What Has Bush Done For Conservatives Lately?

Accuracy In Media ^ | August 23, 2002 | Paul M. Weyrich

[Tailgunner Joe]

Recently, I did an interview with Focus on the Family in which I stated that pro-family conservatives are not motivated to vote in the upcoming elections in November 2002. While I stand by that statement - because it is true - I was contacted by a high level White House staffer who pointed out all the reasons he believes that pro-family conservatives should be motivated to get out there and support President Bush. Taken together, it is a pretty impressive list. I will mention some of the items on his list, but by no means all of them, for purposes of discussion.

First there is the passage of the tax cut and the effort to make it permanent. Then, there is the nomination of excellent judges and the defense of those nominees who are encountering opposition for partisan purposes. President Bush rejected the International Criminal Court. He got us out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and thus paved the way for a missile defense system. The Ashcroft Justice Department, directed by the President, opposed partial birth abortion in the Ohio case and opposed euthanasia in the Oregon case.

The President opposed human cloning and has pushed for the right legislation in the Congress to ban it. The President opposed taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research. The Justice Department has supported the correct view of the Second Amendment.

The President has pushed for energy independence. He signed the parsonage tax credit bill and the Born Alive Infant Protection bill, during which, at the signing ceremony, the President made the strongest pro-life statement coming out of the Oval Office in a couple of decades.

The President signed the Child Custody Protection Act. In the Prenatal Health Insurance Bill, he insisted that the definition of eligibility include the fetus. In the House he pushed for a welfare reform bill where marriage, work and the family are central.

The President rejected the United Nations Rights of the Child Treaty. He rejected funding for the United Nations Population Fund. He raised abstinence education funding to a record $300 million.

In addition, the President has praised single sex schools, highlighted the Boy Scouts, and condemned the Ninth Circuit Court's ruling removing "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

My White House friend says that the whole demeanor and atmosphere in his place of work has changed. He is right about that. No more pot smoking, condom swinging, late night liaisons with teeny-boppers at the White House. It is a dignified place to work once again.

Now, in fairness, all of this has to be weighed against the sight of the president and Teddy Kennedy working together to pass the budget-busting education bill that threw out vouchers on day one. And there are liberal holdovers at the Justice Department and others departments pursuing policies that should be rejected by a conservative administration. Moreover, the administration seems to have a weakness toward homosexuals. Not only have there been a number of high level appointments, but the Justice Department, under the leadership of one of the heroes of the religious right, had a so called Gay Pride event. The President signed into law the so-called campaign reform law which has hurt the ability of every pro-family organization to explain to the voters the records of the Members of Congress or the positions of the challenger candidates. Then there is the huge agriculture subsidy bill that undoes most of the excellent "Freedom to Farm" reform effort of 1996, with most of the money going to big farm conglomerates, doing little for the family farm.

And now the Department of Health and Human Services has ruled that the government can share medical records with employers and insurance companies without your consent. And HHS is pushing a plan to deal with 9/11 type medical emergencies that all but does away with any remaining states' rights.

Again, I could go on. You will have to determine which list means the most to you.

But of the many good things the president has done, almost no one knows about them. I was speaking with some Midwest grass roots activists, who pride themselves on knowing what is going on. I read them the list from the White House staff member. They were shocked. They had heard of only about a quarter of the items mentioned. If folks like this haven't heard the good news, it is a lead pipe cinch that folks in the precincts know less.

If the Bush Administration expects to motivate voters for this fall, it had better learn to tell its story, short and sweet. One way that might be done would be for the president to cut a series of radio spots to be played in states where the stakes are high.

But what the heck, my advice on such things is never followed anyway.

[Dane]

So let's look at your convoluted logic. I type cheers at the end of a post on a topic completely unrelated to Opie and Andy, and this is supposed to mean that I condone their actions? That makes absolutely no sense at all.

Not convulted at all, you were the one who decided to put the toast "Cheers" after Samuel Adams's name implying the beer named after him(and the company that sponsored the vile Opie and Andy contest).

[bat-boy]

I have stated my opinion of Opie and Andy and their so-called contest, as well as my opionion on what the consequence should be.

[Dane]

I have stated my opinion of Opie and Andy and their so-called contest, as well as my opionion on what the consequence should be.

You still don't get it, oh well, someday you might.

[bat-boy]

I get it. I just reject the premise. Cheers was indeed a tongue-in-cheek salutation with Samual Adams. However, you come to the unfounded conclusion that I knew that Samual Adams beer sponsored the contest.

[Dane]

However, you come to the unfounded conclusion that I knew that Samual Adams beer sponsored the contest.

Yeah, whatever.

[Theodore R.]

Every Sunday I have to be reminded AGAIN what G.W. has done for "us" because the list is so limited that I forget it by Saturday. As you said, "talk is cheap." I do not think this record will spur mostly apolitical conservatives to come to the polls in November. Therefore, I see Democrat gains from ME to CA.

[Theodore R.]

I will vote for the straight Republican ticket save once office on Nov. 5. However, many conservatives who do not follow politics will not bother to cast a ballot. This will allow Democrat gains. That was what happened in 1974, 1982, 1990, and 1998.

[Jorge]

Seems to me that the dems did pretty good under clinton when the pubbies had both the house and the senate.

Actually the Dems were always complaining about Clinton caving into the Republican Congress on issues like welfare reform etc.

[mtngrl@vrwc]

Ask not what Bush has done for conservatives but what have conservatives done for Bush ;-)

Exactly. There are some "conservatives" who are making President Bush's job as hard as they can. What might Bush be able to accomplish if we conservatives stuck together as well as the 'rats always do?

[stimulate]

Government gets bigger when you're
at war.

[Jorge]

Every Sunday I have to be reminded AGAIN what G.W. has done for "us" because the list is so limited that I forget it by Saturday. As you said, "talk is cheap."

Well it's Sunday so let's remind you again of the list you call so "limited" that you can't remember it.

1. Tax Cuts (never would've happened under Gore)
2. Rejected KYOTO Treaty (never would've happened under Gore)
3. Refused to sign on to U.N. Crimes Court (Gore would've signed it)
4. Stopped federal funding of abortions (Gore would've tripled it)
5. Continued support for faith based initiatives
6. The war on TERROR - Taking it to the enemy (Gore would've done a "Clinton" and maybe sent a few missles)
7. Total ban on human cloning (Gore would've asked to be cloned)
8. GWB killed the Left-Wing ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.
9.GWB repealed OSHA's new ergonomic regulations that were about to put every home-based business in America out of commission.
10. GWB killed federal funding of foreign "family planning" activities.
There's more.....

I do not think this record will spur mostly apolitical conservatives to come to the polls in November.

This is about as comprehensive as your memory of Bush's conservative accomplishments.
Contrary to your claims, Bush polls higher among conservatives than any other group.

[SuziQ]

It's not good enough, Americans deserve better.

Yes, we do. But we're not going to get it by sniping at the President. If we want a conservative agenda put into place, there have to be conservative folks in Congress to shepherd the ideas and vote for the funding for them. In order to get that Congress, we're going to have to put aside the divisions and elect Repubs. Not all will be conservative Repubs., but having a Repub. majority in both houses will increase GREATLY the possibility of the Pres. getting the conservative parts of his agenda passed.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Whenever I look at this title, I keep thinking of that Janet Jackson song. LOL.

[SuziQ]

I do not think this record will spur mostly apolitical conservatives to come to the polls in November. Therefore, I see Democrat gains from ME to CA.

If these apolitical conservatives pout, stay home and don't vote, then they shouldn't complain afterwards if the Dems win and things REALLY go badly for this country because they will have no one but THEMSELVES to blame!

[Theodore R.]

The only federal funding of abortion that G.W. stopped was through UN agencies abroad. Abortions are still performed in U.S. military hospitals, and abortions are funded through the federal employees health care coverage. Also abortion counseling is still offered in national family-planning clinics.

[Theodore R.]

Despite those noble 10 examples, I still think of G.W. joining forces with EMK for another big-pending "education" bill that will be proved totally useless and indeed harmful. And I question some of the maneuvers of the attorney general regarding civil liberties. I also don't see the administration making an issue of the judicial nominations bottled up by the Democrats. I guess I am like organized labor. When asked what labor wanted, one labor leader said (I cannot remember who): "More."

[ohioWfan]

What might Bush be able to accomplish if we conservatives stuck together as well as the 'rats always do?

Being on FR for the past year and a half has opened my eyes to how self-absorbed some so-called 'real' conservatives are. If people don't see things their way to the letter on their pet issue, they are castigated and called names.

You can't stick together and get something accomplished if you are stuck on your own narrow ideology. It's self-defeating, and it's disgusting.

[ladyinred]

What might Bush be able to accomplish if we conservatives stuck together as well as the 'rats always do?

If there is any good thing to say about RATS, it is the fact that they are loyal to each other.
Since becoming a Pubbie, I have been dismayed at how we eat our own. Perhaps some have forgotten what this nation was like during the last administration. If they would just think about that, they might not cling to their one issue politics as much and realize that life with a Gore or Hillary administration would be the end of this nation as we know it.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

"Initially, the President opposed embryonic stem cell research, but supported adult stem cell research. He didn't keep his promise on this issue."

There is absolutely nothing morally wrong with using adult stem cells. We can obtain adult stem cells from our own blood and fat.

President Bush compromised when he allowed scientists to use federal funds on embryo stem cell lines already in existence.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

You need to realize that embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are different in the way in which the stem cells are obtained. The idea of using stem cells for cures to diseases in not inherently wrong. The usage of adult stem cells kills no human life and therefore is morally acceptable.

Embryonic stem cell research kills the embryo in the process and therefore is morally wrong and not theraputic as some would claim either.

[Kobyashi1942]

So, we should all vote for Liberals for a couple generations, let them totally f*** everything up, 'cause "that'll show everyone!" how wrong Liberals are, and THEN we would all vote Conservative??? Should THAT be our plan??

Don't forget to tell us where the Kool-Aid is.

Hey man, if you can't accept the train wreck that is coming that isn't my problem.

The facts is that Bush was elected in 2000 and had both the House and Senate in Republican hands. Unfortunately, on the first Wed. of November of 2002 were going to see the Dem's totally in control of both houses of Congress. It will be Senor Bush's fault since he failed to mobilize his base. The Dem's base will be out voting strongly for the Dems and the Rep's base will stay home. Why? Because Bush governed as a LIBERAL. It was Bush who served up the Kool-aid my friend. Deal with it.

[WhiteGuy]

I really don't think I'm sniping at the president.

He is the leader of the gop and for the most part, the party follows his lead.

I cannot support the direction the gop has chosen to go.

[WhiteGuy]

So..............

Since we're "at war", you feel that it is ok for the gop lead congress to pass spending bills that waste more of our money than at any other time in history?

The education bill and farm bill alone are reason enough to say "No More!".

Both were gleefully signed by gwb who claimed to be conservative.

I really don't believe that you do, I think you're just a good American sticking up for your guy. Thats a good thing.

I can't sccept it any longer.

[Nephi]

I do realize that - reread my post.

[ohioWfan]

What President ever satisfied you on immigration?

What President ever satisfied you on abortion?

What President ever satisfied you as a compassionate person?

You may call what President Bush has done 'paltry crumbs,' but your head must be in the sand if you don't recognize the monumental shift that he has begun making in the morality and sense of responsibility needed in this country to bring it back to righteousness.

I don't call revitalizing the military and renewing a love of country and service to country 'paltry.'
I don't call stopping the murder of abortion 'accidents' who survive, and giving an unborn baby full rights as a human being 'paltry.'

You're are doomed to be miserable for the rest of your life, because no progress toward what is right and good will ever be anything to you but 'paltry crumbs.'

[ohioWfan]

President Bush compromised when he allowed scientists to use federal funds on embryo stem cell lines already in existence.

Yes, and it was a 'compromise' that ended the murder of millions of unborn babies. I call that victory.

[ohioWfan]

How long did he last as a talk show host?

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Here they blindly follow Alan Keyes, the guy who couldn't hold a straight job more than a couple of years at a time, andd who couldn't get elected dogcatcher in a one man race.

And if he lost a two man race, he'd spend the entire elected dogcatcher's term telling everyone who would listen that he wasn't doing it right.

[reborn22]

I agree with you that President Bush has done a great deal for family values by opposing abortion and encouraging those women who want to spend more time with their children.

He has also made us proud again to be Americans.

He has taken a bold stand against the anti-Christians who pollute our world, and is prepared to hunt down the evil Islamic people who set out to destroy our freedoms.

He has refused to be bullied by the European Socialists who try to stop our military from taking out Saddam.

Life is good under our very own George W. Bush.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

"Yes, and it was a 'compromise' that ended the murder of millions of unborn babies. I call that victory."

I have never heard that creative defense of any sort of embryonic stem-cell research. Please go on, I would like to hear more.

Are you a big fan of situation ethics too?

[WhiteGuy]

You have a right to your opinion.

You're still wrong.

But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.....

Perhaps you indeed are so intellegent that you know better than I, just what "my" agenda is.

ok genius, enlighten us.

[WhiteGuy]

Thanks for the kind words.

I've noticed that many here become very defensive when presented with the truth.

Ron Paul 2004

[MissAmericanPie]

He's made his position clear, open borders from here to the tip of South America. I have made my position clear, there is nothing he can trade me in exchange for my vote that will ever be more valuable to me personally than the sovereignty of my country and the future of it's Constitution, on which our freedoms depend.

He could walk on water, solve world hunger, cure aids, bring world peace, invent a new mouse trap, kiss every baby from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I would not be satisfied with open borders from here to the tip of South America.

My paltry vote isn't going to make a difference, he will win, you can take it to the bank, he will win. You and those of your thinking will have a great time rubbing it in that my vote wasn't needed, you will have "won", and until things get worse or effect you, you will not realize you have traded a pearl of great price for plastic tupperware container in which to hold your memories of a sovereign nation. In fact many people would get along just fine in a totalitarian government.

Sure Gore is just like him, or worse, but he isn't highjacking the Republican Party and turning it into the ugly useless twin of the Demoncrat Party by going hard left. I'm not going to reward a party that wishes to replace my vote with an immigrant/illegals vote by staying on board with the agenda. When the Republican Party decides to run a conservative, I will sleep out at the polling place to vote for him, until then I intend to be snippy about it.

[1rudeboy]

Well, for one thing, we'd be looking at a 40 to 50 seat gain in the house and perhaps 5 to 6 senate seats picked up by the Republicans. Oh yeah, aside from the paltry tax cut of 2001, we'd have pretty much the same liberal agenda that Bush advocated.

Just pass the bong if you're gonna talk.

[1rudeboy]

Nor did they intend the Constitution to give the government the authority to arrest 700k a year for a plant they themselves grew.

The Founders grew bud? Cannabis Indica? LOL

[Moonman62]

I was surprised to see GW wield the veto pen, striking down 4 + billion $$$ worth of pork, while postponing a half-billion dollars of worthy expenses.

He didn't use the veto. He simply refused to spend money Congress alloted to him and asked Congress to reapprove most of the funds. The amount of pork saved will probably amount to well less than one billion. Compare that to the hundreds of billions of new spending he's approved.

[Amelia]

Near as I can tell, the Keyesters (the "mean conservatives", according to a fellow parishioner of mine - an unflagging conservative and staunch GOP voter) want a rigid social orthodoxy and are willing to trash everything by contributing to Dem victories if they don't get their way.

They are persisting in seeing the glass as "half-empty" and can't stop complaining about what we don't have rather than celebrating what we do have.

Sad, isn't it?

[ohioWfan]

You are clearly confused. I didn't defend embryonic stem cell research. I commended the President for ending it and saving lives. You may call it situation ethics if you'd like (a real stretch in logic, but one that an ideologue might make), but those babies that are being used for research are already dead. It is no different than using the bodies of murder victims for research to use pre-existent embryonic stem cells for research.

President Bush condemned the ending of the life of embryos, and stopped any further (legal) killing of those embryos. He has saved those babies' lives, whether you recognize it, or not.

This is a huge victory for the pro-life movement, except to those who are determined to be angry, regardless of the progress made...........that would be you.

I refuse to get into an argument with anyone saying that I'm not pro-life, because it's so ridiculous, so if that's the direction you plan on going, I won't be replying to you again.

[ohioWfan]

I don't intend to rub your nose in anything. I feel badly that no matter what wonderful things are happening in this country, that you, and people like you will be perpetually angry.

I think, in time, you will see progress from this President on the issue of immigration (as I have told you before). I am an optimist, and I believe without a doubt that President Bush loves this country, and will not do anything to deliberately harm it.

The progress made will never be fast enough or large enough for you, but I believe it will be made. I do not believe that his free trade stance comes before the safety of this country. I do not believe that he is as much in love with Vicente Fox as you and your friends claim he is.

He is smart, and he is a diplomat, but he is no man's fool, and he has made a strong stand for American sovereignty abroad........perhaps more than any President in recent history.

I am truly sorry that you are so very angry, but nothing I say will assuage that anger. In 2008, when his Presidency is over, I believe you will see that much progress has been made toward your goals. I just hope you will open your eyes enough to see it.

[Amelia]

They contribute nothing to the overall health of the country with their sheer negativism.

Oh, but they do contribute something to their leader's pocketbook, and that's his bottom line, I think.

[Uncle Bill]

George W. Bush - The Big Government Socialist With Compassion

Sorry, But George W. Bush is No Conservative
"Sorry, but I don't buy it. This is one of the few matters on which Paul Weyrich and I differ strongly. In my opinion, George II is a worse sell-out than George I. While George I sold out on "no new taxes," George II has sold conservatives out on something much more serious: the question of whether the hideous ideology of cultural Marxism, more commonly known as "Political Correctness" or "multiculturalism," will reign over America in the 21st Century."

Do you folks need a down payment? No problem. Dial 1-com-pas-sion.

"Government ought to have a policy that helps people with a downpayment." - George W. Bush.

Conservatives not satisfied with Bush's record - The Washington Times

WHY RUSH IS DISGRUNTLED (Bush is advancing the Democrats most liberal agenda )

GROW SPINE, GOP, INVESTIGATE CLINTON (NOW says Rush Limbaugh)

SMOKE OUT THE CLINTON'S

RUSH LIMBAUGH: BUSH "NO CONSERVATIVE"

LIMBAUGH RIPS BUSH WHITE HOUSE OVER GLOBAL WARMING 'FLIP-FLOP'

America: A Sissified Nation - "That's precisely what President Bush called for – hundreds of millions of dollars to devise innovative ways to spy on Americans." - Walter Williams

Brazil to U.S.: Send money: Larry Elder blasts Bush's backpedaling on bailouts

Bush Administration backs $10 BILLION bailout for Brazil - American taxpayers excited to pay it all back

George W. Bush and the RNC - "We Pretend Better"

Farming The Taxpayers With George W. Bush

PAYING BIG BUCKS - Bush Admin. hires Clinton lawyer Greg Craig to battle Judicial Watch

George W. Bush's State Department intentionally shreds millions of unsuccessful immigration applications containing information that some officials say could fight terrorism

Immigration Isn't An Issue Says Congressional GOP

U.S. Borders Still Porous As Sieves

George W. Bush - "The New Democrat"

The Disappearing Presidency

---

"I'm going to talk about the need for America to seize the moment, to set a tone for a new American internationalism."
George W. Bush - Wednesday, November 17, 1999 - AP Interview - Source.

---

The White House actually thinks people still believe this:

President George W. Bush - Biography

SOURCE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html

"George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. Formerly the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, President Bush has earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shapes policy based on the principles of limited government,...

LOL!

"Too often, on social issues, my party has painted an image of America slouching toward Gomorrah. Too often, my party has confused the need for limited government with disdain for government itself."
George W. Bush - New York Times, p. A14 Oct 6, 1999. In a speech to the Manhattan Institute.

"I am a conservative because I believe government should be limited and efficient, that it should do a few things and do them well."
George W. Bush - Book: A Charge to Keep, William Morrow, 1999.

"My concern about the role of the federal government is that an intrusive government, a government that says, ‘Don’t worry, we will solve your problems’ is a government that tends to crowd compassion out of the marketplace, that too often in the past people said: ‘Somebody else will take care of the problem in my area. Don’t worry. The government is here.’ "
George W. Bush - Source: Remarks at Cityteam Ministries, San Jose, CA Oct 31, 2000.

The surest way to bust this economy is to increase the role and the size of the federal government."
George W. Bush - Source: Presidential debate, Boston MA Oct 3, 2000.

Gore offers an old and tired approach. He offers a new federal spending program to nearly every voting bloc. He expands entitlements, without reforms to sustain them. 285 new or expanded programs, and $2 trillion more in new spending. Spending without discipline, spending without priorities, and spending without an end. Al Gore’s massive spending would mean slower growth and higher taxes. And it could mean an end to this nation’s prosperity."
George W. Bush Source: Speech in Minneapolis, Minnesota Nov 1, 2000.

"People need more money in their pocket, as far as I’m concerned."
George W. Bush - The Tampa (FL) Tribune Oct 26, 2000.

I was deeply concerned about the drift toward a more powerful federal government. I was particularly outraged by two pieces of legislation, the Natural Gas Policy Act and the Fuel Use Act. It seemed to me that elite central planners were determining the course of our nation. Allowing the government to dictate the price of natural gas was a move toward European-style socialism. If the federal government was going to take over the natural gas business, what would it set its sights on next?"
George W. Bush - Source: “A Charge to Keep”, p.172-173 Dec 9, 1999.

---

DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN

They still think you're
conservative and for limited
government? George, ain't it great.

[ohioWfan]

Ah, another disgruntled algore supporter from the DU, trying to divide and conquer conservatives.

Won't work, Billy. Your VP lost, whether you admit it or not.