Newest Flip Flop
Bush was against Sen. John McCain's call for a law specifically
banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign suspects
in the war on terror and then he was for it.
Judge Alito was interviewed before President Bush passed him
over and selected Harriet Miers. How is he now the most
qualified candidate for the Supreme Court?
Newest Lie
In his recent news conference, George Bush Jr. suggested that
our nation’s “problem” with high gasoline prices was caused by
the lack of a national energy policy, and tried to blame it
all on Bill Clinton. First, Junior said, “This is a problem
that’s been a long time in coming. We haven’t had an energy
policy in this country.”
This was followed by, “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying to
the American people—10 years ago if we’d had an energy strategy,
we would be able to diversify away from foreign dependence.
And—but we haven’t done that. And now we find ourselves in the
fix we’re in.” As is so often the case, Bush was lying.
Jimmy Carter's Proposed Energy Policy April 18, 1977
The Bush Record: Top 10 Bush Lies
Bush on Iraq
1. "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for
the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the
form of a mushroom cloud."
[Bush Remarks, Cincinnati OH, 10/7/02]
Fact: Saddam Did not Have Chief Requirements for Nuclear
Weapons
The Washington Post reported, "What Hussein did not have
was the principal requirement for a nuclear weapon, a
sufficient quantity of highly enriched uranium or
plutonium. And the U.S. government, authoritative
intelligence officials said, had only circumstantial
evidence that Iraq was trying to obtain those
materials." Inspectors in postwar Iraq have "found the
former nuclear weapons program, described as a 'grave
and gathering danger' by President Bush and a 'mortal
threat' by Vice President Cheney, in much the same
shattered state left by U.N. inspectors in the 1990s."
[Washington Post, 8/10/03, 1/7/04]
2. "The British government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of
uranium from Africa."
[Bush, State of the Union, 1/28/03]
Fact: Bush Administration Knew Claim Was False
In March 2002, both the CIA and State Department
learned that evidence linking Iraq to Niger was
unfounded. In October, CIA Director Tenet personally
intervened with Condoleezza Rice's deputy National
Security Advisor to have the charge removed from Bush's
speech to the nation. Rice herself was sent a memo
debunking the claim. In January, just days before Bush
uttered the false charge CIA officials tried again to
remove the language, but the White House insisted it
remain -- with added the caveat that they had received
the information from British sources.
[Bush State of the Union, 1/28/03; Time, 7/21/03 Issue;
Hadley/Bartlett Gaggle, 7/22/03; New York Times, 7/13/03;
Washington Post, 7/20/03; NPR, 6/19/03]
3. "In an interview with Polish television on May 30,
Mr. Bush cited the trailers [found in postwar Iraq] as
evidence that the United States had 'found the weapons
of mass destruction' it was looking for."
[New York Times, 6/26/03]
Fact: State Department Said Bush Rushed to Judgment
The New York Times reported, "The State Department's
intelligence division is disputing the Central
Intelligence Agency's conclusion that mysterious
trailers found in Iraq were for making biological
weapons, United States government officials said today.
In a classified June 2 [2003] memorandum, the officials
said, the department's Bureau of Intelligence
and Research said it was premature to conclude that the
trailers were evidence of an Iraqi biological weapons
program, as President Bush has done...Administration
officials said the State Department agency was given no
warning that the C.I.A. report was being produced, or
made public." [New York Times, 6/26/03]
4. "The 'Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was
put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln
saying that their mission was accomplished."
[Bush, News Conference, 10/28/03]
Fact: Sign Was Produced by White House
"White House press secretary Scott McClellan later
acknowledged that the sign was produced by the White
House," though he claimed that the Lincoln's crew had
requested some sort of banner. According to reports,
"The man responsible for the banner, Scott Sforza, a
former ABC producer now with the White House
communications office...is known for the
production of the sophisticated backdrops that appear
behind Mr. Bush with the White House message of the
day, like 'Helping Small Business,' repeated over and
over."
[Washington Post, 10/29/03; New York Times, 10/29/03]
Bush on the Economy
5. "Our budget will run a deficit that will be small
and short-term."
[Bush, State of the Union, 2002]
Fact: Deficit Will Be Largest in History and Will
Exceed $400 Billion Every Year for Next Ten Years
The deficit will exceed $400 billion every year
through 2014. By 2014, the deficit will reach $708
billion. In 2004, the deficit is projected to reach a
record high of $477 billion, dwarfing the previous
record of $290 billion posted by Bush's father in 1992.
[Congressional Budget Office, 1/26/04, 2/27/04;
Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, 1/21/04, 2/1/04]
6. "Tax relief is central to my plan to encourage
economic growth, and we can proceed with tax relief
without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy
softens," Bush promised.
[Bush Remarks at Western Michigan University, 3/27/01]
Fact: Bush Deficits Due Largely to Tax Cuts
In 2002, due largely to Bush's tax cuts, the federal
government posted a deficit of $158 billion and
returned to deficit for the first time since 1997. In
2004, Bush's three tax cuts over as many years reduced
revenues by $270 billion. Over 35 percent of the $9.9
trillion deterioration from 2002-2011 is due to Bush's
tax cuts. By 2014, tax cuts will account for 40 percent
of the deterioration. Despite Bush's claims to the
contrary, only 6 percent of the $477 billion deficit in
2004 is due to the lackluster economy.
[Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 10/21/03;
Congressional Budget Office, 3/04; CBO, Historical
Budget Data, Table 1 http://www.cbo.gov; Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities, 10/27/03]
Bush on His Own Policies
7. "We must uncover every detail and learn every
lesson September the 11th."
[Bush 11/27/02]
Fact: Bush Initially Opposed Independent 9-11
Commission
Bush opposed an independent inquiry into 9/11,
arguing it would duplicate a probe conducted by
Congress. In July 2002, his administration issued a
"statement of policy" that read "...the Administration
would oppose an amendment that would create a new
commission to conduct a similar review [to Congress's
investigation]." [Statement of Administration
Policy, Executive Office of the President, 7/24/02;
Los Angeles Times, 11/28/02]
8. "Bush had pushed hard for the Medicare drug benefit,
but said he would not sign anything that exceeded
$400 billion."
[Boston Globe, 1/30/04]
Fact: Bush Administration Intentionally Hid Cost of
Plan To Win Votes in Congress
In late January 2004, the Administration announced
they had underestimated the total cost of the package
by $135 billion. Bush relied on a $400 billion figure
for the first decade of the prescription drug benefit
in persuading fiscal conservatives to support the plan
last November. But less than two months after signing
the legislation, and two years before the benefit
becomes available to seniors, the Department of Health
and Human Services revised the number up to $535
billion. According to the Washington Post, "Among a
small group of lawmakers who negotiated the bill's
final version, 'it was an open secret' that
administration officials believed 'there is no way this
is $400 billion.'"
[New York Times, 1/30/04; Washington Times, 12/8/03;
Washington Post, 1/31/04; Boston Globe, 1/30/04;
New York Times, 2/2/04]
9. "We will require all power plants to meet clean air
standards in order to reduce emissions of...carbon
dioxide."
[Bush speech, "A Comprehensive National Energy Policy,"
9/29/00, Saginaw, MI]
Fact: Bush Overruled Whitman, Broke Campaign Promise to
Regulate Carbon Dioxide Emissions
In March 2001, in a letter to Republican Senators,
Bush overruled then-E.P.A. Administrator Christine
Todd Whitman and backed off a campaign pledge to
regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants,
after encountering strong resistance from the coal
and oil industries, as well as Republicans. "I do not
believe, however, that the government should impose on
power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon
dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air
Act," Bush wrote in his letter. Many conservationists
view curbing carbon dioxide emissions, like "greenhouse
gases," as a key to reducing global warming. [AP, 3/13/01;
Washington Post, 3/14/01; Bush letter to Senator Chuck
Hagel, 3/13/01]
Bush on Bush
10. "I'm a uniter, not a divider." [Bush,
Austin American-Statesman, 7/30/00]
Fact: No, He's a Divider
The Washington Post reported, "As Bush begins the
final year of his term with Tuesday night's State of
the Union address, partisans on both sides say the
tone of political discourse is as bad as ever -- if
not worse." One senior administration official said,
Bush could have built "trust and goodwill" by
pursuing more broadly appealing initiatives. One
former Bush aide said the White House "relished the
'us versus them' thing." [Washington Post, 1/18/04]
After former Ambassador Joseph Wilson publicly
challenged Bush's claim that Iraq sought uranium in
Africa, his wife--a covert CIA operative--was exposed
by columnist Robert Novak. Novak said her identity was
given to him by senior administration officials. "A
senior administration official said that before Novak's
column ran, two top White House officials called at
least six Washington journalists and disclosed the
identity and occupation of Wilson's wife...
'Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge,'
the senior official said of the alleged leak. Sources
familiar with the conversations said the leakers were
seeking to undercut Wilson's credibility." [Washington
Post, 9/28/03]
Bush called on senior White House advisers and the
Republican Party leadership to wage attacks against
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. According to the
Washington Times, "The White House is escalating its
attacks against Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle...
[W]ith polls showing the Republican Party is losing
some support in its handling of the economy, President
Bush last week ordered senior advisers to take the
gloves off and sharpen their rhetoric." [Washington
Times, 12/7/01]
Flip Flops
Bush is against campaign finance reform;
then he's for it.
Bush is against a Homeland Security Department;
then he's for it.
Bush is against a 9/11 commission;
then he's for it.
Bush is against an Iraq WMD investigation;
then he's for it.
Bush is against nation building;
then he's for it.
Bush is against deficits;
then he's for them.
Bush is for slashing overtime pay for American workers
then he is against it.
Bush is for free trade;
then he's for tariffs on steel;
then he's against them again.
Bush is against the U.S. taking a role in the Israeli
Palestinian conflict;
then he pushes for a "road map" and a Palestinian State.
Bush is for states right to decide on gay marriage,
then he is for changing the constitution.
Bush first says he'll provide money for first responders
(fire, police, emergency), then he doesn't.
Bush first says that 'help is on the way' to the military ...
then he cuts benefits.
Bush-"The most important thing is for us to find
Osama bin Laden.
Bush-"I don't know where he is. I have no idea and
I really don't care.
Bush claims to be in favor of the environment and
then secretly starts drilling on Padre Island.
Bush talks about helping education and increases
mandates while cutting funding.
Bush first says the U.S. won't negotiate with North Korea.
Now he will
Bush goes to Bob Jones University.
Then say's he shouldn't have.
Bush said he would demand a U.N. Security Council vote on
whether to sanction military action against Iraq.
Later Bush announced he would not call for a vote.
Bush said the "mission accomplished" banner was put up by
the sailors. Bush later admits it was his advance team.
Bush was for fingerprinting and photographing Mexicans who
enter the US. Bush after meeting with Pres. Fox,
he's against it.
