BRAVO, MR. PRESIDENT!
REMARKABLE BEGINNINGS OF A NEW ERA
By: Carol Devine-Molin
etherzone.com
High Profile This Week: Tax Relief Plan, National Missile Defense and Food Safety:
At a little more than one hundred days, the new Bush administration has already made notable strides in the implementation of its agenda. Despite emerging from an unprecedented election tumult to garner victory, and a 50/50 Congress that had the capacity to stymie the legislative progress, the Bush team quickly found its footing in order to forge its "centerpiece" tax relief deal among lawmakers. It successfully reached out to the moderate Democrats in Congress, eschewing and frustrating the Leftist Congressional leadership of Senator Tom Daschle and Representative Richard Gephardt.
President Bush understood that across-the-board income tax rate reductions would resonate among the citizenry, which would ultimately reject the old-style class warfare and quick fix, one time "rebate" proffered by the Democrats. Through the deft use of the bully pulpit, and touring targeted states, President Bush effectively sold the Republican plan. Although the Democrats attempted to downplay the necessity for tax relief, it clearly strained credulity as a majority of the public is cognizant of being overtaxed, a notion further reinforced by Treasury Department reports of budget surpluses during the past four consecutive years. Obviously, the public gave short shrift to the Democrat pledge of utilizing surplus monies to pay down the national debt over time, realizing that Congress would probably usurp the funds and spend them instead. The growing consensus among the citizenry is that it is better to get their money back, than to entrust politicians to live up to long term promises such as reducing the accumulated debt.
Lawmakers have agreed to provide for $1.35 trillion in tax relief over 11 years, with some extra front-loading of tax cuts this year and next as "economic stimulus" for the faltering economy. Touting of this attractive tax reduction plan is also integral to the Republican’s 2002 election strategy. This fact has not been lost on the Congressional Democrats, now reportedly despondent regarding being thwarted on the tax issue, a clear victory for the Republicans.
President Bush is also out and about aggressively promoting the need for the National Missile Defense system. Administration officials will soon travel to Europe, for the purpose of reinforcing President Bush’s commitment to deploying this hi-tech missile shield. To date, Europe still needs to be sold on this concept, but both China and Russia remained adamantly oppose to its implementation. Some discussions will focus upon the antiquated Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which is no longer responsive to emerging threats and the changing global landscape.
The Bush team believes that for the sake of national security, and also as a means of deterrence, a Missile Defense system must be deployed in the near future. Research and development are rapidly underway, with a view toward an operational system in approximately five years. Opponents argue that since it will be very difficult to create technology that successfully knocks out all incoming missiles in the case of a massive conflagration, why bother at all? But the current administration points out that the imminent threat of missile attack now comes from transnational terrorists and rogue nations such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq, which would only be capable of launching a few missiles. So, by 2006 or 2007, it is realistically within our technological grasp to address and overcome a small number of incoming missiles. And given the array of threats and varied weapon delivery systems on the horizon, the U.S. must now plan for as many contingencies as possible. Besides nuclear warfare, we are susceptible to biological, chemical, informational (telecommunication and cyber) and economic attacks, among others. In this brave new world, it would prudent for this nation to prepare for a host of eventualities, an overall strategy geared at denying our enemies the salient element of surprise.
From sophisticated weaponry and hi-tech defense systems, to the basics of life, I am also impressed with the Bush administration’s emphasis on food policy, garnering praise from the likes of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute and others. Government requirements for more stringent monitoring of the food supply is a winning political position, with 69% of the population either Very Concerned or Somewhat Concerned regarding food safety (Pew Research Center, conducted April 18th -22nd). And the public’s apprehension is well founded, given that each year in this nation, approximately 76 million individuals get sick, 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die as a direct result of food-borne illnesses (American Medical Association website). Most of us are familiar with E. Coli and Salmonella bacteria in the food poisoning arena. But how about Campylobacter, which is an even more common culprit? With the European outbreaks of "mad cow disease" that catastrophically affect humans, and the "Foot-and-Mouth Disease" that is devastating to animals that we regularly consume (although rarely infects people), food policy is becoming of greater concern to the average person. Although I am generally opposed to the imposition of additional government regulations and budget increases, here I believe it is warranted. The federal government, via the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the Center for Disease Control among other federal agencies, can address food supply safety on the farm, slaughterhouse and processing levels, where much of the food-borne bacterial contamination takes place.
Other Vital Issues Being Tackled By The Bush Administration:
Arguably, the pivotal, long-term focus for Republicans is moving the federal judiciary to the Right, with judges installed who will apply a "strict constructionist" view of the Constitution. This will clearly be a battle royale between the warring factions, with the Left gearing up to assail conservative judicial nominees. And the Bush administration is vitally involved in this fight, launching the initial salvo by terminating the liberal American Bar Association’s assessment and input regarding federal judicial nominees. The Left will be formidable adversaries, with Congressional Democrats and their allies such as Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School out in full force.
Another salient matter for the Bush administration is the creation of a sorely required national energy policy. According to point man Vice President Dick Cheney, emphasis will be on augmenting the supply of fossil fuels through development of further domestic resources, and the building of new power plants. Although the Bush Administration is pledged to balancing these initiatives with environmental and safety issues, clearly this is a sticky wicket with the environmentalists and "greens" expected to attack these efforts. However, "rolling blackouts" in major states such as California and New York and other evidence of severe energy shortages, should garner increasing public support for the new Bush policy over time.
Other high profile issues to be addressed by the Bush team in the near future is substantive Education Reform, followed by Social Security Reform with former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan heading up a task force committee. Besides revamping of the Social Security entitlement system, some experimentation in the privatization sphere will also be reviewed.
In Closing:
And finally, I’m thrilled that the Pentagon under President Bush has decided to dump the Chinese-made berets ordered for Army soldiers under the prior Clinton administration. Undoubtedly, the beret purchase was another Clinton kickback to the Chinese, for all their illegal campaign money that flowed into Democrat coffers. It doesn’t get any better than this. |
