:: so John Kerry is a flip-flopper eh? ::
this is a letter to the editor which was posted in liberal:
It is said that if a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes fact. Apparently this is true for James Parmalee, who has bought into the Republican smear machine's characterization of Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper. It is true that Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, but speaking out now that the funding is insufficient to meet these new standards, hardly constitutes a flip flop. Kerry's position on tax cuts is clear. Roll back Bush's tax cuts for those earning more than $200,000 per year, while retaining or even adding to them for the middle class and lower income brackets. Kerry has a consistent record supporting Free Trade Agreements, but has supported tougher labor and environmental standards. I find it surprising that Mr. Parmalee brings up the subject of Free Trade at all when the president's record on this subject is more than a little wobbly. Bush, a proponent of free trade, imposed heavy steel tariffs (conveniently benefitting primarily Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial to his reelection chances) and then after criticism from allies, lifted the tariffs 21 months later. That sounds like a flip-flop-flip.
Indeed, Mr. Bush's record brings new meaning to the term "flip-flop".
While Governor of Texas, Bush opposed an HMO Patient's Bill of Rights. When the bill passed over his veto, he claimed credit for it during the 2000 campaign.
Bush opposed budget deficits until his 2003 budget-busting tax cuts, when he said deficits don't really matter.
In 2000 Bush supported mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions. In 2003, in a letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel, he opposed them.
He stated clearly in the 2000 campaign that gay marriage was an issue best left up to the states. Now he's pushing a constitutional amendment banning them.
Bush opposed the creation of a Department of Homeland Security, then favored it. He opposed the creation of an independent 9/11 commission, then supported it.
He was against negotiating with North Korea over their weapons program, then for it.
He opposed using the military for nation-building, but has bogged us down in a costly operation in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Incidentally, the reasons for invading Iraq seem to change with the weather. First, we were told it was because of weapons of mass destruction. When that proved false, we were told of Iraq's connection to Al Qaeda. When no credible intelligence emerged to support that claim, Bush told us that at least without Saddam, Iraqis need no longer fear the abuse suffered under a brutal regime. Tragically, recent photographs would suggest some abuse continues under new management.
On Osama bin Laden, Bush was quoted September 17, 2001 saying "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" But, on March 13, 2002, at one of his rare press conferences, he said, "I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him. I truly am not that concerned about him."
Charging opponents with flip-flopping is nothing new for Bush. Not only did he level these charges at Al Gore in 2000, but during the Republican primary, he described Senator John McCain, a man of unquestionable decency and character, as an individual who "says one thing and does another." Bush needs to take a good, hard look at his own record, as the list of his flip-flops could fill volumes. Suffice it to say that four years of Bush have produced more serious inconsistencies and missteps than the Republicans could hope to find in Kerry's twenty years in the Senate.
It is said that if a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes fact. Apparently this is true for James Parmalee, who has bought into the Republican smear machine's characterization of Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper. It is true that Kerry voted for the No Child Left Behind Act, but speaking out now that the funding is insufficient to meet these new standards, hardly constitutes a flip flop. Kerry's position on tax cuts is clear. Roll back Bush's tax cuts for those earning more than $200,000 per year, while retaining or even adding to them for the middle class and lower income brackets. Kerry has a consistent record supporting Free Trade Agreements, but has supported tougher labor and environmental standards. I find it surprising that Mr. Parmalee brings up the subject of Free Trade at all when the president's record on this subject is more than a little wobbly. Bush, a proponent of free trade, imposed heavy steel tariffs (conveniently benefitting primarily Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial to his reelection chances) and then after criticism from allies, lifted the tariffs 21 months later. That sounds like a flip-flop-flip.
Indeed, Mr. Bush's record brings new meaning to the term "flip-flop".
While Governor of Texas, Bush opposed an HMO Patient's Bill of Rights. When the bill passed over his veto, he claimed credit for it during the 2000 campaign.
Bush opposed budget deficits until his 2003 budget-busting tax cuts, when he said deficits don't really matter.
In 2000 Bush supported mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions. In 2003, in a letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel, he opposed them.
He stated clearly in the 2000 campaign that gay marriage was an issue best left up to the states. Now he's pushing a constitutional amendment banning them.
Bush opposed the creation of a Department of Homeland Security, then favored it. He opposed the creation of an independent 9/11 commission, then supported it.
He was against negotiating with North Korea over their weapons program, then for it.
He opposed using the military for nation-building, but has bogged us down in a costly operation in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Incidentally, the reasons for invading Iraq seem to change with the weather. First, we were told it was because of weapons of mass destruction. When that proved false, we were told of Iraq's connection to Al Qaeda. When no credible intelligence emerged to support that claim, Bush told us that at least without Saddam, Iraqis need no longer fear the abuse suffered under a brutal regime. Tragically, recent photographs would suggest some abuse continues under new management.
On Osama bin Laden, Bush was quoted September 17, 2001 saying "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" But, on March 13, 2002, at one of his rare press conferences, he said, "I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him. I truly am not that concerned about him."
Charging opponents with flip-flopping is nothing new for Bush. Not only did he level these charges at Al Gore in 2000, but during the Republican primary, he described Senator John McCain, a man of unquestionable decency and character, as an individual who "says one thing and does another." Bush needs to take a good, hard look at his own record, as the list of his flip-flops could fill volumes. Suffice it to say that four years of Bush have produced more serious inconsistencies and missteps than the Republicans could hope to find in Kerry's twenty years in the Senate.