The biggest lies of Campaign '04:
8/01/04:
As Campaign '04 heats up, and the Democratic National Convention takes over Boston, the news is full of stories emenating from our nation's would-be President... and they are not all flattering.
The Wall Street Journal -- not always a convervative rag -- 7/30 front page detailed how the Kerry-Edwards Campaign hired a revolutionary war re-enator to pitch "over priced" prescriptions into the sea in a mock -- and slightly perverted, in view of history -- "Boston tea party". Another news blurb in the same paper detailed the Kerry campaign's unsuccessful bid to extoll their gun control agenda, as a "Paul Revere" re-enactor "refused to ride through the city extolling gun control".
At best, these tales are laughable, good for a few yuks. But they also offer an alarming insight into the incite that Kerry could bring to the Oval Office.
Pitching prescriptions into the harbor? This is no Boston Tea Party and Kerry is no latter-day patriot. The famous "tea party" protest in the 1700's was a protest against government taxes, not the "price" of tea. The British crown levied unfair and expensive taxes on the tea that jacked up their prices and gave the colonists nothing in return. A comparable situation exists today with the prices of cigarettes and gasoline, respectively; punative taxes have made a $2 pack of smokes cost $7, and up to one third of the cost of your rising gollon of gas price is state and federal looting. If Kerry's goons were to throw the advocates of these taxes into the harbor, maybe he'd be onto something. But attacking the price of pharmecuetical goods -- what is basically a market price -- has no parallel to the infamous "tea party". By and large such prices are not the result of government decree. The exception is where compliance with FDA and other regulations for introduction of a new drug jacks up the cost, or where companies charge more in America because they are forced to sell their medications to foriegn customers at below cost, due to those governments' price-setting policies. But it isn't the FDA or overseas price controls that Kerry-Edwards is criticising. It is, in typical leftist fashion, the drug companies. Why should drug companies make so much money? The fact is they don't, much of it is spent of research and testing, and as regards to what profit they do make, those who invent a product certainly have a right to set its price. The American colonists would be agast to learnt hat someone was re-enacting their famous protest against government meddling in the economy -- for the purpose of demonizing private business.
The tale of Paul Revere refusing to ride around proclaiming the alleged benefits of totalitarian gun control is just funny. Re-enactors use guns! Kerry obviously didn't think this through before making his offer to Mr. Revere's double... What about kerry "restoring hope"? Kerry has made this statment a keynote of his campaign. "I will restore hope," he says. How?
His first plan is to get rid of any of the miniscule tax cuts Bush has made, resulting in a tax increase. If this isn't enough, he plans to raise taxes as well -- so much for the other myth, of Kerry the "fiscal moderate". Much as Kerry moans abut deficits incurred fighting the war, he has no problem with incurring deficits in order to proliferate government hand outs -- bribes by any other name -- to his constituents, and otherwise perpetuate the welfare state.
Kerry's other big hopemaker is the courting of European "allies" who are actually opposed to our defense. Why these people should be approached, or why we should consider them our "allies" in spite of their obvious obstruction of our defensive efforts in wartime, Kerry doesn't say. He talks of renewing our credability with Europe -- but given Europe's largely appeasement approach to terrorism, this is itself a guaranteed way to eliminate whatever credibility America has with its own citizens -- and enemies. Do we want our enemies to view us as a paper tiger? More UN talk shops and toothless "sanctions" will not make America safer, nor will begging France to forgive us for the sin of having used our military to defend ourselves. If these nations were realy our "allies" in this day and age, they would back us when we need their help. Neglecting our defense, in order to regain "credibility" with "allies" who will not lift a finger to help us in wartime wil do nothing to bring "hope" to America.
Kerry is not a fiscal moderate, as his tax-and-spend plans make clear.
Safer in wartime? Hardly. Kerry is not a leader for this century. He never repudiated his anti-war stance of the 'Nam era -- it guides him to this day.
We don't need him in the Oval Office.
_____________
back...
...back to Lonerider's main page
...To lonerider's "rants" page