Posted on 04/11/2007 10:15:51 AM PDT by Spiff
Rudy Giuliani
Life Long Liberal
Edited by
George J. Marlin
Author of Squandered Opportunities: New Yorks Pataki Years and The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 3
Liberal Rudy Giuliani.......................................................................................................... 5
Liberal Republican Rudy Giuliani..................................................................................... 7
Abortion.............................................................................................................................. 11
Abortion-Partial Birth....................................................................................................... 15
Abortion Taxpayer Funded........................................................................................... 16
Clinton, Bill and Giuliani................................................................................................... 17
Condom Distribution in Schools....................................................................................... 18
Conservative Party of New York State and Giuliani...................................................... 18
Crime and Giuliani............................................................................................................ 20
Culture War Brooklyn Museum of Art and Giuliani.................................................. 20
Cuomo Endorsement by Giuliani..................................................................................... 21
Cuomo Endorsement Giuliani Reasons for Rejecting Pataki..................................... 21
Cuomo Endorsement by Giuliani Republican and Conservative Reactions............. 22
Education Standards in New York City.......................................................................... 23
Fiscal Management of New York City During Giuliani Mayoralty.............................. 24
Gay Bias Crime Law......................................................................................................... 26
Gay Domestic Partnership Rights.................................................................................... 26
Gay Games in New York City.......................................................................................... 27
Gay and Lesbian Exposition in New York City.............................................................. 28
Gay Pride Parade, New York City................................................................................... 28
Gay Pride Parade Giuliani reason for marching with
Log Cabin Republican Club........................................................................................... 30
Gay Rights Bill, New York City....................................................................................... 30
Gay Rights Legislation, New York State......................................................................... 31
Gay Rights and Republican Party ................................................................................... 32
Gay Rights and Youth....................................................................................................... 32
Goldwater, Barry .............................................................................................................. 33
Gun Control....................................................................................................................... 33
Immigration........................................................................................................................ 35
Liberal Party of New York State and Rudy Giuliani..................................................... 36
Rent Control....................................................................................................................... 37
Ronald Reagan Giulianis Hero?............................................................................... 37
School Vouchers................................................................................................................. 38
Tax Cuts............................................................................................................................. 39
Vietnam War Draft and Rudy Giuliani........................................................................ 40
About the Editor................................................................................................................ 42
Books Cited........................................................................................................................ 42
Introduction
Rudy Giuliani has been barnstorming the nation, proclaiming himself a conservative and saying his hero is Ronald Reagan. Recent opinion polls suggest his campaign is striking a chord with the GOPs rank and file, and New Yorks neo-conservatives have taken the lead in promoting the former Mayor as the savior of the Republican Party, and heaven knows the GOP needs saving.
But those polls also indicate that most Republicans around the country dont really know where Mr. Giuliani stands on key issues, and those who do know are glossing over some very striking philosophical flawsat least from a truly conservative perspective. Rudy supports abortion, including partial-birth abortion and government funding of abortion, and he is in favor of gun control, gay rights, domestic partnerships, and bias-crime laws. And thats just a short list.
As a conservative activist who has observed Giuliani for many years (and ran against him in the 93 mayoral election), I can say categorically that he is not now and never has been a conservative. In my judgment, his record leaves no doubt that hes a lifelong liberal.
From undergraduate days writing for his college newspaper, throughout his extensive legal career, and especially in his very visible political serviceup to an including his actions after 9/11Giuliani has held and promoted leftist views.
In college, he attacked Barry Goldwater as an incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man, and he urged Republicans to find men who will adequately address themselves to the problems of discrimination, of poverty, of education, of public housing and the many more problems that Senator Goldwater and company throw aside in the name of small laissez-faire government. That was a long time ago, of course, but his views havent really changed, and to advance his career Giuliani has had no problem concealing his liberalism.
Liberal icon Mario Cuomo put it this way: [Giulianis] basically very pragmatic. And hes progressive. He is not a Neanderthal, a primitive conservative. But look, hes a clever human being. He can shave and draw fine distinctions when he needs to.
Giulianis first wife, Regina, agreed. She told Giuliani biographer Wayne Barrett that when she and Rudy separated in 1980, she . . . still considered him to be a liberal Democrat. She also observed that [Rudy] generally wont do things unless he believes them . . . but hes not a saint, and he will do things that serve his interests.
Rudy first switched from Democrat to Independent and then to Republican, not because he embraced the tenets of conservatism, but in order to get U.S. Justice Department jobs.
He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them, Rudys mother, Helen Giuliani, told Barrett. Hes definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isnt. He still feels very sorry for the poor.
As a candidate for Mayor of New York, Giuliani distanced himself from Ronald Reagan and the GOP. The Times pointed out that he noted frequently that he was supported by the liberal wing of the Republican Party and maintained that he never embraced Mr. Reagans broad conservative agenda. And when conservatives attacked him during that 93 mayoral campaign, Giuliani said: Their fear of me is that Im going to be a beachhead for the establishment of a more progressive form of Republicanism.
On another occasion he told a TV host, I do not look to see what the catechism of conservatism says about how to solve a problem.
And we mustnt forget that when Giuliani endorsed Democrat Mario Cuomo for re-election to a fourth term as governor in 1994, he did so, he said, because Republican George Pataki had a very right-wing voting record and because Pataki proposed an irresponsible 25 percent state income tax cut.
Giuliani also seriously considered endorsing Bill Clinton in 1996. Most of Clintons policies, he said at the time, are very similar to mine.
Some Republicans and Conservatives are now claiming that Rudy has changed and really become more conservative, and they cite as an example his abandonment of his former vehement opposition to school vouchers. But when Rudy Crew, former New York City Public Schools Chancellor, asked Giuliani about this policy shift, the Mayor said: Dont worry about it. Its just a political thing, a campaign thing. Im not going to do anything. Dont take it seriously. This particular rightward shift was simply a ploy to enhance Giulianis 2000 U.S. Senate candidacy.
Other Republicans point to Rudys fiscal management of N.Y.C. as proof of his conservatism, and its true that during Giulianis first term when times were tough, he contained costs and made some tax cuts. But in his second term, when the economy was booming, Rudy became a big-spending liberal. City budget expenditures jumped 25 percenttwice the inflation rateand Giuliani left his successor a projected operating deficit of $4.5 billion and New Yorks citizens with the highest tax burden in any major municipality in America.
In Rudy Giuliani: Lifelong Liberal, I utilize Rudys own words, news reports and commentary from both the left and right to prove that contrary to what weve been hearing and reading, Rudy Giuliani is what he has always beena liberal. It is my hope that after reviewing this material, conservatives will take stories of Giulianis Damascus Road-like conversion with a grain of salt.
George J. Marlin
March 14, 2007
Liberal Rudy Giuliani
As a kid attending school in Brooklyn, Giuliani was enchanted by John F. Kennedys campaign to become Americas first Catholic president, and he led the JFK-for-President committee at [Bishop Loughlin H.S.]. His devotion to the Kennedys continued in college, where he supported Bobby Kennedys campaign for the Senate and vilified the conservatives in the GOP. The Republicans, he scolded in his column, must find men who will adequately address themselves to the problems of discrimination, of poverty, of education, of public housing and the many more problems that Senator Goldwater and company throw aside in the name of small laissez-faire government.
Strong, large government is necessary, Giuliani concluded, to deal with industries that are national and international and with problems that cities and states have ignored for too long a time.
Emperor of the City, p. 12
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
[Giulianis first wife] Regina recalled that when she split with Rudy in early 1980, she had still considered him to be liberal Democrat. He generally wont do things unless he believes them said Regina, adding, but hes not a saint, and he will do things that serve his interests.
Rudy!, p. 103
* * *
Rudys mother confirmed that her sons registration switch was designed to snare a Reagan job. He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them, said Helen Giuliani in an unpublished 1988 interview. Hes definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isnt. He still feels very sorry for the poor.
Rudy!, p. 103
* * *
He was more liberal than people knew on social issues. On issues of the economy, on crime, Im somewhat conservative. On social issues I would call both of us liberals. .I asked him on our second date what his position was on abortion, and it was pro-choice and always has been pro-choice.
Donna Hanover Giuliani
(Rudy Giulianis second wife)
New York Newsday, July 19, 1993
* * *
During the 1960s, Rudy Giuliani was a self-described Robert Kennedy Democrat.
When he was a student at Manhattan College (1961-1965), he wrote an article for the campus newspaper supporting RFK over Republican Kenneth Keating in the 1964 Senate election. [Congressman] Peter King recalled him being sympathetic to the black rioters of Newark and Detroit during 1967.
During the liberal 1960s, Giuliani was definitely liberal.
But in 1975 Giuliani switched his party registration from Democrat to Independent, just before he got a job in Gerald Fords Justice Department, according to his mentor, Harold Ace Tyler. Tyler is the former federal judge who hired Giuliani as his deputy, to help him run the criminal division of the Justice Department in 1975.
On December 8, 1980, Giuliani changed his party registration again. This time he shifted it from Independent to Republican. This was just one month after Ronald Reagans election and just as Rudy was applying for a job to be the assistant Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He got the job under William French Smith. Three years later, President Reagan appointed Giuliani to be the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The Full Rudy, pp. 121-122
* * *
The young Rudy had little sympathy for the extremists who took over the Republican Party in 1964 with the nomination of Barry Goldwater, whom he considered a right-wing patsy, [and] a sycophant of the John Birch Society . After the election, [Giuliani] the Quadrangle analyst continued to roast the Goldwater people [who] succeeded in inflicting a tremendous defeat on the Republican Party. Now these same people who have come very close to destroying the party founded in 1854 seem to think they have some right to hold onto the leadership of the Republican Party.
In fact, he personally doubted that the American electorate would ever accept the so-called conservative philosophy of government, with all its erratic and potentially dangerous prescriptions .
He gave astringent advice to the vanquished Republicans, whom he felt must adequately address themselves to the problems of discrimination, of poverty, of education, of public housing and the many more problems that Senator Goldwater and Company throw aside in the name of small laissez-faire government .
Strong, large government is necessary to deal with industries that are national and international and with problems that cities and states have ignored.
New York Observer, July 12, 1997
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Yet the best evidence is that, at least intellectually, Giuliani was a liberal about race until he ran for mayor. He once told me he had a poster of Martin Luther King, Jr. in his room while he was in high school. He told me how he stood on line for hours to view Robert Kennedys casket, after serving as a volunteer in Kennedys campaign for president in 1968. Giuliani told me that he voted for George McGovern for president in 1972, rather than Richard Nixon.
The Full Rudy, P. 65
* * *
I find that the people you would describe as a moderate Republican or a moderate Democrat, roughly, I agree with nine out of 10 times.
Rudy Giuliani
September 1997 statement
Quoted in New York Daily News, June 3, 1999
* * *
Hes basically very pragmatic, Mario Cuomo says. And hes progressive. He is not a Neanderthal, a primitive conservative. But look, hes a clever human being. He can shave and draw fine distinctions when he needs to.
New York, November 1, 2004
* * *
Liberal Republican Rudy Giuliani
What kind of Republican? Is [Giuliani], for instance, a Reagan Republican? [Giuliani] pauses before answering: Im a Republican.
Village Voice, January 24, 1989
* * *
Mr. Rockefeller represented a tradition in the Republican Party Ive worked hard to re-kindle the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, July 9, 1992
* * *
Mayoral hopeful Rudolph Giuliani said yesterday that if he wins the GOP primary, as expected, he will rename his Republican line on the November ballot after the Independent Fusion Party founded by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
The states leading elected Republican, Sen. Alfonse DAmato, denounced the decision as ambition and arrogance at its worst. Can you imagine that the party that was good enough for Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and George Bush isnt good enough for Rudolph Giuliani?
New York Daily News, July 12, 1989
* * *
Mr. Giuliani solicited the Liberal Party nomination, he actually says, partly because many of his friends and relatives would have been too embarrassed to vote for a Republican. Mr. Giuliani campaigned for Bobby Kennedy and says he voted for George McGovern. His campaign staff includes at least one former Mike Dukakis aide. He told a TV interviewer, I do not look to see what the catechism of conservatism says about how to solve a problem.
Editorial
The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Whats the difference between one liberal, Dinkins, and another liberal, Giuliani? said George L. Clark, the former Republican state chairman and Lauder campaign chairman. Senator DAmato predicted before the primary that, if elected, Mr. Giuliani would become a Democrat like the last Republican who won City Hall, John V. Lindsay.
New York Times, September 24, 1989
* * *
My political party put together with the liberal party can produce the kind of change New York City saw with Fiorella LaGuardia and with John Lindsay.
Fiorella LaGuardia was the kind of person who could rise above ideology and get this City moving towards solutions.
Rise above Party, rise above these labels.
News Forum, N.B.C., Sunday, May 30, 1993
* * *
The Giuliani campaign should follow the example of John Lindsays first campaign for mayor. Like Lindsays campaign Fiorello LaGuardias for that matter, too Giuliani is fusion candidate for mayor, not the Republican candidate for mayor.
Giuliani Campaign-Sponsored
Vulnerability Study April 8, 1993
* * *
The Giuliani campaign should emphasize its candidates independence from traditional national Republican policies. Especially useful in this strategy is Giulianis role in overturning a Reagan administration attempt to throw disabled people off the Social Security rolls, his prosecution of Republican elected officials especially his authorization for calling his boss, Attorney General Edwin Meese III, a sleaze, and his un-Republican views on many social issues of concern to New Yorkers, like abortion, gun control and bias protection for homosexuals.
Giuliani Campaign-Sponsored
Vulnerability Study April 8, 1993
* * *
Giuliani, who favors Massachusetts Gov. William Weld like Giuliani, a former prosecutor as the 1996 GOP presidential nominee, countered that conservatives fear losing control of the Republican Party after Democrat Bill Clintons 1992 victory.
Their fear of me is that Im going to be a beachhead for the establishment of a more progressive form of Republicanism, said Giuliani.
New York Newsday, October 8, 1993
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Rudy even expressed his pleasure when he wasnt invited to the Republican National Convention in San Diego. If I take three or four days off from city business, I want to do it for a substantive purpose. It didnt seem to me any substantive purpose could be served by going to the Republican convention.
Rudy!, Page 459
* * *
In New York City, a Republican candidate must give Democrats a chance to vote for him on a non-Republican ticket. But why did not Giuliani merely run as an independent, instead of antagonizing the right with his Liberal embrace? Tradition, he told us specifically, the fusion tradition of LaGuardia and Lindsay.
Those two modern Republican mayors of New York ultimately left the GOP. Is that the road Rudy Giuliani will travel? This is a different time, he responded, adding that you dont have to change yourself into a Democrat. Actually, he was a Democrat most of his life and, in 1972, reluctantly voted for McGovern. In 1973, he changed his party registration to independent and began to consider himself a Republican when working in the Nixon administration Justice Department, but did not register as one until 1980.
Robert Novak and Rowland Evans
New York Post, May 1, 1989
* * *
[Giulianis] managerial, rather than ideological, role for Republicans, derived from Nelson Rockefeller, rather than Ronald Reagan, suggests no sweeping policy change in governing the city. In order to meet the housing needs of the lower middle class in the city, you have to have rent control, Giuliani told us. He opposes increases in city taxes, but I absolutely will not take the oath and says President Bush erred in his 1988 anti-tax pledge.
Robert Novak and Rowland Evans
New York Post, May 1, 1989
* * *
Dinkins is running in the spirit of 1990s liberalism, as a victim. They Republicans in Washington caused his problems. He deserves to be the first big city black mayor to fail to be reelected. Which is not to say that Giuliani, the nominee of the Republican and Liberal parties, deserves to win.
Neither man is for meaningful school choice (vouchers redeemable at public and private schools) or for repealing rent controls on even luxury apartments (too emotional an issue says Giuliani). Neither man is for the sort of serious privatization entertained by mayors in Philadelphia, Indianapolis and elsewhere. Neither man had sympathy for the parents who rebelled when the school system began inflicting Heather Has Two Mommies and similar sexual indoctrination on grade-schoolers.
George F. Will, Columnist
Staten Island Advance, October 21, 1993
* * *
George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani are coming increasingly to resemble Rockefeller and Lindsay. They may pretend otherwise, but dont believe it.
The governor just presided over the single largest expansion of entitlements in New York since Rockefeller played midwife to Medicaid in 1966.
And the mayor makes no bones about his standing as a moderate New York Republican. Hes not exactly donning Lindsays mantle; Rudy remains tough on crime, and his hearts in the right place on welfare reform. But he continues to hold New Yorks social conservatives at arms length, and in a big-profile manner at that.
Robert McManus, Editorial Page Editor
New York Post, January 27, 2000
* * *
Giuliani revives the old fight between the Rockefeller branch and the grass-rooters, said Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative activist, emphasizing the Republican platforms opposition to legalized abortion. I dont think he could succeed. I dont see how he could modify his position enough.
New York Times, September 14, 2004
* * *
Abortion
Id give my daughter the money for it [an abortion].
I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Newsday, September 1, 1989
* * *
See, I dont equate abortion with murdering a child, which I guess puts me in conflict with the teaching of the Catholic church. Catholics in public office often make the mistake, a subtle but important one, of saying they agree with the teaching of the church, but because Im in public office, I have to put conscience aside and enforce the law. They havent thought out the implication of what theyre saying. If you agree with the church, theres no difference between murdering a one-year-old and eliminating a fetus its the same act. There is a moral consequence to the elimination of a fetus, but its not the same thing as murder.
Rudy Giuliani
New York, May 25, 1987
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
The simple fact is that whether I am the Mayor or [Democrat David Dinkins] the Mayor, its going to be the same for women who want an abortion. Im going to fund abortion, to make certain that poor women are not deprived of an abortion, and Im going to oppose making abortion illegal. Thats a non-issue.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, September 20, 1989
* * *
I made a terrible mistake on abortion last time, Giuliani allowed. I should have said I was pro-choice and stopped. But I spent so much time explaining the ideology and theology of how I reached my position, nobody understood what I was saying.
New York Post, March 3, 1992
* * *
Leaflets distributed by the Giuliani campaign . said that he opposes restrictions to Federal Medicaid financing for abortions and opposes the Hyde Amendment, which is intended to deny support for that financing.
New York Times, June 18, 1993
* * *
At a breakfast meeting in Atlanta with Republicans who favor abortion rights, Mr. Giuliani said a political party that favored laissez-faire government in fiscal affairs should also allow people to make choices in their personal lives.
For a party which has such a strong belief in economic choice which really comes out of the notion of freedom it would seem to me that it would be entirely consistent that that choice would also extend to the most personal and difficult decisions that people have to make.
New York Times, October 24, 1994
* * *
[Giuliani] also supports New Yorks abortion law as it stands, which allows pregnancies to be legally terminated within 24 weeks of gestation and only afterward with a physicians consent when the mothers life is in danger.
I feel there are adequate protections and there shouldnt be changes, Giuliani said last week during a Times Union interview, adding that he would not support a ban on third-trimester abortions. New York shouldnt be ashamed of the law . That law, I think, is a fair one and works to create the necessary scope of freedom and prohibition.
Albany Times Union, November 17, 1999
* * *
My position on abortion is precisely the same today as it was yesterday. I havent changed overnight . New York should not be ashamed of the [state] law [legalizing abortion].
Rudy Giuliani
Statement made to Albany Times-Union,
November 1999.
Requoted in New York Times, Nov. 26, 1999
* * *
Right now, the Mayor is pro-choice. Thats his position and thats his position, and it hasnt changed and the Mayor believes what he believes in.
Statement by Giuliani Senate campaign
Manager Bruce Teitelbaum, Meet the Press,
NBC, November 28, 1999, New York Times,
November 29, 1999
* * *
My position on abortion is exactly the same as it has always been, I dont see my position on that changing.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, November 30, 1999
* * *
As a Republican, it made more sense for me to be pro-choice. I think Republicans more often want people to make choices about their own lives, and he advocated government intrusion only to the extent necessary.
The former mayor told the student audience: I think some people will come to the moral choice about abortion that it is sinful or wrong. But ultimately I think it is the womans right and the choice she has to make.
And: Seven out of 10 Americans are pro-life and pro-choice. They would prefer that somebody didnt have an abortion. They might even prefer that somebody didnt have an abortion. They might even prefer themselves not to have an abortion. They say as far as government is concerned, it shouldnt interfere with abortion or shouldnt criminalize it.
In other words, not as originally described. Mr. Giulianis remarks were basically what hes been saying for years.
New York Times, November 14, 2005
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
After clarifying his clarifications, Rudy Giuliani has finally decided hes in favor of legal abortion, a decision that will be viewed as either sensible, sad, cynical or opportunistic . Is no one concerned about parental consent, allowing 13-year-old girls to have abortions without even telling their parents? Is no one concerned about millions of taxpayer dollars being used to fund abortions?
Is no voter concerned that the American birth rate has fallen, that we are not even reproducing ourselves because 25 million Americans have been destroyed in the womb since 1973, when abortion was made legal?
For these voters, Rudy Giuliani once seemed to offer an alternative to the full-speed-ahead Democrats, but now that hope has vanished. Rudy has joined the crowd, so theres no debate on the greatest issue of the day, and that makes all of us losers. It may yet make Rudy a loser, too. Why change for more of the same?
Ray Kerrison, Columnist
New York Post, August 9, 1987
* * *
He is a bright and talented manager. But hes also a skillful compromiser and some principles simply cannot be negotiated away .he parts company on an issue about which there can be no compromise, no negotiation. Rudolph Giuliani not only supports the right to choose an abortion, he also supports the right to perform partial birth abortion. He would defend the right to slaughter a fully-formed and healthy nine month old pre-born on the day its being born.
Rudys Smoke Screen, Msgr. James Lisante
The Long Island Catholic, November 24, 1999
* * *
Abortion-Partial Birth
Mr. Giuliani has said that New York State law should not be changed to outlaw the [Partial-Birth Abortion] procedure.
New York Times, January 7, 1998
* * *
In 1997, Giulianis position was clear as he sought reelection in a city where abortion rights enjoy strong support.
At the time, his campaign chief filled out a National Abortion Rights Action League questionnaire saying Giuliani would oppose legislation that would make criminals of doctors who perform intact D and X abortions.
Intact dilation and extraction is the technical term for late-term abortion, which opponents call partial-birth abortion.
Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARALs New York affiliate, said she she (sic) cant imagine he would change his position. He would look pretty awkward if he did.
In the 1997 questionnaire, a Giuliani aide also said the mayor backed Medicaid funding for abortion and opposed any legislation to require a minor to obtain permission from a parent to obtain an abortion.
New York Daily News, August 18, 1999
* * *
An aide to Mayor Giuliani yesterday said the mayor still opposes certain restrictions on late-term abortions a controversial position that could prevent him from winning the Conservative Party endorsement for Senate.
The mayor is not rethinking his position, said spokeswoman Sunny Mindel.
New York Daily News, August 18, 1999
* * *
Likely Senate candidate Mayor Giuliani says hes sticking to his guns on opposing restrictions on so-called partial-birth abortions a political hot potato that could cost him the Conservative Party endorsement.
Ive only had to deal with [the issue] as the mayor of New York and I supported it, and I dont see any reason to change that position, Giuliani tells Evans & Novak on CNN, scheduled to air today.
New York Post, October 9, 1999
* * *
For now, the mayors position appears firm: Earlier this month, Mr. Giuliani told The Albany Times Union that he would not support a ban on late-term abortions and that he supports the states abortion law. New York shouldnt be ashamed of the law, Mr. Giuliani said. That law, I think, is a fair one and works to create the necessary scope of freedom and prohibition.
At a City Hall news conference this week, Mr. Giuliani brushed off a question about late-term abortion, saying that my position on abortion is precisely the same today as it was yesterday. I havent changed over-night.
New York Times, November 26, 1999
* * *
Giuliani, who backs abortion rights, has opposed a ban on the controversial late-term abortion procedure.
I dont see my position changing, he said in Texas.
New York Post, November 30, 1999
* * *
Abortion Taxpayer Funded
[Giuliani] would continue the citys discretionary spending of $10 million a year on abortions not otherwise eligible for state or Federal reimbursement.
New York Times, March 9, 1989
* * *
As mayor, Rudy Giuliani will uphold a womans right of choice to have an abortion. Giuliani will fund all city programs which provide abortions to insure that no woman is deprived of her right due to an inability to pay. He will oppose reductions in state funding. He will oppose making abortion illegal.
New York Times, August 4, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Clinton, Bill and Giuliani
Most of Clintons policies are very similar to most of mine.
1996 statement attributed to Giuliani by
Columnist Jack Newfield. Quoted in column
by Newfield in New York Daily News, June 8, 1999.
* * *
Shortly before his last-minute endorsement of Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential election, [Giuliani] told the Posts Jack Newfield that most of Clintons policies are very similar to most of mine. The Daily News quoted [Giuliani] as saying that March: Whether you talk about President Clinton, Senator Dole . The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group.
Revealing at one point that he was open to the idea of endorsing Clinton, he explained: When I ran for mayor both times, 89 and 93, I promised people that I would be, if not bipartisan, at least open to the possibility of supporting Democrats.
Rudy!, Page 459
* * *
Democrats and Republicans working together Kind of interesting it happens on the same weekend that President Clinton has done that. Hes kind of reached out to try to create a little more bipartisan government in Washington. Ive reached out and created bipartisan government in New York City.
New York One, Sunday, May 30, 1993
* * *
In an interview on the shuttle to Washington, Mr. Giuliani compared his warming relations with Mr. Clinton to Mayor Edward I. Kochs efforts to find common ground with President Reagan in the early 1980s.
Speaking of Mr. Clinton, Mr. Giuliani said: Weve gotten to know each other better. You get to work with people in the White House and get to know them, and that can only help the city.
But some New York Republicans in Congress compared Mr. Giuliani to John Lindsay, the last Republican-Liberal mayor, who crossed party lines and became a Democrat. They said he miscalculated in aiding a Democratic President as Congressional elections approached, a move that would backfire especially if Republicans pick up 25 or more New House seats in November.
If he feels so strongly about the party, he shouldnt go on Clintons road show, [Congressman Peter] King of Long Island said. Reminding reporters Mr. Giuliani had once been a liberal Democrat, the Long Island Republican added, I think hes reverting to his old days.
New York Times, August 18, 1994
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Condom Distribution in Schools
Bishop Thomas V. Daily, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, has criticized Mayor-elect Rudolph W. Giuliani for supporting the distribution of condoms in the public schools.
In a statement issued Friday afternoon, Bishop Daily, the spiritual leader of 1.6 million Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens, said he was disappointed and dismayed that our Mayor-elect, Rudy Giuliani, has indicated that he supports this dangerously irresponsible policy.
. In Puerto Rico, where he has been vacationing, Mr. Giuliani said yesterday: My position has always been that condoms should be available. I support that program. But I believe that parents should have the opportunity to opt out if they choose.
Mr. Giuliani went on to say that the realities of todays society are that condoms have to be available in public schools. His spokesman, Richard Bryers, explained that that reality was the treat of AIDS.
Bishop Daily called condom distribution just another quick-fix solution.
New York Times, November 14, 1993
* * *
Conservative Party of New York State and Giuliani
Herb London, a professor who won 21% of the vote as a Conservative Party candidate for governor in 1990 and is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination next year, hosted a reception for Mr. Giuliani at his home. He tried to appeal to conservatives, but wasnt at all convincing, Mr. London recalls. New York Citys still filled with Rockefeller Republicans, and Giuliani is the heir to that tradition.
The Wall Street Journal, October 26, 1993
* * *
In very simple terms, I know Rudy Giuliani. Hes not a conservative.
This is a man who has worked to elect Bobby Kennedy, George McGovern and Mario Cuomo
I cannot deny that Rudy Giuliani has done a good job as Mayor of New York City. But, Rudy Giuliani supports partial-birth abortion. Hes said it last Sunday on Meet the Press and he repeated it in the New York Times, Daily News and New York Post. Giulianis also marched in New Yorks Gay Pride parades. By these actions, hes supported the radical lefts anti-family message .
He believes that the Second Amendment the right to keep and bear arms, doesnt matter anymore. It seems that he believes that he knows more than Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the rest of our founding fathers.
He has used his bully pulpit to advocate higher taxes for hard-working New Yorkers, who commute to New York City every day.
Statement by Mike Long
Chairman, New York Conservative Party
February 10, 2000
* * *
At an Albany press conference, Conservative Party chief Mike Long blasted the mayor for his stand on issues from partial-birth abortion to gay rights.
One reason hes not seeking our endorsement is that maybe hes not qualified to get it, Long said later. Hes wrong on too many issues and he feels uncomfortable trying to get our endorsement.
New York Post, February 8, 2000
* * *
ALBANY In his harshest criticism of Rudolph Giuliani to date, the leader of the state Conservative Party said Monday the New York City mayor fails on almost every issue conservatives hold dear and he should not run for U.S. Senate.
I think I would rather that he didnt run, Michael Long said during his partys political action conference in Albany.
Associated Press, February 8, 2000
* * *
.But since Giuliani refuses to make any pro-life concessions, even including a refusal to deplore partial-birth abortion, I have urged the Conservative Party not to nominate him and appear to wink at this heresy .
William F. Buckley Jr.
Washington Post, March 31, 2000
* * *
Crime and Giuliani
Giuliani has done a magnificent job in reducing crime. But his character flaws make it impossible for him to give credit to former police commissioner Bill Bratton, who put together the police team responsible for the initial successes, and to David Dinkins, whose legislation funded an additional 8,000 cops for the city.
Edward Koch
New York Post, July 18, 1997
* * *
Culture War Brooklyn Museum of Art and Giuliani
That was a double con game: They had already tried this in Baltimore; Arnold Lehman [director of the Brooklyn Museum], the guy who brought the show, figured out in Baltimore that if you outraged Catholics, you would bring liberals to your side and make a reputation for yourself. He sees it in London and its a sensation in the full sense. The full title is The Sensation Show and its owned by [Charles] Saatchi. The irony here of course is that this is Margaret Thatchers PR adviser. Saatchi has these commercial arrangements with auction houses, which are much less than ethical. He comes to New York with this show and he cant get support for it everyone sees that this is an ethically compromised show, in a variety of ways, and he cant get any major sponsors. He goes to Trojan condoms; even they dont want to be part of it. So the idea is to hype the show, to get it sold, to help the Brooklyn Museum. Now some of the pieces of art that caused problems in England werent even brought here the handprints of a woman who had mutilated and murdered five children. It used to be that art created controversy; now controversy gives something the aura of art, whether it has any artistic value or not, so it was a double con. Giulianis con was as follows: he didnt want to cave in to the Conservative Party on abortion, so he was looking for an issue. Now I cant prove this I found no smoking gun, no memo but Im talking to people and watching it closely at the time. He was looking for a way to appeal to conservative Catholics without reversing his position and this was perfect. Lehman was a fraud; Lehman was corrupt; and he went after him.
Fred Siegel
Giuliani: Flawed or Flawless?, p. 245
(Bold Print Added)
* * *
Cuomo Endorsement by Giuliani
From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, Who has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it? Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. Its a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, October 25, 1994
* * *
Its Mario Cuomo who offers us the best opportunity for change, for a different reason, because of what hes been through and because of his vast intelligence, his unquestioned integrity and his honesty. I believe he can apply those talents to the solutions for our problems and even see his way to different solutions. In any event, the ideas expressed by Mario Cuomo will be his own. Hes a leader.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, October 25, 1994
* * *
Giuliani pressured GOP candidates and county leaders to reject Pataki; his surrogates and campaign operatives told Republican leaders that if they helped Pataki, their districts would suffer; a Republican campaign contributor says Giulianis people told him that if he gave to Pataki, hed be locked out of City Hall.
New York, November 21, 1994
* * *
Cuomo Endorsement Giuliani Reasons for Rejecting Pataki
[Pataki has] a very right-wing voting record.
Comment during 1994 gubernatorial campaign
Requoted in New York Times, February 5, 1995
* * *
Giuliani also called Patakis proposal for a 25 percent tax cut irresponsible .
Albany Times Union, October 25, 1994
* * *
Cuomo Endorsement by Giuliani Republican and
Conservative Reactions
Once again, Rudolph Giuliani has demonstrated that liberalism is the foundation of his political philosophy. While Giuliani sold a bill of goods to trusting Republicans and Reagan Democrats that he had abandoned his roots as a McGovern Democrat, in his endorsement of Mario Cuomo, Mr. Liberal himself, he has shown his true colors. Giulianis argument that Cuomo will be better for the city has a hollow ring to it. Perhaps Rudy wants a governor who will sign over a blank check to constantly bail out the city from its fiscal problems. Giuliani knows, as do all New Yorkers, that Cuomos liberal policies have been an economic disaster for our city and state.
But Rudy doesnt care. He has proven he will do anything to stop the election of a conservative Republican but he wont succeed.
Michael Long, Chairman
N.Y.S. Conservative Party Press Statement,
October 25, 1994
* * *
[Quite] frankly, you have to understand the fact that Rudy Giuliani was a McGovern Democrat, he was endorsed by the Liberal Party when he ran for Mayor. In his heart, hes a Democrat. Hes paraded all over this country with Bill Clinton and, in fact, hes very comfortable with Mario Cuomo. But what Rudy Giuliani wants is to be bailed out in the city, in the mess hes in, and everybody understands very clearly in politics that they struck a deal, that Marios going to continue to be the big spender, save Rudy the options of raising taxes by pouring money statewide into the City of New York and bailing it out. Quite frankly, I predict that he will join the Democratic Party.
Interview with Michael Long, Chairman
N.Y.S. Conservative Party,
CNN Crossfire, October 25, 1994
* * *
Judas Giuliani
Guy Molinari
Republican-Conservative Staten Island
Boro-President
1993 Giuliani for Mayor Campaign Chairman
* * *
I would be disappointed in that a lot of Republicans helped Rudy when he ran for mayor. For him to turn around and support Cuomo, who is anathema to everything that we want for New York and America, would be a disappointment. I think there are going to be a lot of Republicans who are going to be disappointed in Rudy.
U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, Republican of Texas
New York Times, October 25, 1994
* * *
Rush Limbaugh used a large part of his radio broadcast to consider the implications of the Giuliani endorsement. He said it was particularly galling that Mr. Giulianis move was being described, in a New York Times editorial and elsewhere, as putting principle above partisanship.
Excuse me, New York Times and everyone else in New York State and New York City, but I am fed up with the current definition of principle, Mr. Limbaugh said. That definition is that a Republican can only be principled when he agrees with a Democrat. A Republican can only be principled when he leaves his own party and joins Democrats or liberals in what they want to do.
Alluding to the predictions of big Republican gains in Congress, the commentator argued that Mr. Giuliani had embarked on a course to enrage and infuriate those who may be empowered in a couple of weeks in Washington. Mr. Limbaugh suggested: Rudy, make it official and become a Democrat. Just do that. That would be the principled thing to do.
New York Times, October 26, 1994
* * *
Its a shame, because we worked so hard for that man, but hes a sellout, obviously, said John Sweeney, executive director of the state Republican Party, as the mayor arrived in Albany on Saturday.
Sweeney said he wasnt surprised to see Giuliani taking his support for Cuomo beyond New York City: Once a Judas, always a Judas, I guess.
New York Times, October 30, 1994
* * *
Education Standards in New York City
At the end of Giulianis second term, the proportion of students able to pass the eighth-grade English test declined to 29 percent. The percentage of students passing this test dropped 6 percent over 4 years.
In the eighth-grade math test, only 29.7 percent of students met the state standard in 2001.
Graduation rates in high school dropped. Class size stagnated. It took months to repair broken windows. A 1999 report by the Board of Education said that more than half of the schools still werent connected to the Internet.
The Full Rudy, p. 38
* * *
Fiscal Management of New York City During Giuliani Mayoralty
Rudy Giulianis fiscal opportunism caused New York City to go from a $3 billion budget surplus in 1998, to a $4.5 billion budget deficit when Giuliani left office on December 31, 2001, that grew quickly to $5 billion, by November of 2002, for fiscal year 2003-4.
This mismanagement of prosperity is a large part of the Giuliani legacy. He left the citys finances in a mess that was aggravated by the recession, and the collateral damage to the citys economy from 9/11, including unexpected expenditures for cleanup, overtime, and relief.
Giuliani spent his surplus in two ways. First on projects he thought would help him in his anticipated Senate campaign in 2000 against Hillary Clinton. And then on polishing his legacy in his final year, after he pulled out of the Senate race.
In an interview in August 2002, City Comptroller, William Thompson, told me:
I would estimate that about $2.5 billion of the citys $5 billion budget deficit in fiscal 2002 was attributable to Giuliani. He rolled over the debt each year and funded the projects and programs he thought would benefit him politically.
Giuliani bequeathed his successor a huge budget deficit by increasing spending by more than 25 percent during his second term, which was twice the rate of inflation; by adding 25,000 people to the citys payroll many of them patronage hires; by increasing debt payments to $4 billion a year; by using fiscal tricks that pushed the costs onto future generations; and by enacting tax cuts of $2.2 billion that mainly benefited the wealthy.
The Full Rudy, pp. 135-136
* * *
One of those who criticized Giuliani on his borrowing habits during a boom period was the conservative Tom Carroll, the president of Change New York. In the February 21, 2001 issue of the New York Times, Carroll was quoted saying of both Giuliani and Governor George Pataki: There wasnt the fiscal discipline we had hoped to see overall. But on the debt, there was no discipline at all.
On the day Giuliani left office, the citys workforce was the highest in history tens of thousands more than when Giuliani came into office, promising to reduce the workforce.
The Full Rudy, p. 138
* * *
During his 1993 campaign, Giuliani suggested cutting 35,000 positions from the city payroll. This was not a radical idea; for example, an advisory panel appointed by then-Mayor David Dinkins suggested that 25,000 positions could be eliminated.
Once in office, however, Giuliani changed the composition rather than the size of the workforce. He added about 4,000 cops and more than 14,000 pedagogical employees, subtracting a like amount from other categories.
He also found ways to shift a net 9,000 additional city employees into programs funded entirely by state or federal grants which can always be withdrawn, leaving the city to pick up the tab.
The bottom line: As of November 2000, the citys total full-time headcount stood at 253,348 1,012 more employees than were on the payroll when Dinkins left office. Indeed, the citys workforce is as large as its ever been.
E.J. McMahon, Manhattan Institute
New York Post, April 13, 2001
* * *
Its official: According to Mayor Giulianis latest fiscal plan, the next mayor will face a budget gap of $2.7 billion which, if it actually materializes, will be $400 million more than the one Giuliani inherited from David Dinkins.
So much for the long term. Unfortunately, the short term doesnt look so hot, either.
New Yorks budget is still balanced, technically. But subtract last years leftover surplus, and the city would be running an operating deficit of $400 million, growing to $2.4 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1. By the time Giulianis successor puts together his first fiscal plan, there wont be much surplus left to work with.
The main culprit: city operations spending, which is up roughly 25 percent over the last four years and would grow another 4 percent next year under Giulianis plan .
At an absolute minimum, New York will still be locked into a trend of spending a half-billion or so more dollars than it collects in revenue every year despite imposing the heaviest tax burden of any major city in the country.
E.J. McMahon, Manhattan Institute
New York Post, May 1, 2001
* * *
Gay Bias Crime Law
Giuliani sounds more like a reformer now. He supports the bias-related crime bill the Republicans are cynically blocking from passage in Albany.
New York Post, March 3, 1992
* * *
Rudy Giuliani has always believed it important to send would-be bias criminals a clear message that any harassment or assault motivated by the victims race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation will be met by vigorous prosecution and stiffer penalties. To this end, in 1988, as U.S. Attorney, Rudy Giuliani called for the passage of the Bias-Related Crime Bill, which had been introduced for the first time. In April 1992, Rudy Giuliani and several New York City Republican elected officials joined with the Tri-State Log Cabin Club to call on the State Senate to pass immediately the Bias-Related Crime Bill.
Rudy Giuliani On Issues of Concern to the Lesbian
And Gay Community Brochure
Sponsored by Lesbian and Gays for Giuliani
Brochure Paid for by Giuliani for New York
* * *
Gay Domestic Partnership Rights
I have no objection to the concept of domestic partnership.
Rudy Giuliani
Informed Sources
New York T.V. Show (PBS), May, 1993
* * *
The Giuliani Administration will continue the current regulations for the registration of domestic partners as provided for by Executive Orders 48 and 49.
Rudy Giuliani On Issues of Concern to the Lesbian
And Gay Community Brochure
Sponsored by Lesbian and Gays for Giuliani
Brochure Paid for by Giuliani for New York
* * *
National Republicans can lump it if they dont like his new domestic-partners bill, Mayor Giuliani said yesterday.
I really havent thought about what the impact is on Republican politics or national politics or Democratic politics, Giuliani said.
The bill he submitted to the City Council would extend the benefits city agencies must grant to gay and lesbian couples.
Im proud of it, Giuliani said of the bill. I think it puts New York City ahead of other places in the country.
New York Daily News, May 13, 1998
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Many gay and lesbian groups spent yesterday celebrating Mayor Rudolph W. Giulianis bill to make domestic partners equal to spouses in the eyes of the city, and critics used the occasion to issue an obituary of his hopes for national office.
Supporters said the law proposed by Mr. Giuliani would be a worthy milestone for the city where the gay rights movement was born 29 years ago. Under his plan, which was released Monday, domestic partners, unmarried couple who register with the city, would have the same rights and benefits as spouses in city contracts, housing and death benefits.
The matters covered are as small as parking permits and as large as hospitalization insurance. National gay rights groups said the law proposed by Mr. Giuliani would put New York City in a league whose only other players are San Francisco and Hawaii in the rights granted to same-sex partners.
New York Times, May 13, 1998
* * *
Gay Games in New York City
Mr. Giuliani is scheduled to deliver a formal welcoming speech at the Gay Games. The Mayors aides helped pave the way for closing ceremonies to be held at Yankee Stadium. And an interview with Mr. Giuliani is featured on the cover of the current issue of The Advocate, which describes itself as the national gay and lesbian news magazine.
The Mayor and his aides have largely portrayed his welcoming remarks as a routine civic duty at a sporting event that will bring in several hundred million dollars from tourists. But Mr. Giulianis appearance at the Gay Games is also another step in his political self-definition and his effort to forge a Republicanism that can appeal to both family-value conservatives and homosexuals.
Mr. Giuliani and his aides say there is no reason to be surprised by his embrace of the Gay Games. This is a major sporting event that New York City is proud and happy to have, said Deputy Mayor Fran Reiter, who has been the administrations chief liaison with the organizers. This is exactly the kind of event the Mayor of New York is always going to participate in.
New York Times, June 18, 1994
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Gay and Lesbian Exposition in New York City
Mayor Rudolph w. Giuliani has announced that for the second consecutive year, New York City will host the National Gay and Lesbian Business and Consumer Exposition. The event will be held at the New York Coliseum April 27 and 28.
Said the mayor: When the National Gay and Lesbian Business and Consumer Exposition first came to New York last year, I told organizers that I hoped the city would become the perennial home for this great event. Well, now it has. New York City is the world capital of commerce and industry, and an increasingly profitable place in which to do business. The tremendous success enjoyed by the Expo should send a message to the business community that the City of New York can make a wonderful business partner.
New York Native, March 4, 1996
* * *
Gay Pride Parade, New York City
Up Fifth Avenue the column came, a long gaudy line of drag queens, transvestites, self-proclaimed queers, cross-dressers, dykes on bikes, topless lesbians, exhibitionist freaks in a spectacle reflecting the decadence of the times.
Thus does New York Post columnist Ray Kerrison describe June 27s Gay Pride Parade. For sheer vulgarity, he adds, there is no public display in New York to compare with this annual rite.
After the march passed St. Patricks, hated symbol of Catholicism, debris and condoms had to be swept from the cathedral steps.
This years parade, however, in one respect, was different. In the caravan marched the Republican candidate for mayor, Rudy Giuliani. His unseemly hustle for the homosexual vote, Kerrison writes, marks his collapse as a credible public figure. Rudy marched just behind the float of the North-American Man-Boy Love Association.
Patrick Buchanan
New York Post, July 17, 1993
* * *
Mayor Giuliani, 24 hours after capitulating to mob rule and permitting an illegal homosexual and lesbian march up Fifth Avenue in defiance of a federal court order, defended the decision by asserting: It is not conceivable that you can arrest 6,000 people without creating an enormous riot, so what you do is you allow them to march. .
In front of St. Patricks Cathedral, these morons yelled four-letter words, pointed their middle fingers at the cathedral and lay down in the street. Dozens of bare-breasted women and about a dozen naked men and women sent up vulgar chants. Others were dressed as cardinals, priests and nuns, some in satanic dress, in a massive, perverted display of anti-Catholic bigotry.
Giuliani, the Catholic mayor, not only ignored this blasphemy and abdicated his duty by permitting unlawful acts, but he welcomed these people and their allies to City Hall, congratulated them, praised the cops for failing to uphold the law, and patted himself on the back for his brilliant strategy. The inmates truly have taken over the asylum.
Ray Kerrison
New York Post, June 29, 1994
* * *
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani invited 125 gay and lesbian New Yorkers for breakfast at Gracie Mansion yesterday. He told them he would join in the Lesbian and Gay Pride March on Sunday, after it passed St. Patricks Cathedral. You have a right to make your First Amendment expression, he said.
New York Times, June 22, 1995
* * *
Once again the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has done the rest of us a favor. In typically measured and reasonable terms, the league has asked that the route of the gay pride parade next Sunday be changed to bypass Fifth Avenue directly in front of St. Patricks Cathedral, thereby avoiding any possible encounter with worshipers leaving the cathedral after the noon liturgy.
The request makes eminently good sense. Theres nothing of a we-dont-want-you-in-our-neighborhood attitude about it; its based on the logical concern that the behavior of many marchers in past gay pride parades is not simply anti-Catholic but grossly offensive in every sense of that phrase to standards of public conduct .
It makes perfect sense, then, to ask for a minor revision of plans so that Massgoers would not be subjected to such offensive and anti-Church displays.
Not to Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, however. The mayor felt that since the route had already been approved there was nothing he could do. He didnt want to involve himself in a decision already made.
In this case, the hesitation is even more disturbing because Giuliani knows exactly what happened last year.
Catholic New York photographers were present on gay pride day in 1994. Many of the photos they took could not be published not only in this newspaper, but in any newspaper, daily or weekly, religious or secular, that prides itself in respecting the sensitivity of its readers. Beyond that, the editors find themselves hesitant even to describe the behavior depicted in the photos. They were that bad.
Giuliani thought so too. He was shown the CNY parade photos last year and was shocked almost beyond words. He saw them at a time when apologists were attempting to pass off reports of marchers misbehavior as excesses of youthful exuberance on the part of a few. The pictures should have convinced Giuliani otherwise, and at the time it seemed that they did.
Now that appears wrong; the mayor does not want to get involved. So be it. Thats his choice.
Editorial
Catholic New York, June 22, 1995
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Gay Pride Parade Giuliani reason for marching with
Log Cabin Republican Club
I want to show that our campaign embraces everyone in the City of New York.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Post, June 28, 1993
* * *
Gay Rights Bill, New York City
I support the Gay Rights Bill.
Rudy Giuliani, Village Voice, June 27, 1989
* * *
Gay Rights Legislation, New York State
Giuliani favors extended civil-rights protection for gays and lesbians. Giuliani urged, by letter, to the New York Senate Majority Leader to pass the states first ever gay rights bill, but did it privately.
I am writing to convey my support for the current legislation to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians, and to urge you to allow the bill onto the floor of the Senate for prompt action.
It is my belief that we can penalize discrimination [against gays] without creating any potentially objectionable special privileges or preferential treatment.
New York Post, June 5, 1993
* * *
Under urging from the Gay Mens Health Crisis, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the Republican-Liberal candidate for Mayor, repeated his support last week for a gay rights measure in the State Assembly and called for an end to the deadlock by conservative Republicans who have prevented it from moving to the Senate floor.
New York Times, June 6, 1993
* * *
Rudy Giuliani supports the passage of the state Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Bill, which would add sexual orientation to the criteria upon which discrimination is prohibited. In February of this year, he called on the State Senate Majority Leader to allow the bill to proceed to a floor vote. Urging expansion to the entire State the protection against discrimination which has been in effect in New York City and other jurisdictions around the nation for a number of years, Giuliani called on the members of the State Senate to be the true advocates of positive change and [be] in the vanguard of those who seek to achieve real equality in our society.
Rudy Giuliani On Issues of Concern to the Lesbian
And Gay Community Brochure
Sponsored by Lesbian and Gays for Giuliani
Brochure Paid for by Giuliani for New York
* * *
Now Rudy Giuliani has jumped on the bandwagon, pressing the state Republican Party to release a gay-rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Marching in Sundays [Gay Pride] parade, he has enlisted in the struggle to destroy the family. What a perfectly abominable springboard to seek high political office.
Ray Kerrison
New York Post, June 30, 1993
* * *
Gay Rights and Republican Party
Politically speaking, the campaign should utilize Massachusetts Governor William Weld as a surrogate on gay and lesbian issues. Like Giuliani, Weld is a former federal prosecutor, Justice Department official and liberal Republican, committed to increasing the civil rights and legal protections of gays and lesbians.
Giuliani Campaign-Sponsored
Vulnerability Study April 8, 1993
* * *
In his interview in The Advocate, Mr. Giuliani spoke out for an inclusive Republican party, saying, There is no reason why the party shouldnt appeal to gays and lesbians in the same way it does to all Americans.
He criticized the anti-abortion, anti-homosexual oratory of Patrick J. Buchanan at the 1992 Republican National Convention as a mistake and held up Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts as a model of more tolerant Republicanism.
And yesterday he noted that he believed in a Republicanism that preaches an economic philosophy of limited government. If Republicans were consistent and some are and some arent, he said, then theyd come to the same view about someones sexual orientation or sexual preferences, that this is not something the government was designed to get deeply involved in.
New York Times, June 18, 1994
* * *
Gay Rights and Youth
Rudy Giuliani applauds the commendable efforts of Massachusetts Governor William P. Welds Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth and embraces many of the recommendations noted in the Commissions report, Making Schools Safe for Lesbian and Gay Youth. As Governor Weld said at the swearing-in ceremony of the Commissions members, We must abolish the prejudice and isolation faced by gay and lesbian youth. We need to help them stay at home and stay in school so they can have healthy and productive lives.
Rudy Giuliani On Issues of Concern to the Lesbian
And Gay Community Brochure
Sponsored by Lesbian and Gays for Giuliani
Brochure Paid for by Giuliani for New York
* * *
Goldwater, Barry
He [Giuliani] described John Kennedy as great and brilliant. Barry Goldwater was an incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man.
New York Daily News, May 13, 1997
* * *
Gun Control
When Congress, at the request of many police officials, considered a broad ban on handgun bullets capable of piercing bulletproof vests, Mr. Giuliani though personally supportive of the measure pointed out flaws in the bill and laid out the [Reagan] Administrations case for a weaker alternative more acceptable to gun lobbyists.
But he angered some [Reagan] Administrative officials when he added a single sentence to his testimony in which he urged Congress to pass the bill. A similar measure was passed several years later, after gun groups softened their opposition.
New York Times, October 11, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Mr. Giuliani stopped just short of explicitly criticizing Republican members of Congress who last year filibustered the Brady Law that mandates a nationwide waiting period for the purchase of handguns, and now oppose President Clintons proposal to license handgun owners.
But when asked whether the Republican lawmakers should support such measures, he told reporters, I believe it is very necessary. He pointedly reminisced about his White House visit with President Clinton in December, in which he endorsed the Administration proposal for national fun licensing, and added that his proposals today were meant to start developing the interest in national and international regulation of guns.
Democratic lawmakers praised the Mayors push for gun control. It would be great if Mayor Giuliani could become the point Republican pushing comprehensive gun control legislation, said Representative Charles E. Schumer, the Brooklyn Democrat who is the leading proponent of handgun control in the House of Representatives. Today he took a step in that direction.
Richard M. Aborn, president of Handgun Control Inc., a national advocacy group, also supported the Mayors efforts. This is in line with our thinking that gun control must be a bipartisan issue, he said. We welcome the Mayors support for licensing and registration.
New York Times, March 8, 1994
* * *
He marked the 14th anniversary of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by joining the former Presidential press secretary, Jim Brady, and his wife, Sarah, and other officials at a news conference intended to counter a House Republican drive to repeal the assault weapons ban enacted last year. Its really amazing that were still here debating about what has to be done about handguns and what has to be done about guns in general, said Mr. Giuliani.
March 31, 1995
* * *
In fact, the Mayor has been a strong proponent of gun control since his days as a Federal prosecutor, and early in his term, after the Brooklyn Bridge shootings in February of 1994, he proposed that guns be subject to the same licensing requirements as driving a car. He revived the issue last month after the Empire State Building shootings, effectively making a national policy issue out of a local incident.
Assuming that he eventually approves the use of hollow point bullets, as seems likely, he will have some insulation from charges that he is in any way gun-happy. With gun control overwhelmingly popular in the city as a whole, it is an issue that cant miss, a political no-brainer.
Whatever a New Yorkers philosophical orientation, liberal, conservative, left or right, they have to share a small space, said Raymond B. Harding, the Liberal Party leader and the Mayors top political adviser. At that close proximity, guns are evil, and you dont need a pollster to tell you that.
The Mayor praised the proposals made Wednesday by President Clinton to keep guns out of the hands of non-citizens by imposing a residency requirement. But he said the idea doesnt go far enough, and urged that owning a handgun be subject to the same scrutiny as operating a car: applicants should pass a written and a physical test, should be subject to a waiting period and a background check, and should be required to have liability insurance.
He acknowledged that this would require states to set up large bureaucracies which he jokingly hoped would operate more efficiently than the Department of Motor Vehicles but said the cost would be more than offset by the reductions in crime.
New York Times, March 7, 1997
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
In repeating his call for a national gun licensing law yesterday, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani introduced an unusual kind of southern strategy to his re-election platform: Blame five southern states if the citys crime rate doesnt continue its steep descent.
As he related it at a breakfast meeting of the Citizens Crime Commission yesterday, his thinking goes like this:
The citys crime reductions cannot continue much further, he said, especially if guns continue to flow freely into New York from elsewhere in the country, where gun laws are more lax. The five southern states that account for 60 percent of the guns in the city are Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and North and South Carolina, he said, and if Congress would only impose handgun licensing on those states and the rest of the country, New Yorks crime rate would plummet even further.
New York Times, March 7, 1997
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Mr. Giuliani has long advocated national gun regulations, including background checks and waiting periods for fun purchases, and a ban on assault weapons. He has not changed, according to Ms. Mindel [a Giuliani spokesperson].
New York Times, November 14, 2005
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Immigration
Once again taking sharp exception with the dominant conservative wing of his own party, Mr. Giuliani said in an interview that the proposed crackdown on illegal immigrants was deliberately intended to play to the publics worst fears of foreigners and did not take into consideration the positive effects of immigrants on cities like New York.
New York Times, August 23, 1995
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani struck a blow for decency and common sense when he criticized Congresss proposed crackdown on both legal and illegal immigrants .
Some of what the Mayor finds disturbing emerged from a Republican-dominated panel on immigration reform that issued its recommendations in June. Mr. Giuliani was right to characterize key parts of the package as pandering to an irrational fear of foreigners.
New York Times Editorial
August 27, 1995
* * *
The Mayor did not mention the Republican Party by name and said in an interview later that he was not singling out his party or fellow politicians. Still, his defense of the United Nations achievements and of immigrants contribution to the nation marked the latest in a series of attempts by Mr. Giuliani to set himself apart from the newly dominant conservative wing of the Republican majority. Many of those Republicans want to end or cut back financing to the U.N. and favor severe immigration restrictions.
New York Times, September 20, 1995
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Rudy would continue to make city services available to all immigrants, regardless of immigration status.
The New York Immigrant Coalition
Press Release, August, 1989
* * *
Liberal Party of New York State and Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani has just made another move in [Liberal Party Chairman Ray] Hardings direction . He now opposes tuition tax credits, concluding that they would encourage people to take their kids out of the City school system.
Village Voice, March 7, 1989
* * *
Some ask, How can the Liberal Party support a candidate who disagrees with the Liberal Party position on so many gut issues? But when the Liberal Party Policy Committee reviewed a list of key social issues of deep concern to progressive New Yorkers, we found that Rudy Giuliani agreed with the Liberal Partys stance on a majority of such issues. He agreed with the Liberal Partys views on affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, school prayer and tuition tax credits. As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani would uphold the Constitutional and legal rights to abortion.
N.Y.S. Liberal Party Endorsement Statement
of Giuliani for Mayor of New York City
April 8, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Rent Control
take Mr. Giulianis position on the citys disastrous rent-control laws. They are, he says, an important part of keeping the middle class in New York City. He supports the so-called anti-warehousing law that forces landlords to rent apartments they own, instead of keeping them vacant while converting them to co-ops. He took this position to ease the housing shortage, he says, because hes seen the terrible things its done to federal agents who have to live two hours away. The would-be Republican nominee, in fact, has come out for extending rent control beyond apartments to commercial property as well.
Editorial
The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 1989
* * *
Albany Mayor Dinkins and Republican rival Rudolph Giuliani joined in a rare show of unity here yesterday as both urged the GOP-controlled state Senate to renew rent regulations for more than 2.4 million city tenants for another two years.
New York Post, June 22, 1993
* * *
Ronald Reagan Giulianis Hero?
David N. Dinkins, the Democratic candidate, has depicted Mr. Giuliani, former United States Attorney in Manhattan, as a loyal Reagan Republican who carried out the President's agenda that was painful to our city and our urban centers.
At the same time, Mr. Giuliani has tried to distance himself from the conservative [Reagan] Administration, pointing to occasions when he dissented from its policies and portraying himself as the candidate of a nonpartisan reform movement .
But in his primary campaign, Mr. Giuliani noted frequently that he was supported by the liberal wing of the Republican Party and maintained that he never embraced Mr. Reagan's broad conservative agenda.
On one occasion his campaign staff released a copy of a letter he wrote in June 1984, as United States Attorney in Manhattan, in which he appeared to oppose efforts by the Administration to improperly deny Social Security disability benefits to some recipients.
New York Times, October 11, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Instead of allowing the electorate to think Giuliani is a Reagan Republican the Giuliani campaign should encourage the feeling toward [Mayor] David Dinkins that sometimes party loyalty asks too much.
Giuliani Campaign-Sponsored
Vulnerability Study April 8, 1993
* * *
The Giuliani campaign should emphasize its candidates independence from traditional national Republican policies. Especially useful in this strategy is Giulianis role in overturning a Reagan administration attempt to throw disabled people off the Social Security rolls, his prosecution of Republican elected officials especially his authorization for calling his boss, Attorney Edwin Meese III, a sleaze, and his un-Republican views on many social issues of concern to New Yorkers, like abortion, gun control and bias protection for homosexuals.
Giuliani Campaign-Sponsored
Vulnerability Study April 8, 1993
* * *
School Vouchers
Vouchers would be a terrible mistake because they would bleed the public schools of needed financing.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, August 15, 1995
* * *
Were going to see increased calls for privatization and for vouchers for private and parochial school education. Alternatives which in my view will weaken if not create the collapse of the New York City public school system . I believe the voucher system in New York City would be very, very troublesome. Our system is so large that making that kind of transition would pose tremendous difficulties. Not to mention the constitutional and legal difficulties that would be entailed in providing tax relief and tax dollars for religious education.
Rudy Giuliani
Speech to Wharton Club,
New York Times, August 15, 1995
* * *
I wanted to know if he supports tuition tax credits and vouchers, which he doesnt.
Sandra Feldman, President of N.Y.C.
Teachers Union, 1993
* * *
Giuliani himself was on record as repeatedly opposing a voucher system. As a candidate in 1993, he had told United Federation of Teachers President Sandra Feldman that he believed vouchers were unconstitutional.
In May 1995, he told a UFT conference that vouchers would bleed the public schools of needed funds.
In a speech to the Wharton Club in August 1995, the mayor declared, Vouchers would weaken, if not create the collapse of the New York City public-school system.
But by January 1999, Giuliani, facing term limits, was seriously thinking about running for the Senate in 2000. His advisers and pollsters were telling him that if he switched his position on vouchers, it would help him with Catholic voters upstate, and the national Republican Party.
So he slipped a favorable reference to a voucher plan into his state of the city address that month.
According to Wayne Barretts definitive Giuliani biography, Rudy!, following this vouchers reference, the mayor told an alarmed Crew, Dont worry about it. Its just a political thing, a campaign thing. Im not going to do anything. Dont take it seriously.
The Full Rudy, pp. 52-53
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Tax Cuts
[Giuliani] says ruling out a tax increase is political pandering.
Newsday, August 31, 1989
* * *
When I ran for Mayor both times, I was asked very, very often to do the following:
Pledge that you will never raise taxes. I refused to do that.
Pledge that you will lower taxes. I refused to do that.
Rudy Giuliani
New York Times, October 25, 1994
* * *
Mr. Giuliani criticized Mr. Patakis proposal to cut taxes as a shell game that would hurt everyone in the state
New York Times, October 30, 1994
* * *
Vietnam War Draft and Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani did not attend the war in Vietnam because federal Judge Lloyd MacMahon wrote a letter to the draft board in 1969 and got him out. Giuliani was a law clerk for MacMahon, who at the time was hearing selective service cases. MacMahons letter to Giulianis draft board stated that Giuliani was so necessary as a law clerk that he could not be allowed to get shot at in Vietnam.
Jimmy Breslin
Newsday, October 1, 1989
* * *
Giuliani had been turned down in his bid to obtain an occupational deferment for his work as a law clerk before the judge wrote to the draft board in 1968, the newspaper said.
Spokesman for the Republican mayoral candidate told the Post such occupational deferments were routine, but experts informed the paper they were almost never granted to law clerks.
United Press International, June 11, 1989
* * *
Judge MacMahon wrote a letter for all the clerks in his office. As other judges they all did it.
But former Manhattan federal Judge Marvin E. Frankel, who was on the bench during the Vietnam era, flatly contradicted Perkins.
Not by any means was a law clerk automatically deferred, he said. I dont remember ever writing a letter for any of my clerks.
Asked if it was common practice for federal judges to write letters to draft boards for their law clerks, Judge Frankel said:
Not so far as I know.
New York Post, June 11, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
But more than a dozen draft experts and lawyers knowledgeable on the Vietnam-era draft told The Post an occupational deferment for a law clerk in 1969 was almost unheard of.
One leader of a veterans group called it a one in a million occurrence.
New York Post, June 11, 1989
(Emphasis Added)
* * *
Ironically, after avoiding the fighting, Giuliani worked in a department supposed to punish others who aid the same.
The Justice Department is preparing to prosecute young men who fail to register for a draft, top-level officials disclosed Tuesday.
The government has formulated guidelines for prosecutors to use in deciding who should be prosecuted. The guidelines will be sent to local U.S. attorneys around the country for their use.
The attorney general made the decision that we are going to prosecute these cases. Now its a question of how we are going to prosecute, Associate Attorney General Rudolph Giuliani told United Press International.
Our intention will quite clearly be to enforce the law, the official said.
UPI, September 8, 1981
Excerpt from Giuliani Campaign-Sponsored
Vulnerability Study April 8, 1993
* * *
Six years after Judge MacMahon wrote his letter, Giuliani took a top-level Justice Dept. job in which he helped carry out the strictest part of President Fords policy on dealing with suspected Vietnam draft-dodgers.
New York Post, June 11, 1989
About the Editor
George J. Marlin is the author/editor of ten books including Squandered Opportunities: New Yorks Pataki Years (2006), The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact (2004) and Fighting the Good Fight: A History of the New York Conservative Party (2002). In 1993, Mr. Marlin was the Conservative Party nominee for mayor of the City of New York, and in 1994 he served on Governor-elect Pataki's transition team. He served two terms as Executive Director and CEO of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In that capacity he managed thirty-five facilities including the World Trade Center, LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark Airports, PATH Subway and the four bridges and two tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey. His articles have appeared in numerous periodicals including The New York Times, New York Post, National Review, Newsday, The Washington Times and the New York Daily News. Mr. Marlin is also general editor of The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton.
Books Cited
Barrett, Wayne, Rudy!, Basic Books, 2000
Kirtzman, Andrew, Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City, Wm. Morrow, 2000
Newfield, Jack, The Full Rudy, Nation Books, 2002
Strober, Deborah and Gerald, Giuliani: Flawed or Flawless?, Wiley & Sons, 2007
He also never mentions what specific policy he implemented that lead to that.
That’s probably because he can’t. He had nothing to do with it.
Some of these may be repeats, but from a different source:
The New York State Liberal Party on Rudy Giuliani:
Some ask, How can the Liberal Party support a candidate who disagrees with the Liberal Party position on so many gut issues? But when the Liberal Party Policy Committee reviewed a list of key social issues of deep concern to progressive New Yorkers, we found that Rudy Giuliani agreed with the Liberal Party’s stance on a majority of such issues. He agreed with the Liberal Party’s views on affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, school prayer and tuition tax credits. As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani would uphold the Constitutional and legal rights to abortion.
—N.Y.S. Liberal Party Endorsement Statement of R. Giuliani for Mayor of New York City April 8, 1989
On the Republican Party:
Mr. Rockefeller represented “a tradition in the Republican Party I’ve worked hard to re-kindle - the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition.”
—Rudy Giuliani
New York Times
July 9, 1992
What kind of Republican? Is [Giuliani], for instance, a Reagan Republican? [Giuliani] pauses before answering: “I’m a Republican.”
—Village Voice
January 24, 1989
On Attending 1996 Republican Convention:
Rudy even expressed his pleasure when he wasn’t invited to the Republican National Convention in San Diego. “If I take three or four days off from city business, I want to do it for a substantive purpose. It didn’t seem to me any substantive purpose could be served by going to the Republican convention.”
—Rudy - An Investigative
Biography of Rudolph Giuliani,
Page 459, Wayne Barrett
On Barry Goldwater:
He [Giuliani] described John Kennedy as “great and brilliant.” Barry Goldwater was an “incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man.”
—New York Daily News,
May 13, 1997
On President Bill Clinton:
Shortly before his last-minute endorsement of Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential election, [Giuliani] told the Post’s Jack Newfield that “most of Clinton’s policies are very similar to most of mine.” The Daily News quoted [Giuliani] as saying that March: “Whether you talk about President Clinton, Senator Dole.... The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group.”
Revealing at one point that he was “open” to the idea of endorsing Clinton, he explained: “When I ran for mayor both times, ‘89 and ‘93, I promised people that I would be, if not bipartisan, at least open to the possibility of supporting Democrats.”
—Rudy - An Investigative
Biography of Rudolph Giuliani,
Wayne Barrett, Page 459
Rudy Giuliani’s October 1994 Endorsement of Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo:
“From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, âWho has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it?’ Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. It’s a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo.”
—Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City
Andrew Kirtzman, Page 133
Reaction to Giuliani Endorsement of Cuomo:
“Once again, Rudolph Giuliani has demonstrated that liberalism is the foundation of his political philosophy. While Giuliani sold a bill of goods to trusting Republicans and Reagan Democrats that he had abandoned his roots as a McGovern Democrat, in his endorsement of Mario Cuomo, Mr. Liberal himself, he has shown his true colors. Giuliani’s argument that Cuomo will be better for the city has a hollow ring to it. Perhaps Rudy wants a governor who will sign over a blank check to constantly bail out the city from its fiscal problems. Giuliani knows, as do all New Yorkers, that Cuomo’s liberal policies have been an economic disaster for our city and state.”
“But Rudy doesn’t care. He has proven he will do anything to stop the election of a conservative Republican - but he won’t succeed.”
—Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S. Conservative
Party Press Statement, October 25, 1994
“[Quite] frankly, you have to understand the fact that Rudy Giuliani was a McGovern Democrat, he was endorsed by the Liberal Party when he ran for Mayor. In his heart, he’s a Democrat. He’s paraded all over this country with Bill Clinton and, in fact, he’s very comfortable with Mario Cuomo. But what Rudy Giuliani wants is to be bailed out in the city, in the mess he’s in, and everybody understands very clearly in politics that they struck a deal, that Mario’s going to continue to be the big spender, save Rudy the options of raising taxes by pouring money statewide into the City of New York and bailing it out. Quite frankly, I predict that he will join the Democratic Party.”
—Interview with Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S.
Conservative Party,
CNN Crossfire, October 25, 1994
On Gay Domestic-Partner Rights:
National Republicans can lump it if they don’t like his new domestic-partners bill, Mayor Giuliani said yesterday.
“I really haven’t thought about what the impact is on Republican politics or national politics or Democratic politics,” Giuliani said.
The bill he submitted to the City Council would extend the benefits city agencies must grant to gay and lesbian couples.
“I’m proud of it,” Giuliani said of the bill. “I think it puts New York City ahead of other places in the country.”
—New York Daily News, May 13, 1998
On Gay-Rights\Gay Rights Bill:
Giuliani favors extended civil-rights protection for gays and lesbians. Giuliani urged, by letter, to the New York Senate Majority Leader to pass the state’s first ever gay rights bill, but did it privately.
“I am writing to convey my support for the current legislation to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians, and to urge you to allow the bill onto the floor of the Senate for prompt action.”
“...It is my belief that we can penalize discrimination [against gays] without creating any potentially objectionable special privileges or preferential treatment.”
—New York Post, June 5, 1993
Now Rudy Giuliani has jumped on the bandwagon, pressing the state Republican Party to release a gay-rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Marching in Sunday’s [Gay Pride] parade, he has enlisted in the struggle to destroy the family. What a perfectly abominable springboard to seek high political office.
—Ray Kerrison
New York Post, June 30, 1993
Giuliani said homosexuality is “good and normal.”
—Ray Kerrison
New York Post, July 7, 1989
On Gay Domestic Partnership:
“I have no objection to the concept of domestic partnership.”
—Rudy Giuliani
Informed Sources
New York T.V. Show (PBS), May, 1992
On Abortion:
Leaflets distributed by the Giuliani campaign .... said that he opposes restrictions to Federal Medicaid financing for abortions and opposes the Hyde Amendment, which is intended to deny support for that financing.
—New York Times, June 18, 1993
“I’d give my daughter the money for it [an abortion].”
“I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.”
—Rudy Giuliani
New York Newsday, September 1, 1989
As mayor, Rudy Giuliani will uphold a woman’s right of choice to have an abortion. Giuliani will fund all city programs which provide abortions to insure that no woman is deprived of her right due to an inability to pay. He will oppose reductions in state funding. He will oppose making abortion illegal.
—New York Times, August 4, 1989
On Partial Birth Abortion:
Mr. Giuliani has said that New York State law should not be changed to outlaw the procedure.
— New York Times, January 7, 1998
On School Choice:
“I wanted to know if he supports tuition tax credits and vouchers, which he doesn’t.”
—Sandra Feldman, President of N.Y.C.
Teacher’s Union, 1993
On Taxes:
[Giuliani] says ruling out a tax increase is “political pandering.”
—Newsday, August 31, 1989
An important job in which Giuliani was, more or less, confined to doing the one thing that I have never seen him attacked for: fighting crime. An appointment to US Attorney is hardly a blanket endorsement.
By that logic, let’s make Jim Webb our nominee.
Just what did you expect? You are promoting the enemy.
So where does that leave you?
Better the second time around.
Don’t worry, It didn’t take Rooty long to diss Forbes again.
http://thepoliticker.observer.com/2007/04/giuliani-on-flat-tax-just-kidding.html#comments
Giuliani on Flat Tax: Just Kidding
Rudy Giuliani, fresh off winning the endorsement of Steve Forbes, now says he was just kidding when he said he thought the flat tax was a good idea.
“I didn’t favor it, I said something academic,” Giuliani said at a press conference in Florida on Saturday, in response to a reporter asking him why he had switched from opposing a flat tax to favoring it. “What I said was, and it was not a joke, but it was half-jocular, was if we didn’t have an income tax...what would I favor?
“First I would favor no tax,” he said laughing and turning to his wife Judith, who duly smiled back. “That would be my first position. My second position would probably be a flat tax.”
But, he said, the tax “would probably not be feasible.”
Someone should tell Forbes.
After all, the last perfect candidate was nailed to a cross, and I'm fairly certain that isn't the career goal of anyone running in 2008.
Believe me, there are some FReepers here who would do just that! Some here actually voted for him and helped to get him elected. I imagine these are the same people who are supporting Rudy as well.
And yet here you are wasting time (and energy) on these silly threads. No one’s forcing you to be on these threads--are they? Didn’t think so.
bookmarked (as if I needed another reason)
flip flop flip flop......ad infinitum
Non-partisan meaning his politics weren't relevant to that job? Understood.
Free Republic Opinion Poll:
Would you be for or against McCain?
Member Opinion
against 92.4% 2,989
for 7.6% 247
Webb left the GOP and ran as a Democrat.
While Rudy left the GOP and ran as a Republican anyway.
Huh. In the incident with the Muslim terrorist in 1997, didn’t Rudy use that as an opportunity to enforce more gun control measures?
Excellent post, Spiff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.