It was the third time we’d asked him to clean his room.
“I’ll do it, Dad,” he said, somehow ignoring that
he’d said the same thing before and the room was still a pigsty.
Neither my wife or I said anything, we just pointed to the truism on
the poster. People may not always believe what you say, but
they’ll always believe what you do.
It’s a bit of conventional wisdom that any race involving a
sitting president revolves around that president’s record. Fair
enough. All the quotations below come from George W. Bush.
“If you overspend, it creates a fundamental weakness in the
foundation of economic growth.” Less than six months later,
Bush’s budget was going to put us $300,000,000,000 in debt. That
number of zeroes makes our mortgages look like chump change. In
contrast, Kerry wants to cut the deficit in half during his first four
years in office, while making sure that normal people get good paying
jobs – the jobs we’ve lost under Bush.
“We…should and must provide the best care for [our
troops] who [are] willing to put their life in harm’s way.”
That very day, Bush’s administration cut off medical access for
over 150,000 vets. Our veterans sacrificed for our sake – we owe
them. Yet paying them back for their service is
“discretionary”. Kerry will make sure that it’s
mandatory that we repay their service – and take care of our
current servicemembers and their families.
“We’re dealing with first-time responders to make sure
they’ve got what’s needed to be able to respond.”
Bush’s “new” grants tried to get a third of their
money by taking money away from already existing – and needed
– funds. Robbing Peter to pay Paul doesn’t convince our
creditors; why should we let Bush boonswaggle us? Kerry will close this
gap in our safety and security by providing direct assistance to police
officers and firefighters to make sure they have what they need to
protect us.
“Clear Skies…will significantly reduce smog and mercury
emissions, as well as stop acid rain.” Bush’s misnamed
“Clear Skies” law lets polluters keep poisoning the air for
another ten years, keeps the states from fighting for our right to
breathe, and allows outdated plants to keep poisoning us indefinitely.
Throughout his career, John Kerry has fought to clean up toxic waste
sites, to keep our air and water clean; he’ll keep protecting our
air and water for us and our children.
Is Bush is strong
on security? Look at the chart. Bush has made us weaker by not giving
enough funding to what we need to keep us safe from terrorists.
It’s a Republican Congress right now, folks – there’s
no excuse. All for the same price as 170 days of Bush’s unneeded
war. A report from the U.S. Iraq Survey Group reports that Iraq
didn’t even have “programs”, let alone WMD. Why not?
Iraq didn’t develop WMD because of the UN inspections and embargo
that Bush bashed before going it alone. Bush’s war has diverted
money from Afghanistan and our troops there. Osama’s escaped, and
Afghanistan has largely turned into a lawless land of warlords,
re-emerging as the world’s leading source of opium and heroin.
Our country has been made more vulnerable to terrorists and drug
dealers thanks to Bush’s war. Kerry will change this by using our
intelligence and troops wisely and by working with our allies instead
of against them. Bush’s bullying bravado has weakened us; with
Kerry at the helm, we will defend ourselves from a position of strength
with the support of our allies.
The poster we used with our son is handy this election, as we look
at what Bush has said… and not done. I’d like to finish by
correcting another truism, or bit of conventional wisdom.
Don’t change a horse in mid-stream – unless it’s
not taking you towards the shore.
-Steve Saus 9/20/04
This work is under a Creative Commons license
