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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (425906)	7/11/2003 8:12:21 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Kerry Taking Apart Bush: 'Bush has Worst Jobs Record' Since Hoover Friday, July 11, 2003; Page A06 Excerpts from Sen. John F. Kerry's interview with Washington Post editors and reporters: Postwar Iraq I hope they [the administration] have a strategy. It seems to me that having been as intent as they obviously were on taking down Saddam Hussein, they would have had a more extensive plan for winning the peace and yeah, I'm actually, I'm really shocked and I am angry about the sort of arrogant absence of any major international effort to do what's really needed here to protect our troops and to guarantee a victory. Make no mistake about it, I think winning the peace in Iraq is critical to us. . . . We literally cannot allow ourselves to fail because the implications for Saudi Arabia, for Egypt, for Pakistan, Indonesia -- long-term interests in a war on terror are very significant. The Economy The economy in this country is in the worst shape it's been in many, many years. It's the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover was president. It is the worst growth record since World War II and the Bush administration policy is dead wrong. . . . We have to either roll back or prevent the top end of Bush tax cuts from taking place and if they bum-rush this thing through this year and we're stuck with them having put it in, I'm prepared to go at it and say we're going to take it away. Energy Policy I've set a goal -- 20 percent of America's electricity will be produced from alternatives and renewables by the year 2020. California is at 13 percent today. There's no reason we can't achieve that goal. . . . We're going to take $20 billion from the royalties that oil and gas companies pay today for the privilege of drilling on your land and we're going create energy conservation trusts . . . and literally set out on the modern-day equivalent of the Manhattan Project to create the new energy source for America, that will be home-grown. No dictator can embargo it, no cartels can raise the prices on us, no young Americans got to fight abroad to defend the world we lived in because of our dependency on it and this is achievable. And when you talk to smart people at MIT or somewhere else, it's achievable. Gay Marriage I do not support [gay] marriage . . . it's just a personal belief about what the relationship of marriage and how it works, but I'm in favor of civil unions. I've supported all forms of partnership union. I think gays should have all of the rights of ownership, of partnership, of visitation in hospitals, of inheritance and so forth. I think that's entirely within the civil structure of our country and that is appropriate. . . . Marriage is an institution between men and women for the purpose of having children and procreating. That's my belief and some people may not like it. I've been willing to take my lumps on everything that I think enhances people's rights and gives people equality, but I think there is something special about the institution of marriage -- the oldest institution in the world. Money and Politics I'm going to show people what that money [Bush's fundraising] gets for them. . . . Our democracy is threatened by the amount of money in American politics. It just is. I've served on the Banking committee, the Commerce committee and the Finance committee. There are no three committees perhaps other than Appropriations that see the impact of money and the agenda in this city more. . . . I think when you go to people and you say, "Look do you know why you don't have health care? Do you know why you don't have the prescription drug plan or the patients' bill of rights . . . do you know why there's a big doughnut hole on the Medicare reimbursement . . . here's why." People get that. John McCain did it very successfully in New Hampshire. Civil Liberties I think now there's that huge sense across this country that there's a breach at every level. People are angry about the invasion of their privacy. . . . The Patriot Act is perceived to be even more of breach -- and in fact it is. . . . And people are worried about their rights in America. People are worried about the Supreme Court. Women are worried about the rollback to a dark age of back alleys with respect to their [right] to choice. The War on Terror This administration is hoodwinking America to make us believe that this [war on terrorism] is a great big kind of commander in chief, land on the aircraft carrier, got to fight the war. This is not World War II. It's not Vietnam. It's not the Gulf War I. This is by and large an intelligence operation and a law enforcement. . . . There is a significant question as to how far we have advanced in building the kind of indigenous relationships and forces necessary to give us the intel necessary to find the Osama bin Ladens and Husseins and be able to do what we do. I think we are woefully inadequate in that.