So you think George W. Bush is not a conservative?

ED. NOTE: On Tuesday evening, January 20, 2004, the President of the United States gave one of the most conservative State of the Union addresses in at least a generation. For a SOTU speech, it had a remarkably short spending wish list. Instead, it had passages such as those excerpted below — none of which would have been spoken by a Democrat or liberal (i.e., Leftist), or even a "RINO." Check it out:

Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people. Twenty-eight months have passed since September 11th, 2001 — over two years without an attack on American soil. And it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting — and false.

The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a prison cell. Of the top 55 officials of the former regime, we have captured or killed 45. Our forces are on the offensive, leading over 1,600 patrols a day and conducting an average of 180 raids a week. We are dealing with these thugs in Iraq, just as surely as we dealt with Saddam Hussein's evil regime.

Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better. Last month, the leader of Libya voluntarily pledged to disclose and dismantle all of his regime's weapons of mass destruction programs, including a uranium enrichment project for nuclear weapons.

Nine months of intense negotiations involving the United States and Great Britain succeeded with Libya, while 12 years of diplomacy with Iraq did not. And one reason is clear: For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible, and no one can now doubt the word of America.

Many of our troops are listening tonight. And I want you and your families to know: America is proud of you. And my administration, and this Congress, will give you the resources you need to fight and win the war on terror.

I know that some people question if America is really in a war at all. They view terrorism more as a crime, a problem to be solved mainly with law enforcement and indictments. After the World Trade Center was first attacked in 1993, some of the guilty were indicted and tried and convicted, and sent to prison. But the matter was not settled. The terrorists were still training and plotting in other nations, and drawing up more ambitious plans. After the chaos and carnage of September the 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies with legal papers. The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States, and war is what they got.

Some critics have said our duties in Iraq must be internationalized. This particular criticism is hard to explain to our partners in Britain, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, the Netherlands — (applause) — Norway, El Salvador, and the 17 other countries that have committed troops to Iraq. As we debate at home, we must never ignore the vital contributions of our international partners, or dismiss their sacrifices.

From the beginning, America has sought international support for our operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have gained much support. There is a difference, however, between leading a coalition of many nations, and submitting to the objections of a few. America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country.

We also hear doubts that democracy is a realistic goal for the greater Middle East, where freedom is rare. Yet it is mistaken, and condescending, to assume that whole cultures and great religions are incompatible with liberty and self-government. I believe that God has planted in every human heart the desire to live in freedom. And even when that desire is crushed by tyranny for decades, it will rise again.

In the last three years, adversity has also revealed the fundamental strengths of the American economy. We have come through recession, and terrorist attack, and corporate scandals, and the uncertainties of war. And because you acted to stimulate our economy with tax relief, this economy is strong, and growing stronger.

You have doubled the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000, reduced the marriage penalty, begun to phase out the death tax, reduced taxes on capital gains and stock dividends, cut taxes on small businesses, and you have lowered taxes for every American who pays income taxes.

Americans took those dollars and put them to work, driving this economy forward. The pace of economic growth in the third quarter of 2003 was the fastest in nearly 20 years; new home construction, the highest in almost 20 years; home ownership rates, the highest ever. Manufacturing activity is increasing. Inflation is low. Interest rates are low. Exports are growing. Productivity is high, and jobs are on the rise.

These numbers confirm that the American people are using their money far better than government would have — and you were right to return it.

We're requiring higher standards [in schools]. We are regularly testing every child on the fundamentals. We are reporting results to parents, and making sure they have better options when schools are not performing.

We must continue to pursue an aggressive, pro-growth economic agenda. Congress has some unfinished business on the issue of taxes. The tax reductions you passed are set to expire. Unless you act — (applause) — unless you act — unless you act, the unfair tax on marriage will go back up. Unless you act, millions of families will be charged $300 more in federal taxes for every child. Unless you act, small businesses will pay higher taxes. Unless you act, the death tax will eventually come back to life. Unless you act, Americans face a tax increase. What Congress has given, the Congress should not take away. For the sake of job growth, the tax cuts you passed should be permanent.

Our agenda for jobs and growth must help small business owners and employees with relief from needless federal regulation, and protect them from junk and frivolous lawsuits.

Consumers and businesses need reliable supplies of energy to make our economy run — so I urge you to pass legislation to modernize our electricity system, promote conservation, and make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

My administration is promoting free and fair trade to open up new markets for America's entrepreneurs and manufacturers and farmers — to create jobs for American workers. Younger workers should have the opportunity to build a nest egg by saving part of their Social Security taxes in a personal retirement account. We should make the Social Security system a source of ownership for the American people.

In two weeks, I will send you a budget that funds the war, protects the homeland, and meets important domestic needs, while limiting the growth in discretionary spending to less than 4 percent. This will require that Congress focus on priorities, cut wasteful spending, and be wise with the people's money. By doing so, we can cut the deficit in half over the next five years.

Tonight, I also ask you to reform our immigration laws so they reflect our values and benefit our economy.

I oppose amnesty, because it would encourage further illegal immigration, and unfairly reward those who break our laws. My temporary worker program will preserve the citizenship path for those who respect the law, while bringing millions of hardworking men and women out from the shadows of American life.

[ED. NOTE: The precedent for guest worker programs goes back at least to the Eisenhower administration.]

In January of 2006, seniors can get prescription drug coverage under Medicare. For a monthly premium of about $35, most seniors who do not have that coverage today can expect to see their drug bills cut roughly in half. Under this reform, senior citizens will be able to keep their Medicare just as it is, or they can choose a Medicare plan that fits them best — just as you, as members of Congress, can choose an insurance plan that meets your needs. And starting this year, millions of Americans will be able to save money tax-free for their medical expenses in a health savings account.

On the critical issue of health care, our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs.

Small businesses should be able to band together and negotiate for lower insurance rates, so they can cover more workers with health insurance. I urge you to pass association health plans. I ask you to give lower-income Americans a refundable tax credit that would allow millions to buy their own basic health insurance.

To protect the doctor-patient relationship, and keep good doctors doing good work, we must eliminate wasteful and frivolous medical lawsuits. And tonight I propose that individuals who buy catastrophic health care coverage, as part of our new health savings accounts, be allowed to deduct 100 percent of the premiums from their taxes.

A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription. By keeping costs under control, expanding access, and helping more Americans afford coverage, we will preserve the system of private medicine that makes America's health care the best in the world.

One of the worst decisions our children can make is to gamble their lives and futures on drugs. Our government is helping parents confront this problem with aggressive education, treatment, and law enforcement. Drug use in high school has declined by 11 percent over the last two years. Four hundred thousand fewer young people are using illegal drugs than in the year 2001.

A strong America must also value the institution of marriage. I believe we should respect individuals as we take a principled stand for one of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilization. Congress has already taken a stand on this issue by passing the Defense of Marriage Act, signed in 1996 by President Clinton. That statute protects marriage under federal law as a union of a man and a woman, and declares that one state may not redefine marriage for other states.

Activist judges, however, have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. On an issue of such great consequence, the people's voice must be heard. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process. Our nation must defend the sanctity of marriage.

It's also important to strengthen our communities by unleashing the compassion of America's religious institutions. Religious charities of every creed are doing some of the most vital work in our country — mentoring children, feeding the hungry, taking the hand of the lonely. Yet government has often denied social service grants and contracts to these groups, just because they have a cross or a Star of David or a crescent on the wall. By executive order, I have opened billions of dollars in grant money to competition that includes faith-based charities. Tonight I ask you to codify this into law, so people of faith can know that the law will never discriminate against them again.

The momentum of freedom in our world is unmistakable — and it is not carried forward by our power alone. We can trust in that greater power who guides the unfolding of the years. And in all that is to come, we can know that His purposes are just and true.

Good question.

I get upset because I remember the HORROR of 8 years of xlinton........and the conservatives who helped give them to us.

While I really don't think there are enough of these fringees to make President Bush lose, there are many of them who are ACTIVELY trying to convince others (lurkers who read FR) that Bush is dangerous/socialist/whatever in order to defeat him in November.

Some are doing so with their own list of 'facts' that are often outright false, and THAT is why I spend time debunking their claims.

I believe that President Bush is most likely going to win in a landslide, because when most Americans get in that voting booth, they are going to vote for their safety and future, and it will be for George W. Bush.

BUT, I am going to work as though he is the underdog. It is THAT important to me to KEEP a DEMOCRAT out of the White House.

Where were you when he put us back into UNESCO, which is a major abortion promoting and One World Government teaching tool for for the UN?

Sigh...how quickly we forget...

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 29 -- President Bush ordered the State Department today to withhold U.S. family planning help from overseas groups that promote or perform abortions with their own money.

The decision expands an order issued two years ago that applied only to family planning money administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

U.S. Aid Cut Off to Groups Backing Abortion

Bush Administration Denies UNFPA Funding Again

Bush Halts Funding for International Abortion Counseling (USAID)

Bush Cuts Funding to International Abortion Groups

"The Constitution does not mention paying you doctor bills."

You're not thinking the right way. You have to look at he "promote the General welfare...", and see the doctor's bills as part of the govt. mission. /sarcasm

One thing we on FR need to realize is that we have been invaded by RATS posing as angry conservatives. Not everybody here, of course, but many. I have also heard that RATS are actually being TRAINED to call conservative talk radio shows to blast Bush and pose as people that voted for Bush in 2000 but will not do so this year. It is important to understand what is happening - and I think you do. The goal is to drag as many away from Bush as possible. The fact that ALL polls show that Bush has overwhelming support among Republicans only makes my point more obvious. We are being HAD by many POSERS that hate Bush, have always hated Bush, never voted for Bush in 2000 and are doing all they can to elect a Democrat. Period.

A portion of that 90% are not enthusiastic enough to take time out of their busy day to vote, and Bush loses.

If he were wise, Bush would take his cue from the 1996 election. Conservatives stayed home or voted Perot because Dole was quite weak on key conservative issues. Will they learn from history?

"IF all of you who claim superiority to the rest of us will admit that you are choosing to vote FOR the Democrat by throwing your vote away, then so be it. YOU have to live with that choice."

How is nullifying a vote, throwing a vote away? Each person votes, each vote carries 1 vote. Just because one either decides not to vote or to vote an alternative party doesn't make another individual's ballot worth 2 votes.

How curious of you to use the words "Bushbot" mindset about my understanding of the Scriptural mandate for Christians to be responsible citizens.

The scriptural mandate, as you call it, calls for recognizing the legitimate authority of government in collecting taxes and enforcing criminal laws. In short, Christians were not to be scofflaws.

You seem to assume that the Roman empire was a nice little democracy. It wasn't.

Oh, well, people like to imagine all sorts of things if it's convenient to their argument. I suppose it works if you think the Bible is a Ouija board. But a strict Biblical constructionist, like a constitutional constructionist, cannot find these 'mandates' in the documents you claim as your authority.

You can lose the word "true" for getting a President because it isn't going to happen. A candidate that would appeal to the "true" conservatives wouldn't get elected by the vast majority of the rest of us Republicans.

If you don't understand that fact, then you are going to be unhappy for a very long time.

And while you are at it -- quit referring to President Bush as a Republican in Name Only -- "true" conservatives have no right going around saying who is and who is not a Republican. I resent and so do a lot of others which is one reason your wing of the party and your elitist attitude will not get anyone elected as President. You shove it in our face if we don't believe 100% like the "true" conservatives then we are RINO's. This person is tired of taking that crap from you or anyone else on here. I am a lifelong Republican, conservative, and want to win elections not win moral victories. Moral victories don't get a Republican in the White House and Republicans in Congress -- they elect Democrats!

Besides, Bush is going to pick up far more votes from the center-left than he's going to lose from that tiny minority of wingnuts that you think we are, so what's the problem?

Actually the center and that really grates you self-called wingnuts. You know that you all will never gain political power with your purest agenda and are angry that Bush is being successful.

JMO, but you all show petty jealousy.

Nice rant Capt. Tom

Thanks

I voted for Bush in 2000 and will vote for him in 2004

I don't have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines and letting the socialists or Clintonistas get back into power.

As a right wing democrat(not to be confused with the socialists) I would love to see a Zell Miller/ John Breaux ticket.

But the socialists have taken over the democrat party and democrats need not apply for presidential nominations.

So Bush comes the closest to being right wing democrats. Their immigration policies are still to far left for me, but it's the best candidate I can get.

Sovereignty shouldn't be for sale. Hopefully the right wingers in both parties can kill Bush's plan. - Tom

I am voting for the Constitution Party.

Am I in Bizarro World? Don't WE get bashed for "voting for the party" but now it's okay to "vote for the party as long as it's the Constitution Party?"

"....a few proposals..." - you make that sound so innocuous.

Campaign Finance Reform, the Patriot Act and a seal of approval for who knows how many illegal aliens (8-13 Millions, maybe more), costing taxpayers Billions (that's with a VERY BIG B) of dollars are harding innocuous proposals.

Bush is going to pick up far more votes from the center-left than he's going to lose from that tiny minority of wingnuts that you think we are, so what's the problem?

You're exactly right, which seems to bother the hell out of a lot of people around here.

And "the problem" is that we're wasting a lot of time trying to get you all to stop bashing Bush and START bashing the Democrats.

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