Here are some facts on your great Satan:
Some documentation since you insist.
Education:
President Bush promised to make educating every child his top domestic priority and reform a system that has failed the most needy students in our nation's classrooms. He proposed a comprehensive, bipartisan plan to improve overall student performance and close the achievement gap between rich and poor students in America's more than 89,599 public schools. The President’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was passed with an overwhelming majority.
On January 8, 2002, the President signed into law this landmark legislation that promotes educational excellence for America's public school children.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 Ushers in Sweeping Reforms Based Upon the President's Priorities for America's Schools:
· Stronger Accountability for Results.
· Greater Flexibility and Local Control.
· Expanded Options and Choice for Parents.
· Emphasis on Teaching Methods that Work.
· Resources to Support the Reforms.
Economic Security:
Permanent Tax Relief. The tax cuts are critical to our future economic growth and Washington should not take them away. Congress needs to make these cuts permanent. The tax cuts will create 800,000 more jobs this year and help Americans save and invest by:
· Cutting taxes for all taxpayers in all tax rates;
· Doubling the child tax credit to $1,000 to help parents with the high costs of raising children;
· Expanding the earned income credit and making the child credit refundable to put money in the hands of millions of low-income families with children;
· Helping Americans save more for their retirement by raising IRA and 401(k) contribution limits;
· Helping families save for their children’s education;
· Repealing the death tax;
· Providing relief from the marriage penalty; and
· Accelerating depreciation so businesses can invest more and hire more.
Taxes in detail, facts and myths:
The economy is stronger as a result of President Bush’s tax cut:
· The tax cut came at just the right time to help a slowing economy. The tax cut helped shorten the duration and impact of the recession.
· The tax cut has put the nation on the path to long-term recovery.
· Economic growth has returned: 6.1% in the first quarter of 2002 compared to 1.2% in 2001.
· Disposable income was at 13.9% for the first quarter, up from -8.1% from the last quarter of 2001.
· Residential investment is growing faster right now than it has in almost six years: the fastest quarterly gain, 14.6% in the 1st quarter.
· Home sales and the real estate market are historically strong.
Some give and take:
SHOTS:
AL GORE:
“The problem is not that Mr. Bush and Dick Cheney picked the wrong advisers or misunderstood the technical arguments, but that their economic purpose was and is ideological: to provide $1.6 trillion in tax giveaways for the few while pretending they were for the many, and manipulating the numbers to make it appear that the budget surplus would be preserved.” (Al Gore Op-Ed, “Broken Promises And Political Deception,” The New York Times, August 4, 2002)
Giveaways Mr. Gore? Whose money is it anyways?
Hillary:
: “The Administration has a failed economic policy. Their answer to everything are tax cuts. . . . I don’t see any alternative [other than to repeal or postpone the tax cut].” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” September 15, 2002)
Tom Daschle:
“‘This is going to blow a hole in the fiscal responsibility of this country, the likes of which we haven’t seen in our lifetimes,’ said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.” (Alan Fram, “GOP Pushes Budget Through House,” The Associated Press, May 10, 2001)
ANSWERS:
The President’s Tax Cut Boosted The Economy And Created Jobs. The President proposed and signed tax relief that boosted our economy, created jobs, and put money in people’s pockets when they needed it most. The President also signed an economic stimulus bill giving short-term help to displaced workers and long-term stimulus to create more jobs across America. (“A Record Of Accomplishment For The American People,” The White House, August 3, 2002)
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Believes President Bush’s Tax Cut Would Do “Noticeable Good.” “And should current economic weakness spread beyond what now appears likely, having a tax cut in place may, in fact, do noticeable good.” (Alan Greenspan, Testimony Before The Senate Committee On The Budget, January 25, 2001)
The Congressional Budget Office Reported That The Past Economic Recession, Not The Tax Cut, Put The Federal Budget Back In Deficit. The CBO reported on August 13, 2002 that 80% of the change in revenue projections for FY 2002 was not due to the tax cut but economic and technical changes. CBO’s numbers also show that if there never had been a tax cut, the budget would still be in deficit today. (Congressional Budget Office, “Budget And Economic Update,” August 2002)
Council Of Economic Advisers Chairman Glenn Hubbard Argued That Repealing The President’s Tax Cut Would Hurt Future Economic Growth. “If we rescinded the President’s tax cut, we would probably hurt economic growth by about 2/10 of a percentage point over the foreseeable future. That’s $1,000 for every man, woman and child in the country over a decade.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” August 18, 2002)
Why, senator Feinstein... is this support for the tax policies?
Senator Feinstein Supports The President’s Tax Cut. “‘I think it’s good policy to let people keep more of their money.’ And [Senator Diane] Feinstein disputes the notion that the tax cut has had a deleterious effect on the economy. ‘Over $1 trillion of that tax cut has not yet gone into effect,’ she noted. ‘I don’t think it worsens the recession at all.’ As to Daschle’s suggestion, which he would not state directly, that the Bush tax cuts ought to be delayed or reduced, if not repealed altogether, Feinstein strongly disagreed. ‘My view is we ought to stay the course,’ she said. ‘Twenty percent of the Democratic Senate caucus voted for the tax cut.’” (Editorial, “Recession Rhetoric,” Copley News Service, January 7, 2002)
And on and on:
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Credited Republican Tax Relief For Spurring Increases In Household Spending. “Household spending was boosted by ongoing increases in incomes, which in turn were spurred by strong advances in productivity as well as by legislated tax reductions and, in recent months, by extended unemployment insurance benefits.” (Alan Greenspan, Senate Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs Committee Hearing, July 16, 2002)
President Bush’s Tax Cut Provides Relief For Married Couples And Parents Of Young Children. “The tax cut, the largest approved by Congress in two decades, provides for millions of refund checks of up to $600 apiece to be mailed to Americans this summer, and grants reductions in most tax rates, tax relief for married couples and parents of young children. . .” (Glen Kessler and Juliet Eilperin, “Congress Passes $1.35 Trillion Tax Cut,” The Washington Post, May 27, 2001)
The Media Recognized President Bush’s Tax-Relief Package As The Largest In Two Decades. “The truth is that President Bush . . . assembled a bipartisan coalition in Congress during his first four months in office. Passage by both the House and Senate of his landmark $1.3 trillion tax cut, the first major tax relief in two decades, demonstrated Bush’s capacity to forge consensus on both sides of the aisle. This was a historic achievement, considering that Republicans held only a slim majority in the House and had only tenuous control in a Senate split 50-50.” (Editorial, “Senate Must Serve Common Interests,” The State Journal-Register [Springfield, IL], May 28, 2001)
The point of the above is that the tax cuts were not responsible for the current economic woes...if not for them, the economic situation would be exceedingly worse.
All of the above are examples of good things that Bush has done.
The war on Terror and the toppling of Al Queda was a good thing. It removed a threat to world peace.
If war becomes necessary in Iraq I will support it as it's far worse to imagine Saddam with nukes. BTW, would you like for me to list Mr. Hussein's evils? His kill rate of his own people is far greater than a strike against him would likely cause.
I have far, far more support but this is too long already... I'll throw in more later.
Reply to Topic
Now THAT's sarcasm.
