Kerry’s shrinking
states
The NY Times reports that advertising data gathered for The New York
Times by Nielsen Monitor-Plus shows that from Sept. 7 through last
Thursday, Mr. Kerry was running advertisements in just 13 states.
Kerry has pulled back in states that make up part of the 22 battle
ground states.
Records show that for Sept. 7 to Sept. 12, Kerry was advertising in
only eight states. They included Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Kerry was spending heavily in blue states of Wisconsin, Iowa, New
Hampshire, New Mexico and the red state of West Virginia. Kerry
expanded his ad buy after polls showed Kerry slipping in: Michigan,
Minnesota, Nevada and Oregon. Thursday, he had added Maine.
The Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee were
advertising heavily in 18 states.
Kerry was still off or nearly off the air in seven states where he had
advertised earlier: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri,
North Carolina and Virginia.
Pennsylvania, which has come back into play, is an example of what is
happening in the ad wars. Combined spots by the Democratic National
Committee and Kerry showed that they ran 1,741 times between Sept. 7
and last Thursday.
In the same period, the Bush campaign and the Republican Party ran
advertisements seen 2,137 times in six Pennsylvania markets.
McCain-Fiengold a mess
A federal Judge has ruled many provisions of the McCain-Fiengold law
unconstitutional and once again this poorly drafted ill-conceived law
has proven to be problematic for this election cycle.
Recently, a judge ruled that President Bush’s injunction to force the
Federal Election Commission Act was denied. Now, there are even more
loopholes to drive campaign activity through.
The judge overturned several FEC rules, including those that:
·
Imposed a narrow test to determine whether a lawmaker is
violating the soft money solicitation ban. Under the FEC rules, the
only way a federal candidate or officeholder could violate the
solicitation ban would be by explicitly asking for soft money.
·
Exempted an entire class of tax-exempt organizations
from a ban on the use of corporate or union money for ads mentioning
presidential or congressional candidates within a month before a
primary or two months before a general election.
·
Defined coordination as only cases where there was
agreement between a spender and candidate or party.
·
Exempted Internet ads from rules on coordination among
interest groups, federal candidates and national party committees.
·
Excluded coordinated ads aired more than 120 days before
an election or excluding a federal candidate or political party from
those that would be considered a contribution to a candidate or party
committee.
Kerry on terrorism
Sen. John Edwards opened up on Sunday for what has been billed as a
major new focus by the Kerry campaign on the Iraq War. Kerry also
received help from three Republican senators - John McCain, Richard
Lugar and Chuck Hagle - who claimed on the Sunday talk shows that Bush
was making a mess of the Iraq War.
Edward’s warm-up for Kerry’s speech today covered a promise that
Kerry-Edwards would be tough on terrorists and that Kerry would end
deployment of reserves and national guard.
"Let me just say this in the simplest possible terms," Edwards said.
"When John Kerry is president of the United States, we will find al
Qaeda where they are and crush them before they can do damage to the
American people."
"Let me tell you, I want you to tell all your friends here in
Pennsylvania, when John Kerry is president of the United States, we're
going to get rid of this backdoor draft," Edwards said. "We're not
going to continue to have people coming in the back door."
Kerry has also released another new commercial that criticizes Bush’s
handling of the Iraq war. The ad is titled, “The Next President Must
Do Both – Defend America and Fight for the Middle Class.” The ad has
Kerry telling Americans that the problem with President Bush is that
he went it alone and has cost America $200 billion.
In his speech announcing his four-point plan for Iraq, Kerry offered
as fact that there was no connection between Iraq and al Qaeda --
despite the 9-11 Commission and other intelligence saying that there
was.
''Is he really saying to Americans that if we had known there were no
imminent threat, no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to al Qaeda,
the United States should have invaded Iraq? My answer is resoundingly
no because a commander in chief's first responsibility is to make a
wise and responsible decision to keep America safe,'' Kerry said.
It is clear that Kerry will push that Bush had only two main
rationales for going to war in Iraq: weapons of mass destruction and a
connection between al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 attacks. Kerry is arguing
now that it has been proven false by weapons inspectors that there
were WMD, and the 9-11 Commission investigating the attacks has proven
that there is no connection to 9-11.
''This president was in denial,'' Kerry said. ''He hitched his wagon
to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed,
including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military. The
result is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences.''
Kerry’s four-point Iraq plan is to:
·
Get more help from other nations.
·
Provide better training for Iraqi security forces.
·
Provide benefits to the Iraqi people.
·
Ensure that democratic elections can be held next year
as promised.
NY Times campaigning for
Kerry
Editorial by: Roger Wm. Hughes
The NY Times (The Democrat Rag of Record) under the auspices of "fact
checking" is advancing the myth that Kerry favors tax cuts and isn’t a
liberal big spender. You thought CBS was bad. The NY Times article is
titled,
A Closer Look at Kerry’s Record on Taxes.
When it came time to answer the questions of how much Kerry’s programs
cost, the Times relied on... who? They relied on Kerry’s campaign
as the experts:
On the spending side, Mr. Kerry’s campaign says that his proposals
would total only slightly more than $1 trillion over 10 years, not
more than $2 trillion as the president charged. The difference in
estimates seems to result largely from the Kerry campaign’s counting
only specific proposals he has made since the spring and the Bush
campaign’s including most of the spending that Mr. Kerry has supported
in recent years. For instance, Mr. Kerry once supported significant
new money for Head Start, the preschool program, but that is no longer
part of his campaign platform.
Jason Furman, one of Mr. Kerry’s top economic advisers, said Mr.
Kerry’s proposals for about $200 billion in new spending for education
and for expanded access to health insurance — which he said would cost
about $650 billion over 10 years — would be offset by his proposal to
raise taxes on people with incomes above $200,000 a year.
The Bush campaign, through their analysis and other experts, have
estimated that 44 or Kerry’s proposed 85 new programs would add up to
$1.9 trillion. The article takes at face value the Kerry campaign’s
claim that the tax on those earning over $200,000 would generate $860
billion over ten years. The article doesn’t address the fact that most
of those in the $200,000-a-year tax bracket are small businesses
filing at the individual rate. There is also no analysis of how badly
raising taxes on this group would adversely effect the economy. Bush’s
tax cuts for this group are widely credited with relieving the
recession.
Don’t even think that the Times article offered a full, complete
analysis of all 85 proposed new programs -- or that they even listed
them.
It is true that Bush has proposed more programs and it is also a fact
that the War on Terrorism may cost more than we know. However, the
point of this whole Times’ article was to advance the myth that Kerry
likes tax cuts for the middle class and isn’t a big spending liberal.
Yes, Virginia, there are red and blue media in America. You can no
longer count the "Old Gray Lady" as an objective source of record. In
fact, you cannot count much of the old media in that category. Thank
god for the bloggers. Because of them, the "old blue media" will never
get away without an alternative voice taking them to task.
Rather’s mea culpa
Here it is... Dan Rather’s admission of error:
Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of
documents used in support of a 60 Minutes’ Wednesday story about
President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed
to re-examine the documents in question—and their source—vigorously.
And we promised that we would let the American public know what this
examination turned up, whatever the outcome.
Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the
confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching
for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key
question of how our source for the documents came into possession of
these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been
raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where—if I knew
then what I know now—I would not have gone ahead with the story as it
was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in
question.
But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for
that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith
and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of
investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.
Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust
in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.
According to the CBS News website [LINK]:
CBS said
former Texas Guard official Bill Burkett "has acknowledged that he
provided the now-disputed documents" and "admits that he deliberately
misled the CBS News producer working on the report, giving her a false
account of the documents' origins to protect a promise of
confidentiality to the actual source." Burkett originally said he
obtained the documents from another former Guardsman. Now he says he
got them from a different source whose connection to the documents and
identity CBS News has been unable to verify to this point. Burkett’s
interview will be featured in a full report on tonight’s CBS Evening
News with Dan Rather.
Getting out of Iraq
Robert Novak a well-connected editorialist with the Bush
administration is writing that we will be out of Iraq soon:
Whether Bush or Kerry is elected, the president or president-elect
will have to sit down immediately with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The
military will tell the election winner there are insufficient U.S.
forces in Iraq to wage effective war. That leaves three realistic
options: Increase overall U.S. military strength to reinforce Iraq,
stay with the present strength to continue the war, or get out.
Well-placed sources in the administration are confident Bush's
decision will be to get out. They believe that is the recommendation
of his national security team and would be the recommendation of
second-term officials. An informed guess might have Condoleezza Rice
as secretary of state, Paul Wolfowitz as defense secretary and Stephen
Hadley as national security adviser. According to my sources, all
would opt for a withdrawal.
Novak writes about the Kerry campaign:
The Kerry campaign, realizing that its only hope is to attack Bush for
his Iraq policy, is not equipped to make sober evaluations of Iraq.
When I asked a Kerry political aide what his candidate would do in
Iraq, he could do no better than repeat the old saw that help is on
the way from European troops. Kerry's foreign policy advisers know
there will be no release from that quarter.
Teresa’s impertinence
The New Yorker has a very lengthy article about Teresa Heinz Kerry.
The article proves that she continues to march to her own drum and not
the campaign’s or the nation’s beat.
On the subject of abortion, the article reveals:
…She also had the courage—or impertinence, depending on one’s point of
view—to tell Bishop Wright of Pittsburgh, in a pastoral interview that
took place shortly before he presided at her wedding, that she "wanted
lots of children" but that she didn’t believe in the Church’s views on
contraception. "You wouldn’t talk about abortion in those days—you
didn’t think about it," she said to me. But, years later, after the
birth of her three sons, she was prepared to abort a pregnancy
severely compromised by high doses of a steroid medication. A
miscarriage spared her from a choice that, despite her ambivalence on
the subject—abortion, she says, is a "terrible thing," and anyone who
treats it lightly is heartless—she feels all women should be free to
make.
On the subject of her critics, she was not charitable – "scumbag":
…She dismissed voters skeptical of her husband’s health-care proposals
as "idiots," and, in a television interview with a Pittsburgh
anchorwoman, employed the word "scumbags" to describe some of her
detractors. I doubt that she knows the literal meaning of "scumbag,"
but perhaps, after forty years in America, nearly thirty of them as a
political wife, observing how the flaws and contradictions of a
personality as complex as hers are melted down for ammunition by the
other side, she should have learned it.
RNC Chairman
Gillespie's statement on CBS story & retraction
Republican
National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie issued the following
statement on CBS's admission today that memos regarding the
President's National Guard service are not real:
"We accept CBS's apology for a breach of the journalistic standards
that provide the American people confidence in news organizations, but
some disturbing questions remain unanswered.
"CBS has now answered questions about the authenticity of the
documents but questions remain surrounding who created the documents,
who provided them to CBS and if Senator Kerry's supporters, Party
committee, or campaign played any role.
"Did Bill Burkett, Democrat activist and Kerry campaign supporter, who
passed information to the DNC, work with Kerry campaign surrogate Max
Cleland? Did Bill Burkett's talks with 'senior' Kerry campaign
officials include discussions of the now discredited documents? Was
the launch of the Democrat National Committee's Operation Fortunate
Son designed with knowledge of the faked forged memos? Terry McAuliffe
said yesterday that no one at the DNC or Kerry campaign, 'had anything
to do with the preparations of the documents,' but what about the
distribution or dissemination?
"In an effort to regain the trust of the American people CBS should
not only investigate the process that led to the use of these
documents but they should identify immediately those engaged in
possible criminal activity who attempted to use a news organization to
affect the outcome of a Presidential election in its closing days."
Kerry’s NY lead
shrivels
RasmussenReports.com gives a sobering view for the Kerry
campaign efforts in the state of New York: it’s down to single
digits...
The last Rasmussen Reports showed Kerry ahead of Bush by 19 points.
Today, that lead is a mere 5 points. New York state was a huge blue
state during the 2000 election, with Al Gore over Bush by 25 points.
The shrinking Kerry lead is sure to set off concerns in the Kerry
camp, and DNC.
The Report also shows Bush is closing in on Kerry in nearby New Jersey
-- with only 4 points between them, the race is now deemed a ‘toss
up.’
And this shocker rocks the DNC/Kerry campaign as well: nearly 25% of
New York’s Democrats say they will vote for Bush. Is this the outcome
of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement of President
Bush during the GOP convention? Perhaps, but it’s important to also
note that President Bush’s job approval ratings has also gone up 6
points since the last Rasmussen Report and now stands at 47%.
And in other polling news, The
Tennessean poll shows Bush leading Kerry by 16 points -- 53% to
37% -- in the survey conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.
of Washington, D.C. Independent candidate Ralph Nader was a nonfactor,
garnering 1%, and 9% in the poll said they were undecided.
President Bush’s New Hampshire Rally
[President Bush's rally in New Hampshire:
LINK to entire speech]
Ours is a changing world. When you think about it, when our dads were
coming up, or my dad was growing up, or your grandfather was growing
up, a man only had one job, generally, and one career, worked for the
same company all his life. Today, the world has changed dramatically.
People change careers often and change jobs, and women are working not
only in the house, but they're working outside the house. The nature
of our work force has changed a lot, and yet the basic institutions of
government have not changed. The tax code has not changed. Pension
funds have not changed. Health care plans haven't changed. Worker
training programs haven't changed. They were all designed for
yesterday.
One of the reasons I'm running for four more years is so we can change
the fundamental systems of government, to help people be able to
realize their dreams. A proper role for government is to stand
side-by-side with people, not dictate to people. We have a fundamental
disagreement in this campaign. (Applause.) There is a philosophical
difference in the campaign. The proper role for government is to
encourage people to be able to have choices in life, so they can
realize their dreams, as opposed to creating programs where the
government tells you what you're going to do in life. (Applause.)
When you hear me talk about changing systems, let me start with Social
Security. If you're a senior citizen, you will receive your Social
Security check. I don't care what the politicians will tell you as
they try to scare you into the ballot box. The promise of Social
Security will be kept. (Applause.) And if you're a baby boomer, if
you're a baby boomer, like me, the trust fund is in pretty good shape.
But we need to think about our younger workers, our children and our
grandchildren. In order to make sure Social Security is available for
them, I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their
own tax money and set up a personal savings account, not only to help
fulfill the promise of Social Security, but a personal savings account
they call their own, that government cannot take away. (Applause.)
I think our labor laws ought to change to recognize the changing times
we're in. The labor laws were designed for yesterday. I believe
workers ought to be allowed to have flex-time and comp-time, so moms
are able to juggle the demands of family and the demands of work.
Government ought to be -- have family-friendly work laws, not work
laws designed for yesterday.
When I'm talking about changing systems, I'm talking about making sure
that systems such as the tax code does its job. And one way the tax
code can do its job -- the job is to collect enough revenues in a fair
way to meet the priorities of government without complicating lives. I
believe the tax code we have is a complicated mess. I believe it needs
to be -- (applause.) I know it's full of loopholes. In order to make
sure this economy grows, in order to make sure there's fairness, I'm
going to lead a bipartisan effort to simplify the tax code.
(Applause.)
In changing times, it's important to encourage ownership. If you own
something it brings stability in your life. One of the most hopeful
statistics of the recent years is the fact that more and more people
are now owning their own home. Think about that. Home ownership is at
an all-time high in America today. (Applause.) That's important. We
got a plan to make sure it continues that way. I want more and more
people from all walks -- I want to close the minority home ownership
gap in this country, and we've got a plan to do that. There's nothing
better than a fellow citizen opening up their door and saying, welcome
to my home; welcome to my piece of property. (Applause.)
When it comes to health care, the system ought to have a -- be a
patient and doctor-centered system, as opposed to a system of federal
bureaucrats. That's why I'm a big believer in health savings accounts.
Health savings accounts are a tax-free way for individuals to be able
to take care of catastrophic needs, and at the same time, be in charge
of health care decisions. And as well, health savings accounts allows
a worker to take their own account from job to job, career to career.
If you own something, you have a better chance of controlling your
destiny. What I'm telling you is, is that over the next four years I
will work to change the fundamental systems of our government so that
people have more choices and more opportunities to be able to realize
their dreams and the great promise of the United States of America.
(Applause.)
Now, look, I recognize that a hopeful society is one in which this
economy has got to continue to grow. And when you're out there
gathering the vote, you need to remind our fellow citizens what this
economy has been through. The stock market started going down before I
got into office. (Applause.) As soon as we show up, we have a
recession -- (laughter) -- which is three quarters negative growth. We
started to come out of that and we discovered that some of our
citizens forgot what it meant to be a responsible America. See, when I
say we usher in a period of personal responsibility, I'm talking about
CEOs in corporate America that have a responsibility of telling the
truth to their shareholders and their employees. (Applause.) The fact
that people didn't tell the truth affected our economy. It affected
the confidence of people. We sent messages loud and clear now, we're
not going to tolerate dishonesty in our boardrooms.
Thirdly, those attacks hurt us. Make no mistake about it, the attacks
on our country affected our economy. And yet, we've overcome these
obstacles. This economy of ours is growing. As the Governor said, your
unemployment rate is low. People are working in this state. The
national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent. That's lower than the
average of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. (Applause.) That's
okay, that's good. We're doing fine. Except the question is, how do we
keep it going? That's the fundamental question of this campaign. What
does it take
AUDIENCE MEMBER: -- (inaudible) -- (laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: What does it take to make sure this recovery is
sustained recovery, so that the economy is a hopeful place? I'll tell
you what we need to do. We need to make sure we have reliable energy
supplies. If we want this economy to grow, we've got to make sure that
you can afford energy at reasonable prices. That means we've got to
encourage conservation, the use of renewable sources of energy, using
our technologies to make sure we can burn coal in an
environmentally-friendly way, explore for natural resources in an
environmentally-friendly way. In order to make sure jobs are available
today and tomorrow, we need to be less dependent on foreign sources of
energy. (Applause.)
Listen, in order to make sure this economy stays strong and people can
keep working here in New Hampshire, we've got to open up markets to
U.S. products. There's a tendency in this country to say, oh, it's
tough out there, so let's have economic isolationist policies. I
strongly reject that. We've opened up our markets, and it's good for
you. It's good for the consumers. If you've got more products to
choose from, you're likely to get that which you want at a better
price and higher quality. That's how the marketplace works. So what
I'm saying to places like China is, you treat us the way we treat you;
we've opened up our markets, you open up yours. That's why we filed a
WTO case against them. That's why we filed anti-dumping edicts against
them. We're enforcing the laws, because I believe we can compete with
anybody, anytime, anywhere, if the rules are fair. (Applause.)
If you want to have jobs continue to grow, our society must do
something about excessive regulation and all the lawsuits. You know,
ask these employers, large and small, what it's like to live in a
society where they're constantly afraid of being sued. We need legal
reform in this country if we expect to keep jobs here in America.
(Applause.)
And finally, in order to make sure we have jobs here, we've got to be
wise about how we spend your money, and we've got to keep your taxes
low. And taxes are an issue in this campaign, make no mistake about
it. I'm running against a fellow who's promised over $2.2 trillion new
dollars of federal spending so far, and that's a lot even for a guy
from Massachusetts. (Applause.)
So they said, how are you going to pay for it? That's a legitimate
question, isn't it -- all these promises, how are you going to pay for
it? He said, that's simple, just tax the rich. We've heard that
before, haven't we? First of all, you can't raise enough by raising
the top two brackets and paying for all the new spending he's
promised. So there's a tax gap, which means somebody has got to fill
the tax gap. That's you. Secondly, they say, "tax the rich." The rich
hire lawyers and accountants for a reason, to kind of move out of the
way and let the tax bill go elsewhere. That's you. We're not going to
let him tax you in 2005, because we're going to win the election in
November. (Applause.)
Listen, let me talk to some of our citizens here to help make my
points. Kathy Helm is with us today. I'm proud that Kathy is here.
She's right there. Those are your little squirts? (Laughter.) The guy
has got him a good-looking car. What are their names?
MRS. HELM: Steven, Thomas and Lauren.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. And how old?
MRS. HELM: Four weeks, five, and two-and-a-half. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: You got your hands full.
MRS. HELM: Yes, I do.
THE PRESIDENT: You are a stay-at-home mom, you told me.
MRS. HELM: Yes, I am. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's a lot of work. What's your husband do?
MRS. HELM: I'm sorry?
THE PRESIDENT: Your husband?
MRS. HELM: Tom.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, he works --
MRS. HELM: He works at Southern New Hampshire University. He's the A/V
manager there.
THE PRESIDENT: Great. One of the things we did when we provided tax
relief, was to help families. Tax relief helped with the economic
recovery. If people have got more money in their pocket, they're going
to demand an additional good or a service, and when they demand that
good or additional service, somebody has got to provide it. That's how
the marketplace works, as well. And when somebody provides it,
somebody is going to work.
And so the Helms family received -- how much did you get in tax relief
in '03 -- $2,200 it says here -- $1,700, yes.
MRS. HELM: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: I'll answer it for you. (Laughter.)
MRS. HELM: Thanks. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I know there's a lot of cameras over there. (Laughter.)
So, $1,700, is that right?
MRS. HELM: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. That doesn't sound like a lot if you're in D.C., I
guess, when you're dealing with a lot of zeros. $1,700, I presume,
means a lot to you.
MRS. HELM: Yes, it does.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. So what did you do with the money?
MRS. HELM: Well, we bought a dining room table, one thing.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's good.
MRS. HELM: Just nice for our new house.
THE PRESIDENT: Somebody had to make it.
MRS. HELM: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: Help raise your kids.
MRS. HELM: That's right.
THE PRESIDENT: See, we raised the child credit to $1,000 a child.
She's got three children. That helps. (Applause.) She said she's
married -- we reduced the marriage penalty. The tax code ought to
encourage marriage, not discourage marriage. (Applause.) We created a
10-percent bracket to help families like the Helm family. In 2004,
you're estimated to save $2,200.
MRS. HELM: That's great.
THE PRESIDENT: Is that right?
MRS. HELM: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay.
MRS. HELM: That's what I hear. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's what I hear, too. (Laughter.)
So here's the point. I've asked Kathy to come for this reason. A lot
of these tax relief -- a lot of this tax relief is going to expire. By
the way, this is tax relief my opponent voted against. He voted
against raising the child credit --
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: -- he voted against lowering the marriage penalty, he
voted against creating the 10-percent bracket. That's his history. He
voted against it for a reason. See, he'd rather have the federal
government spending the $1,700, as opposed to Kathy and her husband,
Tom. That shows the philosophical difference we have in this campaign.
I believe government ought to set its priorities, fund its priorities,
and trust people like Kathy to spend their money. (Applause.)
And if Congress allows this tax relief to expire, her taxes go up by a
thousand dollars. That makes no sense for a family. That doesn't make
any sense, at all. Tell your friends and neighbors when they're headed
to the polls there's just a philosophical difference about who best
can spend that $1,700. We believe the Helm family can spend it better
than people in Washington, D.C. can spend it. (Applause.)
Jim Bell is with us today. Appreciate you coming.
MR. BELL: Pleasure to be here, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: He said he's been training for this moment most of his
life. (Applause.)
MR. BELL: How am I doing so far?
THE PRESIDENT: About as good as a Harvard man can be expected to.
(Laughter and applause.) That's a cheap shot. (Laughter.) Just
kidding.
MR. BELL: Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, Jim is the president and CEO of --
MR. BELL: EPE Corporation, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. And what do you all do?
MR. BELL: We are an automated factory that produces sophisticated
electronics for about 20 customers in New England.
THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. A couple of points. Do you realize that most
small businesses pay tax at the individual income tax level? Most
people don't know that. About 90 percent of the small businesses in
America are sub-chapter S corporations, or limited partnerships, which
means they pay individual income taxes. You are a --
MR. BELL: We are a sub-S corporation.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. And so the first point I want to make is he's --
you're a job creator, right? How many jobs have you created?
MR. BELL: This year, 17.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, 17. That's good, 17 jobs. (Applause.) Do you also
realize 70 percent of all new jobs are created by small businesses,
guys like Jim Bell. They're dreaming, they're expanding, they're
taking advantage of the environment, and they're creating jobs -- 17
jobs. And, yet, my opponent says he's going to raise the top tax
brackets. Guess who the rich is in this case? This corporation, who is
creating new jobs in New Hampshire. It makes no sense to tax
sub-chapter S corporations just as the economy is beginning to expand.
Why would you want to tax a job creator? You know why? Because there's
a fundamental difference. He wants the government to be able to decide
things for people; we want to free up people like Jim Bell to invest
and expand to create more jobs. (Applause.)
One of the -- so when you reduce all taxes, which we did, we helped
Jim's corporation. But, as well, we put some incentives in the tax
code to encourage people to invest. And did you take advantage of
that?
MR. BELL: Well, your tax incentives were terrific for us this year.
We've invested $100,000 in new equipment and capability. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's good.
MR. BELL: And with that incentive, we had tax relief of about $34,000.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: See, the tax code -- the tax code sent a signal to Jim:
Invest. Now, what did you -- what did you buy? Invest means buy. What
did you buy?
MR. BELL: Well, we're in the automated factory business. In this
particular case, we invested in automatic optical inspection
equipment, which is very sophisticated technological equipment.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. And that's -- two points on that. One is,
somebody had to make the equipment. So the tax code -- the tax code --
this economic growth plan we put out said to Jim, this is -- it's to
your advantage to buy equipment for your company. And he did. And
somebody had to make this sophisticated machine. And when somebody
makes the machine, it means there's another worker who's likely to
keep a job -- maybe more than one worker. So his decision ripples
throughout the economy. So the tax relief plan encourages new job
creation, is what I'm telling you. But, as well, it makes his workers
more productive. In other words, he is now more likely to be able to
compete, I guess.
MR. BELL: You bet, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Otherwise, you wouldn't have bought the machine.
MR. BELL: As a matter of fact, the machine was made in the state of
California, so we're trying to pump that up a little bit, too.
THE PRESIDENT: That's good, yes. (Applause.) But your workers --
MR. BELL: The workers are far more productive, are more competitive.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: That's great. Because you're a good business guy.
(Applause.)
MR. BELL: I'm working at it.
THE PRESIDENT: See, here's one of the challenges we face. You know,
people talk about outsourcing. Of course, we want jobs here. The best
way to keep jobs here is to make sure America is the best place in the
world to do business. To make sure we don't raise his taxes, to make
sure we do something about the lawsuits that plague him, to make sure
health care is reasonable in cost, to make sure he can stay in
business -- that's the best way to keep jobs here in America.
Let me talk about one other thing -- two other things. One, I talk
about a changing world. He's talking about his workers becoming more
productive. It means the same worker can do more. Now, if that's the
case, one of the challenges we have, in order to make sure people can
find work, is that you've got to keep growing this economy. As the
worker becomes more productive, there is a need to make sure you've
got pro-growth policies in place. And that's what a productive work
force does. But if you're a productive worker, you're going to make
more money.
MR. BELL: Absolutely.
THE PRESIDENT: And that's what happens. So when you hear about
productivity increases, it means he can compete. But it also means his
workers are going to make more money, which is what we want. By the
way, after-tax incomes in this country have risen since 2000. That
means people have got more money in their pocket. That's what this
administration is for. We want people walking around with a little
extra money. (Applause.)
One final point. This is a family business.
MR. BELL: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: We've got a tax code that does not allow Jim and his
wife to pass the business on to whom he wants. That's called the death
tax. The death tax taxes assets twice. We need to get rid of that
death tax forever, to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
(Applause.)
Thanks, Jim. Good job.
MR. BELL: Thank you very much, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Excellent. Just kidding on the Harvard thing.
(Laughter.)
Jen Brier is with us. Jen, what were you doing -- you were working as
a -- something. What were you doing before you went back to school?
MS. BRIER: Before I went back to school I was working at a mail-order
catalog company, opening mail.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Then what happened?
MS. BRIER: I went to school and now I'm a registered nurse.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Right. So a job was available, but it required a new
skill. It's kind of hard to go from catalog-mail opener to nurse, I
presume.
MS. BRIER: Yes, it is.
THE PRESIDENT: So where did you go?
MS. BRIER: I went to the New Hampshire Community Technical College in
Nashua. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Remember when I told you that worker training
programs need to change? One reason they need to change, and to make
sure they're relevant, is because the job base is changing. In
changing times, new jobs are created with new opportunities and new
careers available. But there's a skills gap in our country. If we want
jobs to stay here in America, we've got to make sure that people like
Jen can go back to school. That's why I'm a big believer in the Pell
grants. That's why we've got a focused effort on expanding our
community college system here. Community colleges are able to design a
curriculum to fit the needs of the local communities.
I know the Governor is a big believer in the community college system,
and you found that, right? Did you know the job existed as a nurse
before you went to school, or did you find out after you went to
school?
MS. BRIER: That there was jobs in nursing?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
MS. BRIER: Before I went.
THE PRESIDENT: So somebody said, all you've got to do is go back to
school, and there's a job available for you?
MS. BRIER: Well, I mean, you would look in the paper, and nurses were
in demand.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. They still are, right?
MS. BRIER: Absolutely.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, I want people listening out there to
understand that if you're stuck in a job that you're dissatisfied
with, there is money available to help you go back to school. How many
people in your class to become a registered nurse? A lot?
MS. BRIER: Mine was a small class of, like, 12.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, so you didn't get lost, in other words. It must be
hard for some to go back to school. Not for you, some.
MS. BRIER: Well, some people. I have a -- we have a lot of older
students that were graduating in our class. One of them was 52, who's
now a nurse.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: That's not old. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: He said, it's not old. (Applause.) Yes, now you're
talking. (Applause.) But think about that. Seriously. Our society must
provide opportunity for 52-year-old people who want to become a more
productive worker. Education means that you become more productive and
you make more money.
MS. BRIER: I do. My salary doubled.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, she goes back to community college -- (applause)
-- and her salary doubles. A changing workplace means that we have got
to be smart about how we provide help for people to go back to
community colleges. And we do it. We do it in the form of Pell grants.
We've expanded Pell grants by a million students since I've been the
President. And we do it in the form of loans. You're a loan person?
MS. BRIER: I did. All my school loans are from federal loans.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, and it helps, by the way, that she saved $1,100 on
income taxes as a result of the tax relief we passed. People say --
(applause.) Now, you're going to get your master's degree?
MS. BRIER: I'm sorry?
THE PRESIDENT: Somebody said -- does it say here you're going to get
your master's degree? Thinking about it?
MS. BRIER: I'm at the University of New Hampshire right now to get my
bachelor's, and then I'll probably stay there to get my master's.
THE PRESIDENT: This is fantastic. (Applause.) Learning is a lifetime
experience, and government ought to help people like Jen. Thanks for
coming, Jen. I'm proud you're here. (Applause.)
A more productive person makes more money. Now, we've got Ken Holmes
with us. He also is a -- a job creator. And we're going to talk to him
about health care. Let me say a couple of things about health care
very quickly.
There is a philosophical debate -- or philosophical difference,
philosophical divide in this campaign. If you listen very carefully to
what my opponent is saying, he's saying he's going to increase the
role of government in health care decisions. And I think it's a
mistake. I really do. I think that that leads to rationing. It means
people get to decide for you what -- that which you ought to be
deciding for yourself.
We've got a different plan. First of all, it says we're going to take
care of those who can't help themselves. I believe every poor county
in America ought to have a community health center. That's a place for
the indigent and poor to receive preventative care and primary so
they're not receiving it in emergency rooms and hospitals. (Applause.)
I believe we ought to -- I believe we ought to make sure S-CHIP, which
is the low-income children's health care program, is accessed by
everybody who is deserving of that program. We want to help these kids
with good health care. I believe that we ought to continue the reforms
of Medicare. I went up the D.C. to solve problems, not to pass them on
to future Presidents and future generations. We had a problem with
Medicare. The system was not modernized. It would pay for $100,000 for
heart surgery, but not one dime for the prescription drugs that would
prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the first place. That
made no sense for our seniors. It made no sense for the taxpayers. We
have modernized Medicare by giving seniors more choices, prescription
drug cards, preventative care for the first time, and in 2006,
prescription drugs. (Applause.)
If you're worried about health care costs in this country, and we
should be, and if you're worried about availability for health care,
and we should be, we need to do something about these junk lawsuits
that are running docs out of business and running the cost of your
medicine up. (Applause.) This is an issue in this campaign. It's an
issue. A lot of OB/GYNs are being run out of business. I've talked to
many moms who had to drive miles to find an OB/GYN because their local
OB/GYN simply couldn't stay in business.
I don't think you can be pro-doctor, pro-patient, pro-hospital and
pro-trial lawyer at the same time. I think you have to make a choice.
(Applause.) My opponent made his choice and he put a trial lawyer on
the ticket. I made my choice: I'm for medical liability reform now.
(Applause.)
And, finally, we're going to help small businesses. Kenny Holmes is
with us. Do you realize that 50 percent of the working uninsured work
for small businesses? It says to me, if that's the case, we ought to
help small businesses be able to afford insurance.
What do you do?
MR. HOLMES: I'm owner and general manager of North Branch
Construction, a general contracting and construction management firm
in the state of New Hampshire.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Building things. That's good.
MR. HOLMES: Yes, lots of things.
THE PRESIDENT: That's even better. And health care is an issue with
your company?
MR. HOLMES: It certainly is. We're an active member of ABC, Associated
Builders and Contractors, our national association, that has been
pushing -- I should say supporting your effort for association health
plans for the last couple of years now.
THE PRESIDENT: Now, here's what they are -- that's the problem in
Washington, we talk in words that people don't understand what they
mean. Association health plans mean the small businesses can pool
risk, can join together across jurisdictional boundaries, across state
lines, so that there's a larger pool of people to insure. The more
people you insure, the more risk you spread, the cheaper the policies,
the less expensive your policies are. That's what we're talking about.
So in other words, he ought to be able to combine with somebody from
-- a company from Texas or a company from California in the same
industry, and they can write insurance with large pools, see.
Association health plans means small businesses will eventually be
able to get their insurance at the same discount that big businesses
can get their insurance. And that makes sense. If 50 percent of the
working uninsured work for small businesses, why not allow small
businesses to bind together, to purchase insurance in pools? I'll tell
you why. Because people in Washington, D.C. won't let it happen, is
why it's not happening.
He's a big believer in association health plans and so am I, because I
want people to have insurance. I want small businesses to be able to
stay in business. (Applause.)
Your premiums are going up?
MR. HOLMES: They have been for several years.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Lawsuits driving them up, the fact that you can't
bind together is drawing them up, too -- driving them up.
MR. HOLMES: No question. We spend $240,000 a year now for our 55
employees to have insurance, and their families.
THE PRESIDENT: See, what we want is common-sense, practical plans, to
address the needs of people, rather than plans that empower the
federal government to make your health care decisions. In all we're
doing in this health care reform debate, we're saying the decisions
ought to be made between doctors and patients, not between -- by
bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. And it's a fundamental difference in
this campaign, and it's an important philosophical difference in this
campaign. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming, buddy.
I want to talk about how to make America and the world a safer place.
(Applause.) Then I'll answer some questions. Let me tell you some of
the lessons that I have learned and the country must learn about the
world we live in today. Our world changed, obviously, on September the
11th, 2001. We were confronted with an enemy that has no conscience,
period. They will behead people in order to shake our will. They will
try to sow chaos and disorder, and try to affect our confidence. These
people are ideologues of hatred. They stand for exactly the opposite
we stand for. We stand for freedom of religion; they stand for a
narrow view of religion. And if people don't toe the line, they will
whip them in public squares. We believe in freedom of speech. They
say, if you speak wrong, you're in trouble. They're the opposite of
what we believe in. And they use terror as a tool to shake our will.
You cannot negotiate with these people. You cannot hope for the best.
(Applause.) Our strategy is clear: We will stay on the offensive
against them; we will bring them to justice, so we do not have to face
them here at home. (Applause.)
The second lesson is that this is a different kind of war, and these
people will try to hide in countries. They're like parasites. Their
desire is to take over the host.
And so I issued a statement, a doctrine, that said if you harbor a
terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist. Now, when the
President says something, he better mean what he says. In order to
keep this world safe and secure, you better mean what you say when you
speak. (Applause.) And you better say it so everybody can understand
it. (Applause.) So I said, if you harbor a terrorist, you're just as
guilty as the terrorist. I was speaking to the Taliban at this point
in time. And they ignored what we said. And thanks to a great
military, the Taliban are no longer in power. (Applause.)
Okay, a couple of other points -- we've got too much work to do here.
(Applause.) Thank you all -- too much work here. And so we went in and
removed the Taliban from power. Now, remember, al Qaeda was training
there. They trained thousands of killers. And al Qaeda no longer has a
safe haven, they're on the run in that part of the world. And we're
safer for it. We're safer for it. (Applause.) We're safer because
people now are free in Afghanistan, as well.
Think about a society just three years ago in which these barbarians
were -- they weren't allowing young girls to go to school. An amazing
society, isn't it? Can you imagine growing up in a world -- you can't
-- we can't possibly think that way in America. I told you, these
people are just the opposite of us. We believe every human being
matters, that every soul counts. And, yet, young girls were not
allowed to go to school. They're mothers were executed in sports
stadiums if they stepped out of line.
Today, in Afghanistan, 10 million citizens -- over 40 percent of whom
are women -- have registered to vote in the upcoming presidential
election. What a fantastic -- (applause.) And the world is better off
for it. (Applause.) Nobody would have predicted that three years ago.
Nobody could have envisioned after we went in that democracy would be
on the march. Freedom is powerful. I don't care what your religion is;
I don't care where you live -- freedom is a powerful concept. People
long to be free in this world.
Another lesson of September the 11th, another lesson is that we must
take threats seriously, before they fully materialize. (Applause.)
Prior to September the 11th, if we saw a threat, we could deal with it
if we felt like it, or not, because we never dreamt it would come home
to hurt us. So if we saw a gathering threat overseas, maybe it's
something to pay attention to, maybe it wasn't. Today, that world
changed. Today, we've got to take every threat seriously because we
saw the consequences of what can happen. We're still vulnerable.
So I looked at the world and saw a threat in Saddam Hussein.
(Applause.) I'll tell you why I saw a threat. He was a sworn enemy of
the United States of America; he had ties to terrorist networks. Do
you remember Abu Nidal? He's the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer.
Leon Klinghoffer was murdered because of his religion. Abu Nidal was
in Baghdad, as was his organization. Zarqawi -- still in Baghdad
creating havoc in Baghdad, trying to stop the march to democracy is
what he's trying to do right now, but he was there. Saddam Hussein was
paying the families of suicide bombers. That's support for terror. He
was dangerous. He also used weapons of mass destruction against his
own people and against a country in his neighborhood. Saddam Hussein
was a threat.
We had been to war with him once. Many politicians prior to my arrival
in Washington had said we better -- it would be naive, to the point of
grave danger, not to confront Saddam Hussein -- that would be Senator
John Kerry -- "naive to the point of grave danger." I went to the
Congress and said, I see a threat. They looked at the same
intelligence I looked at, the very same intelligence, and they came to
the same conclusion as I came to, that Saddam Hussein was a threat,
and they authorized the use of force. My opponent looked at that
intelligence, as he had for many years since he had been in Washington
for a long period of time, and voted "yes" when it came to the
authorization of the use of force.
Before the Commander-in-Chief ever commits a troop into harm's way we
must try all options. The decision to go to war is the toughest, by
far, the toughest decision I'll ever have to make. And I knew that.
And that's why I went to the United Nations, because I was hoping that
diplomacy would work. I knew we had to deal with a threat, but my hope
was -- is that, finally, Saddam Hussein would listen to the free
world. And I stoop up there and I laid out the case, and they looked
at the intelligence and they voted 15-to-nothing to say to Saddam
Hussein, disclose, disarm or face serious consequences. I believe when
international bodies say something, for the sake of peace, they must
mean what they say. (Applause.)
Saddam Hussein ignored the demands of the free world. This wasn't the
first resolution he ignored. I think it was 17 resolutions -- 17 times
the free world spoke. He wasn't paying attention, because he was
hoping we would look the other direction, because he was hoping we
would forget. As a matter of fact, it is documented that he
systematically deceived the inspectors the United Nations sent in.
Diplomacy wasn't working. The world had given Saddam Hussein a chance,
a last chance to listen to the demands of the free world. And he made
the decision -- and so did I. I had to either trust a madman, or
forget the lessons of September 11th, or take the touch decision to
defend our country. Given that choice, I will defend America every
time. (Applause.)
Thank you all. Today, my opponent continued his pattern of twisting in
the wind, with new contradictions of his old positions on Iraq. He
apparently woke up this morning and has now decided, no, we should not
have invaded Iraq, after just last month saying he still would have
voted for force, even knowing everything we know today. Incredibly, he
now believes our national security would be stronger with Saddam
Hussein in power, not in prison.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: Today he said, "We have traded a dictator for a chaos
that has left America less secure." He's saying he prefers the
stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy. I
couldn't disagree more. And not so long ago, so did my opponent.
(Laughter and applause.) Last December, he said this: "Those who
doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam
Hussein, and those who believe we are not safer with his capture don't
have the judgment to be President or the credibility to be elected
President." (Applause.) I could not have said it better. (Applause.)
He also changed his mind and decided that our efforts in Iraq are now
a distraction from the war on terror, when he earlier acknowledged
that confronting Saddam Hussein was critical to the war on terror. And
he's criticizing our reconstruction efforts, when he voted against the
money to pay for the reconstruction.
Forty-three days before the election, my opponent has now suddenly
settled on a proposal for what to do next, and it's exactly what we're
currently doing. (Applause.) We're working with the international
partners, we're training Iraqi troops, we're reconstructing the --
reconstructing the company, (sic) we're preparing for elections.
They're going to have elections in January. (Applause.)
Our work in Iraq is hard work. There are people there who want to stop
the march to democracy, that's what they're trying to do. They want us
to leave. They want us to quit. Our work in Iraq is absolutely
essential -- Iraq -- essential for our country's security. For our
children and grandchildren to grow up in a safer world, we must defeat
the terrorists and the insurgents, and complete our mission in
rebuilding Iraq as a stable democracy. (Applause.)
I'm going to New York after this, and in the next couple of days I'll
be meeting with Prime Minister Allawi, the Prime Minister of Iraq.
(Applause.) He is a strong and determined leader. He understands the
stakes in this battle. I hope the American people will listen
carefully to his assessment of the situation in his country. We must
show resolve and determination. Mixed signals are the wrong signals to
send to the enemy. Mixed signals are the wrong signals to send to the
people in Iraq. Mixed signals are the wrong signals to send to our
allies. And mixed signals are the wrong signals to send to our troops
in combat. (Applause.)
A couple of other points I want to make. Any time we put our troops
into harm's way, they need to have the full support of the United
States government, the full support. (Applause.) And that's why I went
-- and went to the Congress, and said, we need $87 billion of money to
support our troops in harm's way. These were for troops in Afghanistan
and in Iraq. And I was pleased to get strong support. Bass and
Bradley, they were strong in their support. Sununu and Gregg were
strong on that support. (Applause.)
The support was so strong, that only 12 members of the Senate voted
against it, two of whom were my opponent and his running mate. When
you're out gathering the vote, when you're out there gathering the
vote, remind people of this fact: Four people in the United States
Senate voted to authorize the use of force and did not vote to fund
our troops -- two of whom were my opponent and his running mate.
So they asked my opponent, why, why did you make that vote? He said, I
voted for the $87 billion, right before I voted against it. That's not
the way people talk here in New Hampshire. He went on, and said, well,
he said he's proud of the vote, and finally he said, it's a
complicated matter. There's nothing complicated about supporting our
troops in combat. (Applause.)
Let me tell you what else I believe -- I'm kind of winding down here,
getting ready for questions. Let me tell you what else I believe. I
believe that liberty can transform nations from places of hopelessness
to hope, from places of darkness to light. We're seeing that in
Afghanistan today. Ten million people registering to vote is a
phenomenal statistic. It is such a hopeful number, isn't it? In spite
of the fact that the Taliban were pulling women off buses and killing
them because they were trying to register to vote. People want to be
free.
I believe liberty can transform enemies into friends, because I've
seen it firsthand when I've talked with Prime Minister Koizumi of
Japan. I want you to think about this, now, as you're contemplating
the historic opportunity we have in the world today. It wasn't all
that long ago in the march of history that we were fighting the
Japanese as the sworn enemy, sworn enemy. My dad, your dads and
granddads were fighting the Japanese. Yet after World War II, Harry
Truman, Harry S. Truman believed that we should work to help Japan
become a democracy. He believed that liberty could transform
societies. There was a lot of skeptics then, a lot of people who
doubted whether or not the hard work that went into that -- to
changing Japan was worth it. You can understand that. First of all,
there are skeptics in every society. And secondly, a lot of people in
this country's (sic) lives had been turned upside down as a result of
the war we had just fought, and they had trouble realizing that an
enemy could become a friend.
But there were some people in this country who just refused to yield
to the value that we know, that liberty is a powerful, powerful part
of everybody's soul. And today I sit down at the table with Prime
Minister Koizumi -- I'm going to be doing so here in the next couple
of days in New York, too --as a personal friend, but we're talking
about keeping the peace. We're talking about how to make this world a
more peaceful place. We're talking about the peace that we all long
for. Think about that. Here I am talking to the head of a former
enemy, working together to make the world a better place.
And that not only means helping Iraq get up on its feet, that means
feeding the hungry. Do you realize, our country feeds more empty --
empty stomachs than any country in the world, by far? That means --
(applause) -- that means helping those poor souls on the continent of
Africa deal with HIV/AIDS. We're, by far, the most generous nation
when it comes to helping people ravished by the pandemic of AIDS.
We're working with people together to make this world a better place.
(Applause.)
Someday -- we will succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan by being firm in
our beliefs, unyielding to the demands of those who want us to quit,
those terrorists who are trying to kill people to get us to leave.
That's what they're trying to do. We'll be successful. Everybody longs
to be free. And when we are, we'll be able to look back and say, the
world is better off. Someday, an American President and an Iraqi
leader are going to sit down, talking about keeping the peace, talking
about how to make a part of the world that is so desperate for freedom
become a more peaceful place. And our grandchildren and our
grandchildren's children will be better off for it. (Applause.)
I'll tell you what -- (applause) -- not yet, not yet. The stakes are
high. These are historic times. I clearly see where I want to lead
this country. I know what we've got to do the next four years to make
this country a safer place and the world a more hopeful place. And I
appreciate you giving me a chance to come and explain why I'm running
again.
Now, let me answer some of your questions, and then -- yes, sir?
Q I work at al local school, and two of the ladies' sons were deployed
with the Marine Corps to Iraq. And they asked us to do something. So
-- I'm non-military, myself, but grew up in a military family; my
father served '41 to '68 in the National Guard, too. (Applause.) I had
local veterans -- I sent out for shirts from the Marine Corps down in
D.C. and I had local veterans sign them, from World War II to Desert
Storm, some of the names, Jim Panis (phonetic), (inaudible) U.S. Navy;
Lieutenant Harold Heck (phonetic) Mobile Riverene Force, Vietnam,
Silver Star winner; a three-star general.
Anyway, Mr. President, I got this letter from one of our local boys,
he'll be home October 2nd. I'd like to read it to you.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Thank you.
Q You people think the last generation was the greatest -- wait until
you hear this one. "Dear Mr. Hussey, Sr." -- I'm a senior too, like
your father. "The gift you sent me" -- this is a 19 year old kid, just
out of Londonderry High -- "Dear Mr. Hussey, the gift you sent me
almost brought tears to my eyes. I want you to thank the men who
signed it, who came before me, so I might have the opportunity to
enjoy the freedoms of America. Now is my time to return the favor. I
gladly serve and I am honored to have a unique connection with the
generation before me. War is something that no one can really
understand unless they've served in the military and been in combat.
Unfortunately, I have lost friends here, but I will never forget them
and those who paid the price before them.
The t-shirt you sent me is hanging right above my rack, and every day
or night when I get back from patrolling or setting up an ambush site,
if I feel tired, bored, hungry, I look at the names of those who took
their time and, for some, their lives for this country of ours and I
feel renewed strength for the coming battles. Before I joined the
Corps, people would ask me why I wanted to join, especially during a
time of war. I replied, men have died for this freedom that they
believed in and if we forget this privilege they will have died in
vain and it would have been for nothing. Especially now, with the lost
of my buddies, I understand what they felt and what drives me as a
Marine.
Thank you again, Lance Corporal Jesse Braggin, (phonetic)" who will be
home October 2nd. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. Thank you, sir. Thank you. (Applause.) I
appreciate you reading that.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, President Bush.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) I met with many families who
have lost a loved one in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it's -- you know,
it's a hard part of the job and it's a necessary part of the job. And
I assure them that their loved one will not die in vain because we
will complete the mission. And the mission will make the world a
better place. (Applause.) And that's what you've got to tell this guy
when he gets home, that his service and the service of those buddies
of his who lost their life were part of securing America.
Because, one, Prime Minister Allawi says, we've got to defeat them in
Iraq; otherwise we'll face them here. It's essential that people
understand the world has changed. It's a different world we live in.
(Applause.)
Secondly, that by helping Iraq become a secure nation, and by training
Iraqis so they can do the hard work of defending their freedom against
a few who want to stop the march to liberty, we're making ourself more
secure. A free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will make the
world a more peaceful place. A free Iraq will set such a vivid example
for women in the Middle East, who long for a chance for success. It
will provide a vivid example for the reformers in the Middle East. It
will say that here is the future for you. Free societies do not export
terror. Free societies are allies in the war against these killers.
And you tell that guy, thank you for your service, and God bless him.
(Applause.)
Q Mr. President, my brother is an NYPD, emergency service unit, Truck
number 2. I just wanted to say -- you mentioned the -- his partner in
the State of the Union address. You mentioned his father, John
Vigianno, and the two boys.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I know them well.
Q I just want to say, thank you, as being a beacon of strength at a
time of need for our country.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. (Applause.) Your brother was their
partner?
Q My brother-in-law is Rob Beeger (phonetic,) Truck number 2.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, yes.
Q I've got a picture of them with you.
THE PRESIDENT: What a great family. You're not going to believe this
family. Two sons go in the rubble and don't come out. It's really
important we never forget that day. It's just important. It's a part
of our history.
You know, I -- you've got a question, or do you want to keep going?
Q I actually have a question for you, as well.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good. (Laughter.) I was about to wax eloquently.
(Laughter.) Or at least wax. (Laughter.)
Q Is that from the top of my head? (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: See, you probably appreciate my comments about Vice
President Cheney. (Laughter.)
Q I just don't have the curls, either.
THE PRESIDENT: That's right. (Laughter.) Go ahead.
Q I hear a lot of things in the press in regards to what's happening
in Iraq. I don't appreciate the fact that the press only presents a
certain point of view. I hear different things, and one thing I've
learned -- I did a little bit of studying -- I was wondering if you
can tell me a little bit about Salman Pak. And we know about Zarqawi
and how he's causing all sorts of problems in Fallujah.
And the other question I have, real quick is, is that I watched a
special on Fox News last night on the U.N. -- the oil for food
scandal. And the thing is, is that when it comes down to the oil for
food scandal, we have a lot of countries that opposed us at the very
beginning of the war that have a lot of money staked in with Saddam.
And I was just wondering if, when you address the U.N., do you plan on
bringing it up to these countries? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: No. (Laughter.) There is an investigation going on.
Paul Volker is leading the investigation, and it's best that the
investigation run its course.
Zarqawi -- look, here's the situation. It's tough as heck in Iraq
right now because people are trying to stop democracy. That's what
you're seeing. And Iraqis are losing lives, and so are some of our
soldiers. And it breaks my heart to see the loss of innocent life and
to see brave troops in combat lose their life. It just breaks my
heart. But I understand what's going on. These people are trying to
shake the will of the Iraqi citizens, and they want us to leave.
That's what they want us to do.
And I think the world would be better off if we did leave -- if we
didn't -- if we left, the world would be worse. The world is better
off with us not leaving. It's a mistake to pull out. Can you imagine
what Iraq would be like today if Saddam Hussein were in power? It
would be terrible for them, and we'd be dealing with a guy who had
just totally ignored the demands of the free world. The sanctions
weren't working. We know he had the capability of making weapons and
it was just a matter of time.
No, we didn't find the stockpiles we thought would be there. But his
desire to make weapons and the ability to make them and the ability to
work with these terrorist organizations was a threat we could not
afford to take. (Applause.)
Secondly, if we put an artificial timetable out there on withdrawal,
all the enemies says is, we'll wait them out. Our mission has got to
be to help to train the Iraqis, get them on the path to stability and
democracy as quickly as we can, and then our troops come home. But to
complete the mission. It makes no sense to pull out of there early. If
we pull out of there early, Iraq will come even more dangerous.
(Applause.) See, we've got to get it right in Afghanistan and Iraq,
and we will. And now, it's a matter of will.
You asked me what's it's like there. It's tough. But Prime Minister
Allawi is the best way to -- the best person to talk to there. He
said, this is -- this is desperation by these people. They're watching
TV screens, too. They're watching the reactions of people around the
world. They see countries pull out of Iraq. They saw what happened
when one country pulled out after a citizen was beheaded. They saw
what happened after elections in Europe. They know that people are --
can grow weary of this battle. We've got to be firm and strong. I
believe we're right in what we're doing. And I believe democracy in
Iraq is going to happen, and I believe the world will be better off
for it. (Applause.)
Yes, sir.
Q My grandfather came over as a -- an immigrant. My father was a
career Army officer. I was a career Army officer. My son is a
lieutenant in Iraq, cavalry platoon leader, fighting the war on
terrorism right now. (Applause.) My -- we have -- well, first, all
three of us, our three generations, fully support your foreign policy
and the third world war we must fight against the terrorists.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Beyond that, the questions are, why don't either the Defense
Department or the State Department provide a weekly briefing on all
the good things we're doing in Iraq? (Applause.) It's not just
fighting over there.
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Now, look, what's he's talking about is the
number of children who've been immunized. It's -- a phenomenal number
of children have been immunized, or the new schools that have been
built and opened, or the fact that power now is up to pre-war levels.
I mean, there are positive developments going on in the world in Iraq.
And they're headed to elections.
Look, Prime Minister Allawi has been -- the sovereignty was
transferred three months ago, and now they're going to have elections
in January. Saddam Hussein wasn't about to have elections. And they're
headed to elections. And again, I repeat, it's hard. It's hard because
people -- there are people who fear what freedom means. Remember, the
ideology of these people is the opposite of what we stand for. They
don't believe in elections. They don't believe in free thought. They
don't believe in free religion. They don't believe in free press. And
that's why they're stopping -- that's why they're trying to stop the
march of freedom.
And I appreciate that.
Q The second thing is that I grew up in Europe when the Marshall Plan
was in effect. What I don't understand is why we don't remind the
American people of the Marshall Plan and the amount of time it took to
rebuild Europe.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I appreciate that.
Q We can't leave Iraq on a timetable that Senator Kerry says. We have
to stay there until the job is done.
THE PRESIDENT: I agree.
Q We have to -- (applause) --
THE PRESIDENT: No, I appreciate that.
Q We have to say that this is our generation's Marshall Plan, that we
need that done, and that, yes, we are -- many of our troops are having
to sacrifice, but if we don't do it, the world will be a lot worse off
place.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir, I agree with that, Colonel. Thank you very
much. (Applause.)
Yes, ma'am. Here's your chance.
Q I was wondering, my friend and I go -- we're seniors at Londonderry
High School, and we are wondering what your plan is to protect our
schools -- like what happened in Russia -- what your plan is for that.
(Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that. Yes, what happened in Russia was so
appalling, and it just crushed -- it's such a crushing moment, when
you think about it. It's really hard to envision people that way. But
that's the nature of the folks we're dealing with. Obviously, look,
every school has got to be on alert, every school has got to be
diligent, every school has got to be ready to make a quick response to
local police. Every school has got to be -- just recognize the nature
of the world we live in.
And what we're doing at the federal level, is we're trying to figure
out who is coming in the country and why they're coming in the
country, if they're leaving the country when they're supposed to be
leaving the country. We're using the Patriot Act. Let me talk real
quick about the Patriot Act. It's a tool that is now at the disposal
of our law enforcement.
Do you realize, before the Patriot Act was passed that elements of the
FBI couldn't talk to each other -- the intelligence side and the
operating side could not talk to each other about sharing
intelligence. And I don't see how you can bust terrorist cells if you
can't get your intelligence folks and your operators to be able to
discuss things. We tore -- the Patriot Act tore the wall down. Every
action in the Patriot Act requires court order, before the government
can move. In other words, your rights are protected.
The tools in the Patriot Act have been used against drug dealers for
years. I believe we ought to extend the Patriot Act. I know -- I don't
believe it, I know -- we need to extend the Patriot Act, with the
constitutional safeguards for our U.S. citizens. If it makes sense to
use elements of the Patriot Act to chase down drug dealers, it
certainly makes sense to use the Patriot Act to try to prevent the
kind of horrible actions that took place on September the 11th and
elsewhere around the world. And so we're doing everything we can to
protect you, that's what we're doing. (Applause.) We're trying to find
people before they get here.
The other thing we're doing is, the best way to protect the homeland
is to stay on the offense, is to keep pressure on these people. We've
brought 75 percent of al Qaeda to justice, and we're still working.
Every day, we're working to find people
Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Please, do.
Q In Stratham, I spoke with you very briefly, personally, and I
just want to share with these people. My son came back from the 101st.
He was a year in Iraq. And I trusted his life under your leadership.
As Commander-in-Chief, I thank you for that. He is now going to
school. He's in college. He just started this year, and the government
is paying for it. And I thank you for that, too. (Applause.)
And I do have a question. My question is, as we -- you have great
courage because you stand on some platforms that are quieter than the
war on terrorism and that takes great courage. One is your value for
life and your value for the institution of marriage.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)
Q My question -- my question is what's -- what's frustrating is that
there are judges that are taking the law into their own hands. And
what do you do about that?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's when you appoint people that will not
write law from the bench, but strictly interpret the Constitution.
That's what I have done. I put good people up. (Applause.) And, you
know, a lot of our -- a lot of our judges got through, particularly at
the district level, but they've held up a lot of really good appellate
judges -- they, being a handful of members in the United States
Senate. They're playing politics with American justice. And another
reason to put me back in office is because I'm -- I'm going to knock
back -- knock it k down. I'm going to keep naming the people that I've
told the people I'd name if I got elected President of the United
States, so that there is proper ballots between the executive branch
and the legislative branch and the judicial branch. (Applause.)
Yes, ma'am. You've got a question there? Yes, you.
Q I wanted to say, first of all, wonderful presentation.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Laughter.) I'm glad you came. (Laughter.)
And more importantly, I'm glad I called on you. (Laughter.)
Q Second of all, I wanted -- I promised my parents that if I got the
opportunity, to send their warm and gracious regards.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q And my brother, who's a Corporal in the United States National
Guard, is proud to be serving the country, especially under your
watch. He will be leaving for Iraq in early November for the better
part of two years.
THE PRESIDENT: Two years?
Q Well, 18 months is his --
THE PRESIDENT: That's his call-up, for 18 months?
Q Yes. So very proud. My question, and I hope I'm not out of place
asking this because it's not as prevalent an issue --
THE PRESIDENT: Okay.
Q Stem cell research?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, let me talk about it.
Q Please. I have, like, a very personal concern about that. My two
cousins, my aunt's two only children both have cystic fibrosis,
neither of them expected to live beyond 25. One of them is 22, and the
other one 20.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm sorry.
Q And -- it's just a concern.
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate it. It's a very legitimate question. I'm
glad you asked it because I'm the only President so far in our
history, the first President ever, to have allowed federal dollars to
be spent on research on stem cells -- on stem cell lines.
Now, look, let me tell you about this issue. It's a -- it's a very
sensitive issue because in order to create a stem cell line you have
to destroy life. In other words, there's a -- you take an embryo, and
you destroy the embryo, out of which comes a stem cell line. And
before I made my decision, there was some 70 lines in existence. And I
felt that those lines would be ample enough to be able to allow
science to go forward to determine whether or not stem cell research
would yield the results we all hope that it yields. And so I agreed to
allow federal funding to go forward on existing stem cell lines so
that further life would not be destroyed.
Out of those 70 lines, some 22 are functional now. And out of that 22
lines, there's over 300 different projects that are going forward. In
other words, there is an active effort to determine whether or not
embryonic stem cells will yield the results we hope they yield.
But I'm also a big believer in funding adult stem cell research, which
does not require the destruction of life. (Applause.) My hope is your
hope, that out of the research that exists, that we'll be able to find
cures for the diseases. And one of the things that this country will
be confronted with over the next decades, particularly as technology
advances, is we'll be confronted with very profound ethical decisions
that are going to be important decisions.
Cloning, for example, will be a decision that we have to make. I mean,
does it make sense to destroy life to create life, is another
decision. These are all very valid decisions. And that's what happens
when you're the President. You've got to weigh all the evidence and
you think clearly about your philosophy, as well as the facts, and
decide. And I decided. And I think my decision was balanced and fair,
and it balanced good science with good ethics.
Last question, then I've got to go.
Q Good afternoon, Mr. President, and welcome to Derry, New Hampshire.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. It's great to be back.
Q I'm a retired Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy.
(Applause.) And I can tell you from the observing of your unworthy
opponent, I would not want to serve under him as Commander-in-Chief. I
was directly involved in the Cuban missile crisis -- I mean directly
-- serving aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Intrepid, which is now the
Naval Aviation Museum in New York. And I hope some day you'll visit.
I'm a member of that organization. My heartfelt prayer to you, sir,
is, stay the course and win the election in '04.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir. I can't conclude on a better note.
Thank you all for coming. God bless. (Applause.)