Segmentation Fault: Core dumped..;-)

Presidential Debates (Election 2004): My advice for Pres. Bush and John Kerry

Posted : August 22, 2004 at 12:47 am [America/Los_Angeles]

Before getting into my personal take on the upcoming Presidential debates, here are some fascinating excerpts from the first debate of “Election 2000″ between Al Gore and George W. Bush:

US Economy:

VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Under Governor Bush’s tax cut proposal, he would spend more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent than all of the new spending that he proposes for education, health care, prescription drugs and national defense all combined. Now, I think those are the wrong priorities.

…

VICE PRESIDENT GORE: The key question that has to be answered in this election is, Will we use that prosperity wisely in a way that benefits all of our people and doesn’t go just to the few? Almost half of all the tax cut benefits, as I said, under Governor Bush’s plan go to the wealthiest one percent.

…

GOV. BUSH: Well, we do come from different places. I come from West Texas. I’ve been a governor. A governor is the chief executive officer and learns how to set agendas. And I think you’re going to find the difference reflected in our budgets. I want to take one half of the surplus and dedicate it to Social Security, one quarter of surplus for important projects. And I want to send one quarter of the surplus back to the people who pay the bills.

…

GOV. BUSH: Well, let me just say, obviously tonight we’re going to hear some phony numbers about what I think and what we ought to do. People need to know that over the next 10 years there’s going to be $25 trillion of revenue that comes into our Treasury, and we anticipate spending $21 trillion. And my plan says why don’t we pass $1.3 trillion of that back to the people who pay the bills. Surely we can afford 5 percent of the $25 trillion that are coming to the treasury to the hard-working people who pay the bills.

…

GOV. BUSH: Look. This is a man who’s got great numbers. He talks about numbers. I’m beginning to think not only did he invent the Internet but he invented the calculator. It’s fuzzy math. It’s a scaring — trying to scare people in the voting booth.

…

GOV. BUSH: The man’s practicing fuzzy math again. There’s differences. Under Vice President Gore’s plan, he’s going to grow the federal government in the largest increase since Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1965, and we’re talking about a massive government, folks. We’re talking about adding to — or increasing 200 new programs — 200 programs, 20,000 new bureaucrats. Imagine how many IRS agents it’s going to take to be able to figure out his targeted tax cut for the middle class that excluded 50 million Americans. There is a huge difference in this campaign.

Well, we now know who was practicing fuzzy math! Check US budget deficit to hit $445bn (BBC News), bushtax.com and Size Matters - The Era of Big Government…Is Back?

US Military:

MR. LEHRER: But what if he (Milosevic) doesn’t leave, Mr. Vice President? What if all the things, all the diplomatic efforts, all the pressure from all over the world and he still doesn’t go, is this the kind of thing, to be specific, that you, as president, would consider the use of U.S. military force to get him gone?

…

VICE PRESIDENT GORE: In this particular situation, no. Bear in mind that we have a lot of sanctions in force against Serbia right now, and the people of Serbia know that they can escape all those sanctions if this guy is turned out of power…

…

GOV. BUSH: But let me say this to you. I wouldn’t use force. I wouldn’t use force…Because it’s not in our national interest to use force in this case. I would keep pressure. I would use diplomacy. There’s a difference between what the president (Bill Clinton) did, which I supported in Kosovo, and this. And it’s up for the people in this region to figure out how to take control of their country..Well, if it’s in our vital national interests, and that means whether or not our territory — our territory is threatened, our people could be harmed, whether or not our alliances are — defense alliances are threatened. Whether or not our friends in the Middle East are threatened. That would be a time to seriously consider the use of force.

Secondly, whether or not the mission was clear; whether or not it was a clear understanding as to what the mission would be. Thirdly, whether or not we were prepared and trained to — to — win. Whether or not our forces were of high morale and high standing and well-equipped. And finally, whether or not there was an exit strategy.

I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I don’t think we can be all things to all people in the world. I think we’ve got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation-building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation-builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place.

And so I take my responsibility seriously.

Well, what can I say. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count and The U.S. and World Opinion pretty much sums up my feelings about it.

Closing Statement:

GOV. BUSH:

…

Mine is that I want to empower people in their own lives. I also want to go to Washington to get some positive things done. It’s going to require a new spirit — a spirit of cooperation. It’s going to require the ability of a Republican president to reach out across the partisan divide and to say to Democrats, “Let’s come together to do what’s right for America.” It’s been my record as governor of Texas. It’ll be how I conduct myself if I’m fortunate enough to earn your vote as president of the United States.

…

I want to rebuild our military, to keep the peace. I want to have a strong hand when it comes to — when it comes to the United States and world affairs. I don’t want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don’t want to be the world’s policeman; I want to be the world’s peacemaker by having a military of high morale and a military that’s well-equipped.

…

My advice to Pres. Bush:

During this debate in 2000 with Al Gore, you often bandied around the word “accountability”, especially in the context of “schools”. In a similar vein, upon reviewing your performance as President these last four years, here’s my advice:

Mr. President, you need to hold yourself and your staff “accountable” for the failures of your administration come Nov. 2nd, 2004.

Well, that’s really not an advice. Here’s one: Do not forget (and I know you won’t) that you will always have the lethal one-liner panacea to cure any and all criticisms targetted at your record as President: “Sepetember the 11th changed America and the World.” In other words, blame it on Al Qaeda, even the Iraq war.

My advice to John Kerry for the debates:

Stay professional (basically just be yourself) and DO NOT let the President’s sometimes asinine and frustrating remarks get to you. No sighs please! And the fact that you tend to have a pretty expressionless face most of the time should help out as well. Just let the guy talk. I think we all know what to expect when he talks

- Anand

Category: United (or not) State of American Politics 2004