Convince me, please.

[Bob Hubbard]

That 4 more years of Republican rule with GWB at the helm is a good thing.

Now...I know this has been mentioned before, and gone to hell.

Here's what I want.

Just the Bush/Republican side.
No "Thats wrong", "Thats BS", "Hes an idiot", etc.
No "Negative", just the positive.

For example, what was the 2000 platform?
Which campaign ideas did they achieve? Start?

What is the 2004 platform?
Which of those items seems like it'll have a good shot at working in the next 4 years?

This -is- not a "Bash Bush" thread. I honestly and sincerly want to see a positive list of what his administration has done.

I'll of course be looking into those things. There has to be a balance to the spin we see everywhere. For me as a voter, I must be informed and vote my concious, based on which party and candidates meet my own ideals.

Thank you.

 

[deadhand31]

Well, here are a few campaign promises he made in 2000:

1. Prescription drug benefit on medicare for seniors.

This has been done.

2. Improve standards for schools.

The "no child left behind" act has now helped schools become more accountable for what they teach. Children who are covered by failing schools can now go to private schools so they can get a better education.

3.Rebuilding a failing economy.

The economy has seen a period of growth from when Bush inherited a failing economy. Jobless claims have gone down.

4. Provide tax cuts.

He has provided tax cuts. Some will say it only benitted the rich, I simply say it ALSO benefitted the rich. Considering that the top 2% of our country's tax payers pay over 50% of the taxes, which is what I consider a disproportionate amount, I don't see why they shouldn't.

This helps to tie in with number 3. When a company has more money, they can invest more in the company. If the company has more money to grow, they can hire more people. More people hired means more goods and services purchased. More goods and services purchased... well, you get the idea.

These are things that he promised, and he has done every one of them.

 

[Kane]

Well, here are a few campaign promises he made in 2000:

1. Prescription drug benefit on medicare for seniors.

This has been done.

2. Improve standards for schools.

The "no child left behind" act has now helped schools become more accountable for what they teach. Children who are covered by failing schools can now go to private schools so they can get a better education.

3.Rebuilding a failing economy.

The economy has seen a period of growth from when Bush inherited a failing economy. Jobless claims have gone down.

4. Provide tax cuts.

He has provided tax cuts. Some will say it only benitted the rich, I simply say it ALSO benefitted the rich. Considering that the top 2% of our country's tax payers pay over 50% of the taxes, which is what I consider a disproportionate amount, I don't see why they shouldn't.

This helps to tie in with number 3. When a company has more money, they can invest more in the company. If the company has more money to grow, they can hire more people. More people hired means more goods and services purchased. More goods and services purchased... well, you get the idea.

These are things that he promised, and he has done every one of them.

Amen :asian:! I couldn't have said it better. Anyone disagree? He has delivered all his promises.

 

[michaeledward]

I disagree with just about all of the premises listed.

Bob, however, has asked that this be a 'positive' thread.

My mother taught me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". I sometimes have difficulty with that ... but I'm going to try.

Mike

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Mike, I disagree with at least 1 point mentioned, however,that is based on what 've heard or read casually, not seriously researched.

 

[someguy]

For the most part it seems he does alot of what he says. I suppose you can predict what he will do fairly easily. (that I suppose can be taken both ways)
Well I'm not a republican.
I'll be willing to trade all of them for one good candidate...Vote me for dictator or something..

 

[deadhand31]

Well, let's take a look at the points I've listed.

1. There IS a prescription drug benefit for seniors. It's there. You can't dispute it.

2. Voucher programs are now out there for failing schools. The local high school tested one year to be a failing school. Facing loss of funding, they improved their performance in one year's time with NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING. This is similar to the voucher program in Milwaukee. Taxpayers saved money, because alot of private schools paid less money per student then the average Milwaukee public school, and the Milwaukee Public School District upped their performance to compete with private schools. Alot of the "No Child Left Behind Act" was drafted on this success.

3. While Kerry can focus on a plant closing here, somebody trying hard to just get by there, he can't give you numbers on unemployment because he would have to concur that the economy has grown. The labor relations board can give you numbers to confirm this. The company that laid my father off at the start of the recession has just called him back because they need experienced people to handle a boom of business that they have recieved.

4. Yes, there are tax cuts. Noone can dispute this. Yes, the rich had them too. However, the top 2% pays for over 50% of the taxes. Am I the only one who thinks that this is a highly disproportionate number?

Another thing Bush is doing, is trying to get social security privatized. I, for one, think this is an excellent idea. If you could put the money you pay into social security into a RothIRA, you would be a multimillionare when you retire. This would mean you would not have to rely on the government in your golden years. Let's see... depending on the government in retirement VS not relying on the government in retirement. Is there really any competition between those two?

 

[rmcrobertson]

Writing positively, then:

1. Bush has rammed a prescription drug plan through Congress which we can't afford, and which a majority of seniors are very unhappy with. This will be a positive boon to his plans for deficit financing, the destruction of the AARP, and the privitization of health care. Additionally, it is an enormous windfall to large drug companies.

2. Bush has pushed a school voucher system largely on behalf of the fundamentalist Christian right, which will increasingly guarantee the destruction of the American system of public education. This will help guarantee that rich kids get the best education, that segregation is reimposed, and that children generally receive only what they need to, "hold good jobs and be productive." Additionally, the "No Child Left behind," bills, because they act as unfunded mandates, will help take education away from teachers and put it where it belongs: in the hands of businessmen.

3. Bush has materially aided the ongoing shift of capital to other foci than the United States, which has the salutary effect of breaking unions and forcing workers into lower-paying jobs. Additionally, the demands for, "productivity," leave growing numbers of workers working harder every year for less pay, which helps keep them out of trouble.

4. The tax cuts help shift wealth to the wealthiest in our society, aiding the process of de-democratization, and cementing the grasp on power of the wealthiest, and historically most irresponsible, section of American society. Additionally, they help ensure that no wealthy child is forced to attend school, let alone an elite university, with the proles.

5. The incessant flag-waving does a beautiful job of encouraging cooperation, of manufacturing consent.

If you assume that any of this is accidental, Bush is a screwup. If you assume that he's simply helping advanced capitalism along--which he is, in a positive manner--he's doing his job very well indeed.

 

[Flatlander]

rmcrobertson: The previous post, of which I am certain you are aware, was most definitely not in the spirit of the topic to be discussed. I will ask of you ONLY this one time, please refrain from your disruptory games. There are a multitude of threads for you to promote your political ideals AND stay on topic. If you are unable to find one that suits what you would like to discuss, feel free to start a new one. Surely, you must understand that a firefight starts with one shot. Put the gun down.

 

[rmcrobertson]

I was being perfectly positive. It seems to me very clear, Bush's agenda, and equally clear that there are those who approve of it. What's wrong with explaining things clearly? For example, what's wrong with coming out and saying that he clearly works to shift wealth to the wealthiest, given that many people think that this is the best way to reward everybody? What's wrong with saying that his push to, "privitization," benefits certain people, given that many think that those particular people deserve their rewards anyway?

He's a capitalist; that's how the syatem works; people believe that that's the way things should be; I'm merely pointing out some of his best achievements in that process.

But dinna fash yersel' lad: that's my last on this thread.

And who appointed you the local cop, anyway?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Robert,
The intent of this thread wasn't point-counterpoint, but a listing of what is considered 'successes' for the party and current administration. My opinions to a part on them reflect yours, and a counterpoint is good, just not in this thread. Spinoffs are of course the best way to deal with that.

As to "And who appointed you the local cop, anyway?" addressed to Flatlander, I will ask that you first look to the heading of his post, just above his join date where is says "Moderator", and then to this link where it will clearly indicate he moderates a forum called "The Study", which is, well, where we're at at this moment.

So, please, you bring up good discussable points. Please feel free to spin each of them off into their own thread as they deserve a serious examination, unblurred by other topics.

Oh, and remember to respect the boys with the badges. :wavey:
(Goes back to swearing at php code and security configs....)

 

[michaeledward]

This thread has been quiet for more than two months now. I hope there is no objection to my raising it from the archive. And, of course, I am absolutely not the person to ask anyone to convince anyone that a George W. Bush presidency is a good thing for the next four years.

I think, then to offer up some insights into the idea of four more years, we can turn to prominant Republicans, members and former members on the House of Representatives, Senate, as well as State and Federal Republican Administrations.

"As son of a Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration's decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry." -- Ambassador John Eisenhower, endorsing Kerry in an opinion piece published in The Manchester Union Leader, September 28, 2004.

"The two 'Say No to Bush' signs in my yard say it all. The present Republican president has led us into an unjustified war -- based on misguided and blatantly false misrepresentations of the threat of weapons of mass destruction. The terror seat was Afghanistan. Iraq had no connection to these acts of terror and was not a serious threat to the United States, as this president claimed, and there was no relation, it's now obvious, to any serious weaponry. Although Saddam Hussein is a frightful tyrant, he posed no threat to the United States when we entered the war. George W. Bush's arrogant actions to jump into Iraq when he had no plan how to get out have alienated the United States from our most trusted allies and weakened us immeasurably around the world... This imperialistic, stubborn adherence to wrongful policies and known untruths by the Cheney-Bush administration -- and that's the accurate order -- has simply become more than I can stand."

-- Former Minnesota Governor Elmer Andersen, a Republican, endorsing Kerry in an opinion piece published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 13, 2004. Andersen argued in the piece that, "I am more fearful for the state of this nation than I have ever been -- because this country is in the hands of an evil man: Dick Cheney. It is eminently clear that it is he who is running the country, not George W. Bush."

"The Bush George W. Bush has come to embody a politics that is antithetical to almost any kind of thoughtful conservatism. His international policies have been based on the hopelessly naive belief that foreign peoples are eager to be liberated by American enemies -- a notion more grounded in Leon Trotsky's concept of global revolution than any sort of conservative statecraft."

-- Scott McConnell, executive editor, The American Conservative, endorsing Kerry in the November 8, 2004 issue.

"I am not enamored with John Kerry, but I am frightened to death of George Bush. I fear a secret government. I abhor a government that refuses to supply the Congress with requested information. I am against a government that refuses to tell the country with whom the leaders of our country sat down and determined our energy policy, and to prove how much they want to keep the secret, they took it all the way to the Supreme Court."

-- Former U.S. Senator Marlow Cook, Republican from Kentucky, endorsing Kerry in an opinion piece that appeared in The Louisville Courier-Journal, October 20, 2004.

"My Republican Party is the party of Theodore Roosevelt, who fought to preserve our natural resources and environment. This president has pursued policies that will cause irreparable damage to our environmental laws that protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the public lands we share with future generations."

-- Former Michigan Governor William Milliken, from a statement published in the Traverse City Record Eagle, October 17, 2004.

"As an environmentalist who served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I know that this administration has turned environmental policy over to lobbyists for the oil, gas and mining interests. On the other hand, I know first-hand of your commitment to a more balanced approach to environmental policy -- one where we can have both jobs and profit for industry as well as clean air and water. There is no stronger evidence of this than your outstanding leadership and support in the restoration of the Florida Everglades. John, for each of these reasons I believe President Bush has failed our country and my party. Accordingly, I want you to know that when I go into the booth next Tuesday I am going to cast my vote for you."

-- Former U.S. Senator Bob Smith, Republican from New Hampshire, from an endorsement letter sent to John Kerry, October 28, 2004.

"Nixon was a prince compared to these guys."

-- Former U.S. Representative Pete McCloskey, R-California, from an article in the Palo Alto Weekly, September 8, 2004. McCloskey, who is active with Republicans for Kerry, says of members of the Bush administration, "These people believe God has told them what to do. They've high jacked the Republican Party we once knew."

"The war is just a misbegotten thing that's spiraling down. It's a matter of conscience for me. After 9/11, the whole world was behind us. That's all gone now. That's been squandered. Now we've made the entire Muslim world hate us. And for what? For what?"

-- Former State Senator Al Meiklejohn, Republican from Colorado and World War II combat veteran, explaining his decision to support John Kerry in an interview with The Denver Post, September 19, 2004.

"We need a leader who is really dedicated to creating millions of high-paying jobs all across the country."

-- Former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca, who campaigned for George W. Bush in 2000 and appeared in television advertisements for the Republican Party of Michigan that year. Iacocca, who complains that under Bush deficit spending is "getting out of hand," endorsing Kerry on June 24, 2004.

"In a dangerous epoch -- made more so by a president who sees the world in stark black and white because simplicity polls better and fits into sound bites -- John Kerry may seem out of place. He is, in fact, in exactly the right place at the right time to lead our country."

-- Tim Ashby, who served during the Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush administrations as director of the Office of Mexico and the Caribbean for the U.S. Commerce Department and acting deputy assistant Secretary of Commerce for the Western Hemisphere, endorsing Kerry in a Seattle Times, October 14, 2004.

"I have always been, and I still am, a registered Republican, but I shall enthusiastically vote for John Kerry for president on November 2... If the Bush administration stays in power four more years, it will pack the Supreme Court with neocons who reject the idea that the Constitution is a living document designed to protect the freedom of the citizens."

-- Anne Morton Kimberly, widow of former Republican National Committee chair Rogers C.B. Morton, Secretary of the Interior during the Nixon administration and Secretary of Commerce during the Ford administration, endorsing Kerry in a an opinion piece that appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal, October 14, 2004.

"Mainstream Republicans believe in fiscal responsibility, internationalism, environmental protection, the rights of women, and putting middle-class families ahead of big business lobbyists. Moderate Republicans should not be asked to swallow the right-wing policies of George W. Bush."

-- Clay Myers, who was Oregon's Republican Secretary of State for 10 years and the state's Treasure, endorsing Kerry at a press conference for Oregon Republicans for Kerry, September 1, 2004.

"The current administration has run the largest deficits in U.S. history, incurring massive debts that our children and grandchildren will have to pay. Two and a half million people have lost their jobs; trillions have been wiped out of savings and retirement accounts. The income of Americans has declined two years in a row, the first time since the IRS began keeping records. George W. Bush will be the first president since Hoover to have a net job loss under his watch... President Bush wanted to be judged as the CEO president, it is time to say, 'you have failed, and you're fired."

-- William Rutherford, former State Treasurer of Oregon, endorsing Kerry as a press conference for Oregon Republicans for Kerry, September 1, 2004.

"I served 20 years in the Ohio General Assembly as Republican. People have asked me why I oppose George w. Bush for president. My first response is, 'He is incompetent.' His behavior, his bad judgment, his record, all demonstrate a failure as president. He certainly misled the country into a no-win war in Iraq. Following his preemptive invasion, he totally misjudged the consequences of his action. He made a bad situation worse, fomenting widespread terrorism, all done with a frightful loss of lives and money."

-- Former Ohio State Representative John Galbraith, a Republican legislator for 20 years, endorsing Kerry in a letter to The Toledo Blade, September 28, 2004.

"Before the current campaign, it might have been argued that at least in affirming the importance of faith and respecting those who profess it the administration had embraced traditional conservative views. But in the wake of the Swift Boat ads attacking John Kerry, even this argument can no longer be maintained. As an elder of the Presbyterian Church, I found that those ads were not at all in the Christian tradition. John McCain rightly condemned them as dishonest and dishonorable. The president should have, too. That he did not undermines his credibility on questions of faith.

Some say it's just politics. But that's the whole point. More is expected of people of faith than "just politics."

The fact is that the Bush administration might better be called radical or romantic or adventurist than conservative. And that's why real conservatives are leaning toward Kerry."

-- Clyde Prestowitz, counselor to the secretary of commerce in the Reagan administration and an elder of the Presbyterian Church, from "The Conservative Case for Kerry," published in the Providence Journal and other newspapers, October 15, 2004.

 

[michaeledward]

Deleted Duplicate Post

 

[michaeledward]

From www.georgewbush.com


It took a while to find this ... the front page of the web site had lots of television ads.


• Reforming America’s High Schools: President Bush will provide $250 million annually to extend state assessment of student reading and math skills.
• Jobs for the 21st Century Initiative: President Bush will provide $500 million for Jobs for the 21st Century, which will help educate and train high-skilled American workers in schools and community colleges.
• Tax Reform: President Bush will work to make the tax code simpler for taxpayers, encourage saving and investment, and improve the economy’s ability to create jobs and raise wages.
• Opportunity Zones: President Bush will create new Opportunity Zones, which will encourage public and private investment and provide priority consideration for Federal benefits to communities that are under economic hardship.
• Helping the Working Uninsured by Expanding Health Savings Accounts: President Bush will propose a tax credit for Health Savings Account contributions to help individuals and families who work for small businesses fund their Health Savings Accounts.
• Make Health Care Accessible: President Bush will call for a community health center in every poor county in America.
• Promote Comp-Time and Flex-Time: President Bush will work to enable employees to choose paid time off as an alternative to overtime pay and to give employees the option of shifting work hours during a pay period.
• Crack Down On Drugs in Schools: President Bush will increase funding for school drug testing to help students resist peer pressure and help parents intervene with students in need.
• Homeownership: President Bush will provide assistance to help America to meet his new goal of creating 7 million new, affordable homes in 10 years.
• Social Security Reform: President Bush will strengthen and enhance Social Security, guaranteeing no changes in benefits for current retirees and near-retirees, while giving younger workers the opportunity to use their Social Security payroll taxes to build a nest egg for retirement that can be passed on to their families.
• Help Small Businesses: President Bush will help small businesses in a number of ways, including by allowing them to band together to provide more affordable health care for their employees through Association Health Plans.
• Fight the War On Offense: President Bush will continue to lead a worldwide coalition to fight terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
• Intelligence Reform: President Bush will work with a new National Intelligence Director to improve the quality and quantity of our intelligence and our ability to disrupt and prevent terrorist attacks.
• Troop Redeployment: President Bush will restructure American forces overseas to use existing forces more effectively and to support servicemen, servicewomen, and their families more efficiently.
• Judges: President Bush will continue to appoint to the Federal courts well-qualified judges who share his commitment to strictly interpret the law.
• Welfare Reform: President Bush will continue to press for reauthorization of welfare reform and to build on its successes, strengthening families and helping more welfare recipients achieve independence through work.
• Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: President Bush will continue to support the good work of community and faith-based groups and help ensure that these charities can participate in Federal, state, and local programs without discrimination.

 

[Sapper6]

im in the military. i've received 3 pay raises since GW took office and another 3.5 % increase to take effect on January 1st. that's good enough for me.

 

[shesulsa]

im in the military. i've received 3 pay raises since GW took office and another 3.5 % increase to take effect on January 1st. that's good enough for me.

Really? And the slashing of Veteran's Benefits doesn't bother you at all?

 

[Sapper6]

do you happen to have that direct information or are you just following Kerry's lead? show me where GW has proposed slashing vet benefits, really, i don't know what you're talking about :uhyeah: