The Republican Convention was astounding not so much for its blatant negativity as for the bald-faced lies presented against a backdrop of “all is well in our land.” It’s self-congratulatory tone was absolutely stunning in the face of the severe problems that our country is now mired in thanks to the misdeeds of this administration’s four years in power! We simply cannot afford or risk Four More Years!
At the convention, the Republicans repeatedly said one thing, but their policies and their platforms say another. While putting up moderates to talk about inclusion, they adopted a platform that seeks to write discrimination into the Constitution and make permanent tax cuts proven to disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
The Republican Party is showing no concrete evidence of their ability to advance America. Instead they’re relying on rhetoric that plays on fear, smears John Kerry, and distorts their record over the last four years. Rather than talking about their record and their strengths, the Republicans turned nasty and negative, going after Kerry with baseless attacks on his character, and intentionally distorting his record.
In addition, Zell Miller delivered a vitriolic, angry speech attacking John Kerry. This coming from a man who in 2001 referred to Kerry as one of this nation’s authentic heroes, one of this party’s best-known and greatest leaders and a good fiend…[who] has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment…[that he] has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington.
They say the economy is strong, but there are more than 36 million Americans in poverty, rising 1.3 million between 2002 and 2003. The administration projected that 3,978,000 jobs would be created over the last 13 months, but in reality, since the tax cuts took effect, there have been 2,565,000 fewer jobs created than the administration projected through the enactment of its tax cuts.
They talk about protecting Americans, but the Administration’s own experts say that we’re less safe, that we’ve played into the enemy’s hands and made it easier for Al Qaeda to recruit, and alienated the rest of the world. Senior military personnel are repeatedly and harshly criticizing the actions of the administration as reckless and counterproductive. Retired Gen. Tony McPeak, a former Air Force chief of staff and one-time “Veteran for Bush,” says that foreign relations for the first three years of President Bush’s term have been “a national disaster.”
The Administration talks about helping working Americans with tax cuts, but its own experts admit that it’s skewed to benefit the wealthy with the top 1 percent getting a third of the benefit, shifting the burden to middle-income taxpayers. CEO salaries have now reached 301 times the wages of their full-time workers. Again, they’re saying one thing and doing another.
They talk about taking care of Americans at home, but they are doing nothing for the 43 million of us who are uninsured, almost half of whom are working, and of which more than 8 million are children. Is this their idea of compassionate conservatism?
Four More Years? Unimaginable!
Donna Fleming