Say It Ain't So, George

Tech Central Station ^ | 6/3/2002 | James K. Glassman

[Redcloak]

Say It Ain't So, George

By James K. Glassman

06/03/02

White House

Say it isn't so, George.

Today, Americans learned from a front page story in The New York Times that, "in a stark shift, ...the administration for the first time mostly blames human actions for recent global warming. It says the main culprit is the burning of fossil fuels that send heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."

In the past, President Bush properly noted that, while the earth had warmed at its surface by one degree Fahrenheit over the past century, scientists were still uncertain what caused the warming and what would happen in the century ahead. In addition, the administration urged the weighing of potential benefits against real-life costs -- which could run to $300 billion or more annually. Bush encouraged more research before drawing catastrophic conclusions.

But now, as a result of the new report, which was sent to the United Nations, the stage is set for an inevitable government-run program to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by cutting energy use. And cutting energy use means reducing the rate of economic growth. There's no other way. No wonder the stock market has been falling lately.

By accepting the basic premise of extreme environmentalists, the president will ultimately be forced to accept the major content of the same treaty that he rejected a little over a year ago as "fatally flawed": the Kyoto Protocol, signed by then-Vice President Al Gore in 1997 but never ratified by the U.S. Senate, which instead rejected it before signing by a 95-0 vote.

Bush's about-face, however, fits a pattern. One by one, he has abandoned the principles that attracted conservatives to him in the first place:

"What's left of the conservative agenda that has not been offered up to Democrats?" said Rush Limbaugh today on his national radio program. Let's see:

Free Trade: In order to protect inefficient steel producers and try to win votes in Rust Belt states, Bush agreed to protective tariffs against imports. At every turn now, his attempts to get Europeans and Asians to drop their trade barriers are being met with (accurate) cries of hypocrisy.

Farm Bill: To pander to farmers, he agreed to a bill which, as the Associated Press put it last month, "will shower billions of dollars in new subsidies on political battleground states and scrap a 1996 law that was intended to make growers less dependent on government." The reforms of six years ago marked one of the great achievements of the late Republican Congress.

Spending: Farm subsidies will rise 80 percent under the new bill, but that's hardly surprising since the President -- in nearly every other area of the federal budget -- has decided to abandon fiscal discipline. Surpluses have turned to deficits in the years ahead.

Campaign Finance: In the wake of the Enron scandal, Bush signed a new campaign-finance law that would hurt his own party, enhance the power of organized labor and liberal special interests and limit free political choice.

Education: To get his education bill passed, Bush dropped the most important reform: vouchers. Instead, in league with Sen. Ted Kennedy, he has helped entrench and empower the federal education bureaucracy.

What's going on? It is hard to say. These steps aren't effective even as cynical political maneuvers. Look at the reactions….

Conservatives: Bush's base is becoming demoralized. No, hard-core Republicans won't vote for a Democrat for president, but if Bush gives up on principles, they won't campaign hard for his re-election either.

Liberals: Will environmentalists be won over by the president's about-face on Kyoto? Hardly. In fact, after effectively silencing them with his strong stand, he has now energized them. They have a strong logical argument to make: If warming is as bad as Bush says it is, then strong remedies are necessary, not the soft stuff he proposes. (Said a headline today on Lycos.com, Bush to Earth: Drop Dead.") Protectionists won't want to stop with steel. They now have ammunition for other fights. The same with campaign reformers, farmers and big spenders.

Independents: Will voters on the fence be drawn to Bush now that he has flip-flopped on Kyoto and signed a farm bill? I doubt it. Bush's greatest asset was his self-confidence, his strong advocacy of principle, his almost ingenuous belief (like Reagan) in doing the right thing. By going wobbly, he impresses no one -- least of all the soccer moms and blue-collar dads who, most of all, want to see a president who knows where he stands and defends what he believes.

So why?

Bush may be suffering from Front-Runner Disease. Out ahead for 2004, Bush does not want to blow his lead by opening himself up to criticism from any quarter: environmentalists, good-government types, protectionists, farmers. He now has an answer for each of them.

He was better off running as an underdog. Back then, all he knew was what he believed in. That's the kind of president Americans want.

[Belial]

Sure sounds like what Dubbya said on the campaign trail to me. That's probably because you posted a passage which didn't his new position about global warming.

[Ol' Sparky]

BS. Bush has caved on issue after issue. Anyone that would stand by this Clinton clone is a fool.

[colorado tanker]

I grant you Bush has flip-flopped on some issues. I'm also disappointed about the steel tariffs and farm bill. We could have had the Crusader artillery piece for a few of those bushels. But this one is a bad rap, not surprising considering the source is the New York Times.

[Ol' Sparky]

And what about these recent moves by Clinton, er, Bush:

The U.S. attorney's office argued yesterday in D.C. Superior Court that the District's ban on handguns should be upheld, brushing aside the Bush administration's new directive that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to bear firearms.

A school's rating under the No Child Left Behind Act hinges on how well the school as a whole, as well as nine ethnic and other groups, perform on standardized tests. Under federal standards: Each school will pass muster only if every one of its groups makes adequate yearly progress. A subgroup will "make adequate yearly progress" if the expected percentage of students passes reading and math tests. This achievement bar will be the same for all groups and will be set a little higher each year to encourage improvement.

Last week the Bush administration inexplicably turned its back on good sense by supporting the current interpretation of a federal law (Title IX) that has perversely resulted in reverse discrimination of male athletes from coast to coast.

President Bush today announced two agreements that will preserve Florida's environment for generations to come. Read the President's Statement. The President announced an agreement between the Departments of Interior and Justice and private energy companies to buy back oil and gas leases in the Destin Dome area offshore from Pensacola, Florida. And, the President announced an important agreement to buy back drilling rights in the Florida Everglades ecosystem.

Refuses to support legislation allowing airline pilots to bear firearms.

[Redcloak]

Oh... So then it's OK with you that he's always accepted the myth of global warming?

[Ol' Sparky]

Too bad the Bush Doctrine doesn't apply to Irsael....

[Joe Hadenuf]

I can remember when we were all the vast right wing conspiracy. Now we are Bush Bashers!

[colorado tanker]

You are really, really going to have to read the report before making all these silly assertions. There is a text box in the Introduction entitled "The Science" which discusses the issue as to which you claim the President has changed his position. All of my quotes were from that same section.

This thread really reminds me of that fine old tradition: Ready! Fire! Aim!

[Ol' Sparky]

So what, if the policy hasn't changed? Are really THIS stupid? When a Republican Administration supports the global warming lie and when the Democrats already promote it, global warming will become a permanent, false premise entrenched in the political debate for years to come. And, when the LIE is accepted, most will want to give the government the power to do something about the alleged problem.

If Clinton or the Democrats gave lip service to lies simply to pander to polls or some group, you'd be whining about. But when your guy does it, it's perfectable acceptable that he lie.

[goldstategop]

Look, we're disappointed the President let us down. We all voted for him and thought he'd stand on principle. Its dismaying to discover your hero has feet of clay. I'd like to reiterate here that responsible criticism isn't aiding the enemy. If the President is too thin-skinned to accept friendly advice from friends, he'll find himself a one term President like his Dad. We really want to see him succeed, but we won't agree to sell out our principles as the price for making it happen.

[Lizavetta]

Remember back in the fall of 2000, when we were all proud to call ourselves Broken Glass Republicans? How things have changed.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Global warming is absolute junk science. This is being brought to us by the same folks who predicted a coming ice age, some decades back.

[Deb]

I figured it was a crumb to the wackos as he mercifully extracted our asses from a moronic treaty. I don't agree with it, but only the mouth-foaming, screaming Bush-bashers seem to take it as such a mortal blow.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

The lie is the NYTimes' interpretation of the report.

And, fwiw, I have expressed extreme dismay over many things from the education bill to the steel and timber tarrifs.

[Ol' Sparky]

Give me a break. The Bush Administration is promoting a lie, a false theory as fact. When a Republican Administration does that with the Democrats already doing it, the lie becomes a PERMANENT part of the political discussion for decades. Now, that lie has been firmly entrenched in the political arena, the only question is what do about global warming. And, if most are convinced global warming exists -- even if it doesn't -- the masses will most certainly want the government do something about.

If a Democrat promoted a lie for the sole purpose of pandering to the polls or a special interest group, you'd whine about how unprincipled he or she was. But, when your own lies, you turn a blind eye to it. Pathetic.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Global warming is absolute junk science

I'll bump that and point out that in the report you'll find this stated in a much more politically feasible manner. Now, we can agree that Bush doesn't have the nuts to come out and say it in the way we would like.

[Jorge]

Education: To get his education bill passed, Bush dropped the most important reform: vouchers. Instead, in league with Sen. Ted Kennedy, he has helped entrench and empower the federal education bureaucracy.

Bush dropped vouchers because the votes weren't there in Congress. He would have never gotten them anyhow.
Those who insist on unfairly blaming Bush for this need to look at all the facts.

[Ol' Sparky]

BS...There is no spin whatsoever. It's a FACT that Bush's EPA has accepted and is promoting the global warming LIE. And once the premise and lie is accepted, it will be PERMANENTLY entrenched in the political arena for decades and most will want the government to something about it.

This is from the EPA Report:

"Greenhouse gases are accumulating in the Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing global mean surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise," the administration said in its report.

"The changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly due to human activities, but we cannot rule out that some significant part of these changes is also a reflection of natural variability," the report says.

"Human-induced warming and associated sea level rises are expected to continue through the 21st century," it says. "Secondary effects...include increases in rainfall rates and increased susceptibility of semi-arid regions to drought."

Bush is following the Dick Morris triangulation strategy. It's unprincipled, deceptive politics practiced by politicians with no soul or conscience. Bush is absolutely no better than Bill Clinton and those defending Bush are no better than the liberals that turned a blind eye to Clinton.

[deport]

The point is that the administration has reversed its position on the existence and cause of global warming.

I see what you are saying but can you point me to a source of what the original position was.... or can you define it for me?

[Ol' Sparky]

He's pretty lousy domestic President. His policy on the majority of issues are no different than Clinton's ideas.