John Kerry: Bush's Budget Assaults Our Values

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry: Bush's Budget Assaults Our Values
30 March 2005

There’s been some big changes on John Kerry’s Senate website.

In the Press Office section of the new and improved website, are recent press releases reflecting on how Bush’s budget affects five different areas of Massachusetts, Worcester, Lowell, Springfield, the Berkshires, and Lawrence. Here’s some quips from one…

"When considering the budget of the United States, honesty at minimum means actually counting every dollar we plan to spend. It sounds simple -- it's what every American does -- but this budget doesn't do it."

"This budget is like an Enron budget -- smoke the numbers, cook the books, hide the truth and hope no one finds out. When Enron went bust, stockholders were the losers. When this budget goes bust, the American taxpayer will be the loser. They'll lose because this budget does exactly what Enron did: It makes irresponsible choices the administration does not want you to know about."

"The American people also deserve a budget that keeps faith with the promise of opportunity for all, special privileges for none. One of the dangers in tight fiscal times is you start hearing a lot of empty talk about tough choices that are really nothing more than excuses to destroy opportunity. We heard the excuses from the administration during the recession, we heard them during the war, and we've heard plenty more excuses during this budget debate."

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=647

[JDPriestly]

1. Kick!

Says it all!

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

2. Interesting how the background behind his name is red. Wonder if this is

significant (reaching out?).



http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/home.cfm

[TheFarseer]

3. yeah, from what I've heard

it sounds like he's making cuts that are unlikely to be approved so he can say he tried to cut the budget but democrats wouldn't let him.

[blm]

4. This is SO right on the media will DEFINITELY ignore it....again.

Just like Kerry's press conference on the healthcare bill for ALL kids....the broadcast media didn't even cover it.

[politicasista]

5. Mainstream media is at an all time low

Kick!:kick:

[AuntiBush]

6. Finally. But, have we already crossed the divine.

The blockhead, narrow-minded Freepers should have read his score card! Moron, idiotica hypocrites - everyone last one of them if they're still backing up the insanity that's not running out once great nation!

[PA Democrat]

I like your SS Lottery ticket AuntiBush

But hey, doesn't "Medicare scratchers" sound like some kind of nasty rash?

[Donailin]

7. Assaults my values??

It assaults my brain, my spririt, my physical well being and everything else on the planet.

Stop sounding like politicians and start voicing what the base is saying! We're being led by madmen!

[AuntiBush]

8. I'll "Amen" to that one!

You got that right!

[politicasista]

9. He is voicing what the base is saying

No matter what Kerry does, we will NEVER be satisfied.

[Donailin]

11. I wasnt satisfied with him as a candidate, but thats not the point

the point is that there is no fire in the belly because everything is politics to these politicians. Everyone jockying for 06 and 08, being careful not to step on corporate toes, not to piss off moderates or Rove.

[kerrygoddess]

36. Okay, Sam Keen...

maybe you don't hear fire in the belly but plenty of people do. And Kerry isn't one to worry about stepping on corporate toes. Maybe you missed the memo?

[Donailin]

49. sigh

not going to feed the bores today. . .

[kerrygoddess]

35. The Base? Who determines who the base is?

Maybe it's time the base sounded a little more educated. Unless you think that Dem's don't have values?

[Donailin]

48. you don't need an education to figure out that we're on the road

to hell in a handbasket.

[NightOwwl]

10. Where is the passion?

And dammit, I always feel like he's talking "at" me, not "to" me. I don't need to be lectured to!

[politicasista]

12. Sorry he doesn't talk to you.

:cry:

[LittleClarkie]

13. Gimme a B!

B

Gimme another B!

B

Gimme another B!

B

Gimme another B!

WHAT DOES IT SPELL!

(finger flipping over lips) BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB.

:crazy:

[NightOwwl]

15. That was nice.

:shrug:

[LittleClarkie]

17. Sorry

I'll just nip off and go insane where no one can see me. Sorry to disturb you.

Being a sychophant can be quite trying, doncha know.

I swear, the man could save one of y'alls family members, and you'd still criticize how he did it.

Now if you'll excuse me...BBBBBBBBBBBBBB :crazy:...

[NightOwwl]

25. Please feel free to disagree with my position...

but cut out the personal attacks.

DU Rules: http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html

[LittleClarkie]

29. What personal attacks?

The sychophant was me.

Other than that, I was just quietly going insane. I'd gladly apologize for it and never do it again if you can show me where I did it in the first place.

[NightOwwl]

32. The term "you" is a personal pronoun...

even if it is couched in colloquial terms such as y'all and y'oud.

[LittleClarkie]

34. I was suggesting that some people...

... will seldom be happy with much of anything Kerry does, and will find fault simply because it IS Kerry. It seemed to me to be a valid observation. The mere name Kerry sends some into apoplexy. I'm not attacking that reaction. Just recognizing that the name Kerry will evoke that reaction in some DUers, post-election. Also considering, of course, that he wasn't necessarily popular with many here pre-election as well.

Suggesting that some people will almost never react favorably as long as the Senator in question is Kerry doesn't seem terribly personal to me. Additionally, as someone who does not share that opinion, it is a continual source of fustration for me and is resulting in my going slowly cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Hence, bbbbbbb.

edit: perhaps I should have gone with the plural, all y'all, as it more accurately reflects my meaning.

[NightOwwl]

39. I appreciate the response...

One of the issues I have with Kerry (IMO) is his exasperating vagueness, leaving us to figure out what his message is. And this has nothing to do with his intelligence, or the dumbing down of America. Here's a perfect example:

"The American people also deserve a budget that keeps faith with the promise of opportunity for all, special privileges for none. One of the dangers in tight fiscal times is you start hearing a lot of empty talk about tough choices that are really nothing more than excuses to destroy opportunity."

That's an awful lot of words to say a bunch of nothing. Is he trying to say the Bush Republican budget is a disaster? I'm not sure. Is he saying Republicans hurt working people? I don't know. But I do know I shouldn't have to read between the lines to figure it out. So the next time he posts something on his website, how about getting to the point of the matter.

The Bush Republican budget is a disaster. It cuts special education funds, vocational education, anti-drug efforts, literacy programs and environmental programs to levels below where they are at today. It cuts the Trade Adjustment Assistance program that provides assistance for workers whose jobs are shipped overseas. It raises the co-payment that veterans pay for prescription drugs and some veterans will be required to pay an annual $250 fee to use government health services. Actions speak louder than words...Republicans don’t care about veterans…they don’t care about working people…they don’t even care about our children. Look at what the they want to destroy. Democrats won’t allow them to get away with it.

Is that what he was trying to say?

Edited for typo

[kerrygoddess]

40. Oh my

Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill...

We know what Bush is cutting out of the budget. Kerry expands on all of that in his press releases. Why not read them instead of complaining.

I don't see that he's saying anything that is so hard to understand.

AMERICAN'S DESERVE BETTER. WE NEED TO KEEP THEIR FAITH AND OFFER OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL, NOT SPECIAL INTERESTS. WE"RE IN TOUGH TIMES, WE DON'T NEED EMPTY PROMISES.

There you go... soundbites for the challenged!

[NightOwwl]

44. We know the budget cuts...

Unfortunately the majority of Americans don't. They don't know that the Republicans are screwing them royally. And they never will know if Kerry continues to speak in ambiguities and uncertainties.

But to dismiss me as "making a mountain out of a molehill", when I make an honest attempt to explain why I (and many others) consider him a poor communicator pretty much cuts off the conversation. Which might be what you want anyway.

You say Americans deserve better. I agree. But the reality is, they won't know what is better unless they can differentiate between Republican rhetoric, Republican actions, and Democratic solutions. So far, Kerry has done nothing (IMO)to show he has the ability to get this information out to the mainstream public.

[NightOwwl]

45. As soundbites go, not that great...

But it's a moot point since he didn't say them, you did.

[LittleClarkie]

41. I will admit

that it must be time to get him good and pissed off again. He rambles when he's not angry. He did pretty good at the midnight rally right after the RNC. Short, to the point sentences after being told he wasn't fit to serve.

He needs "de-Senator-izing" again.

[kerrygoddess]

42. The world would be in a bigger mess...

If everyone spouted at the mouth constantly. That JK talks about things with some sense and dignity is far better than screaming and stomping his feet like some do.

He's doing just fine the way he is. We need sense, logic and cool headed leadership.

[enough already]

50. No middle ground?

You act is if the only alternative to Kerry's tendency for pompous bloviating is screaming and stomping his feet. That's nonsense. Kerry might have the greatest message in the world, but if he can't find a more effective way to deliver it that connects with real people, it's completely wasted. He's been speaking Senate-ese too long, imo.

[NightOwwl]

46. Yep...he did a good job that night.

Although I confess I did want him to let loose even more.

[NightOwwl]

14. I hope you aren't being sarcastic, because that's truly how I feel.

He provokes a very strong reaction in me, and I'm not going to withold my opinion because it might insult a Kerry supporter.

[LittleClarkie]

19. And he provokes a strong, if opposite reaction in others

who will also not be withholding their opinion because it might insult a Kerry non-supporter.

Tis only fair.

[NightOwwl]

26. See post #25 n/t

[LittleClarkie]

31. Saw it

still waiting for an explanation OF it.

[NightOwwl]

33. See post #32 n/t

[welshTerrier2]

16. the $81.4 billion for Iraq is not even included in the budget

it's considered a "supplemental budget allocation" ... so when the budget is reviewed and the amount it adds to the deficit is published, it excludes the additional $81.4 billion for Iraq ...

this is an inappropriate use of supplemental budget allocations because the amount of the allocation was known at the time the budget was submitted ... it is nothing more than accounting trickery ...

has Kerry pointed this out or does he consider anything that has to do with funding the war in Iraq off-limits ??

[LittleClarkie]

18. He's called it a sham before

I'll have to go and see if he's mentioned it specifically. I'll post it if I find anything.

[welshTerrier2]

21. great thanks ...

i'd like to see how he, and the Democratic Party, address this issue when it comes up for a vote in the Senate ...

[LittleClarkie]

22. See my post 20 if you didn't already

I don't know if you saw it before posting.

I'll also keep looking.

[welshTerrier2]

24. got it ...

thanks ...

[LittleClarkie]

20. Found it in an earlier op/ed on the same subject

Here's a bit of it. Is this what you mean?

"Ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost at least $400 billion over ten years. That’s not in the budget. The President’s Social Security scheme will cost another $750 billion over ten years. That’s not in the budget. The budget ignores interest on the debt, which not even the most creative accountant would leave out.

This budget is like an Enron budget – smoke the numbers, cook the books, hide the truth and hope no one finds out. When Enron went bust, stockholders were the losers. When this budget goes bust, the American taxpayer will be the loser. They’ll lose because this budget does exactly what Enron did: makes irresponsible choices the Administration does not want you to know about."

He's being pretty plain speaking here. At least for him.

[welshTerrier2]

23. yup ... thanks ...

do you know when Kerry wrote this? of course, criticizing the process and then voting for it would send a bit of a mixed signal ...

and does this mean Kery thinks we will have "ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan" for the next ten years? how scarey is that? does he think this would be necessary whether he became president or not? that's not a program i plan to support ...

[LittleClarkie]

27. It's part of the same op/ed that Kerrygoddess was quoting

It appears to have been in a few newspapers over the last few weeks. One in the Telegram, one in the Lowell Sun, the Republican, the Berkshire Eagle, and the Eagle Tribune. They would seem to all be Massachusetts or New England newspapers that his editorial showed up in.

A link to the last one, from his Senate site:
http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=234790

Here's another part of it I liked about really supporting the troops and the sham Bush has made of that too:

"The responsible choice would be to honor those who have worn our nation's uniform, but the administration made a different choice. They're raising veterans' health care fees by $250 a year while cutting taxes for millionaires. They welcome home our troops with $2.6 billion in unanticipated co-payments and fees instead of cracking down on offshore tax shelters. The result of these irresponsible choices: In Massachusetts alone over 22,000 veterans could be forced to leave the VA health care system, including 7,600 active patients. Some in Washington may be quick to embrace the symbols of patriotism with words, but too often deeds lag behind."

[Mass]

43. Sure we will

if the Repugs have their way. That is all he said.

[Clarkie1]

28. This sentence is good reframing.

"One of the dangers in tight fiscal times is you start hearing a lot of empty talk about tough choices that are really nothing more than excuses to destroy opportunity."

Let's talk more about "securing opportunity for ALL Americans."

[kerrygoddess]

38. Thanks... I think it better to lay the cards on the table...

And tell the truth, rather than reframe and nitpick everything.

Of course by doing this you get to plug someone else though.

[LittleClarkie]

30. Oh I get it now

If I looked at the five different articles, would I find that they are area specific in at least one or two of the paragraphs? Did he "personalize" each one?

[kerrygoddess]

37. It appears so...

He does keep on top of what is going on in MA and the rest of the country. I thought it was very good that each one addressed the area it was published in.

[TayTay]

47. My favorite part of the change to the web site

The background tag line: Representing the Birth Place of America.

As opposed to the Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, who bashes Massachusetts every chance he gets in every Red State location he can find. (This is priceless political one-upmanship.)

I gotta hand it to Kerry on this one, he is firmly upholding the honor of the old home state. (Mittens, on the other hand, can bite me.)