as we now know there was no
imminent threat and no substantial connection with terrorists. There were no weapons of mass destruction,
and no discernable relationship with Al Qaeda. As President, Kerry will only pursue war as a last
resort, and with a complete coalition.
He will hold Saddam Hussein accountable for his crimes. (Also, there were other ways to accomplish
regime change without a large scale invasion, that
depletes our military’s ability to focus on terrorism.)
b. We also know
that Bush’s reliance on faulty intelligence, caused
him to under estimate the cost of the war, in terms of American lives and in
terms of monetary cost. It appears that
this Administration decided to go to war against
c. Former Defense
Secretary Schlessinger’s Commission has said that
this under estimating the resources needed for the
d. Had he allowed
weapons inspections to continue, and had he listened to his own advisors, he
could have put this war on hold until further progress was made in the war on
terror. As President, Kerry would have allowed weapons inspections to continue,
and held Saddam Hussein accountable with the support of a real coalition of
allies.
e. In the
meantime, we could have brought more international pressure on Saddam Hussein
to prove he is not pursuing development of weapons, and hold him accountable
for his part in the corruption regarding the oil for food program. This
was the wrong war at the wrong time. As
President, Kerry will use better judgement in
deciding which war to fight, and when, and only when it is necessary.
2. Mismanaging our foreign policy and the war
in terror.
a. This
Administration has squandered the good will we received from 9-11, to pursue an
unnecessary war in
b. This
Administration has pulled out of long term treaties like the ABM treaty, in
order to pursue a questionable missile defense system that will provide lots of
tax dollars to the a corporation of the defense industry. As
President, Kerry
will strengthen our alliances by honoring our agreements or respectfully
seeking revisions when needed.
c. As stated
above, the war in
d. The
e. Much of our
National Reserves have been called up to go to
f. We have underfunded our first responders and under inspected our
ports, partly because of the unplanned cost of the war in
g. As a result of
the above, we are less safe now, than we could be, as reported by the 9-11
Commission. As President, Kerry will implement the
suggestions of the 9-11 Commission.
h. This
Administration has focused on military power as the fundamental solution to
fighting the war on terror, but has not addressed the seeds of terror. The 9-11 Commission has said that this is
also an important part of fighting terror, forming a better understanding and
line of communication with the law abiding elements of the Arab and Islam part
of the world. As President, Kerry will
seek better understanding and communication with the Arab and Islam part of the
world, while still pursuing the perpetrators of terror.
i. No one has
suggested we be more “sensitive” to our real enemies, but even the President
has said on two occasions that we need to be more sensitive to the Arab &
Islam part of the world. As President, Kerry will wage a more effective, comprehensive and undistracted war on
terror, while striving to improve our relations with law abiding nations.
j. President
Bush and the Conservative Republican Congressional leadership
have colluded to allow the
assault weapons ban to end on
3. Mismanaging the economy.
a. This
Administration’s relentless pursuit of tax cuts that
primarily benefit the wealthiest in our society have put more of a burden on
the middle class, in more ways than one.
As President, Kerry will leave the tax cuts as is for the
middle class, and return to the Clinton era of tax rates for the wealthy, a
time when the wealthy got richer, as the middle class did better.
b. The tax cut
has shifted the tax burden more to the middle class, while also cutting or
under funding programs that invest in the growth of the middle class, such as
education and health care. As President, Kerry will return the tax burden for the wealthy, back to where it was
during the
c. This
Administration has been indifferent to job losses in
d. That is like
giving water to those who are not thirsty, and then telling us thirsty folks
that some of the water will fall off the whiskers of the non-thirsty to
replenish us, if we are just patient enough.
As President, Kerry will invest
directly in the middle class with programs that help them work, get educated
and have health care.
e. Remember the
old
f. The number
living in poverty has increased under this Administration. Who pays for that? What little we do for the impoverished is
paid for with middle class tax dollars, and sets up a wedge of the middle class
resenting the poor. As President, Kerry & Edwards will help grow the
middle class by helping the working poor achieve more, through a living wage,
and access to education, job training and health care.
g. The number of
citizens without health insurance has increased under this Administration. Who pays for that? The middle class with their tax dollars pay
for catastrophic health care for the uninsured. As
President, Kerry will help more
Americans and most children have access to health care similar to that given to
Congress.
h. This
Administration says it will provide tax credits for money saved for health
care, but who can afford to save for health care, when most middle class
Americans are in debt. As President, Kerry will help more Americans and most children have access to health
care similar to that given to Congress.
i. This
Administration has been slow to address out sourcing, again almost with
indifference to American workers who have lost their jobs. As
President, Kerry will provide
corporate tax incentives to provide jobs in
j. This is the
first time our country has pursued large tax cuts during war time. As
President, Kerry will return the tax
burden for the wealthy, back to where it was during the
k. This
Administration took a surplus that could have started to pay down our national
debt, and squandered it on tax cuts and a questionable war, resulting in record
deficits, and a large increase in our national debt. As
President, Kerry will return to a
pay as you go level of responsibility in government, and will cut the deficit
in half within 4 years.
l. We have maxed
out our nation’s credit card, and only make interest payments on it, virtually
flushing a billion dollars a day, down the toilet. That alone could pay for most of the defense
budget. Anyone that manages their own finances, knows this type of financing is a recipe for
disaster. Alan Greenspan has suggested
that the deficit are a problem, but wants to reduce middle class Social
Security entitlements in the future, rather than restoring Clinton era tax
rates for the wealthy. As President, Kerry
will return the tax burden for the wealthy, back to where it was during the
4. The Bush Administration has consistently
made decisions favorable to Corporations at the expense of the American
people. Once again, steady
leadership fails us.
a. The first Bush
run for President was funded by the wealthiest corporate interests. Enron was one of their biggest
contributors. We all know how much Enron
watched out for its employees. As President, Kerry
will put the needs of people first,
and work with corporations who are willing to work with him, in bringing more
jobs back to
b. Ed Gillespie,
an Enron lobbyist, was elected chair of the Republican National Committee in
July 2003. This is what Public Citizen
President, Joan Claybrook, had to say about his selection, when
it was announced in June of 2003. "This is just one more step in the
merger of the Republican Party and Corporate
c. This
Administration has sided with defense contractors, by advocating funding of
questionable weapons systems, like missile defense prior to 9-11, then using
9-11 to further advocate for it. This
Administration has used funding of all weapons systems as a litmus test for
being fit to lead, and used key votes by Kerry, out of context, to suggest he
is weak on defense. And lets not forget the Cheney - Halliburton connection. No bid contracts for Halliburton, while
former CEO Cheney still gets deferred compensation from Halliburton. As
President, Kerry will assure our safety and strength with a smarter more accountable defense
budget, that addresses today’s defense needs, not the profit needs of defense
contractors.
d. This
Administration has sided with corporations against labor, by their indifference
to outsourcing, and skewing overtime reform to the needs of corporations. As
President, Kerry will respect the needs of labor as the back bone of a strong
e. This
Administration has sided with corporations on energy and other resources, against
the well being of the environment. They
promoted the clear skies initiative that allows more air pollution, promoted an
increase in arsenic in our drinking water, promoted a safe forest initiative
that allows logging corporations more access to forests, and took us out of the
Kyoto Global Warming agreement, even though this Administration has finally
relented that global warming is a real threat to our environment. This Administration favors drilling for oil
in nature preserves, where there is not enough oil to significantly reduce our
dependence on foreign oil. As President, Kerry
will not make that false choice
between prosperity and a clean environment.
Instead, he will pursue development of cutting edge environmentally
friendly technologies and renewable resources, that
preserve our environment and decrease our dependence on foreign sources of
fossil fuel.
5. “W” is wrong on values.
a. The
compassionate conservative is neither.
He is underfunded his “No child left behind”
initiative, making it an unfunded mandate for states. The initiative is teaching our children how
to pass tests, rather than learning what is needed to succeed. As
President, Kerry will increase the number of teachers, decrease class room size, and provide
incentives for teaching in poverty areas.
b. This
Administration uses wedge issues to divide us, so we won’t notice his
incompetence. Remember what President
Clinton said on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, “They
need for us to be divided.” As President, Kerry,
with Edwards, will strive to bring
us together again, and seek solutions that benefit all.
c. President Bush
has called for a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage, and his 2004
Republican, which largely praises him for everything, does not even allow for
civil compensation for same sex couples in lieu of marriage. This despite the fact his Vice President has
a lesbian daughter, and favors leaving this issue for the states to decide, individually. As
President, Kerry will allow states to decide where they stand on gay marriage, rather than
impose a federal amendment on all states.
d. President Bush
says he is pro-life, regarding abortion, but does not favor changing Roe vs Wade, saying he wants to bring about a culture more
concerned with life. This way, he can
have it both ways, not appearing to be a threat to pro-choice advocates, but
gaining support of pro-life advocates.
He did sign into law a ban on late term abortions,
that does not allow for protection of the mother, so it is being
challenged in the courts. As President, Kerry
will preserve a women’s right to
choose, allowing abortion to be legal, safe and rare, by assuring that other
choices are available, and resources to limit unintended pregnancies are
available.
e. President Bush
states he does not want to change any aspect of the Patriot Act, and members of
his Administration have tried to rationalize suspension of civil liberties and
the Geneva Convention, because our Constitution does not categorically say what
we have to honor in war time. These
actions would dishonor the civil liberties that are integral to
f. On Martin
Luther King Day, in 2003, the Bush Administration announced that it would
challenge the Affirmative Action policy of a
g. Study Confirms Right Wing Stacking of
Courts
(Taken from
the democrats website.) A
recent study from the non-partisan American Judicature Society reveals that
George W. Bush has appointed the most conservative judges of any president in
modern history. His appointments are more conservative than those of his
father, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon. The study goes on to say
that these judges will continue to
impact