Posted on 02/08/2007 9:16:33 PM PST by Reagan Man
WASHINGTON -- Eager to head off Rudolph Giuliani's recent gains in the polls, conservative activists this week strengthened their attacks, with some promising to step up their efforts on the Internet, talk radio and "below-the-radar" to discredit him going forward.
They are taking direct aim at one of Giuliani's strongest selling points, at least to some backers -- that he is the Republicans' best hope of stopping Hillary Rodham Clinton.
These critics argue that his nomination would prompt a conservative third-party candidate to join the race and split the GOP vote, clearing the way for Clinton's election.
"There's no way conservatives could stand for Giuliani becoming the Republican nominee," said Richard Viguerie, one of the founders of the modern conservative movement. "I guarantee whoever the Democrats nominate would be the next president."
~ship~
He backed off his earlier opposition to a ban on the medical procedure referred to as partial-birth abortion, and expressed support for gun owners' Second Amendment rights, even though as New York mayor he sued gun manufacturers and argued that more guns lead to more crime.
~snip~
So social conservatives -- for whom Giuliani's support for abortion rights, gun control and gay unions are anathema -- are speaking out. Some say they would use the tools at their disposal to tell voters about Giuliani's social stances.
Viguerie, a direct-mail pioneer, argued it no longer takes millions of mailings to make the case, thanks to talk radio, the Internet and other "below-the-radar" media.
Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Research Council, told a conservative radio host that Giuliani's positions are "far outside the mainstream of conservative thought ... Once people focus on this election and the candidates, Giuliani's lead will diminish."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Your fiscal conservative views won't mean squat if the Islamofascist take over or you have millions of illegals running into your state as we do draining our health care, and you name it.
There are FReepers who live in $800,000+ homes here and have up to 100 or more illegals camped out in their neighborhoods with their human dumping.
Chew on this for a while.
TAXES: Giuliani did cut the marginal city income tax rates, reducing taxes by some $2.0-billion from 1996-2001, but those cuts only offset the $1.8-billion increase in city income tax rates put in place by Mayor Dinkins a few years earlier. In the end, taxes were actually cut by a modest $200-million. Freezing the 12.5% surcharge on high wage earners was good, but Giuliani didn't attempt to abolish that surcharge. Nor did Giuliani attempt to make serious permanent changes the city income tax code. The primary reason Rudy and the City Council agreed to cut taxes, was to make NYCity more appealing to new businesses thinking about locating/relocating to the Big Apple. A smart move, however, Rudy left office with NYCity the highest taxed big city in America, with some of the highest income taxes, property taxes and utility rates in the entire nation.
GOVT SPENDING: From 1997 to 2001, spending under Giuliani went up 32%. More then double the rate of inflation. Rudy left NYCity with a $2.0 billion deficit and a $42-billion debt. Second largest debt after the federal government. Giuliani also added 15,000 new teachers to the city employment rolls. Increasing the membership of two major liberal organizations, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
From the Manhattan Institute for POlicy Research:
"The scope of government was not reduced at all. The mayor abandoned his most visible initiative in this spherethe proposed sale of the city hospital systemafter a struggle with the unions and defeats in the courts. He did cut costs in social services; even before the new federal welfare reforms took effect in 1997, the city had begun to significantly reduce caseloads. But money saved on social services has only helped to subsidize big increases in other categories. Today the array of social services sponsored and partially funded by the cityfrom day care to virtually guaranteed housingis as wide as ever.
"In the final analysis, Mayor Giuliani sought to make the city deliver services more efficientlynot to make the city deliver fewer services. Gains in efficiency were offset, however, by a spike in the costs of outsourced contracts (see point 2 below). Thus, in two areas where inroads might have been made, the city instead failed to reduce spending."
"1. Personnel Increases. In 199596, the city entered into a series of collective bargaining agreements with its public-employee unions. In addition to granting pay increases that ended up roughly equaling inflation, the city promised not to lay off any workers for the life of the contracts. These agreements were expected to add $2.2 billion to the budget by fiscal 2001. But that estimate didnt reckon with renewed growth in the number of city employees. After dipping in Giulianis first two years, the full-time headcount rose from 235,069, in June 1996 to over 253,000 by November 2000. Thanks largely to this growth in the workforce, the total increase in personnel service costs since 1995 has been $4 billion.
2. "Outsourced Services. The failure to shrink the scope of city government made it all the more imperative that Mayor Giuliani vastly increase its efficiency. In the attempt to increase productivity, the mayor farmed out some city services to private contractors. But as the number of outsourced contracts doubled under Giuliani, contractual expenses also nearly doubledfrom $3 billion to $5.8 billion. While it may be argued that the city saved money by outsourcing these services, the net savings turned out to be marginal at best. In practice, outsourcing proved to be more of a bargaining chip in negotiations with unions than a serious means of pruning expenses."
As the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research said: "Even with the tax cuts of the last several years, New York remains by far the most heavily taxed big city in the country."
Once again, hard evidence that Rudy Giuliani was NO fiscal conservative. Another run-of-the-mill NYCity liberal.
It is and always has been BURLESQUE, in the original meaning of that word.
But those who fear and hate and have now repudiated any sense of civility and decorum don't care about the facts.
And you would be wrong; utterly and completely WRONG!
And propbaly CT. as well.
If you have your way, Hillary will be president for 8 years and will put radical judges on every single court.
I bet they already have, EV. LOL
Spreading falsehoods, AGAIN!
A snippet of Rudy`s remarks about John V. Lindsey:
"John Lindsay defined an era in the life of New York City.
He embodied the hopes of a generation after the death of John F. Kennedy, a time of discord, rebuilding, and re-birth, when all the action in our nation -- for better and for worse -- seemed to be taking place in our cities.
He made New York City a symbol for urban America, by speaking out about what he believed was wrong, discussing what he believed could be made right, and proposing solutions whose legacy we live with today.
There is no question that he had an enduring impact on the City that he loved. His energy, his optimism -- and yes, his charisma -- made him a national figure during the time he lived at Gracie Mansion.
So considering this distinguished lineage, you can see why I cling to a strong bond with John Lindsay. I want to grab on to his coattails, and Fiorello's.
All three of us Republicans were also elected as candidates of the Liberal Party, and all three of us had to take positions that were at times at odds with our national party."
When they're losing, and they are, this is what they resort to.
Ya got THAT right! :-)
Nice try, but NO cigar!
How can we social conservatives prevent it?.. By UNITING, ORGANIZING and voting for a CONSERVATIVE like Duncan or one of the others.. NEVER for Romeny or Giuliani... We are big enough... something to think about it :)
Gosh. That would be bad. Kinda like having you in the White House. *shudder*
Gosh. You got her there. I'm sure her mea culpa will be forthcoming forthwith!
/s
Ailing Lindsay Is Given Posts To Get City Health Insurance By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
Former Mayor John V. Lindsay, in declining health, has been appointed by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani to two city posts to make him eligible for municipal health insurance coverage and eventually, perhaps, to qualify him for a pension. In recent years, strokes and Parkinson's disease have been described as eroding Mr. Lindsay's once-athletic physique and taking a severe toll on his finances.
May 3, 1996 New York and Region News
I too dislike massive government intrusion, the nicoNazis, the foodNazis, control freaks, the global warming garbage ( you don't want to know how cold it is here right now! ), taxers, etc.! I am also FOR winning this WOT and know that it is going to be a long, hard slog, and NOT something to be crammed into an hour T.V. show.
This wasn't about your staying at all; it was asked so that I could get a better handle on where you're coming from.
I'm not waiting around.
Goodnight, EV!
That's pure, unadulterated SPIN. No, I take it back...it's nothing but one gigantic LIE!
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