Saturday, October 16, 2004
The Dog Ate My Homework
Excuses, excuses. I am getting tired of an administration that takes no blame for any of the problems that have occurred on its watch. Twice now (once in a press conference and once again in the second debate) Bush has failed to respond to a question regarding what mistakes he has made. If you can't acknowledge any mistakes, how can you possibly begin to address the problems that face this country?
Was invading Iraq, a country that posed no threat to us, a mistake? Not according to Bush, who blames his misjudgment on "bad intelligence" and keeps reinventing after the fact our reasons for going to war.
Was the idea to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy during a time of war a mistake? More excuses. Bush blames the bad economy on the recession, September 11th, the stock market, corporate scandals, and the war.
Here's the reality:
"Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and George Bush Sr. all faced wars and managed to create jobs. Franklin Roosevelt led America toward victory in World War II, after recovering from a devastating attack upon Pearl Harbor. Yet Roosevelt still managed to create jobs: from 1941 until his death in 1945, FDR created 5,567,000 private sector jobs. Truman led the United States to victory over Japan in World War II, and acted to prevent Communist North Korea from taking over South Korea, yet he managed to create 6,452,000 private sector jobs during his term. LBJ committed the United States to the divisive war in Vietnam, yet managed to create 9,458,000 private sector jobs during his term. Nixon faced the Vietnam War, yet created 7,117,000 private sector jobs during his term. The first Bush's recession lasted July 1990-March 1991. George H.W. Bush led a victorious world coalition against Iraq after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Yet George H.W. Bush created 1,465,000 private sector jobs during his term. [Bureau of Labor Statistics; National Bureau of Economic Research]
From http://blog.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/archives/003353.html#more
Was invading Iraq, a country that posed no threat to us, a mistake? Not according to Bush, who blames his misjudgment on "bad intelligence" and keeps reinventing after the fact our reasons for going to war.
Was the idea to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy during a time of war a mistake? More excuses. Bush blames the bad economy on the recession, September 11th, the stock market, corporate scandals, and the war.
Here's the reality:
"Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and George Bush Sr. all faced wars and managed to create jobs. Franklin Roosevelt led America toward victory in World War II, after recovering from a devastating attack upon Pearl Harbor. Yet Roosevelt still managed to create jobs: from 1941 until his death in 1945, FDR created 5,567,000 private sector jobs. Truman led the United States to victory over Japan in World War II, and acted to prevent Communist North Korea from taking over South Korea, yet he managed to create 6,452,000 private sector jobs during his term. LBJ committed the United States to the divisive war in Vietnam, yet managed to create 9,458,000 private sector jobs during his term. Nixon faced the Vietnam War, yet created 7,117,000 private sector jobs during his term. The first Bush's recession lasted July 1990-March 1991. George H.W. Bush led a victorious world coalition against Iraq after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Yet George H.W. Bush created 1,465,000 private sector jobs during his term. [Bureau of Labor Statistics; National Bureau of Economic Research]
From http://blog.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/archives/003353.html#more
