From: nrc@cbnews.cb.att.com (N. Richard Caldwell)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Dial 1-800-HITLER2?
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:47:51 GMT
Organization: AT&T Network Systems  -  Columbus, Ohio

From article <farenebt.717876806@craft.camp.clarkson.edu>, by farenebt@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Droopy):
> To paraphrase Dan Quayle: "Ross Perot, you're no Paul Tsongas." I voted
> for Tsongas in the primary because he was the only Democrat who was
> telling people what they needed to hear not what they wanted to hear.

Which is very much what Perot is doing.  I would have voted for
Tsongas in the primary if he hadn't dropped out and I might have been
voting for him in the election if he were a candidate (I'd have to do
a bit more comparison between his plan and Perot's, although it has
often been said that Perot might have never gotten into this if
Tsongas had been more successful).

> Tsongas was saying, "Tough choices need to be made." Tsongas was promising
> to reduce the deficit not balance it. You have to reduce it somewhat
> before you can even think about balancing it fully. 

I don't really believe that Perot would be able to force such an
ambitious plan through a congress determined to prove that his
election was a mistake.  I do think it contains a lot of good ideas
that if adopted would go much further toward balancing the budget than
any other plan on the table and I do believe that Perot would work
hard to pass as much of it as possible.

> Tsongas believed
> that sacrifices would have to be made and tough choices too, he didn't
> believe that he could do it "without breaking a sweat." Paul Tsongas
> also detailed his positions on a great many non-economic issues.
> He did not promise to be Superman. He promised to be a good President.

Perot also details positions on a number of important issues.  The
most important issue to me is government reform which he addresses in
much more depth than any other candidate.

> Perot, on the other hand, is giving everyone a scapegoat instead of 
> properly affixing blame to everyone: Congress, President AND the press
> AND the voters AND especially the non-voters. Perot is saying, "It's
> all Washington's fault! You people don't deserve any blame." 

You should read the book before claiming to know what Perot is telling 
us.

|    "If anyone wants to know who's to blame for the $4-trillion debt, just
|     go look in the mirror.
|
|     You and I are to blame. You and I are the shareholders of this
|     country. We own it.
|
|     We allowed this system to develop where political action committees,
|     the tools of the lobbyists, have more power than people. We allowed 
|     politicians to buy our votes by promising newer and grander giveaways 
|     (with money, by the way, they didn't have and had to borrow from our 
|     children). We allowed them to rack up deficit after deficit while we 
|     reelected them time after time."
|
|            -- Ross Perot, "United We Stand"

> He's telling
> people that he can balance w/o breaking a sweat. He's telling them
> what they wnat to hear. Tsongas told people the truth.

Perot has made it quite clear that reducing the deficit and getting
the country back on track will involve sacrifice.  

> Tsongas was the only politician in the primaries who was really honest
> in the primary 

I agree, and Clinton bashed him out of the race for telling the
truth.  If you want to see a politician who is promising painless
solutions look to Clinton.

> Perot was an undeclared candidate, then he acted like a declared 
> candidate, then he dropped out, now he might be getting back in.
> Who knows what's going to happen next? I don't trust Perot... 

I don't like the way that Perot handled that either, but as Tsongas
said, what we need is a mandate for real solutions not these bogus 
candy coated ideas that Clinton and Bush are peddling.  We need a
mandate for real change.  Perot is the only major candidate who is
proposing real change.

|        Winning would be thrilling as all victories are.  But on
|    January 20th the issues would be no less real.  Perhaps our
|    Democrat could be fortunate like Ronald Reagan and escape before
|    the consequences of his policies were fully realized.  But if
|    that is our offering, why would the American people substitute
|    one army of "feel-good" salesmen for another?
|    
|         Let us use 1992 to articulate the cold challenges and the
|    real threats to America that came before Saddam Hussein and will
|    remain after Saddam Hussein.  Let us seek to rally our nation to
|    forcefully address these issues.  Let us create a mandate, a
|    mandate that will allow purposeful and effective governance.
|    
|         Without such a mandate, the White House will be a prison.
|    And the President will be captive to economic and social forces
|    he cannot control.  With a mandate, the fortunes of America will
|    truly brighten because the people will be deployed with purpose.
|     
|               -- Paul Tsongas, 
|                 "Call to Economic Arms:  The New American Mandate"



"Don't drive too slowly."                 Richard Caldwell
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