Posted on 07/30/2004 11:43:13 AM PDT by yoe
President Bush embarked on what he called his "Heart and Soul of America Tour" on Friday, outlining some of the big campaign differences between Democrats and Republicans: "They're going to raise your taxes, we're not."
President Bush told the crowd that Democrats "somehow believe the heart and soul of America can be found in Hollywood. The heart and soul of America is found right here in Springfield, Missouri," Bush said.
The president said he's looking forward to the campaign and getting out among the people in Michigan and Ohio this weekend.
"Today you'll hear some reasons why I think you need to put me back into office." The most important reason, he said, is to make his wife first lady for another four years.
President Bush joked about Dick Cheney - "not the prettiest man in the race. But he's got sound judgment," Bush said.
"I'm here to ask for your help," Bush told his supporters. "I'd like you to call up people on the phone and encourage them to register to vote...and when you get 'em headed towards the polls, make sure you nudge them toward that George Bush-Dick Cheney lever."
President Bush said, "Every incumbent who asks for the vote has to ask one question - why. Why should the American people give me the great privilege of serving as your president for four more years?"
Bush noted that on his watch, Americans have been through a lot together and accomplished a great deal.
He said the only reason to look backward is to see who will do the best job of leading the nation forward.
"I'm asking for your vote because so much is at stake - prosperity and peace - we have so much more to do to move this country forward. Give me four more years and America will continue to march to peace and better prosperity.
"I'm asking for four more years to make our country safer, to make the economy stronger... to make our future better and brighter for every single citizen. From creating jobs to improving school to fighting terror to protecting our homeland, we have made progress - and there is more to do."
Bush then offered details about what he's done and what remains to be done.
Some of the president's most impassioned words dealt with national security -- and criticism directed at his administration over intelligence failures and the war in Iraq.
He reminded his audience that pre-war intelligence indicated that Saddam Hussein was a threat; the U.S. Congress - including Sen. John Kerry - "looked at the intelligence, and they saw a threat'; and even the United Nations saw a threat.
When Saddam Hussein continued to deceive weapons inspectors, Bush said, "I had a decision to make -- to hope for the best and to trust the word of a madman and a tyrant - or remember the lessons of Sept. 11 and defend our country.
"Given a choice, I will defend America every time," he said to cheers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
President Bush signing a federal ban on Partial Birth Abortion
Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy
Stopped foreign aid that would be used to fund abortions.
Supported and upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals
Signed E.O. reversing Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act
Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty
Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court
Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California
Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules that would have shut down every home business in America
Killed the U.S. - CCCP ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses
Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first ten ABM silos in Alaska and California so that America has a defense against North Korean nukes.
President Bush pledged to Israel on 4/14/2004 that it could keep parts of the West Bank, giving international legitimacy to Jewish settlements there
Denied Palestinian refugees any right of return to what is now Israel, saying they should be resettled in a future Palestinian state instead
Part of coalition (Russia, Israel, EU, Palestine, USA) for Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace"
Pushed through THREE raises for our military
Increased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years President Bush's Grand Strategy (click here)
President Bush's Environmental Record - 2004 (click here)
Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit
Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers
Ordered Attorney-General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, NOT a leftist-imagined *collective* right
Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e. the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty)
Signed the 2004 Omnibus Budget 1/26/2004 that now MANDATES that gun buyers' background check information be fully and permanently destroyed within 24 hours of the completion of the check, no matter what.
Disarmed Libya of its Chemical, Nuclear, and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed
Won an agreement that U.S. Navy sailors may now freely board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction under a landmark pact between the United States and Liberia, the world's No. 2 shipping registry (signed Feb 11, 2004), and Panama 5/10/2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/11/international/americas/11ship.html).
Successfully executed 2 wars: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom
Executed a WAR ON TERROR by getting world-wide cooperation to track funds/terrorists (has cut off much of the terrorist's funding and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network)
Bush Administration diplomacy led to the 5/25/2004 peace accord that ended a massive 20-year civil war between Sudan's north and south after two million deaths Click Here
Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed
Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.
Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia
Initiated comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE was critical.Created NATO's Rapid Response Force
Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the Presidency
Reorganized bureaucracy...after 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency: the Department of Homeland Security.
Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts.
Improving govt. efficiency with .8 million jobs put up for bid...weakening unions and cutting undeserved pay raises. Wants merit based promotions/raises only.
Orchestrated Republican control of the White House, the House AND the Senate.
Killed the liberal ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.
GWB signed an executive order enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision (re: union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes)
Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession.
Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.
Signed 2 income tax cuts ---- 1 of which was the largest Dollar-value tax cut in world history
Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains
In process of eliminating IRS marriage penalty.
Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people
Eliminated the Estate Tax (AKA "Death Tax") that was taking small farms and businesses from families
Signed into law the No Child Left Behind legislation delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations)
Reorganized the INS in an attempt to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.
Signed trade promotion authority
Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa
Passed Medicare Reform (authorized $39.5 Billion per year for preventive medicine such as drugs and doctor visits as well as included a ten year Privatization option)
Urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits
Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims
Submitted comprehensive Energy Plan--awaits Congressional action (works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.)
Endorses and promotes The Responsibility Era ("In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to one in which every single American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself. " -----this quote was too good to leave out)
Started the USA Freedom Corps
Initiated review of all federal agencies with a goal to eliminate federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of federal gov while increasing private sector jobs.
Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become The League of Nations ( in other words, completely irrelevant)
Nominated strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.
Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary clean-up of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.
As part of the national forests clean-up, the President restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges) and removed the need for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.
New Forest Rules Gives States Power Over Federal Forests Inside Their Borders
Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. President Bush signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal AliensS. 1685, the Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003, was signed by President Bush on December 3, 2003.
It extends for five years the workplace employment eligibility authorization pilot programs created in 1996. It expands the pilot programs from the original five states to all 50 states.
BUSH ACHIEVEMENTS PING! Good list!
The Warren Brothers.
"I don't sell a lot of records, but I sure sell a lot of beer."
Pardon the interruption. Using FreeRepublic as a notepad to remember a good band, and their song. Carry on.
The natural question is "Kerry has acheivements"?
Anyone who LISTENED to the speech knows that the president only pointed out that after 18 years in congress, Kerry has had precious few.
OPEN LETTER TO KERRY FROM 204 YEARS AGO:
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two-hundred years. These nations have progressed throught this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage.
Alexander Fraser Tyler, 1700
Exactly. John F*ckin' was lacking in humor last night. What an elitist snob. Howie Carr's sendup of his speech was gut-splitting. President Bush has more in common with ordinary Americans than the privileged brat from Massachusetts. Apart from Vietnam, its hard to think of ONE contribution Kerry's made to American life since then. People where looking for it in his acceptance speech and didn't find it. Now we're going to see what the difference is between a real and and a fake Republican: Bush doesn't have to hide who he is or run away from his record. He's putting it in front of the American people to see. Now THAT's leadership in my book!
Next time someone whines that Bush isn't conservative enough, show them this list.
I admit I wish domestic spending was lower, I think we all do here on FR. But could you imagine Kerry doing any of the above things??
Yep, I'm getting excited. This is a very crucial election (I know, I always find myself saying that) and I sense a real rise in spirits among Bush supporters. We have indeed turned the corner and we will by golly kick Kerry's azz back to Taxachussets in November.
20 yrs in the Senate with ZERO legislation by him.
Maybe as a conservative I should be saying that's a good thing but the point is he's a do nothing.
I did hear that he spent time in Viet Nam..
not sure what side.
He, and his supporters, need to do exactly that...more and more.
Rush made an excellent observation about one of JF'nK's statements in his speech and that was he said he would RESPOND to any terrorist attack. Trying to act tough on terror I guess.
We don't need someone who waits until we're hit and then RESPOND. We need a W that will take it to 'em so we aren't hit in the first place.
Increased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years President Bush's Grand Strategy (click here)
President Bush's Environmental Record - 2004 (click here)
Also, this is a FReeper Keeper until at least November 3rd.....Bookmarked.
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