Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Friday, 16 Oct 1992 00:36:51 CDT
From: <U56503@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: ==> 2nd Debate: Bush Just Doesn't Get It (Rhetoric vs. Reality)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Information in the public interest which does not imply that it
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further information.
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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 October 15, 1992


                       RHETORIC VS. REALITY
                   GEORGE BUSH JUST DOESN'T GET IT

      Tonight George Bush proved not only that he's completely lost
 touch with the lives of Americans, but he also demonstrated again
 that he can't find the truth.  Some highlights:

                          DEFICIT + TAXES

 RHETORIC: "I don't believe you can grow the deficit down by raising
 taxes...Give us a balanced budget amendment."

 REALITY: George Bush has never submitted a balanced budget.
 George Bush had the second largest tax increase of all time -- a net
 increase of $125 billion over five years. [Wall Street Journal,
 8/12/92]

       By the Republican method of counting tax increases, George Bush
 has raised taxes 178 times in only three and a half years -- an
 average of 51 times a year. [DSG, 9/16/92]

       Through 1991, Bush has requested $1.1 billion more than
 Congress has appropriated.  Reagan-Bush requested $17.3 billion more
 than Congress appropriated. [U.S. Hse Cmte on Approp.]

       Under Bush, the deficit more than doubled -- rising from $153
 billion to $333 billion by the end of this year, and the national
 debt rose 41 percent to $4 trillion -- both record-breaking
 increases.  The debt has quadrupled since Reagan-Bush took office.
 [U.S. Budget, 1992; CBO]

       The Clinton/Gore plan would cut the deficit in half over four
 years. The plan includes $104 billion in tax cuts for the
 middle-class and the working poor, in addition to those making more
 than $200,000 each year pay their fair share and closing tax
 loopholes on foreign corporations. [Putting People
 First]

                  CRIME AND FEDERAL AID TO POLICE

 RHETORIC: "We've got more money going out for local police than any
 previous administration."

 REALITY: Wrong.  In real dollars, the United States spent more money
 for local law enforcement every year from 1973-1976. [Congressional
 Research Service, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1990,
 U.S. Budget FY 1992, 1993]

       George Bush tried to cut aid to local law enforcement by more
 than $100 million, or about 20 percent. [New York Times, 3/14/91]
 This year, he tried to cut law enforcement aid to localities by $117
 million, or 16.5 percent. [Senate Judiciary Committee]

       Under George Bush, violent crime has increased by 25.4 percent,
 to an all-time record. [FBI, Uniform Crime Index, 9/92]

                         THE WAFFLE HOUSE

 RHETORIC: "You can't turn the White House into the waffle house..."

 REALITY: A Bush sampler of flip-flops:

 *    After pledging "no new taxes," Bush signed the second largest
      tax hike in history -- the 1990 $125 billion tax hike.
      [Acceptance Speech, 8/18/88; CQ; WSJ, 8/12/92]

 *    After criticizing the trickle-down theory as "voodoo economics"
      and "economic madness," Bush became a convert.  He came to
      defend the program, saying "It's a very sensible program, which
      the best economists...in the country support." [Los Angeles
      Times, 4/11/80; Associated Press, 3/28/80; United Press
      International, 10/20/80]

 *    After strenously criticizing then-opponent Ronald Reagan for
      supporting a balanced budget amendment, Bush has made it a
      standard part of his current economic proposal. [Washington
      Post, 1/27/79; Agenda for American Renewal]

 *    After proposing and signing the 1989 federal pay raise, Bush
      recently proposed a 5% pay cut for federal employees earning
      more than $75,000 annually. [CQ 1990; Acceptance Speech,
      8/20/92]

 *    Although Bush once stated: "I happen to think it [Roe v. Wade]
      was right" he later reversed his position, maintaining that "I
      think the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade was wrong and
      should be overturned."  The Republican platform on which he is
      now running would outlaw abortion for any reason. [Rolling
      Stone, 3/20/80; Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents,
      1/23/89]

 RHETORIC: "My father was an honor, duty and country man, and he said,
 `Tell the truth.' And I've tried to do that in public life, all
 through it."

 REALITY: As President, George Bush has failed to tell the whole
 truth. Some examples:

 *    Iran-Contra: During the Iowa caucuses in 1988, Bush said, "I
      sensed that we were sending arms.  And I sensed that we were
      trying to get hostages out.  But not arms for hostages."
      (Associated Press, 1-8-88).  But on the Today Show (10-13-92),
      Katie Couric asked Bush, "You knew about the arms for hostages?"
      and Bush replied, "Yes, and I've said so all along."   Why won't
      Bush release his testimony to the Tower Commission and
      Iran-contra Investigators and come clean?

 *    Iraqgate: George Bush has not come clean with the American
      people about his strong support for Saddam Hussein before the
      Persian Gulf War.  Bush says the U.S. "did not enhance Saddam
      Hussein's nuclear, biological or chemical weapons capability."
      The truth is that Bush sent billions of dollars in U.S.
      taxpayer-subsidized loan guarantees to Saddam to build up his
      military machine. (General Accounting Office Report, "Iraq's
      Participation in U.S. Agricultural Export Programs," November
      1990; Washington Post, July 22, 1992; Los Angeles Times,
      February 4, 1992 and February 13, 1992).

       And now we learn his Administration has engaged in a cover-up
 of the scandal involving the loans to Iraq through the Atlanta branch
 of BNL.  The U.S. District Judge, Marvin Shoob, in the BNL case said,
 "Certainly either the CIA or the Justice Department or both have
 misled me." (Los Angeles Times, 10/13/92).

                              EXPORTS

 RHETORIC: "We've had tough economic times -- but been saved by
 exports."

 REALITY: The Council on Competitiveness, a private organization, has
 concluded: "Growing exports, however, have not been able to shield
 the U.S. economy from a second annual straight decline in living
 standards, the ultimate measure of U.S. performance." [Council on
 Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index, 1992]

       Under Reagan and Bush, the United States has been transformed
 from the world's largest creditor to the world's largest debtor.
 [Economic Report of the President, Table B-100; Survey of Current
 Business, June 1992, p. 49]

       In the secord quarter of this year, the trade deficit soared by
 42 percent to $24.4 billion. At this rate, the trade deficit will be
 more than $70 billion in 1992. [Associated Press, 8/28/92]

                          SOCIAL SECURITY

 RHETORIC: "I don't want to tax or touch Social Security."

 REALITY: Although Bush promised not to "mess" with Social Security,
 Bush has raided the Social Security Trust Fund every year of his
 presidency: $58.2 billion in 1990, $53.5 billion in FY 1991, $50.2
 billion in FY 1992, and a projected $70 billion in FY 1993 -- a total
 of $231.9 billion. [Office of Management and Budget, 1992]

       On May 10, 1985, then Vice President Bush cut short a trip in
 order to cast the tie- breaking vote on the Senate floor to eliminate
 the 1986 cost-of-living adjustment for all Social Security
 beneficiaries. [New York Times, 9/11/88]

                            DOWNSIZE THE GOVERNMENT

 RHETORIC: "I've proposed a 10 percent cut...downsize the government."

 REALITY: Under George Bush, federal employment has increased. The
 government now employs 65,803 more people than it did when he took
 office. Since FY 1989, the Executive branch has grown by more than 6
 percent. [U.S. Budgets, FY 1991 and FY 1993]

       The conservative Cato Institute called Bush "the largest
 spender to sit in the White House in the past 30 years" -- noting
 Bush "increased the domestic budget more in 4 years than Carter and
 Reagan combined did in 12 years." [Cato Institute, 6/19/92]