Kerry-Edwards Response to Bush Radio Address: Bush's 'Straightforward' Rhe

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is the Kerry- Edwards 2004 response to President Bush's radio address:

Kerry spokesman Phil Singer: No matter how many times the President tries to put a positive spin on his record, the facts remain the same: George Bush's wrong choices have failed to create a single new job, 5 million people have lost health care, energy prices are setting records and incomes have declined. Considering how much George Bush stretches the truth about his own record, it is no surprise that he's intentionally distorting John Kerry's record and agenda.

Bush: "Over the past four years, I have brought a straightforward approach to the presidency. I tell you what I'm going to do, and I keep my word." (Bush Radio Address, 10/15/04)

Bush Promise on Not Sending Troops Into Combat Without An Exit Strategy: "I'm going to be judicious as to how to use the military. It needs to be in our vital interest, the mission needs to be clear, and the exit strategy obvious." (Bush, 10/11/00)

-- REALITY: Military Is Stretched While Bush Has No Plan For Future of Iraq. Senators Chuck Hagel and John McCain say "we are not winning" in Iraq. Senator Dick Lugar said the "lack of planning is apparent." A former-senior administration official admitted, "There was no real planning for postwar Iraq." (NYT, 8/23/04; Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, 9/15/04; NBC, "Nightly News," 9/14/04; CBS, "Face The Nation," 9/18/04; Newsweek, 7/21/03)

What Bush Said He Would Do on Health Care: "I'll have as a goal the idea of making sure people have got affordable health care and insurance policies to make sure they're able to pay for them." (Bush interview with ABC's This Week, 1/23/00)

-- REALITY: Families' Health Costs Have Risen 64 Percent Since Bush Took Office. Families are paying $1,044 (64 percent) more in health expenses since Bush took office. (Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits 2004 Annual Survey)

What Bush Said He Would Do on Fiscal Responsibility: "And we can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy softens." (Bush, Kalamazoo, MI, 3/27/01)

-- REALITY: $5.6 Trillion Surplus Replaced With $2.3 Trillion Deficit. The $5.6 trillion ten-year surplus projected in January 2001 is gone, replaced with $2.3 trillion in deficits over the next ten years-a fiscal decline of $7.9 trillion in just three years. (CBO, The Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update, 9/04, "Monthly Budget Review," 10/6/04)

What Bush Said He Would Do To Restore Honor and Integrity to the Oval Office: "We will swear to uphold the honor and integrity of the office to which we're elected, so help me God." (Hartford Courant, 9/5/00)

-- REALITY: Rove Just Testified Before a Federal Grand Jury Investigating White Leak of CIA Agent. Top Bush aide Karl Rove testified on Friday for a second time before the grand jury investigating a White House leak of an undercover CIA operative's name in an act of political retribution. Rove was reportedly questioned for two and a half hours. (ABC News, 10/15/04)

-- REALITY: Vice President's Office "Coordinated" Halliburton's No-Bid Contract in Iraq. In March 2003, the Pentagon awarded a subsidiary of Halliburton a no-bid contract worth $7 billion to help rebuild Iraqi oil fields. According to Time, an internal Pentagon e-mail said "action" on the contract was "coordinated" with the Vice President's office. (Time, 5/30/04; Los Angeles Times, 5/7/03; Washington Post, 2/10/04, 6/14/04)

-- REALITY: Cheney's Tenure At Halliburton Is The Subject of Several Ongoing Investigations. Cheney's tenure at Halliburton is the subject of ongoing investigations by the Justice Department, the SEC and the French and Nigerian governments for allegations of overcharging, bribery, and doing business in Iran. (Bloomberg News, 8/3/04; Complaint of SEC vs Halliburton Company and Robert Charles Muchmore Jr. 8/3/04; New Yorker, 2/16/04; AP, 4/9/03; NYT, 8/6/04; Houston Chronicle, 12/15/03; Dallas Morning News, 1/25/04)

What Bush Said He Would Do on Jobs: "When America works, America prospers, so my economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs." (Bush Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, 1/29/02)

-- REALITY: Economy Is 7 Million Jobs Short of Bush's Post- 9/11 Jobs Prediction. The 2002 Economic Report of the President projected more than 6 million new jobs between January 2001 and August 2004. Instead, we have lost 900,000 million jobs. As a result, we are more than 7 million jobs short of the prediction which President Bush made after 9/11, the tech bubble, and the recession. (BLS and Economic Report of the President, 2002)

What Bush Said He Would Do on Social Security: "I've lockboxed Social Security money to make sure that the Social Security system is secure today and is around tomorrow." Just after taking office, he said that "my plan will keep all Social Security money in the Social Security System, where it belongs." (Bush Remarks, Elizabeth Dole Endorsement (Bedford, NH), 1/4/00; Bush Radio Address, 2/3/01)

-- REALITY: Bush Looted Social Security to Pay for His Tax Cuts. To cover the cost of his tax cuts, Bush will have to spend the entire projected Social Security surplus of $2.4 trillion from 2005 through 2014. (Office of Management and Budget, 2/04; Office of Management and Budget, Historical Budget Data; Social Security Administration, Fiscal Year Trust Fund Operations, 12/30/03; Congressional Budget Office; Senate Budget Committee Democratic Caucus, 2/27/04)

Paid for by Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=38267

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1. Knockout address- nails it on GWB's failed promises and bad policies

Thanks for posting