| Mainstream Media | Spin Unravelled! |
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URL: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20041004/pl_nm/campaign_dc
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| "You may have noticed he changes positions quite frequently, but not on taxes," Bush said in the Des Moines suburb of Clive after signing a bill to extend a child tax credit and a tax break for married couples. | Kerry's position in the first debate would have us believe only those earning over $400,000 per year benefit from Bush's tax cuts. People in that earning bracket don't even qualify for child tax credit; it almost sounds like all you need to do is be married (regardless of income) to benefit from this one! |
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He accused the Massachusetts senator of voting to raise taxes 98 times in the Senate, a figure disputed by the Kerry campaign and others, and denounced Kerry's health care plan as a step toward a government takeover. | |
| "He's got a system that's creeping toward Hillary-care," Bush said, referring to the failed health care plan advocated by former first lady and now New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (news - web sites). | From www.johnkerry.com: "John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to address soaring premiums and cut Americans a break. Their plan will lower family premiums by up to $1,000 a year, cut waste from the system, lower the cost of prescription drugs to provide real relief to seniors, and use targeted tax cuts to extend affordable, high-quality coverage to 95 percent of Americans, including every child. And because John Kerry and John Edwards believe that everyone's health is equally important, they will provide all Americans with access to the same coverage that members of Congress give themselves." ... that's it: we will, we will, we will; no HOW we will ... high quality coverage to 95 percent of all Americans ... apparently he's going to open enrollment to the Congressional Group Policy for all Americans ... wow, I wonder what the insurance carrier says about that! The plan of how is not there on the website; unless it was the few words in the paragraph above that say: " ... use targeted tax cuts to ... " Let's think about that one. Does that mean they're going to cut your taxes IN ORDER TO GIVE YOU INSURANCE COVERAGE YOU MAY NOT OTHERWISE HAVE? N-o-o ... then that can only mean they're going to provide incentive to business (insurance companies) to give free coverage, by cutting their taxes ... but wait a minute; wouldn't that be like not cutting your taxes, but only cutting the taxes of big corporations (a/k/a rich people). Doesn't Kerry condemn this? Maybe he changed his mind.... |
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| Kerry, in the swing state of New Hampshire, accused the president of surrendering to "right-wing ideology" by restricting stem cell research. He said it was an example of Bush's stubborn refusal to adjust to changing circumstances. | The President might just as well accuse Kerry of surrendering to liberalism! |
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| "President Bush just doesn't get it. Faced with the facts, he just turns away," Kerry said at a town hall meeting in Hampton, New Hampshire. "Time and again, he's proven that he's stubborn, out of touch, unwilling to change, unwilling to change course." | This is Kerry's new favorite game of rhetoric to play: He doesn't mis-describe the President when he chooses a word which legitimately means both: 1)
"Firmly resolved or determined; resolute." and 2. "Characterized by perseverance; persistent." ... both noble qualities, and the qualities we need in a president ... but the word he slyly chooses is one whose meaning in common parlance, he knows quite well, is: "Unreasonably, often perversely unyielding; bullheaded." Wanna play? I've heard Kerry supporters describe him as visionary. They're thinking: "Characterized by vision or foresight." Well, I happen to agree, he is visionary: "Having the nature of fantasies or dreams; illusory. Existing in imagination only; imaginary. Characterized by or given to apparitions, prophecies, or revelations. Given to daydreams or reverie; dreamy. Not practicable or realizable; utopian: visionary schemes for getting rich. Tending to envision things in perfect but unrealistic form; idealistic." It's the dictionary game; kids, go ahead and try this at home! |
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| The personal attacks coincided with the release of several new polls on Monday showing Kerry cutting into Bush's lead or drawing even after his strong performance in last week's presidential debate. | Drudge had the following interesting perspective on the quality of his performance: [A tight zoom analysis of the Boston.Com feed shows Kerry pulling a mysterious item his jacket [14 seconds into video, after commerical]. Kerry appears to unfold some sort of paper seconds later, at his podium.] It would seem the choice, again, is between a Republican or a slick cheat and liar! |
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Bush aides shrugged off the polls, saying they always expected the race would be close. "We don't dance in the end zone and we don't cry in our beer," said Bush campaign strategist Matthew Dowd. "This race is even, which is right where we thought we would be." | |
| But Bush aides canceled a planned speech on medical liability reform scheduled for Wednesday and announced the president would give an address on the war on terror instead. | Interesting how the press chooses to lead this paragraph with the word "but" ... this device is intended to imply that the Bush campaign is on the defensive.... Incidentally, notice how the cancelled speech again reflects the contrast between the two candidates' approach to an issue: Kerry will force your premiums lower by granting tax cuts to big business, while raising your taxes to pay for your lower premiums ... by contrast, Bush works to undermine the primary reason for high Health Care costs: the skyrocketing cost to the industry, of medical liability ... a problem the exploitation of which was how the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate amassed his personal wealth! How richly ironic that now his platform is to offer to fix your problem that he helped to create by manipulating taxes! |
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| Kerry's repeated attacks on Iraq (news - web sites) and U.S. security put Bush on the defensive during their first debate, and the White House looked to regain its footing ahead of Friday's next debate. Bush waded into the issue again in Iowa, saying "the policies of my opponent are dangerous for world peace." | Having implied and gotten away with it ... now they assert that the Bush campaign is on the defensive. Ridiculous, Kerry's approach is misguided, as the President points out.... |
| "If they were implemented, they would make this world not more peaceful, but more dangerous," Bush said. The focus turns on Tuesday to Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) and Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites), who will meet in a 90-minute nationally televised debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. | |
| Kerry, campaigning in New Hampshire alongside actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease (news - web sites), promised to end Bush's restrictions on using federal money for stem cell research and boost its funding. | |
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| Scientists believe the cells eventually could lead to cures for ailments like Parkinson's and spinal cord injuries, but Bush in 2001 sharply limited federal spending on research involving stem cells taken from human embryos, citing ethical concerns. | Who better to roll these back than the candidate lacking in ethics. |
| "The hard truth is that when it comes to stem cell research, this president is making the wrong choice to sacrifice science for extreme right-wing ideology," Kerry told a town hall meeting on science. | |
| Kerry's campaign released a new television ad devoted to stem cell research that will air in battleground states. In the 30-second spot, Kerry says it is time to lift political barriers to the research and says "millions of lives" are at stake. | There are no barriers to research! The only issue is does the Federal Government have an obligation to pay ... let's "lift political barriers" to sex change operations, and have the Federal Government pay for them! Sorry, that was intended to sound patently ridiculous, but with Kerry in the wings.... |
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| The White House hoped the tax cut package signed by Bush on Monday would give him an election-year boost. | You could only really credit the implication, here, if after four years of doing no such thing, suddenly a tax cut is pulled out of his hat ... but this President has all along been all about tax cuts, so this innuendo rings hollow. |
| "The law I sign this morning comes at just the right time," Bush said at a signing ceremony in Des Moines. He said it would "add momentum to our growing economy," which is creating new jobs more slowly than White House economists had expected. The tax legislation extends through 2009 a $1,000 child tax credit and through 2008 a tax break for married couples. The bill also extends the 10 percent tax bracket for the first $7,000 of income for single taxpayers and $14,000 for married couples. (Additional reporting by Greg Frost and Adam Entous) |