Posted on 12/28/2003 5:42:53 AM PST by Alissa
OKLAHOMA CITY - Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt told cheering union workers Saturday that Oklahoma and its labor unions are an important part of his strategy to win the White House.
"I'm going to win the Democratic nomination and I'm going to beat George Bush," Gephardt, standing on a stage in front of a large American flag, said during a campaign stop at the Teamsters Local 886 meeting hall.
"I've served with five presidents and he is by far the worst. I'm nostalgic for Ronald Reagan," Gephardt said, drawing laughter from the crowd of about 300 union members and supporters, many wearing "Gephardt for president" campaign stickers.
A representative from Missouri who has been endorsed by the 1.4 million-member Teamsters union, Gephardt said Oklahoma and states in the upper Midwest where labor unions are strongest are the key to the 2004 presidential race.
Oklahoma is one of seven states with presidential primaries on Feb. 3.
A 27-year veteran in Congress, Gephardt has won the support of about 20 unions with more than 3 million members. But he has been unable to secure the support of the entire AFL-CIO because several large unions questioned the viability of his second White House run.
Gephardt, whose father was a truck driver, attacked trade agreements that have moved jobs to foreign countries and said he will have three goals during his presidency: "Jobs, jobs, jobs."
Gephardt said his energy proposal, known as Apollo 21, will create 2 million jobs by increasing domestic production of oil and natural gas as well as alternative energy sources, like solar and wind power.
It will also improve the environment and give the U.S. more energy security from oil producers in the Middle East.
Gephardt, who has carried labor's banner on trade legislation and other issues in Congress, said that as president he will urge Congress to repeal tax cuts supported by President Bush and pass legislation that guarantees medical care for all Americans.
"I will not rest as your president until we get this done," said Gephardt, adding that he believes health care is a moral issue.
Gephardt attacked a prescription drug benefits bill recently approved by Congress.
"The only good thing in the bill is that it doesn't take effect until 2006, so I'm going to have time to fix it," he said.
First of all, unions decrease job opportunities. How? Unions are only interested in their own salaries and benefits. Union salaries are at a premium which increases employers' cost. If the additional cost of labor to produce a unit is too high, the company won't hire. Therefore, Unions decrease employment at the expense of other Americans.
The next point is that if Gephardt wants to repeal President Bush's tax cuts, he will increase unemployment. If consumers have less disposable income (money left over after the Government takes its share), they will spend less. If they spend less, there is less demand for products. Therefore, companies will have to fire employees to remain profitable in a slowing economy.
Just reading this article reaffirms my opinion that most, if not all, liberals were hiding in the bushes when God handed out the brains.
Pray for W and The Election
Pretty strong words for someone whose party lost control of the House in 40 years.
I asked for and got two books on WW2 for Christmas. After reading them, I was just astounded how history tends to repeat itself if you ignore the lesson.
My opinion was that the root cause of WW2 was three things. The Great Depression, The Versailles Treaty and the Age of the Dictators. The tinder that started the fires was the appeasement of Germany's neighbors to avoid any type of conflict at the expense of many unfortunate people in Czechoslovakia and Poland.
United States wasn't immune to this. We were sick and tired of Europe's problems and WW1. Any polician that dared mention anything but neutrality would have been appeached. In fact, at one point, our Congress was actually thinking of an amendment to the US Constitution that we cannot declare war until confirmed by a majority vote by a nationwide referendum.
There are a lot of similarities between Hitler and Saddam. What would happen if Bush Sr. and Jr. didn't stop Saddam? The belated answer was, 50 million people should not have died if the world stood up to Hitler.
Saddam planned to conquer the richest oil regions of the world, he was pursuing nuclear weapons until Israelis bombed his plant, and Saddam shown the willingness to use biological/chemical weapons on the Kurds and Iranians.
What in God's name is Dick Gephardt and the other appeasers waiting for? An engraved invitation?
Ohhh Gawd.
..and he's from my state.
How embarrasing
My sympathies...from the state with claims to Carl (Marx) Levin
"I've served with five presidents and he is by far the worst. I'm nostalgic for Ronald Reagan,"
one good rant deserves another. There, there, son. take your medicine. It will all right.
I laughed my gallows-humor laugh at that one.
What, pray tell, is "disingenuous" in the least about banning Partial Birth Abortion, cutting income taxes by more than $1.3 Trillion, killing the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty, killing the U.S. - CCCP ABM treaty, building our ABM defenses against rogue North Korean nuclear missile attacks, smashing the Taliban in Afghanistan, kicking Hussein out of power in Iraq, and convincing Libya to drop their WMD programs without firing a shot at them?
Just who do you think that you are to diss such positive, tangible, incontrovertible achievements?
The problem is you are using logic and your arguments are very effective at countering the far-right fringe's efforts to elect a 'rat as President in 2004. There ill conceived arguments against Bush Sr. and for Clinton worked so well in 1992 they didn't think they would have to work so hard to screw up the country again in the name of ideological purity. Please change your ways and try to level the playing field - stick to one sentence slogans that really don't say anything but imply what an EVIL man Dubya is. Say something like Dubya need to protect the 2nd Amendment but don't back it up. Hit and run, unsubstantiated slander does not need to be explained if you just repeat it over and over no matter how many times intelligent Freepers point out the error. Maybe you could just reply with a simple "Nuh-uh" instead of offering solid comprehensive refutations in logical and easily understood proper English.
Did you SLEEP through Bush banning Partial Birth Abortion, killing the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty, killing the U.S. - CCCP ABM treaty, building our ABM defenses against rogue North Korean nuclear missile attacks, kicking the Taliban out of Afghanistan, kicking Hussein out of power in Iraq, dissing the International Criminal Court, and cutting income taxes by over $1.3 Trillion?!
See Post #55.
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