A presidential election that features an incumbent is naturally
a referendum on the incumbent
’s job performance. That’s a fair and proper place to start when
deciding which candidate to support on Nov. 2: “Is the country
better off today, after four years of the Bush administration, than
it was four years ago?”
A presidential election that features an incumbent is naturally a referendum on the incumbent’s job performance. That’s a fair and proper place to start when deciding which candidate to support on Nov. 2: “Is the country better off today, after four years of the Bush administration, than it was four years ago?”
George W. Bush frequently likens himself to a CEO, adopting a business model for running the country – and the war in Iraq. So, let’s evaluate his stewardship of America.
The United States is in far worse fiscal condition than it was when Bush took office. The economy is floundering with good jobs being sent overseas, only to be replaced by low-paying, dead-end jobs at home. Our economic woes are due in large part to Bush’s ill-advised tax cut that primarily benefited wealthy Americans. The result is that the budget surplus Bush inherited when he took office is now a record deficit. This year’s deficit: $477 billion.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Bush’s tax cuts are responsible for 58 percent of the budget deficit. The cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, anti-terrorism efforts, homeland security and Sept. 11 recovery account for 20 percent of the deficit. The remaining 22 percent is attributed to non-war defense and non-defense budget increases.
Locally, we’re seeing the result of Bush’s policies that shift health care to local governments while burdening them with unfunded mandates for homeland security, education and election reform. The nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that these policies have cost states at least $185 billion over four years. It’s in part thanks to Bush that South Valley governments and school districts are hiking fees, raising taxes and slashing services.
As a community, the citizens of the United States are growing farther apart. In a time of war, that’s an especially surprising development, and further evidence of Bush’s divisiveness.
Bush was elected after losing the popular vote but winning the electoral college vote and following a controversial Supreme Court decision. Instead of working to heal the deep divisions in this country by governing from a moderate position, Bush reverted to the far right. What’s even harder to understand is the way Bush squandered American unity and world sympathy generated by the Sept. 11 attacks. As a result, this nation is more deeply divided at home and more isolated in the world than before Bush took office.
As a result of Bush’s go-it-alone foreign policies, the United States’ relations with its allies are severely strained. Our military is stretched thin, and our security at home and abroad has been reduced. The Bush Administration’s increasingly questionable justification and incompetent planning and execution of the war in Iraq has put Americans and the world at more risk.
Now, after more than 1,100 dead and more than 7,700 injured American soldiers, countless dead and injured Iraqis, numerous terrifying kidnappings and gruesome beheadings, and tens of billions of dollars, we know the truth: Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and no capability to build or acquire them. Why? Because the sanctions imposed by the United Nations were working.
Now Iraq is a prime recruiting site for future terrorists. Al Qaeda and other groups have recognized this and are hurrying to take control in a country that Bush has been unable to secure.
Is the nation better off now than it was four years ago? By almost any measure, the answer is no.
And that leads us to endorse John Kerry for president. While he’s hardly inspiring, and he has a less-than-overwhelming Senate record, Kerry will bring many assets to the Oval Office. We believe Kerry will be a battle-tested commander-in-chief who will use diplomacy first and the military last. Clearly, Kerry is knowledgeable about the complex issues that face our nation and a skilled diplomat who will restore our damaged relationships with our allies.
Domestically, Kerry will support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, will overhaul the badly designed Medicare drug plan, and will support sensible reforms to the Patriot Act to protect our precious civil liberties.
Perhaps most important, Kerry will bring some political balance to Washington, D.C., in which Republicans have had nearly free reign over the last four years with control of the White House and Congress.
It’s time for a change at the top. We urge you to vote for John Kerry for president.
There are a number of other important offices that will be determined in balloting Tuesday. Our recommendations are:
• Congress, 11th District, Morgan Hill, Richard Pombo (R)
•Congress, 17th District, San Martin, Zoe Lofgren (D)
• State Senate, 15th District, Peg Pinard (D)
• Assembly, 21st District, John Laird (D)
