Related Links 2002-2001 Bush Watch The List of Bush Staff, Cabinet Officials GOP Betrayals Hillary Watch Voting Records Excerpted from Howard Phillips Issues & Strategy Bulletin of November 15, 2002 ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICAN CAMP-FOLLOWERS REDUCED THEIR POLICY STANDARDS TO THE LEVEL OF BUSH'S "BIG GOVERNMENT", "NEW WORLD ORDER" CONSERVATISM Here are some of the Bush policy stances to which "establishment" Christians and conservatives gave their assent: Permanent Most Favored Nation status for Communist China; Continued membership in, and additional subsidies for, the United Nations; Continued participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Billions of dollars in additional funding for Federal intervention in education; Hundreds of millions of dollars in annual subsidies for the Legal Services Corporation; Increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts; Massive annual increases in Federal taxes and spending; Additional billions of dollars in foreign aid; The $17.9 billion bailout of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); Creation of FTAA (Free Trade Alliance of the Americas); Unilateral destruction of a major portion of America's nuclear arsenal; Extension of NATO to the borders of the former Soviet Union; "Fast track" trade authority for the President; Hundreds of millions of dollars in "AIDS education" subsidies to the homosexual movement; Acquiescence in the distribution of RU-486 (the poison pill); Refusal to acknowledge the personhood of the unborn; No pro-life litmus test for Federal judges; No effort to reverse Roe v. Wade, pending changes in public opinion; Abortions permissible in cases of rape and incest; Failure to support efforts to restore a U.S. military presence in Panama or to challenge Red Chinese control of the ports at both ends of the Panama Canal; Opposition to setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Kosovo; Increased government regulation and control of health care; Additional, unconstitutional Federal land grabs; Exception to the Second Amendment which would deny persons under the age of 21 the right to keep and bear arms and require trigger locks on home defense weapons; Federal funding and regulation of "faith-based institutions"; and more. EMBRACING CLINTON-GORE POLICIES IN A NEW SUIT OF CLOTHES In deciding to support George Bush, Christian and conservative leaders were buying a continuation of Clinton-Gore policies with a Republican label. Bush and Gore both favor some kind of gun control. Bush says he favors trigger locks. He says you should not be able to carry a weapon until you are 21. I do not know if he intended to disarm all of those members of the U.S. armed forces under the age of 21. He did not make that clear, but he, nonetheless, regards the Second Amendment as having exceptions. Bush and Gore called each other liars about tax policy. This is one case where I can agree with both of them because neither one was, in fact, advocating a reduction in taxes. Each of them was advocating ways of rearranging the ways in which each year, more taxes are to be extracted from us. When they talk about "spending cuts", they are talking about reducing the increase in spending. When they say "tax cuts", they are really talking about reducing the increase in taxes. In fact, since the Republicans gained control of Congress in 1994, our taxes have gone up from $1.3 trillion per year to $2 trillion per year, and spending at the Federal level has risen from $1.4 trillion annually to $2 trillion annually. The Republicans agree with the Democrats on an expanded Federal role in education. Indeed, the Republicans have doubled Federal spending for the Department of Education since gaining control of Congress in 1994. Both support socialized medicine. The Republicans rejected it when it was called "Hillary Care", but they voted for it when it was called the "Dole-Kennedy-Kassenbaum" bill and in other incremental ways. On the question of abortion, Mr. Bush, like Mr. Gore, said he did not think there was anything he could do about the distribution of RU-486 and this, of course, manifests an extraordinary ignorance of his duties as President and as to the fact that, under the Constitution, regulatory agencies cannot legislate. He said he would have no litmus test for judges. In Texas if there was a litmus test, it was apparently pro-abortion, given the decisions of his appointees against parental notification. Bush, like Gore, supports Planned Parenthood funding. Bush told Tim Russert that he would not support the overturn of Roe vs. Wade until there was a change in public sentiment. He supports abortion in the case of exceptions. He supports funding of the United Nations and its population control activities. He refuses to assert the personhood of the unborn child, and he apparently intends to name as Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is 100 percent pro-abortion. IF YOU VOTE AGAINST YOUR PRINCIPLES, YOU'RE SURE TO WIN Randy Cohen writes (The Ethicist, New York Times Sunday Magazine, 10/22/00, pp. 45-46) that Eugene V. Debs "ran for president five times as the Socialist candidate. While he was campaigning in 1908, a man in the crowd shouted that to vote for Debs was to waste your vote. Debs replied: 'You argue that you are throwing your vote away. That's right. Don't vote for freedom -- you might not get it. Vote for slavery -- you have a cinch on that.'" BUSH REASSURES PRO-ABORTS David Broder writes (Washington Post, 10/22/00, p. B7) that "Wavering independents I have interviewed fret more about handing control of the domestic agenda to an assertive Republican Congress and a complaisant Republican president than they do about a continuation of gridlock under Gore. "But their real bugaboo is what Bush might do to the Supreme Court -- especially on the abortion issue. Inexplicably, Gore did not raise the issue with Bush in either of the last two debates. But Tim Russert did, in an interview for NBC's 'Today' show, taped here late Wednesday night. "Bush's answer is important. And he gave it twice: 'Abortion is not going to be outlawed until a lot of minds are changed.' He said he would sign a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions, passed repeatedly by Congress and vetoed by President Clinton. He said he hoped 'I will be able to work with people to reduce the number of abortions.' "But when Russert pressed by asking, 'in a Bush presidency, abortion would not be outlawed?' Bush added to his 'not until a lot of people change their minds,' the comment that 'there's going to be abortions one way or the other, and ... we got to convince people that adoption is better.... But that's going to require leadership that doesn't use the issue as a political club.' "Those comments -- taken together with Bush's earlier statement that he would not attempt to overturn FDA approval of the RU-486 abortion pill -- strengthens my belief that abortion rights are not high on his agenda." DOES BUSH AGREE WITH CONDI RICE ABOUT PERMANENT U.N. POLICE FORCE? Elaine Sciolino reports (New York Times, 11/17/00, p. A7) that "Condoleezza Rice, the top national security adviser to Gov. George W. Bush, said...that it might be necessary to set up international police forces to carry out peacekeeping functions that are now the responsibility of soldiers." WILL HE FURTHER SLASH U.S. NUCLEAR ARSENAL? "In a wide-ranging speech at a conference sponsored by the Army, Ms. Rice also expressed interest in Russia's recent suggestion that Moscow is ready to negotiate amendments to a treaty banning missile defenses if both the United States and Russia agree to deeper cuts in offensive nuclear weapons. ... "Asked in a later telephone interview whether she was advocating multinational police forces in which the United States and its allies would have a role, Ms. Rice was vague, saying: 'I wasn't designating who would be part of it. I'm not saying the United States should field these forces, or the allies. I'm not proposing any solution. I wanted to identify a gap in capability, not to suggest that I have a particular answer.' ... "Some in the audience today, most of whom were military officers, said they found her remarks troubling. ... "With American soldiers still in Bosnia and Kosovo, the American military has become concerned that its troops are increasingly called upon to carry out police functions, which many are not trained for. And many countries have often been reluctant to send their police officers on risky missions." JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN SAYS A CONSTITUTIONAL POLICY IS "NAÏVE" "In a speech earlier at the same conference, Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the military's role in peacekeeping and other noncombat missions. He added that the United States must continue to prepare the military for a wide range of missions -- from peacekeeping to fighting major wars -- saying, 'It is naïve to think that the military will become involved in only those areas that affect our vital national interests.'" November 9, 2000 BUSH AND GORE AGREE ON FEDERAL EDUCATION SPENDING Dan Morgan reports (Washington Post, 10/23/00, p. A2) on the expansion of Federal control of education by pointing out that "Six years ago, Congress approved $750,000 to start a modest new program to pay schools to provide study halls, tutoring and counseling after regular classes end. By this year, the program had grown to $453 million annually. ... "'We are moving in the direction of greater federal involvement no matter who is elected,' said Diane Ravitch, an assistant secretary of education in the Bush administration." REPUBLICANS HAVE DOUBLED FEDERAL EDUCATION SPENDING "Prodded by the administration in a series of bruising year-end confrontations, the GOP has reluctantly approved a near-doubling of education spending since taking control of the House and Senate in 1995. More significant has been a steady shift in the federal government's historic role in education, from provider of school services to the poor, disabled and needy to significant player in the growing effort to improve teaching, test scores and conditions in all schools. ... $18 billion...has been added to annual federal education spending since 1995...." REPUBLICANS BORROW THEIR PRINCIPLES FROM CLINTON AND GORE "Whatever the outcome of this year-end budget confrontation, Democrats can already claim credit for changing the terms of the education debate in Washington. "Earlier GOP efforts to reduce the overall federal commitment, by cutting outlays and eliminating the Department of Education, have evaporated. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush has made education a centerpiece of his campaign, calling for a much-expanded federal commitment.... "[E]ven some conservative education analysts say congressional Republicans have played the politics of education badly. Every fall in recent years, Clinton has effectively challenged the GOP to accept most of his educational priorities or face the public's wrath for 'shutting down the government' -- enabling Democrats to paint congressional Republicans as fundamentally hostile to educational aid even as they go along with what the president wants." GOP = GIVEAWAY OUR PRINCIPLES "'The folks in Congress end up looking curmudgeonly and miserly and cheap and Clinton ends up getting the money and the credit,' said Chester E. Finn Jr., senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. ... "The upward trajectory of the still-unfinished education appropriations bill for 2001 illustrates the powerful pressure to boost school spending and create new programs. Porter's subcommittee initially proposed $37.1 billion for education, a $1.4 billion increase over this year. Senate Republicans added $3.5 billion. Before bargaining ends in the next few days, the total could reach close to $43 billion. That would be $8 billion, or 20 percent, more than this year." November 1, 2000 CHENEY TILTS LEFT CNN's Bernard Shaw moderated the Thursday, October 5 vice-presidential debate in Danville, Kentucky between Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney. Excerpts follow (nytimes.com, 10/6/00). CHENEY SAYS GOVERNMENT EDUCATION IS THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM BERNARD SHAW: "You alluded to problems. There's no magic bullet, Secretary Cheney, in this question to you, no magic bullets to solve the problems of public education but what's the next best solution?" RICHARD CHENEY: "Well, I think public education is the solution. ..." CHENEY BACKS RU-486 BERNARD SHAW: "Mr. Secretary, this question is for you. Would you support the effort of House Republicans who want legislation to restrict distribution of the abortion drug RU486?" RICHARD CHENEY: "Bernie, the abortion issue is a very tough one, without question, and a very important one. ... With respect to the question of RU486, we believe that of course that it's recently been approved by the F.D.A. That really was a question of whether or not it was safe to be used by women. They didn't address the, sort of the question of whether or not there should or should not be abortion in the society so much as evaluate that particular drug. ... With respect to the RU486 proposal, at this stage, I haven't looked in particular at that particular piece of legislation. Governor Bush made it clear the other night that he did not anticipate that he would be able to go in and direct the F.D.A. to reverse course on that particular issue, primarily because as I say the decision they made was on the efficacy of the drug, not the question of whether or not we supported abortion." CHENEY EMBRACES HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE BERNARD SHAW: "[S]exual orientation -- should a male who loves a male, and a female who loves female, have all, all the constitutional rights enjoyed by every American citizen?" RICHARD CHENEY: "This is a tough one, Bernie. The fact of the matter is we live in a free society and freedom means freedom for everybody. We don't get to choose and shouldn't be able to choose and say you get to live free, but you don't. And I think that means that people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. It's really no one else's business in terms of trying to regulate or prohibit behavior in that regard. The next step then of course is the question you ask of whether or not there ought to be some kind of official sanction if you will of the relationship or if these relationships should be treated the same way a conventional marriage is. That's a tougher problem. That's not a slam-dunk. I think the fact of the matter of course is that matters regulated by the states, I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions and that's appropriate. I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area. I try to be open-minded about it as much as I can and tolerant of those relationships and like Joe, I also wrestle with the extent of which there ought to be legal sanction of those relationships. I think we ought to do everything we can to tolerate and accommodate whatever kind of relationships people want to enter into." GOP PLATFORM'S PROMISES ARE ALREADY BROKEN According to Michael Cooper (New York Times, 10/10/00, p. A23), "the Republican Party platform explicitly opposes gay marriages, saying, 'We support the traditional definition of marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman,' and going on to pledge that a Republican Justice Department would vigorously defend the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts. That measure, passed by Congress in 1996, denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages. ... "'[T]he candidates' views on matrimony were remarkably similar,' Kenneth L. Connor, the president of the Family Research Council, complained in a message posted last week on his group's Web site. "'The candidates' comments were, no doubt, heartening to those in the gay community who want to redefine marriage to include homosexual unions. If traditional marriage is the foundation of society, what do last night's comments say about the stability of our foundation?'" AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION CRITICIZES CHENEY "The American Family Association complained on its Web site: 'GOP Veep Candidate Fudges on Social Issues in Debate.' "'Live and let live is fine as a policy for people's private lives, but Secretary Cheney should have been much stronger in saying that same-sex marriages are wrong,' Tim Wildmon, the president of the association, said in a statement on the site. 'Secretary Cheney basically said that if a state decided to legalize homosexual marriage -- or polygamy, for that matter -- he thought that was "appropriate," as long as it was decided on the state level.' ..." MARY CHENEY DISBURSED COORS BREWERY DOLLARS TO HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVIST GROUPS "Mr. Cheney also brushed off the criticism from conservatives. 'Bernie Shaw asked me a question and I answered it truthfully and accurately,' he said, referring to the moderator of the debate. 'My position's unchanged.' "Asked whether his response at the debate was informed by his daughter, Mary Cheney who worked at Coors Brewing Company as a liaison to the gay and lesbian market, he said: 'I have consistently refused to get into the business of talking about Mary. She's entitled to her privacy.' "While conservatives criticized Mr. Cheney's comments, he won praise from the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights organization based in Washington, D.C. "'Dick Cheney has taken a big step forward by breaking ranks with the extreme right in the GOP by recognizing that gay and lesbian families have a place in America and that these relationships should be respected,' the group's political director, Winnie Stachelberg, said in a statement the group released today." PUTIN TRUSTS GORE AND BUSH TO KEEP RUSSIA'S BEST INTERESTS IN MIND Larry King reports in his column (USA Today, 9/18/00, p. 2D) about comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during "his only American media appearance" on Larry King Live last week that Putin "met Vice President Gore once and only briefly and has never met Texas Gov. George W. Bush. 'However,' he said, 'I have no problem with whoever wins. From what I've heard from both of them and from the statements of both major parties, I feel they have the best interests of Russia in mind. I will be happy with either one.'" COLIN POWELL AS SEC STATE WOULD CONTINUE "OVERWORLD" CONTROL UPI reports from New York (NewsMax.com, 9/7/00) that "The leading candidate for secretary of state in a Republican administration did a good impression of Madeleine Albright in an address Wednesday before a shadow convention of international intellectuals, nongovernmental organizations and nonprofit groups. "Speaking before the State of the World Forum, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell sounded downright Clintonian in one of his first public addresses of this campaign season to focus on foreign policy, praising international achievements of the Clinton administration. ... "Powell said former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev personally invited him to address the week-long convention. Recalling a story of a meeting with the Soviet reformer in the Pentagon, Powell said Gorbachev told him: '"General, General, I'm very, very sorry you will have to...find a new enemy." I said: "I don't want to. I like this enemy."' ... "Powell said later that one of the consequences of the end of the Cold War was that 'we cannot waste our resources on weapons we don't need.' ... "Powell seemed to take a page from his Republican convention playbook, where he decried the buildup of prisons and relative paucity of education budgets, two views normally associated with Democrats. ..." POWELL WANTS A STRONGER UNITED NATIONS "How should the world work to end conflict? One way, Powell said is 'the use of the United Nations, one of the greatest organizations ever put on the face of the earth.' ..." BUSH'S FAVORITE GENERAL SWIMS WITH THE SHARKS "Powell made his speech before a clearly internationalist crowd. The State of the World Forum's board of directors boasts former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, famous primatologist Jane Goodall, Marian Wright Edelman, president of the leftist so-called Children's Defense Fund, and the left-wing, Christian-bashing media mogul who donated a fortune to the U.N., Ted Turner. Former Secretary of State James Baker also serves on that body." September 15, 2000 BUSH GIVEN A "FREE RIDE" ON POLICY BY NATIONAL CONSERVATIVE "LEADERS" Michael Kinsley, editor of Slate, writes (Washington Post, 7/4/00, p. A19) that "If Al Gore had said some of the things George W. Bush has been saying, the Wall Street Journal editorial page would be having fits, and the Heritage Foundation broadside-o-matic machines would be churning with outrage. "In a single mid-June speech on disabilities, Bush promised to 'triple the current funding' for disability research; to create a 'technology transfer fund' that would subsidize small business efforts to adapt for the handicapped; to 'spend $20 million' buying computers so that disabled workers can telecommute; to 'swiftly implement the recently passed "Ticket to Work" Act,' which apparently allows people to keep their disability benefits after taking a job; to 'seek $10 million each year' to build wheelchair ramps in 'churches, synagogues and mosques' and on and on." DOES ANYONE STILL BELIEVE THAT REPUBLICANS ARE MORE "CONSERVATIVE" THAN DEMOCRATS? "More than the money itself, it's the laundry-list rhetoric -- here's every problem you can think of (and a few you never thought of) and here's my plan to throw money at it -- that ought to offend conservative ideologues but doesn't seem to. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress race the Democrats to enact a Medicare drug benefit which, even in the more stinting Republican version, would be the biggest new social welfare program in a generation. ... "The premise of this kind of government reform is that government should be doing more, not less. In his speech text, Bush calls for more government half a dozen times. His only reference to the possibility of less government is accusing the Clinton administration of failing to 'ask fundamental questions' about what government does, including 'whether it should be doing it at all.' ..." THEY ARE SEDUCED BY THE AROMA OF DINNER AT THE WHITE HOUSE "But the virtually total silence on the right about Bush's sins against the true faith is an impressive triumph of political discipline over intellectual honesty. Call it a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy of Silence. ..." "ME, TOO" CONSERVATIVES LUST FOR ACCESS AND OFFICIAL PROMINENCE "Now, though, it is the Republican nominee who is patently stealing ideas from the other side. And the GOP is the party that seems to be afraid the voters won't buy its own principles. So it is offering a watered-down version of the other side's principles instead." HEY, BIG SPENDER! Adam Clymer writes (New York Times, 9/6/00, p. A20) that "Dick Cheney, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, today defended his charitable contributions as 'appropriate' and insisted he should be given credit not only for direct contributions but also for speaking fees he directed to charity and for corporate gifts that matched his own donations." CHENEY GIVES ONE PERCENT TO CHARITY "Answering reporters' questions on a campaign flight from Washington, Mr. Cheney challenged the suggestion that his generosity should be measured by comparing his direct contributions of $209,832 over the last 10 years to his income of $20,677,742, a standard by which he gave 1.01 percent of his income. "He also counted $89,500 in speaking fees and $142,820 in matching gifts. Neither is a charitable contribution under the federal tax laws. "'About four hundred forty-some thousand dollars were directed to charity, either direct contributions or honorariums or matching funds from the boards that we sat on,' he said. 'I thought that was appropriate.' "By his measure, that would equal 2.14 percent of his income. Asked if he considered that level 'generous,' Mr. Cheney replied, 'I answered your question.' ... According to the Internal Revenue Service, average taxpayers give about 2 percent of their income to charity. In 1997, the last year for which figures are available, those with incomes of $1 million or more gave an average of 4.5 percent. The last year that the income of Mr. Cheney and his wife, Lynne, was below $2 million was 1992, when he was secretary of defense and they earned $258,394." G.W. BUSH IS TO THE LEFT OF BOB DOLE ON FEDERAL EDUCATION POLICY David E. Rosenbaum reports (New York Times, 8/30/00, p. 1) that "Five years after the Republican Congress shut down the government in part because of the money President Clinton wanted to spend on education, four years after Bob Dole embraced a Republican platform that advocated abolishing the Department of Education, Mr. Bush has made an expanded federal role in education a central campaign issue. ... "'Under Bush, education has come of age for Republicans,' said Denis Doyle, a political scientist and a founder of Schoolnet.com, a company that provides Internet services for school districts. 'On education, Mr. Bush looks more like Mr. Gore than he looks like Mr. Dole.' ... "Both candidates offer a ream of specific policy proposals. Mr. Bush would spend $1 billion a year for five years to train teachers to diagnose and correct reading problems. Just last week, he offered modest proposals to build and repair schools on and near military bases and to give grants to historically black and Hispanic colleges." "THE MOVEMENT" MOVES LEFT BUT ITS BILLS ARE PAID David Corn writes (The Nation, 8/7-14/00, p. 18) that "Many, if not most, leading social conservatives have taken a practical view and reached an accommodation with [GOP Presidential candidate George W.] Bush, some more enthusiastically than others. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell are as giddy about Bush as a Texas cheerleader. "Richard Viguerie, the conservative direct-mail magnate, is resigned to Bush's ascendancy and supportive. Eight months ago, Viguerie dismissed Bush as an 'Elvis impersonator,' opining that 'Bush has never taken the lead on an issue of importance to conservatives.' Now Viguerie is all for Bush. 'He's within an acceptable range,' sighs Viguerie. ..." LIKE 7-UP, BUSH IS "THE UNCOLA" "'Through Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy and Christian radio, social conservatives have been told for eight years that Bill Clinton and Al Gore are problematic, flawed individuals who do not wish the Christian community well,' notes Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform. 'They are now so convinced that Clinton and Gore have to be gotten rid of that Bush is' -- yes 'acceptable.' ..." THE NATIONAL-RIGHT-TO-LIFE -SOME-OF-THE-TIME-COMMITTEE "The NRLC [National Right to Life Committee] has been backing Bush hard; it's expected to run pro-Bush ads and voter-turnout operations that target pro-Bush (and pro-GOP) voters this fall. Its political action committee raised nearly $1 million in the first half of this year and spent about $700,000 on mailings, literature and get-out-the-vote phone calls for Bush. The group will likely be a major recipient of Republican funds this election. ..." "RELIGIOUS RIGHT" COMMITS ENERGY AND RESOURCES IN RETURN FOR A PRE-PAID TICKET ON GOP'S RIDE DOWN THE SLIPPERY SLOPE "Last year, when antiabortion activists were questioning Bush's commitment, Falwell eagerly vouched for his 'pro-life' views. Now, with the help of Viguerie's direct-mail machine, he's raising money to locate and register Bush voters. This past spring, Falwell noted that he'd already received $1 million in corporate contributions. When he briefed conservative activists in Washington, he said he aimed to convince ministers in 70,000 churches to hand out voter material before the election, including 100 million 'Promise to Pray and Promise to Vote' pledge cards. ... "Lou Sheldon, who heads the Traditional Values Coalition, is also raising money to register and motivate Christian right voters to pull the lever for Bush. His outfit, begun in 1982, claims to be connected to 43,000 churches...." August 15, 2000 WOULD PRESIDENT DUBYA GIVE US MORE JUSTICE SOUTERS? Jim Yardley reports (New York Times, 7/9/00, p. 1) that "Earlier this year, the Texas Supreme Court stunned social conservatives throughout the state by issuing a 6-to-3 ruling that allowed a 17-year-old high school senior to have an abortion without telling her parents. "'It was shocking,' said Joe Kral, the legislative director for the Texas Right to Life Committee. It was, after all, appointees of Gov. George W. Bush who took the lead on the issue. ... "[A] look at Mr. Bush's record in Texas shows that he has appointed justices who have had a moderating influence on the Texas Supreme Court, often regarded as among the most conservative and pro-business in the country. He has appointed four of the court's nine justices and has been a political patron for a fifth, Harriet O'Neill, who wrote the majority opinion in the parental notification case. ... "Debbie D. Branson, president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, a group that has been critical of the court and Mr. Bush over the years...agreed that the Bush appointees had started the process of moving the court back to the center. ... "By the Supreme Court's 1998-99 term, the liberal judicial watchdog group Court Watch found that Mr. Bush's appointees were 'eliminating the excesses of the G.O.P. old guard.'" GOP CANDIDATE BUSH PLEDGES TRADE MERGER WITH LATIN AMERICA William J. Gill, President of American Coalition for Competitive Trade (ACCT, 216 Georgetown Court, 3220 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20007, August, 2000) notes that "George W. Bush doesn't care that some 80 percent of Americans are firmly opposed to NAFTA. Indeed, he wants to extend that terrible treaty to embrace all of Central and South America." FAST TRACK AND FTAA -- CLINTON, BUSH, AND GORE AGREE "This is the word leaked out by one of his top foreign policy aides, Condoleezza Rice. She says that one of the first things Bush would do when -- and IF -- he is president would be to ask Congress for 'fast track' authority to negotiate the 'Free Trade Area of the Americas' (FTAA) and other trade deals around the world. The FTAA monstrosity was signed by 34 countries, including the United States, in Miami in 1994 under the aegis of Bill Clinton with Al Gore riding shotgun in arranging the meeting. "Gore's fingerprints were also on State Department Document No. 10536, the 192-page 'Words Into Deeds' review of 'progress' toward culmination of the merger unveiled by Clinton at a follow-on conference of The 34 in 1998. The target date for completion of the amalgamation is 2005. ... "Whether Bush or Gore wins the presidency this November either one will try for the FTAA Fast Track and expansion of the governing role of the World Trade Organization." July 31, 2000 "MEET THE BUSH TEAM" According to Judy Keen (USA Today, 8/1/00, p. 9A) Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush "has many distinguished policy advisers...[b]ut he has forged the closest bond with Condoleezza Rice. She exudes a quiet confidence that Bush admires, and she has tutored him on foreign policy and defense issues....She was an intern at the State Department when she was 23." CONDOLEEZZA RICE REPRESENTED COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS "Rice worked on nuclear strategic planning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff as part of a Council on Foreign Relations fellowship." DUKAKIS DEMOCRAT SHAPES DUBYA'S IMAGE "Media strategist Mark McKinnon is the hippest member of the Bush inner circle. ... He owns a nightclub in Austin. And he's a Democrat. McKinnon, 45, worked for Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who lost to Bush's father in 1988. He worked for Texas Gov. Ann Richards, whom Bush defeated in the 1994 gubernatorial election. McKinnon joined the team for Bush's 1998 re-election campaign. He's known for his soft TV ads and his reluctance to go negative." GOLDMAN SACHS VETERAN HELPS SHAPE BUSH TRADE POLICY "[Josh] Bolten, 45, is a brainy, mellow man with no desire to become famous. ... He's got imposing credentials: He taught law at Yale University, served as general counsel for U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills.... Before joining the campaign in March 1999, he worked in London for Goldman Sachs International." MUSH AND BORE IN PHILADEPHIA Michael Kinsley observes (Washington Post, 8/1/00, p. A23) that George W. Bush "shares his father's attitude that politics is a game, along with the preppy ethic that one should be serious about games and casual about life. The best thing about George W. is his non-neurotic attitude that he's playing this game to win but he won't fall apart if he doesn't. The worst thing about him is almost the same: Nothing is at stake except winning the game." PRO-QUOTA, PRO-ABORTION, PRO-HOMOSEXUAL SPEAKERS AT THE PODIUM -- CONSERVATIVE ADVOCACY INTENTIONALLY ABSENT "So at this week's convention he is enforcing the absence of a party line with an iron fist. 'Hard-edged conservatives' will be banned from speaking. All views are tolerated except for any view that some other view is wrong. For years Republicans have scored points off the Democrats for refusing to let an ardent right-to-lifer address the 1992 convention. Now they're practically doing the same thing. The platform may say that abortion is the murder of an innocent child, but hey! No big deal! Those good folks who favor the murder of innocent children are welcome inside the big tent. And anyone who has a word to say against people who favor child murder had better not try to say it here." A PLATFORM ON WHICH THEY MAY OR MAY NOT STAND "Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, chairman of the platform committee, does the television rounds urging people not to take the platform seriously. It is merely a statement of core Republican principles, he insists bizarrely -- nothing anybody is supposed to agree with, least of all their presidential candidate." CHENEY: THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, were guests on CNN's Larry King Live on July 25, the day George W. Bush named Cheney to be his Vice Presidential running mate. CHENEY DIRECTED DEFENSE CUTBACKS DICK CHENEY: "[W]inning the Cold War, frankly, is one of the things that's allowed us to cut back on defense spending from about 6 percent of GNP during the Cold War, to less than 3 percent today. That's where an awful lot of savings have come from. ... [I]t was my responsibility as secretary of defense in the early '90s to, in fact, reduce our military in a sound and intelligent way...." IT WAS THE MONEY, NOT THE PRINCIPLE LARRY KING: "You voted against Head Start.... Would you vote against it now?" DICK CHENEY: "I would not vote against Head Start today. ... [O]ne of my major concerns consistently throughout that period of time...was the notion of fiscal responsibility.... "Today, in the '90s, thanks to the dynamism of the American economy, and I think the election of a Republican Congress in 1994, we now have a significant surplus, and we're now in a position to be able to look at doing some things from the compassionate standpoint, for example, that we simply couldn't afford 10 or 15 or 20 years ago. ..." CHENEY NOW APPROVES SLAUGHTER OF RAPE-INCEST BABIES LARRY KING: "Dick, on the abortion issue, a couple years ago on this program you said that you'd been pro-life all your life, and that included every aspect of pro-life. I believe you'd even say you're pro-life in the area of rape and incest; right? You believe the fetus is a person." DICK CHENEY: "Well, I consistently supported the pro-life position, Larry, but I don't have any problem supporting the pro-life proposition as Governor Bush has supported it, that is that it would allow for exceptions for rape, incest or the life of [the] mother. ..." ABORTION IS NO BIG DEAL, CHENEY AVERS LARRY KING: "You think it's a major issue in the campaign?" DICK CHENEY: "Well, I don't think so. That is to say, I don't believe it ought to be the defining issue for our party. I think we've got to be a party that's big enough to incorporate within it people of diverse views. ..." CHENEY ALSO FAVORS EXCEPTIONS TO THE 2d AMENDMENT LARRY KING: "[Y]ou voted against every gun control law. Is that...true?" DICK CHENEY: "I can't say that I voted against every one, Larry. I'd have to go back and analyze the record. ..." TRIGGER-LOCKS FOR THE LAW-ABIDING "Again, I think a lot of those votes were cast 15 or 20 years ago. I think if you look at the kind of package that Governor Bush has supported, I think that there are indeed provisions there that make sense. I think we can do [a] much better job than we have been doing, in terms of enforcing the existing laws that are on the books with respect to gun ownership. I think it makes sense to talk about ensuring that trigger locks are available, for example, for all handguns.... So, I think there are a number of things we can do that I certainly would support and that Governor Bush has proposed...." THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS MUST NOT BE INFRINGED In my remarks to the Civil Rights Rally sponsored by the Capitol District Shooters Committee on Political Education (SCOPE) and Organized Gun Owners of New York State, I expressed disappointment that GOP Vice Presidential candidate Dick Cheney, who had a good gun rights voting record when he was a member of Congress from 1979 to 1989, was already falling into the pattern of Senator Bob Dole, Governor George Pataki, and Congressman Rick Lazio -- engaging in "the politics of preemptive concession" -- making concessions and offering to surrender our rights while getting nothing in return. The Republican Party, I observed (to 200 New Yorkers gathered outside the State Capitol in Albany), is the party of "the four C's" -- "Consensus, Compromise, Conciliation, and Cooperation" -- as enunciated by Dick Cheney's old boss, President Gerald Ford. By that strategy, our side surrenders core principles, in the hope that our enemies will be nice to us. But the right to keep and bear arms is a principle which must not be surrendered, conceded, or compromised. NO EXCEPTIONS If you make even one exception to the rule, you have surrendered the principle and opened the door to other compromises -- to a diminution of liberty which leads inevitability to the registration -- and ultimately -- to confiscation of our weapons. IT IS OUR DUTY, AS WELL AS OUR RIGHT We have not only the right, but the duty to defend our families and our communities. We cannot delegate that duty or surrender that obligation. Dick Cheney, unfortunately, is now buying into the George W. Bush compromises on gun control -- for example, embracing the stupid policy of requiring trigger locks on the guns of law-abiding citizens. JANET RENO'S GESTAPO DID NOT USE TRIGGER LOCKS "Does he really believe," I asked, "that criminals and government agents will have trigger locks on their weapons?" When Bill Clinton's and Janet Reno's Gestapo invaded the Gonzalez home in Miami to kidnap young Elian, there were no trigger locks on the assault weapons of those Federal storm troopers. CONTROL CLINTON'S GUNS, NOT OURS "I am all in favor of controlling the guns which the Federal government use against the American people," I said, "and I will fight to defend the complete Second Amendment rights of the American people." After all, the war for American independence began, not when Britain taxed us without representation, but when the royal governors of Massachusetts and Virginia moved to seize the arsenals of the people at Concord and Lexington and at Williamsburg. I want a government which fears the people, not a people which is defenseless against its government. DOES HEAD START MERIT DICK CHENEY'S SUPPORT? According to John Whitehead (Rutherford Institute News, 7/25/00), "A civil suit filed by Rutherford Institute attorneys on behalf of 14 families against Head Start, Tulsa City and County [Oklahoma], and various health officials who conducted gynecological and genital examinations on grade-school children against their will and without their parents' knowledge or consent will move to trial, according to a recent ruling by a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma." HEAD START CONDUCTED GENITAL EXAMS WITHOUT PRIOR PARENTAL KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT "The court denied a motion to dismiss filed by the Head Start program and Tulsa Public Schools. In refusing to dismiss the parents' claims for invasion of privacy and unlawful search and seizure, the court stated that the lawsuit 'raises serious privacy concerns.' 'Plaintiffs allege more than an unconsented touching,' the court said. 'They allege that children were required to submit to a nude examination, without their consent or the informed written consent of their parents, and that this examination extended beyond mere nudity to an examination of the most private areas of their bodies....surely removing [children's] underwear and gazing at [their] genitalia, for whatever purposes, is such an invasion [of privacy].'" THREE-YEAR-OLDS TERRIFIED BY HEAD START'S FORCED MANIPULATION OF THEIR SEXUAL ORGANS "On November 5, 1998, two LPN nurses arrived at the Head Start program to examine the children, all between the ages of three and five. One nurse took blood samples while the other performed the physicals. The second nurse placed the children on a floor mat atop a school desk. Then, without wearing hygienic gloves, she removed the minors' undergarments and proceeded to examine their genitals." PARENTAL PRESENCE DENIED "During the procedure, some of the children cried. One child requested that his mother accompany him during the exam. The LPN refused. Misti Dubbs, parent and assistant Head Start teacher, did go into the examination room with her daughter." YOUR TAXES FUND OUTRAGEOUS SEXUAL ABUSE OF SMALL CHILDREN "When the LPN began to check her daughter's genitals, Dubbs immediately removed her child from further examination. Dubbs also informed other parents of what had happened. Parents were outraged. One parent took his child to his family practitioner to check for sexual abuse; another parent reported the incident on a sexual abuse hotline in Tulsa County." HEAD START DEFENDS ITS PERVERSE PRACTICE "The Head Start Director, Jerome Lee, said at the time of the incident that he didn't think there was anything strange or unusual about the physicals. The lawsuit, which alleges violations of assault and battery, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of due process, and violation of equal protection under the law, will proceed to the trial preparation stage, and Rutherford Institute attorneys will take depositions of the Tulsa and Head Start officials." July 15, 2000 BUSH WANTS TO SWEEP ABORTION UNDER THE RUG Richard L. Berke reports (New York Times, 6/29/00, p. A20) on strikingly different reactions to the Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision striking down Nebraska's partial birth abortion ban, noting that "The contrasting strategies -- and remarks from the two rivals -- reflect differing political imperatives. The Bush strategy is to make the abortion issue go away, and, for his campaign, the timing of today's ruling is not propitious. The last thing the Republicans want one month before their nominating convention is another spectacle that turns rancorous over abortion. Not only that, the ruling comes as Mr. Bush is mulling whether he dares pick a running mate who favors abortion rights and how he can finesse the issue in the party platform. ..." FOR BUSH ABORTION IS A POLITICAL ISSUE, NOT A MORAL PROBLEM "'This is the worst news that the Bush campaign could get,' said Ann Stone, national chairwoman of the Republicans for Choice PAC. "The closeness of the ruling, Ms. Stone said, gave Mr. Gore a fresh hook to declare that abortion rights may be endangered, and to shore up his sagging support from women. "Richard N. Bond, the former Republican Party chairman who for years has counseled the party not to let itself split over abortion, said the best thing Mr. Bush could do was to keep a low profile on the issue. ..." CONSERVATIVE "LEADERS" ARE KIDDING THEMSELVES AND DECEIVING OTHERS IN SUGGESTING THAT BUSH WILL DO ANYTHING ABOUT ABORTION "It was no surprise that Mr. Bush, in his remarks, failed to mention the prospect of vacancies on the Supreme Court. While conservative groups have trumpeted the balance of the court as a high-stakes voting issue, Mr. Bush almost never raises it. He does not want to put off moderate and swing voters who may support abortion rights. He also knows, perhaps, that usually only the most partisan voters think about the makeup of the court. ... "[T]he ruling today may embolden conservatives, some of whom want Mr. Bush, like Mr. Gore, to turn it into a rallying cry to discuss the court itself. But in their determination that Mr. Bush capture the White House, they are reluctant to press him to be outspoken on the issue. ..." AN IRRELEVANT OUTCOME "JUSTIFIES" DECEPTIVE MEANS "Gov. Bill Graves of Kansas put it this way: 'Many Republicans are prepared to put aside differences on abortion and other issues in exchange for the greater good: the election of George Bush as president.'" June 30, 2000 "DUBYA" IS RHETORICALLY "PRO-LIFE" (WITH EXCEPTIONS) BUT WILL DO NOTHING TO STOP EVEN ONE ABORTION MARA LIASSON: "You know, Governor Bush is pro-life, as you say. But he's probably talked less about abortion than any other Republican presidential candidate in recent memory. And he seems to be sending a message to suburban females that are pro-choice that says, Look, I am pro-life but don't worry. I'm not going to do anything about it once I get into office. How aggressive do you expect a President George Bush to be on this issue?" GOV. TOM RIDGE: "Well, I think what you see with Governor Bush is what you get. I mean he has not said anything other than there would be no litmus test for the Supreme Court, there would be no litmus tests for his running mate. ..." Source: Fox News Sunday (6/4/00) interview with Pennsylvania GOP Governor Tom Ridge. June 15, 2000 HOUSE HEROES RESISTED PRESSURE FROM GEORGE W. BUSH, AL GORE, BILL CLINTON, DENNIS HASTERT, DICK ARMEY, TOM DeLAY, AND THE REST OF THE RED CHINA LOBBY GOP DELIVERS FOR BILL CLINTON AND BIG BUSINESS Eric Schmitt reports (New York Times, 5/26/00, p. 1) from Washington that "When Representative Tom DeLay came to work on Wednesday, he was still a vote or two shy of the bare-minimum 150 Republicans he needed to help push the China trade bill over the top." TOM DeLAY, G.W. BUSH, AND COLIN POWELL WHIPPED REPUBLICAN BACK-BENCHERS "Mr. DeLay, the Republican whip, had lined up lots of help. Gov. George W. Bush of Texas was recruited to cajole several wavering Republicans. So was Gen. Colin L. Powell. Dozens of pro-grade lobbyists and corporate chieftains fanned out on Capitol Hill to buttonhole the last dozen or so undeclared members for what both camps predicted would be a nail-biter. "Over the next crucial hours, those calls and an array of other influences paid off, as virtually every undeclared Republican, and even a few others who had been written off, broke Mr. DeLay's way. In all, 164 Republicans joined 73 Democrats [who] voted to grant China permanent normal trading status, wiping out economic restrictions rooted in cold-war policy for a quarter century. ..." 2/3 OF GOP ABANDONED ANTI-COMMUNISM "Normalizing trade with China was a victory for the Clinton administration, but House Republicans had their own reasons for voting three-to-one in favor of the bill. Passage insured that Republicans' corporate benefactors would fully benefit.... "The House Republican leadership closed ranks behind the bill.... But they needed to produce two-thirds of the yes votes, and had a tough sell with many Republicans who balked at rewarding a trade plum to a Communist government with a record of religious persecution and political repression." May 31, 2000 G.W. BUSH IS CONSTITUTIONALLY IGNORANT OR INDIFFERENT Eric Schmitt reports (New York Times, 5/17/00, p. A11) that "Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, today sharply criticized a bill backed by Senate Republicans that would set a deadline for withdrawing American ground troops from Kosovo. Mr. Bush called the bill a 'legislative overreach' that would tie his hands if he becomes president. ... "Until today, momentum seemed to be building among most Senate Republicans for the measure, which would cut off funds for the 5,900 United States forces in Kosovo by July 1, 2001, forcing their withdrawal, unless Congress authorizes an extension. Many Republicans said they assumed that Mr. Bush endorsed the measure, which may be voted on as early as [May 24]. ..." "'The Clinton-Gore administration has failed to instill trust in Congress and the American people when it comes to our military and deployment of troops overseas, but the governor does not believe this provision is the way to resolve the lack of presidential leadership,' Scott McClellan, a spokesman for Mr. Bush, said. 'Governor Bush views it as a legislative overreach on powers of the presidency.'" "Top aides to President Clinton have recommended that he veto an $8.6 billion military construction bill if the Senate language is attached. The bill includes $4.7 billion for American military operations in Kosovo, anti-drug efforts in Colombia and other defense spending." 15 GOP SENATORS WALK THE PLANK FOR DUBYA ON KOSOVO Eric Schmitt adds (New York Times, 5/19/00, pp. 1, 10) that "In a victory for the Clinton administration, the Senate...narrowly rejected a measure to set a deadline for withdrawing American ground troops from Kosovo. Gov. George W. Bush of Texas had also criticized the measure, but even so 40 Republicans voted for it." SPENCER ABRAHAM, BILL ROTH, ORRIN HATCH AND OTHER Y2K CANDIDATES IGNORE THE CONSTITUTION "By a vote of 53 to 47, senators stripped a provision from a military construction spending bill that would have cut off funds for the 5,600 United States troops in Kosovo by July 1, 2001, forcing their withdrawal unless Congress authorized an extension. ... "Fifteen of the 55 Republicans voted for a Democratic amendment to strike the withdrawal language from the $8.6 billion military construction spending bill. At least two or three Republicans, including Thad Cochran of Mississippi, said they were swayed by the opposition by Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. ..." Those 15 Republican Senators who voted (53-47, Roll Call no. 105, 5/18/00) to remove language requiring the United States to withdraw ground troops from Kosovo on July 1, 2001 were: Abraham (Mich.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), Cochran (Miss.), DeWine (Ohio), Frist (Tenn.), Hagel (Neb.), Hatch (Utah), Jeffords (Vt.), Lugar (Ind.), Mack (Fla.), McCain (Ariz.), Roth (Del.), Smith (Ore.), Thompson (Tenn.), and Voinovich (Ohio). "'The intent of the amendment is to restore congressional oversight over the Kosovo mission,' said Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the provision's chief Democratic sponsor. 'Of course, the administration doesn't like it. They want a free hand to participate in military adventurism whenever and wherever they please. They don't want to hear a peep out of Congress.'" BUSH JUDICIAL APPOINTEES KILL PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF ABORTION According to the RNC For Life Report (March/April 2000, No. 33), "The Texas law requiring that parents be notified prior to the performance of an abortion on a minor has been virtually nullified by the Texas Supreme Court. "On March 22, in a 6-3 decision, the Texas Supreme Court vacated a decision by an appellate court upholding a district court ruling that a 17 year-old girl is not mature enough to make an abortion decision without notifying her parents. ..." GOP JUDGES ARE PRO-ABORTION "All nine members of the Texas Supreme Court are Republicans. The majority of the court -- led by Chief Justice Tom Phillips and joined by Justices Craig Enoch, James A. Baker, Deborah Hankinson, Harriet O'Neill and Alberto Gonzales -- said the girl's emotional well-being and the long-term family relationship needed to be considered. "Justice Hecht accused the majority, three of whom -- Baker, Gonzales, and Hankinson -- were appointed by [Texas Governor George W.] Bush to fill vacancies, of exhibiting judicial activism and re-writing the Parental Notification Act...." BUSH DEFERRED TO THE COURT "Governor Bush signed the Parental Notification Act into law, and refers to it frequently when addressing pro-life audiences on the campaign trail. However, when it was passed last year, he went along with the curious provision which assigned to the Texas Supreme Court the authority to write the guidelines rather than spelling them out in the legislation. ..." NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE IS IN THE BAG FOR BUSH "Texas Right to Life and its parent organization National Right to Life Committee have thrown their wholehearted support behind George W. Bush in his quest for the presidency, despite his refusal to commit to nominating pro-life judges." GOVERNOR DUBYA APPOINTS PRO-HOMO, PRO-ABORTION JUDGE According to the Republican National Coalition for Life (FaxNotes, 4/20/00), "Pro-life, pro-family Texans were disturbed to learn that George W. Bush has appointed a liberal Democrat supporter of the Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus and also of Planned Parenthood, Martha Hill Jamison, to the 164th District Court in Houston. Judge Jamison is the daughter of former Texas Supreme Court chief justice and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate John Hill, a powerful Texas Democrat. She was appointed to a bench vacated by a Democrat. Many are questioning why Bush would appoint a former Democrat (she recently 'converted' to the Republican Party) and an apparent liberal at that, when there are many conservative Republicans who could easily have filled that slot." BUSH PLEDGES TO EXPAND NAFTA "FROM ALASKA TO CAPE HORN" Patricia Wilson of Reuters reports from Mexico (USA Today, 4/25/00, p. 7A) that "Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, standing on an international stage for the first time in his campaign, vowed Monday to broaden trade with Latin America." "CROSSING A BRIDGE" AWAY FROM CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL OF TRADE POLICY "'As president, I will look south, not as an afterthought but as a fundamental commitment of my presidency,' the Texas governor told a crowd of 2,500 on one side of a new international bridge linking Mexico and the United States. "'As president, I will work to create an entire hemisphere of free trade. I will work to extend the benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement from northernmost Alaska to the tip of Cape Horn,' he said." BUSH PLEDGES TO ENACT THE CLINTON-GORE AGENDA -- "Flanked by Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at an open-air loading dock a few hundred yards from the U.S. border and the southern Texas city of Laredo, Bush pledged to call on Congress to give him fast-track negotiating authority, so he could 'aggressively pursue' free-trade agreements." -- INCLUDING FAST TRACK, FTAA, AND RED CHINA TO WTO "Bush plans to unveil a package of free-trade proposals, including strict enforcement of anti-dumping laws and the admission of China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization, in a major policy speech later this spring, according to Karen Hughes, his communications director. "The eight-lane World Trade Bridge was officially opened April 15 at a ceremony in Laredo attended by U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. ..." CONTINUING HIS FATHER'S "NEW WORLD ORDER" LEGACY "Bush noted that NAFTA, which encompasses the United States, Mexico and Canada, had been negotiated while his father was president. He said its success has proved that 'our nations share more than a common border.' ... "The $128 million bridge is the only crossing open to trucks and commercial vehicles from Laredo, Texas, to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Two older downtown bridges remain open for cars and pedestrians. Laredo is the largest port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border; it accounts for about 40% of cross-border overland merchandise trade, according to the Commerce Department." BUSH UNASHAMEDLY PUSHES FEDERAL CONTROL OF EDUCATION Jacques Steinberg reports (New York Times, 3/31/00, p. 1) that "George W. Bush likes to say that if elected president he has no intention of serving as the nation's schools superintendent, dispatching the apparatchiks of the federal government to play a role that is better left to school board members. ... "But their protestations to the contrary, with Mr. Bush or Mr. Gore as president, the federal government would have a more forceful presence in American classrooms than in previous administrations. ... "Mr. Bush, taking a more hands-on approach than his conservative Republican allies, this week proposed a national reading initiative with the kind of sweep and urgency more likely to roll off the lips of a Democrat. He would spend more than $1 billion a year for five years to train teachers to diagnose illiteracy in young children and to remedy such problems in individual classrooms. "Yesterday, he proposed nearly $600 million a year in additional aid to education, most of it for teacher training, but also to give teachers tax deductions for out-of-pocket expenses on school supplies. ... "Mr. Bush is also the first leading Republican to call for increasing the budget and responsibilities of the federal Department of Education, which became a discrete cabinet agency in the Carter administration; for years, the Republican party has called for the department's abolition." BUSH "TAX CUT" IS LESS THAN MEETS THE EYE Glenn Kessler warns (Washington Post, 5/11/00, p. E1): "Attention, wealthy Americans: Don't dream too much about that Bush tax cut just yet. "The savings aren't as big as advertised, especially for taxpayers with annual incomes of $130,000 to $319,000." "ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX" UNTOUCHED BY THE "COMPASSIONATE" CANDIDATE "In crafting Texas Gov. George W. Bush's tax plan, advisers for the Republican presidential candidate proposed to significantly reduce federal tax brackets but decided not to adjust the alternative minimum tax, which is designed to ensure that high-income households and companies don't escape paying taxes. The net result: Millions of taxpayers would find any potential tax savings from the Bush plan eaten up by the minimum tax. "This little-noticed wrinkle in the plan also helps keep its cost down, making it at least $400 billion less expensive over 10 years than the $2.2 trillion that rival Vice President Gore has claimed on the campaign trail. But it has struck some experts as an odd decision because it undercuts Bush's argument that cutting top rates will 'provide a powerful economic stimulus.'" April 15, 2000 WITH GOP CONSERVATIVES IN THE BAG, BUSH SEEKS HOMOSEXUAL SUPPORT Frank Bruni reports from Los Angeles (New York Times, 4/8/00, p. A9) that "Gov. George W. Bush said today that he had invited a small group of gay Republicans to talk with him at the governor's mansion in Austin, Tex. ... "[T]he simple fact of the planned meeting, which came only after Mr. Bush wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination, hints at the governor's desire to project a more moderate image in the general election than he did in the primaries. Mr. Bush's remarks on the topic today suggested the same interest. "'This is a different time,' he said at a campaign stop here this morning, explaining why he was now willing to meet with gays but had previously avoided such an encounter." PARTY UNITY: HETEROSEXUALS AND HOMOSEXUALS IN THE BIG TENT "'The campaign is over,' Mr. Bush added, referring to the primaries. 'It's important for me to unify our party. And I welcome the gay Americans who support me, some of whom are members of the Log Cabin Republican club.' ... "The comments by Mr. Bush, who allied himself strongly with social conservatives in the primaries, are part of a pattern of statements, symbols and gestures by which he seems to be trying to inch back toward the center of the political spectrum." BUSH LURCHES LEFT ON GUN CONTROL AND EDUCATION "In the last month or so, Mr. Bush has indicated an incrementally greater receptiveness to gun-control legislation....The governor also announced several new education proposals that underscored a federal role in the nation's public schools and more federal spending. ... "Mr. Bush did not go into much detail about his planned meeting with gay Republicans, which was largely set up by Charles Francis, a gay public relations consultant in Washington who is the brother of James B. Francis Jr., chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Jim Francis has been a fund-raiser for Mr. Bush for many years. "Charles Francis said in a telephone interview that he would be among a dozen gay Republicans visiting the governor's mansion, and that the group included Mayor Jim Stewart of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and former Representative Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin. The group also includes some officials with state chapters of the Log Cabin Republicans, Mr. Francis said." GEORGE SAYS "LET'S HEAR IT" FROM "GAY CONSERVATIVES" "He said Mr. Bush had long wanted to meet with gay supporters and seemed more eager now that the primaries were over. 'George and I were talking awhile back,' Mr. Francis said, 'and he said, "Why don't I hear more from gay conservatives?" I said, "I really look forward to making that happen."'" BUSH PLEDGES TO PRESERVE AND EXPAND FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BUSH WANTS $5 BILLION MORE FOR EDUCATION Clifford Levy reports (New York Times, 3/29/00, p. A1) that "Once again mooring a traditionally Democratic issue to the agenda of his Republican presidential campaign, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas today proposed a five-year, $5 billion program to address what he termed a national literacy crisis among children. ... "Aides to Mr. Bush said his plan would help roughly 900,000 children with poor reading skills, at a cost of $1,000 per child per year for tutoring and other assistance. Besides that $900 million, an additional $100 million a year would go to testing and teacher training." Frank Bruni reports from Austin, Texas (New York Times, 4/3/00, p. A15) that "Well before Gov. George W. Bush raised the curtain on his latest education proposals last week, his aides and advisers were busily setting the stage. "They alerted reporters that Mr. Bush would advocate more federal spending and bluntly asked how many Republican leaders in Congress were eager to do likewise. They signaled that the Texas governor would buck the Republican orthodoxy in Washington, a creed of minimal federal meddling in the nation's public schools. "When Mr. Bush finally spoke, he distilled his approach into a succinct line. 'I won't close down the Department of Education,' he said." DUBYA'S VISION THING IS "ME, TOO" CONSERVATISM Investor's Business Daily editorializes (4/3/00, p. A24) that "Bush is throwing good money after bad. We've spent trillions of dollars on education since the 1960s. What exactly do we have to show for it? Test scores that went into deep decline and are only now inching upward. Dropouts have soared, as have the number of colleges that have been forced to provide remedial reading and math classes. ... "Does Bush really think that throwing a few billion at education just for The New York Times editorial board is going to satisfy the statist quo? "It certainly didn't impress Gore, who pointed out that Bush's sudden interest in federal education spending conflicts with his tax-cut philosophy. A valid observation. But illiteracy is a 'national emergency,' says Bush. Indeed, it is. But who is responsible for that? The federal government? Hardly. "We are back to Bush's 'compassionate conservatism,' which is neither compassionate nor conservative in the end, for it copies the very conventional thinking that created these emergencies in the first place." March 15, 2000 BUSH, GORE, AND CLINTON ARE UNITED IN SUPPORT OF TRADE SUBSIDIES FOR RED CHINA Regarding the bipartisan push to give Red China membership in the World Trade Organization and permanent "Most Favored Nation" status, The New York Times (3/9/00, p. A1) reports that President Clinton "is getting little help from Vice President Gore, who, to appease labor unions that vociferously oppose the deal, said three weeks ago that he would negotiate something better if elected to office. Mr. Gore later reiterated his support for the deal the administration struck, but his aides did not return calls on the subject today. "Ari Fleischer, a spokesman for the presumed Republican nominee, Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, said Mr. Bush remains a 'vocal supporter' of China's entry into the trade organization, because 'it is in our interest, and it is in the interest of the Chinese to grow an entrepreneurial middle class.' "But he said the governor did not yet have a position on tying passage of the bill to providing new arms for Taiwan, a movement that several Republicans are considering as the price for their support." BUSH'S WOLFOWITZ BOOSTS CLINTON'S AID FOR RED CHINA "Mr. Clinton was introduced today [at Johns Hopkins University's foreign affairs graduate school] by Paul Wolfowitz, dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. But Mr. Wolfowitz, who is one of Governor Bush's leading foreign policy advisers, did not mention that Mr. Bush has been more vocal in his support of the bill [proposing permanent Most-Favored-Nation trade status for Red China] than Mr. Clinton's own vice president." January 31, 2000 BUSH AND McCAIN AGREE ABOUT HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MILITARY E.J. Dionne Jr. editorializes (Washington Post, 1/14/00, p. A27) with regard to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy: "Here's big news that isn't reported this way: The two front-running Republican candidates for president believe gays and lesbians should be able to serve in our nation's armed forces. "That's what George W. Bush and John McCain are saying when they support the current 'don't ask, don't tell' policy that lets homosexuals serve in the military as long as they don't disclose their sexual orientation. ... "Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes, the tribunes of social conservatism in the presidential race, don't think Bush and McCain are nearly conservative enough and would restore the old ban on gays in the military -- which, after all, was the mainstream position in politics only a decade ago. "But neither Keyes nor Bauer is going to win the Republican nomination judging from what conservative Republicans are telling pollsters; Bush and McCain are the candidates of the conservative mainstream." WHO SPEAKS FOR CONSERVATIVES? "'It's extraordinary that "don't ask, don't tell" is now the conservative position,' says David Mixner, a prominent gay rights activist. 'I think the American people are more comfortable with the idea that gay and lesbian soldiers serve with honor and distinction and have gotten over a lot of fears.' ... "That Bush and McCain are comfortable saying what they're saying about gays in the military, and that Gore and Bradley are willing to press even further, is the best evidence that Mixner is right." January 15, 2000 BUSH ADVISER BELIEVES RED REGIME IN CHINA CAN BE PERSUADED TO SUBSTITUTE "DEMOCRACY" FOR MAOIST IMPERIALISM One of George Bush's top foreign policy advisors, Paul Wolfowitz (touted as Bush's top choice for Secretary of Defense), currently a professor of international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, asserts (Commentary, January 2000, p. 46) that "In the case of China, our limited influence on that country is more likely to be effective if we take the milder course that President Reagan followed in dealing with authoritarian regimes like the Philippines and South Korea than the approach he took toward our ideological rival in the cold war, the Soviet Union." IS RED CHINA MORE LIKE THE PHILIPPINES UNDER MARCOS THAN THE SOVIET UNION UNDER ANDROPOV? This is an extraordinarily unsound perspective. South Korea and the Philippines have, throughout recent decades, been friends of the United States of America, whereas Communist China has declared us to be its main enemy. The issue is only partially related to Red China's authoritarianism. The key question for U.S. decisionmakers must be: Does our policy help Communist China pose a greater or lesser threat to U.S. vital interests? Free market totalitarianism is not the answer. Wolfowitz is wrong in presupposing that Communist China is not an ideological rival. Mr. Wolfowitz's thinking gives us a pretty good clue of the theoretical rationale for the pro-Red China policy now being contemplated by the prospective Bush administration. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. December 31, 1999 BUSH AND McCAIN BACK CLINTON AND GORE ON TRADE AID FOR RED CHINA John Broder notes (New York Times, 11/16/99, p. A10) that "Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and Senator John McCain of Arizona gave qualified endorsements of the trade deal, saying that bringing China into the global trading scheme would help moderate its economic and political behavior. ... "The two Democratic candidates, Vice President Al Gore and former Senator Bill Bradley, applauded the trade agreement, although aides said that Mr. Bradley would reserve final judgment until he had a chance to study its terms. Both candidates are seeking a way to embrace free trade with China while not alienating important Democratic constituencies -- including organized labor and some human rights advocates -- who oppose it. ..." BAUER AND FORBES OPPOSE PERMANENT TRADE ADVANTAGES FOR RED CHINA "'The more heated debate will be within the Republican Party,' said Gary Bauer, a Republican presidential candidate and vehement opponent of the trade deal. 'There will be a Reagan wing making my argument, and the trade wing -- the Bush wing -- unfortunately siding with Clinton and Gore on this.' "Mr. Bush said in a statement that he has consistently supported membership of China in the World Trading [sic] Organization, a position also advocated by his father, former President Bush. ... "Mr. Forbes, a millionaire magazine publisher who is largely financing his own campaign, said last week in a speech on China policy that he strongly opposes allowing China to join the global trade group." FORBES BACKS TAIWAN FOR WTO "'Let me be clear,' Mr. Forbes said in an address at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif.: 'Yes to Taiwan in the W.T.O. No to China. Beijing hasn't earned it, and we shouldn't give it. Period. It is time for our government to reward freedom and democracy -- not force and demagoguery -- and let us never forget it.' ..." AFL-CIO IS RIGHT, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IS WRONG "John Sweeney, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president, criticized the agreement as a 'grave mistake' and accused the administration of being 'disgustingly hypocritical' in claiming that trade deals help to moderate Chinese behavior." DOES DUBYA AGREE WITH MOMMA AND MRS? Cokie Roberts interviewed both Mrs. Barbara Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush on the December 19 edition of ABC-TV's This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts: BARBARA BUSH BELIEVES THERE'S NOTHING A PRESIDENT CAN DO TO CURB ABORTION COKIE ROBERTS: "The other area of advice that you could give is on talking about issues and of course the one that's been so touchy in the Republican Party has been the issue of abortion, where you said at one point, 'Just get it outta that platform.'" BARBARA BUSH: "I believe that. I believe that it's a -- I believe in state's rights, and I don't think it should be in a national platform. Nothing a President can do about it anyway, in all honesty, Cokie. The law is there, and I just think it should not be, and you shouldn't answer that question 'cause I'm getting into trouble for you." ... LAURA BUSH FAVORS FEDERAL ROLE SUBSIDIZING "THE ARTS" COKIE ROBERTS: "The other thing that I noticed, Mrs. Bush, is how much you've been involved in all of the Texas arts, and all that, and I was at your house this morning and saw how you're supporting the artists. How do you feel about funding for the arts?" LAURA BUSH: "Well, I think funding, national funding from -- for the arts is important. I think that it's very important, particularly for smaller, rural areas that don't have a big funding base of their own. I think the NEA grants were announced to -- today or yesterday, I read them [ph] in Texas, and a lot of that funding, of course, goes to the symphony orchestras, and the art museums, and different things that need funding. I think it's -- I think it's fine." November 15, 1999 "CONSERVATIVE LEADERS" PROSTITUTE THEIR "PRINCIPLES" SHILLING FOR BUSH According to Richard L. Berke (New York Times, 11/7/99, p. 1): "Fearful that Gov. George W. Bush's stand on abortion could cost him crucial support, prominent conservative leaders are working aggressively behind the scenes to persuade their followers to put aside misgivings and rally behind the Texas governor." PRO-LIFE STANCE NOT A LITMUS TEST FOR THOSE WHO WANT A FRONT ROW SEAT IN THE BIG TENT "While Mr. Bush opposes abortion, he has taken pains not to appear to be a single-issue crusader. He rarely uses the word 'abortion.' He said there would be 'no litmus test' for judicial nominees. And last month, in a speech to the Christian Coalition, he mentioned abortion only in passing." GRASS-ROOTS "FOLLOWERS" OF CELEBRITY CONSERVATIVES MUST LEARN TO SETTLE FOR LESS "Now, in a flurry of newsletters, speeches and one-on-one conversations, many conservative leaders are mounting what they call a 'pre-emptive strike' intended to tamp down stirrings of unrest in their ranks and prevent Mr. Bush's strategy from unraveling. ... "Conservatives are trying this newly pragmatic approach on issues including school prayer, gay rights and international affairs. But their biggest push is on abortion, one of the most divisive topics in Republican politics." DO THEY WORRY ABOUT BEING CONSIDERED WHEN BUSH PICKS HIS CABINET? "In appeals to the politically active members of their groups -- the ones most likely to vote in the Republican primaries -- the conservative leaders make clear that they believe Mr. Bush can win the election if he is left politically unfettered on the issues -- and that he will support their causes once in office." "NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE SOME OF THE TIME" COMMITTEE WARNS AGAINST VOTING PRO-LIFE "In its recent newsletters, the National Right to Life Committee, the nation's largest anti-abortion group, has repeatedly urged its members not to stray to a third party. The group has not officially endorsed Mr. Bush but leaves no doubt of its support. ... "This preaching of pragmatism has been partly orchestrated by the Bush campaign, according to both conservative leaders and Bush advisers, but it also reflects independent judgments by many prominent conservatives. "It underscores an appreciable shift from the 1980's -- even from four years ago -- when conservative groups advocated no compromises on abortion. Many of the leaders said they were so willing to embrace Mr. Bush because he could well win. ..." MIKE FERRIS [SIC], RALPH REED, ET AL ARE "BOUND FOR GLORY" WITH GOP "While well-known conservative leaders like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Ralph Reed have lined up behind Mr. Bush, the campaign has quietly enlisted the support of many other influential conservatives. "For example, Mike Ferris [sic], president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, was a national co-chairman of Mr. Buchanan's campaign four years ago but this year is advising Mr. Bush. (He said he would also be satisfied with the positions of Steve Forbes.) "Mr. Ferris [sic] said he was about to publish several articles to urge his followers to be pragmatic. 'Some people think it's a matter of great faith just to support the things that are unrealistic; I don't read the word of God to say that,' Mr. Ferris [sic] said. 'We stand for ideals. But we stand for ideals in a way that they are going to be accomplished.'" FARRIS WARNS AGAINST THIRD PARTIES, FAVORS PREEMPTIVE SURRENDER "Although Mr. Ferris [sic] said 'Buchanan takes a stronger pro-life view than Bush,' he urged his supporters not to back his former candidate because 'he's not going to get elected.'" PRAGMATISM IS THE BATTLE CRY OF THE BELTWAY CHRISTIANS "Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said that because of his position in the church he would make no endorsement. But he said that he had been spreading the word of pragmatism at church retreats. ..." WHITHER DR. DOBSON? "One of the most influential conservative voices, James C. Dobson, leader of Focus on the Family, whose daily radio show draws five million listeners, has stayed silent for months, perhaps an encouraging sign for Mr. Bush. Dr. Dobson has for years been particularly close to Mr. Bauer but has not endorsed him despite pleas from the Bauer campaign. "'Gary has talked to Dr. Dobson about it and would very much like Dr. Dobson's official endorsement,' said Tim Goeglein, a spokesman for Mr. Bauer. 'We want to do what we can to get it.' "Some conservative leaders said Dr. Dobson was not inclined to side with Mr. Bauer because Mr. Bauer stood little chance of winning the nomination. Carrie Earll, an official at Focus on the Family, said people should not interpret Dr. Dobson's failure to endorse 'as a failure of Dr. Dobson to be supportive of Gary or of disinterest in his campaign.' Dr. Dobson has not taken a public position on Mr. Bush, she said, because 'there are still a lot of unknowns' about Mr. Bush's stands." BUSH IS COUNTING ON LEADERS WHO WILL BETRAY THEIR FOLLOWERS "The effort to reassure the party's conservative base is central to Mr. Bush's strategy for winning the Republican nomination and the White House. By opposing abortion rights, but softening his oratory on the issue, Mr. Bush has sought to satisfy conservative as well as more moderate voters, particularly women, whose support he would want in a general election." October 15, 1999 PAT ROBERTSON DENOUNCES "EXTREME" SUPPORT FOR THE RIGHT TO LIFE Rev. Pat Robertson, President and founder of the Christian Coalition, was interviewed by Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts on ABC's This Week (10/3/99): BUSH IS "VERY ACCEPTABLE" TO ROBERTSON SAM DONALDSON: "...[Y]ou like George W. Bush. And yet a lot of people think that he doesn't have the social agenda on abortion or anything else that in the past, has been the redweed of your Coalition." REV. PAT ROBERTSON: "Well, I think he's a very fine candidate. Because I'm not endorsing anybody yet, but I think he would make a very acceptable candidate." PAT DOESN'T WANT BUSH TO BE TOO CONSERVATIVE SAM DONALDSON: "....[H]ere's something that you said recently, unless you want to deny it. (Laughter) Since it's not inflammatory, you probably won't. 'I personally am interested -- not interested in pushing him...' -- meaning George W. Bush -- 'so far to the right that he will not be electable.'" REV. PAT ROBERTSON: "Yes." SAM DONALDSON: "So, what is it? Is it principle, or is it who can win?" REV. PAT ROBERTSON: "Well, it's principle, but at the same time, I quote that great paragon of virtue, Lyndon Johnson, who said to his left-wing supporters, don't push me so far to the left that I can't win. And I was just merely paraphrasing him. ..." ROBERTSON THINKS IT'S OK TO MURDER CHILDREN SIRED BY THE WRONG PARENTS COKIE ROBERTS: "[D]o you think in the past that the Coalition and some of its followers have pushed candidates too far to the right to be elected?" REV. PAT ROBERTSON: "Well, we did that -- I didn't do it, but my former campaign manager in Virginia did it with a man named Marshall Coleman. In the primary, she pushed him way over to what amounted to an extreme position in relation to abortion, I mean, very extreme. ..." COKIE ROBERTS: "What's an extreme position?" REV. PAT ROBERTSON: "Well, on this one, I mean, there was no exception for anything. I mean, there was no exception for rape or incest or the life of the mother or anything. I mean, it was an absolute ban, a criminalization of abortion." 2002-2001 Bush Watch