Thank you for your last reply Kodiak. I resemble 60 Min. and your last sentence...
Here is a post about the debate tonight. See what you think..DEBATE
More Tough Questions
Bush has been preparing for tonight's townhall-style debate for the entire
campaign. At 19 "Ask President Bush" events, he has fielded probing questions
from an audience which -- his handlers insist -- has not been prescreened. Some
examples: "I was wondering if you would permit me the honor of giving our
Commander-in-Chief a real Navy salute
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040904-2.html) ?" "I was just
wondering what your favorite book
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040920-11.html) is, because
I'd like to read it?" "I was wondering if I could take a picture
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040811-6.html) with you?"
Tonight's questions, however, are more likely to focus on jobs, Iraq,
healthcare, taxes and education. Here is your pre-debate primer on what Bush
will say and what you should know.
FACT -- BUSH'S JOBS RECORD IS AN EMBARRASSMENT: Bush will say " the economy is
strong and getting stronger
(http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/09/06/politics1930EDT0619.DTL)
." But the economy added a paltry 96,000 jobs in September, once again failing
even to keep up with population growth
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/08/business/08WIRE-JOBS.html?hp&ex=1097294400&en=d50f992eb752c5d1&ei=5094&partner=homepage)
. Since the president took office in January 2001, the economy has shed about
585,000 jobs. President Bush is a lock to become the first president since
Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs over a four-year term.
FACT -- THE DUELFER REPORT UNDERMINES A KEY RATIONALE FOR WAR: Bush will say
that the recently released report by chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles A.
Duelfer bolstered his rationale for war
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16133-2004Oct7.html) .
Yesterday, Bush said the Duelfer report proved Saddam Hussein "retained the
knowledge, the materials, the means and the intent to produce weapons of mass
destruction...and he could have passed that knowledge on to our terrorist
enemies." That claim is highly misleading. The Duelfer report establishes that
Saddam " did not produce or possess any weapons of mass destruction
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-weapons7oct07,1,7461163.story?coll=la-home-headlines)
for more than a decade before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year."
Moreover, Duelfer found "no evidence that Hussein had passed illicit weapons
material to al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do
so."
FACT -- BUSH'S TAX CUTS WERE A MASSIVE GIVEAWAY TO THE RICH: Bush will say that
his tax cuts "left more money in the hands of American workers so they could
save, spend, invest, and help drive this economy forward." In fact, Bush's tax
cuts overwhelmingly benefited the very wealthy. For example, Americans with
incomes averaging $1.2 million per year have received a tax cut of $78,460
(http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB109235864738290655,00.html) . By
contrast, households in the middle 20 percent, with incomes averaging $57,000
per year, have received an average cut of $1,090
(http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB109235864738290655,00.html) .
One-third of all the benefits went to the top 1 percent of all earners.
Meanwhile, "9.2 million working families in the United States -- one out of
every four -- earn wages that are so low they are barely able to survive
financially
(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/08/opinion/08herbert1.html?oref=login) ."
FACT -- BUSH CREATED A $5.2 TRILLION TAX GAP: Bush will say, "it is the job of a
President to confront problems, not pass them on to future Presidents and
future generations
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041002-7.html) ." Yet, in
four years, Bush "has turned a $5.6 trillion surplus into $5.2 trillion deficit
(http://www.cbpp.org/1-28-04bud.htm) ." His tax cuts are a big part of the
problem. For example, even as corporate profits have soared 40 percent over the
last four years, tax revenue from corporations has decreased. For more on the
deterioration of America's fiscal situation, read this report
(http://www.americanprogress.org/atf/cf/%7bE9245FE4-9A2B-43C7-A521-5D6FF2E06E03%7d/fiscaldeterioration.pdf)
by America Progress's Scott Lilly, mentioned in today's New York Times.
FACT -- TORT REFORM WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE HEALTH CARE COSTS: Bush will
say that the way to make health care more affordable is "by doing something
about these frivolous lawsuits
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041007-12.html) that are
running good doctors out of business and running your costs up." But the
non-partisan CBO has found that even legislation dramatically limiting the
ability of patients to recover damages when their doctor commits malpractice
would lower heath costs by one-half of one percent
(http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=4968&sequence=0) .
FACT -- BUSH LEFT THE FUNDING FOR HIS EDUCATION PROGRAM BEHIND: Bush will stress
the success of the No Child Left Behind program. Keep this in mind: 1) Bush
underfunded the program by $9.4 billion
(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E17F63B5A0C778DDDAA0894DC404482)
, 2) Due to funding shortages 11 states will get less federal education money
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-04-06-schools-money_x.htm) this
year than they did last year, and 3) Because the Bush administration has "
failed to give adequate guidance
(http://washingtontimes.com/national/20041005-013038-8104r.htm) to help states
comply with the goals of NCLB," twenty-four states have still not completed
plans to fully comply with the law. |
