Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (646726)	10/17/2004 8:07:36 PM
From: Mr. Palau	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Key Endorsement: Miami Herald "The Herald recommends: For U.S. president Forced to confront a surprise attack on the homeland three years ago, President Bush rose to the challenge. He deserves credit for holding the nation together in a moment of great peril. But the president who came to office as a ''compassionate conservative'' has often displayed a narrow partisanship. A bold doctrine of preemption replaced the promise of ''a more humble foreign policy.'' A stubborn refusal to accept uncomfortable facts and a simplistic approach to complicated issues raise questions of basic governance skills. These grave concerns override mere differences on issues with his challenger, Sen. John Kerry. On Iraq, for example, the doctrine of preemption was used to justify the invasion. But preemption coupled with bad intelligence has led us into a war that more and more Americans believe was unjustified. Mr. Bush's bravado (''bring it on'') further suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the risks posed by war. Insisting that the world is better off without Saddam Hussein while ignoring the price being paid, not to mention the failure to discover illicit weapons or the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, indicates the absence of a learning curve. Supporters of the president argue that an election is about the future, not the past. But even there, the outlook is troubling. The president has cut taxes like a Reaganite conservative and spent money like a Great Society liberal, with the only sure result being a soaring deficit just as the baby boomers begin to retire. Nor is the president likely to fix the problem as long as he not only refuses to raise revenue but also embraces new spending commitments such as the Medicare bill. The Bush administration premises its theory of growth on hopes that tax cuts will spur spending that in turn will drive demand. Incrementally, that might be the case, and may even have helped some to halt the economic slide after the Internet bubble burst, but Mr. Bush has become the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss of jobs. Our market system rewards efficiency and financial performance, but does not seem to reward growth and job creation. Our government has failed to counteract that trend and, as the world becomes more global and free trade takes hold, this will become an ever more important issue for the United States. The debates have placed a spotlight on the skills and abilities of the two contenders, with the president getting the worst of it. In the three debates, Sen. Kerry managed to erase the cartoon image of himself painted by the Republican spin machine. Mr. Kerry's sensible approach to the budget would be to reinstitute pay-as-you-go rules that require offsetting cuts or revenue to match new spending. He would eliminate tax cuts in the highest brackets. But, it's in the international arena that we believe Sen. Kerry can most effectively lead our country at this time. The senator's approach, similar to that of Mr. Bush's father, seeks to engage the world through diplomacy rather than place the United States on a more-combative path that isolates us from traditional friends and allies. His 19 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have given him experience in national security and foreign affairs, including Latin America, where a frayed relationship needs attention. He supports NAFTA and FTAA and considers Miami the region's key financial center. A promise to support but renegotiate free-trade agreements, such as the pending Central America accord, in order to obtain a better deal for ''dislocated'' workers, is a practical approach that could get this stalled plan through a hesitant Congress. As with every president for half a century, Israel will be an overriding foreign-policy concern for the winner of the election. President Bush has been an unstinting supporter of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but, unfortunately, there has been little follow-up to his own ''road map'' for peace following its rollout. Mr. Kerry, a longtime friend of Israel, has vowed to keep the White House engaged in the effort to achieve peace and security for the Jewish state -- an indispensable ingredient for progress. The next president will almost surely have to nominate new Supreme Court justices. Mr. Kerry's promise to reward competence rather than ideology is reassuring. In the debates, Mr. Bush has also declared that he seeks only judicial wisdom, but his record of nominating controversial, ideologically extreme judges for the federal appeals courts has sparked divisive debate in the Senate and is an unnecessarily narrow criterion for appointment. On the basis of experience, a strong campaign and command of the issues that make this such a crucial election, The Herald recommends JOHN F. KERRY. © 2004 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.