IPW Daily Report – Thursday, March 11, 2004
"America is a nation with a mission,"
President Bush
said. "We're called to fight terrorism
around the world, and we're waging that fight. As
freedom's home and freedom's defender, we are
called to expand the realm of human liberty, and
by our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than
50 million people have been liberated from
tyranny."
"We've just begun to fight,"
John Kerry said
when he thought the microphone was off.
"We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the
most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever
seen. It's scary."
"It must be getting lonely for George Bush. It
seems he's the last person in America who actually
believes his failed policies will ever work,"
Kerry told the
executive council of the AFL-CIO.
"The fundamental message here is: we are in a war,
we are in a war, we are in a war,"
said Sen. John
McCain a Republican from Arizona, who voted to put
the defense money back.
Kerry’s isolation protectionism wrong
Kerry: no apology & no answers
Soft Money questioned
GAO fails Hillary’s charges
Bush campaign’s timing off?
Kerry’s isolation protectionism wrong
Treasury Secretary Alan Greenspan leveled the
strongest words yet against Sen. John Kerry and
his proposals that would bring back isolationism
and protectionism.
Speaking before Congress Greenspan said of Kerry
style proposals, "These alleged cures could make
matters worse rather than better," he said. "They
would do little to create jobs and if foreigners
were to retaliate, we would surely lose jobs."
"Our standard of living would soon begin to
stagnate and perhaps even decline as a
consequence," Greenspan suggested. In response to
questions, he said it would be "a mistake to put
up barriers that limit competition in hopes of
saving jobs.
"The more competition we are exposed to, the more
difficult it is for us, but the end result is it
forces us to go to a higher level of production
and technology and development which I think has
been what has made this country great," Greenspan
said.
"As history clearly shows, our economy is best
served by full and vigorous engagement in the
global economy," Greenspan said a day after Bush
warned against restricting access to U.S. markets
by saying that doing so might hurt U.S. exporters.
Greenspan also stated that he felt the jobs
picture would improve soon.
Kerry: no apology & no answers
Sen. John Kerry says he will not apologize for his
unexpected comments, spoken while his microphone
was still on.
"I have no intention whatsoever of apologizing for
my remarks," Kerry said during a news conference
on the Senate side of the Capitol. "I think the
Republicans need to start talking about the real
issues before the country."
Kerry has yet to explain how raising taxes on the
rich will not cause job losses for the millions of
small businesses in this country that pay taxes at
the personal rate. Nor, has he explained how his
projectionist and isolationist proposals will
cause a decline of the American economy as
Secretary of the Treasury Alan Greenspan warned
Congress today.
Soft Money questioned
Bush campaign officials are pressuring the FEC
regarding the soft money being spent directed by
former Bill Clinton staffer Harold Ickes. The
group has an effective ad that hits Bush for doing
away with the American dream, overtime pay, and
shipping jobs overseas and giving the companies
tax incentives to get rid of American jobs.
The question is whether the McCain-Fiengold
campaign finance reform law that was meant to ban
large contributions applies to 527 political
corporations. Currently Ickes Media Group has
raised contributions from some of the following
donors: Linda Pritzker of Houston, of the Hyatt
Hotel family, and her Sustainable World Corp., $4
million; Los Angeles real estate and entertainment
mogul Steven Bing, $2 million; Susan Orr of
Stanford, Calif., owner of Telosa Software,
$400,000; and Nancy Burnett of Carmel Valley,
Calif., of the Sea Studios Foundation, $400,000.
Bush is limited to $2,000 per individuals for the
primary and uncoordinated federal PACs are limited
to $5,000 per individuals.
The Bush campaign wants the FEC to make its ruling
so that they can get in the game with their own
527 committees to counter the Democrats who have
not waited to find out if they are breaking the
law or not.
GAO fails Hillary’s charges
The General Account Office, the arm of Congress,
failed to back up the ridiculous charges by
Hillary Clinton and her minions Senators Ted
Kennedy and Frank Lautenberg that the Health and
Human Service ads mandated in the new Medicare
legislation passed by Congress were not in
violation of campaign ethics laws.
The only bone that GAO could offer was that in a
thirty-second ad the agency didn’t tell everything
about the new law. GAO also did not emphasize that
the ad urged viewers to call for more information.
The Democrat program director of CBS pulled the ad
for a period of time after Hillary Clinton made
her objections known. CBS reversed that decision
and has been airing the ad prior to the report by
GAO that the ads should air.
Bush campaign’s timing off?
The Bush campaign is clearly worried about money
given the unlimited use of soft money by
Democrats. That may be the reason why Bush is
going to leave a 9-11 memorial dedication and then
go to a fundraising event. However, many
Republicans are going off the record and
questioning the appearance of such activity,
according to Reuters:
"It is politically awkward -- and quite
surprising," said one Republican strategist with
close ties to the White House.
"It's hard to say there is anything other than
fund-raising that they're doing well," said one
Republican.
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