Refining my pro-Kerry, anti-Bush Talking Points

[election_2004]

I did some more research using the references some of you pointed out for me. Here are the summarized arguments ("talking points") I've formulated regarding John Kerry's record, and the myths of his alleged "flip-flopping." I would appreciate any help DUers could give me in making these arguments sound tighter or more informative:

Myth: Bush is stronger on defense than Kerry, due to the fact that Kerry has a long record of voting for defense cuts and military base closures.

The Bush administration has a goal of closing 25% of military bases, which Bush also proposed doing back in September 2001. While Senator Kerry supported military base closures in 2001 (including those proposed by Bush himself, prior to 9/11), Kerry now opposes additional base closures due to present U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Furthermore, many of the defense packages that Kerry has voted against have contained unnecessary pork, including weapons (such as B-1's) that are useless for post-Cold War era warfare.

Any additional information anyone can provide/cite regarding the *obsolete* defense weapons that Kerry has voted against during past administrations would be much appreciated by me.

Myth: Bush has stronger leadership abilities than Kerry when it comes to fighting the War on Terror

On Aug. 30, in an NBC news interview Bush stated that he doesn’t think the War on Terrorism can be won, and the best we can do is minimize global sentiments that are sympathetic to terrorists. This directly contradicts earlier sentiments by Bush that the U.S. must and will win the War on Terrorism.

Myth: Zell Miller's support for Bush is indicative of how Kerry is alienating moderate and conservative voters.

Zell Miller praised John Kerry at the 2001 Georgia Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, calling Kerry “a good friend” and citing Kerry’s work on deficit reduction, balanced budgets, stronger defense, public education reform, economic stimulation, and environmentalism.

Myth: Kerry is a flip-flopper because he voted against funding the war in Iraq after supporting the Iraq War Resolution.

Leaders in the GOP voted against an $87 billion package to fund the war because it would have redirected a large percentage of the money originally allocated for Bush’s tax cut toward funding the war budget instead. Kerry voted against the GOP-proposed resolution that allocated $67 billion for military equipment along with $20 billion in reconstruction though Haliburton. Put Democrats who supported the Iraq War Resolution in the position of being perceived as “flip-floppers” because they voted against the GOP’s package.

Can anyone tell me who in Congress authored/sponsored the original Democratic package to fund military equipment in Iraq? And who in Congress authored/sponsored the Republican driven package (that eventually passed) containing all the pork for Halliburton?

Myth: Kerry will raise our taxes, while Bush is fiscally responsible.

At Okaloosa-Walton College on Aug. 10, Bush proposed replacing the current income tax with a national sales tax.

Bush claimed that Kerry voted over 350 times to raise taxes, but that number includes the times Kerry voted against proposed tax cuts to leave taxes unchanged. Kerry’s current economic plan will raise taxes on people earning over $190,000 per year (approximately 5% of all Americans). This was verified by the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 26.

Gregory Mankiw, Bush’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, advocated cutting the current income taxes in favor of a 50 cent increase on the gas tax.

Myth: There is no significant risk of Bush reinstating the draft, if he gets a second term.

In November of 2003, the Defense Department’s website solicited applicants to fill local draft boards all over the country. The spin is that this is that the request was just part of a cyclical process to renew expired appointments to draft boards leftover from the Vietnam era. The Pentagon is searching for volunteers to train on local draft boards, and Pentagon officials refused to comment publicly on the website soliciation.

Myth: For all his talk about outsourcing and revoking tax breaks for offshore American businesses, Kerry himself reaps the benefits of such overseas entrepreneurship. Will Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz, move all of her overseas Heinz factories back to the U.S. if her husband is elected?

Critics blame Teresa Heinz for the fact that a majority of Heinz factories are located overseas, when Kerry has been a vocal critic of outsourcing and giving tax breaks to offshore business. Yet, Teresa Heinz owns less than 4% of the Heinz capital bloc, and has no input in the company’s operation. Furthermore, around 60% of the Heinz empire’s capital comes from overseas, so it is logical that its factories be located in other countries to foster job opportunities for the people overseas who make the company so profitable.

Myth: Kerry has misrepresented his heroism in Vietnam, as evidenced by testimonies from the Swift Boat Veterans.

Many of the Swift Boat Veterans are Bush campaign representatives and advisors, including Benjamin Ginsburg, William Schachte, David Norcross, and Ken Cordier. In fact, none of the Swift Boat Veterans were actually on Kerry’s crew, even though they were stationed in Vietnam during that time.

Myth: Kerry was unpatriotic for protesting the war after he came home from Vietnam.

When Kerry spoke out against the Vietnam War after coming home from having served in it, he spoke of the atrocities reported to him by fellow soldiers. These war crimes certainly were not committed by a majority of Vietnam veterans, but they did happen. Look no further than the My Lai massacres, which involved the rape and dismemberment by U.S. soldiers of Vietnamese civilians. Reporting war crimes such as these is the duty of every soldier.

Myth: Kerry nominated himself or put in a request for the medals he was eventually awarded, in order to pad his political resumee.

In the military, when soldiers are considered for awards due to acts of bravery, the Commanding Officer does the nominating. Suggesting that Kerry nominated himself is an insult to every veteran who has every been awarded for bravery. If Kerry filed a report on his combat actions, which ended up qualifying him for medals, he was simply doing his duty as a soldier by reporting what happened in the line of fire.

Myth: Kerry's health care plan promotes "socialized medicine," and doesn't do much to help single adults.

The Kerry plan involves cutting health care premiums for families, along with tax credits of up to 75% percent for those falling below the poverty line and up to 50% for small businesses.

I'm not sure what to say about how unmarried adults without children can take advantage of the Kerry health care plan - - I've read all the information on his website, but still cannot find an answer to this.

Myth: Kerry says he doesn't support gay marriage, but he also opposed the Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage.

The Federal Marriage Amendment, in the context it was authored by Marilyn Musgrave, implicitely banned civil unions nationwide, taking the decision out of the hands of individual states (which contradicts the intent of the Defense of Marriage Act, which Bush claims to support). Last spring, Bush endorsed FMA (thereby supporting a federal/constitutional blanket ban on same-sex civil unions), even though he'd said in 2000 how civil unions should be an issue left up to each state to decide for itself.

Kerry was completely right to oppose such a blatant attempt by social conservatives to rape the U.S. Constitution - - even though social conservatives are the ones who typically scream about the need to "preserve" the Constitution in its current form.

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Keep in mind that these statements/arguments are targeted at swing voters (i.e. wishy-washy soccer moms and the sappy, gullible people who are not necessarily Republicans but are prone to believe negative anti-Kerry statements regurgitated by the media).

Is there anything that I should add to these talking points, or any mistakes or misstatements that I've made when rebutting the myths?

[demnan]

1. Thank you!

If you don't mind, may I use your talking points tomorrow when I go canvassing for Kerry?

[election_2004]

3. Absolutely!

Feel free to plagarize as needed - - and also try to spread wide and far, via email, to as many states as possible.

[trotsky]

2. Something to add

in your first point. The military cuts that Kerry voted for were, almost exclusively, proposed by then-president George Herbert and/or then-Sec of Defense DICK Cheney.

[volosong]

4. Ask The Voters To Ask Our President The Following

1. Why is it that you claim to be a friend of veterans and yet have proposed so many cuts to programs benefiting veterans including the closure of some V.A. hospitals?
2. If you believe Sen. Kerry's military service was "honorable" and something "about which he should be proud," then why do you refuse to specifically condemn the Swift Boat Veterans? Aren't values more than something to which one gives lip service?
3. Former Sen. Max Cleland left half of his body in Vietnam. Yet when he came to your ranch with a letter signed by 9 other Congressional war heroes, neither you nor any of your immediate aides had the courtesy to accept the letter. Why?
4. The almost 3,000 victims of the WTC attacks did not die for politicians or political parties. How do you justify using images and emotions related to that tragedy for personal political gain at a convention bathing itself in those themes?
5. Do you endorse members of the RNC mocking military medals by wearing "purple heart band aids" at the convention? If not, why have you failed to issue a statement denouncing that mockery?
6. Is it not true that you Mr. President have flip flopped on more issues than Senator Kerry such as the 9/11 Commission; on calling for a UN vote on Iraq; on creation of the Dept. of Homeland Security; on a Constitutional amendment on gay marriage; on use of the military for "nation building;" on the issue of tax credits for hybrid automobiles; on extending the assault weapons ban; on steel tariffs; on spending the Social Security surplus; on the patient's right to sue; on the Federal Government's position on tobacco buyout; on disarmament incentives to North Korea; on lobbying OPEC; on the Condoleeza Rice testimony; on your pledge to issue regulation based on science; on the presence of WMD in Iraq; on restricting Free Trade; on the importance of capturing Osama Bin Laden; on mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions; on an investigation into intelligence failures in Iraq; summits in the Palestinian crisis; campaign finance; on providing financial support for the First Responders; on military benefits; on who was responsible for the "Mission Accomplished" sign; on the fingerprinting and photographing of Mexicans entering the US; on refusing to pass budget deficits; your positions on stem cells and human embryos; about your support of the Low Income Energy Support Program; your position on abortion; on racial profiling; on describing success of US objectives in Iraq.
7. Specifically addressing your Flip Flops, which of your recent comments about the war in Iraq and terrorism is really your belief: Mission Accomplished, Mission Miscalculated, Mission Impossible, or Mission Possible?
8. How do you justify the budget cuts for veterans benefits at precisely the time you are ramping up the military for permanent war?
9. Where are the WMD? Would you still go to war knowing that there were no WMD?
10. 45 million people lack health coverage. Do you think basic health care is an American right? Health care costs have gone ballistic during your Administration. Why haven't you made health care more affordable?
11. "I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things." (June 4, 2003). Recently, you admitted mistakes in Iraq. Don't you think being more analytical, deliberate, and "sensitive" to the intricacies of international politics might promote US success and national security?
12. You are quoted as saying, "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." (Sept. 19, 2001). Then why are Americans still dying in Iraq so long after you declared "Mission Accomplished?"
13. "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." (Sept. 29, 2000). Then why are millions of fish now dying in our lakes and streams? Why are there warnings in many states advising people not to ingest fish because of the dangers of mercury poisoning from industrial pollution?
14. "As you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say." (Oct. 28, 2003). When was the last time that you spoke before an audience that wasn't exclusively "invited guests?"
15. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." (Aug. 5, 2004). Do you really believe that policy is really beneficial?
16. On Aug 22, 2002 you proposed deforestation as a means to combat forest fires. ("We need to understand if you let kindling build up and there's a lightning strike, you're going get yourself a big fire.") Isn't your support for deforestation actually pandering to logging and timber financial interests? If not, do you think that we should test your theory by setting experimental fires in certain areas of Texas?
17. Sen. Kerry challenged you to run a positive campaign on current issues. In 2001 you said, "It is time to set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and name-calling." Do you think the RNC and your current campaign are consistent with your prior statements? Do you specifically endorse and share Zell Miller's hateful and divisive comments?

[Viking12]

5. Well done and bookmarked!!

Here's a nice visual aid to accompany the point on taxes;

[election_2004]

6. Wow!

A visual aid of the numbers just make it all the more convincing. I saved that graphic to my hard drive.

My family (my parents, that is) makes under $20K per year, so what can I tell them in regard to how Kerry's plan affects their income?

[democrat_patriot]

7. Great!

Can you format this in flyer form? To hand out?

50,000 DUers need to be leaving these all over the place.