No quarrel with these Bush priorities

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | November 7, 2004

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It is almost funny to hear the Democrats, until recently lashing out at George W. Bush and all he represents, suddenly experiencing a change of heart and, having lost the presidential election, now talking about building bridges and forging alliances, as if, had they gained power, they immediately would have turned to the Republicans for input on what they should do over the next four years.

The fact is, whether you love him or hate him, Bush has been re-elected president of the United States, and he has some clear ideas of what he should do with his time in office. While this newspaper endorsed his opponent, we are not unsympathetic to many of the goals that the current administration has made top priorities for its second term.

This nation's Social Security system is an express train headed over a cliff, and the president is correct in making Social Security reform a No. 1 priority. Exactly how it will be fixed is still open to question, but there is no doubt that some combination of privatization and readjusting benefits will be necessary to keep the entire system from crashing down around us. Whatever solution is adopted will be expensive, in terms of transition costs for example, but there is no choice.

Next comes taxes. One thing that all Americans can agree on is that our tax system is too complex and has too many loopholes that allow the richest members of our society to escape their responsibilities. Bush has said he would like to simplify our tax system, and no American who has agonized over arcane tax codes could fail to support him. Again, we will have to wait to hear his specific plan, but we're open to all ideas for a simpler, fair tax system.

When it comes to medical malpractice, almost every American not currently a practicing attorney will recognize the need for change. With skyrocketing insurance rates sending doctors in fields such as ob-gyn leaving their practices, something has to be done if Americans ever expect to continue with the access to health care they have come to expect. Bush has long said he will pare down the worst malpractice excesses, and now he has the opportunity to do so.

That these and other changes might be difficult for the president's opponents to swallow goes without saying, though we imagine they'd find comfort in the rumored pending departure -- as we suggested a few days ago -- of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

After the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Congress limited a president to two terms. That is in a sense a gift -- a president in his second term has no need to curry to popular favor, no need to worry about being re-elected, but instead can govern as he sees fit for the best of the nation. Bush finds himself in such an enviable position, and we are hopeful his efforts to improve our tax code, salvage our Social Security system and make our government in general more efficient, will go far to help forge the stronger, greater nation we all seek.

Long live free speech

Theo van Gogh mocked Christian values for years, but nobody ever killed him. The controversial filmmaker and columnist was famous for his outrageous and offensive opinions, but he fit in with the rough-and-tumble, avant garde Dutch society.

Not so with a group of Islamic fundamentalists living in the Netherlands, one of whom gunned down van Gogh, a distant relative of the painter, as he rode his bicycle, in retribution for his short film "Submission," where passages of the Quran that van Gogh saw as repressive to women were seen written on female bodies.

The murder gave van Gogh, 47, worldwide notoriety that had eluded him in life. And it raised an issue that increasingly will be a problem in Europe, and eventually this country, too.

Western society is based on toleration of differences. We do not kill those who disagree with us, or even those who ridicule us, but recognize the freedoms that protect others protect us as well.

Certain elements of Islam have a difficult time dealing with this lesson. So long as they stay in their totalitarian homelands, they don't have to deal with it. But if they are going to come here to take advantage of our unique opportunities, they have to temper their extremism and respect our basic values.

[jwalsh07]

Exactly how it will be fixed is still open to question, but there is no doubt that some combination of privatization and readjusting benefits will be necessary to keep the entire system from crashing down around us. Whatever solution is adopted will be expensive, in terms of transition costs for example, but there is no choice.

I'm todays intellectual honesty guy.

Well, OK Sun-Times, John Kerry said he would NOT change SS at all. How the hell could you have endorsed him?