(sorry I couldn't get this to paste correctly)
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-23-2007/0004511708&EDATE=Dean Responds to President Bush's State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Democratic National
Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement in response
to President Bush's State of the Union address this evening:
"Democrats welcome President Bush's call to achieve 'big things' for
the American people, but he should remember that the American people know
actions speak louder than words. For too long, the words from this
President have not matched the action required to solve the problems that
hard working Americans face. From the escalation of the war in Iraq to his
new health care tax to the energy crisis, once again tonight, we heard more
hollow promises and empty proposals that just won't fix the problems.
"Last November, the American people spoke loud and clear. Democrats
heard what they had to say and are focused on continuing to deliver on the
promises we made as we pass an increase in the minimum wage, improve our
homeland security, help more kids go to college and promote life saving
stem cell research. We hope the President will make good on his rhetoric
this time and truly work with the bipartisan Congress to get things done
for the American people."
The Real State Of The Union
THE ECONOMY: "First, we must balance the federal budget. We can do so
without raising taxes. What we need to do is impose spending discipline in
Washington, D.C."
Bush Tax Cuts Created Federal Deficit. Congressional Budget Office
figures show, however, that new tax cuts and spending increases approved by
Congress since 2001 were a much bigger cause, accounting for nearly
two-thirds of the budgetary deterioration that occurred over the 2001-2006
period. The tax cuts are single largest contributor to the emergence of
deficits. The federal budget would have been balanced last year if not for
the revenue loss caused by the tax cuts.
The National Debt Continues to Climb. In 2001, the total national debt
was exactly $5,726,968,823,821.55. In January of 2007, the total debt rose
to $5,932,136,522,924.02 and soared up to $8,672,664,626,584.48as of
January 17, 2007. http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpdodt.htm]
Under Bush's Watch Surplus Disappears. Despite the President's lip
service to fiscal discipline, he turned his inherited $128 billion budget
surplus into a $426 billion deficit in FY06.
<http://www.budget.house.gov/analyses/07budget_summary_and_analysis%20.pdf>
SOCIAL SECURITY: "Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are
commitments of conscience -- and so it is our duty to keep them permanently
sound."
Bush Social Security Plan Failed American Seniors. The Bush plan would
have eliminated much of a worker's Social Security check. For medium
earners who retire in 2055, their benefits would be reduced by 66 percent
compared to the current benefit structure. Moreover, the President's plan
would have closed only about 30 percent of Social Security's total
shortfall over the next 75 years. <http://www.cbpp.org/pubs/socsec.htm>
HEALTH CARE: " A future of hope and opportunity requires that all our
citizens have affordable and available healthcare." 1/23/07]
Bush Health Care Plan Leads To Tax Increases On Middle Class Americans.
President Bush's latest health care scheme means that "about 20 percent" of
Americans "would see a tax increase - those workers whose health insurance
cost more than the standard deduction."
Nearly 47 Million Americans Are Uninsured-Increasing for the Fifth Year
in a Row. The number of Americans lacking health insurance increased by 1.3
million last year-and by 6.8 million since Bush took office in 2001. Today,
a total of 46.6 million people are uninsured-roughly one in seven
Americans.
Individual Policies Have Only Become More Expensive And Harder To
Obtain In Recent Years -- Especially For People Who Aren't In Perfect
Health. Roughly 90% of applicants in what's known as less-than-perfect
health were unable to buy individual policies at standard rates, while 37%
were rejected outright."
Bush Proposal Drives Up Enrollment In Flawed HSAs. Bush's proposal is a
way to drive up enrollment in flawed plans. HSAs weaken the existing health
insurance market, have little potential to improve the health insurance
market, provide the largest tax breaks to those who least need help paying
for coverage, and may actually even increase the number of uninsured.
ESCALATION OF THE IRAQ WAR: "In order to make progress ...we
are deploying reinforcements of more than 20,000 additional soldiers and
Marines to Iraq."
Colin Powell: Troop Surge Would Probably Not Help. According to an
article in the International Herald Tribune, "The former secretary of state
Colin Powell said Sunday that badly overstretched U.S. forces in Iraq were
losing the war there and that a temporary U.S. troop surge probably would
not help.Powell was deeply skeptical about increasing troop levels, an idea
that appears to be gaining ground as President George W. Bush weighs U.S.
strategy options. 'There really are no additional troops' to send, Powell
said, adding that he agreed with those who say that the U.S. Army is 'about
broken.' He said he was unsure that new troops could suppress sectarian
violence or secure Baghdad."
Major General Don Shepperd, USAF (Ret.): I Would Not Even Consider
Increasing Troop Strength In Iraq. Shepperd, who works as a CNN military
analyst, offered his analysis of what should be done next after he was
briefed by members of the Iraq Study Group. He wrote, "I would not even
consider increasing troop strength in Iraq."
Michael Vickers, Former Special Forces Officer: "All The Forces In The
World" Won't Change Security Situation In Iraq. Vicks said, "The security
situation is inextricably linked to politics. If you can solve some of the
Iraqi political problems, the security situation becomes manageable. If you
can't...all the forces in the world aren't going to change that." Newshour With Jim Lehrer, PBS, 12/12/06]
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke: 40,000 Troops Would Make Little
Difference. " saying that 30,000 or 40,000 more troops
would make a difference. I respectfully disagree. With the tooth-to-tail
ratios of the
military -- that is combat soldiers versus cooks, people who run the
PX's and the bowling alleys and so on -- with the fact that the first thing
they have to do is build barracks, which are bullet, bomb-proof to protect
themselves, any military guy you talk to will tell you that 40,000 troops
will not make that kind of difference."
IRAQ: "In the sixth year since our Nation was attacked, I wish I could
report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not." 1/23/07]
National Intelligence Estimate: Iraq War Creating a New Generation of
Terrorists. "We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of
terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would
inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere. The Iraq conflict
has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of
US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the
global jihadist movement."
IRAQ: "Our success in this war is often measured by the things that did
not happen."
Saddam Did Not Have Chief Requirements For Nuclear Weapons. The
Washington Post reported that Hussein did not have the principal
requirement for a nuclear weapon, a sufficient quantity of highly enriched
uranium or plutonium. And the U.S. government, authoritative intelligence
officials said, had only circumstantial evidence that Iraq was trying to
obtain those materials. Inspectors in postwar Iraq "found the former
nuclear weapons program, described as a 'grave and gathering danger' by
President Bush and a 'mortal threat' by Vice President Cheney, in much the
same shattered state left by U.N. inspectors in the 1990s." Post, 8/10/03, 1/7/04]
2001 CIA Report Said Iraq Was Not Reconstituting WMD Programs.
According to an unclassified CIA report sent to Congress in February 2001,
Iraq was not reconstituting its WMD programs. The report explicitly said,
"We do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since
Desert Fox to reconstitute its WMD programs."
Rumsfeld Says That "It Turns Out" There Were No Weapons Of Mass
Destruction. Rumsfeld stated that "It turns out that we have not found
weapons of mass destruction."
2002: CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, And National Intelligence
Council Warned that Iraqi National Congress Information on Iraq's Nuclear,
Chemical And Biological Weapons Capabilities Was Suspect. A recent Senate
report reveals that the Bush Administration received two April 2002 CIA
assessments, a May 2002 Defense Intelligence Agency fabrication notice and
a July 2002 National Intelligence Council warning saying the INC source may
have been coached by the exile group into fabricating information about the
strength of Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capabilities.
ENERGY: "... for too long our nation has been dependent on foreign
oil."
Bush's 2007 Budget Spent More On Tax Breaks For Big Oil Than On
Renewable Energy. President Bush's 2007 budget provided paltry amounts of
money for alternative and renewable energy, far less than the $2 billion
the oil and gas industry received in 2007 tax breaks. This is on top of
flat funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and
development. Act of 2005]
2006: Bush Pledged Renewable Energy Initiative -- Then Gutted National
Renewable Energy Lab. The day after President Bush pledged to end America's
reliance on foreign oil by funding renewable energy initiatives, the
Department of Energy announced that 40 researchers at the prestigious
National
Renewable Energy Laboratory were being laid off because Republican
budget cuts had slashed $28 million from the lab's budget. "The Energy
Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget. A
veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be
concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol.
Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as
holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports." Times, 2/2/06]
2005: Two Years Ago, The Administration Opposed Measures To Reduce Oil
Consumption And To Increase CAFE Standards. Policy on HR. 6 -- Energy Policy Act of 2005]
Bush Administration Did Not Keep Promise On Reducing Petroleum
Consumption. By 2005, the Federal government was to have reduced its
petroleum consumption by 20 percent below 1999 levels. Instead, consumption
had increased by 1.3 percent. The Federal fleet is not close to meeting
that 20 percent goal. The government was also supposed to use alternative
fuels for the majority of the total fuel used in those vehicles, but none
of the 21 agencies had met that baseline. report, 2005, Executive Order 13149]
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any
candidate or candidate's committee.
Contact: Stacie Paxton or Mark Paustenbach, 202-863-8148
SOURCE Democratic National Committee
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
