What planet is Bush from?

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Friday August 4 10:47 PM ET Gore Asks What Planet Bush-Cheney On

By Thomas Ferraro

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) mocked the Republican ticket of George W. Bush (news - web sites) and Dick Cheney on Friday for calling the past eight years a period of lost opportunity, asking, ``What planet have they been on?''

A day after the end of the four-day Republican National Convention, Gore asserted with pride that he and President Clinton helped build ``the strongest economy in history.''

``That's progress and that's prosperity ... and you haven't seen anything yet,'' the vice president said.

In appearances before a pair of supportive unions, Gore rejected claims by Republican presidential nominee Bush and vice presidential nominee Cheney that the Clinton-Gore administration had squandered the past eight years.

``Lost opportunity? Just coasting? Taking the path of least resistance?'' Gore said, using words invoked by Bush the night before in decrying the Clinton-Gore administration.

``What planet have they been on?'' Gore said, drawing howls from 8,000 delegates the annual convention of the National Association of Letter Carriers, which has endorsed him.

Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett, responding later to Gore's comments, said, ``Those in Washington often seem to be on another planet, while people like George W. Bush, who have been in the heartland, understand that this administration has made no progress on Social Security or Medicare reform or in rebuilding the military.''

Gore said he is the underdog in the 2000 race for the White House.

``I know we are starting out behind. I know it is going to be a tough fight,'' Gore said, speaking earlier to 3,400 people at the annual convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which has also endorsed his candidacy.

``But you deserve a president who will work just as hard as you do -- who will take on the toughest odds and battle the big interests to give you the future that you deserve,'' he said.

``I'm here today to serve notice -- this is day one of the fight for working families and with your help we are going to win,'' Gore declared, drawing thunderous cheers and applause.

Friday was also day one for Gore to try to mount a needed rally following the Republican gala, which helped Bush extend his lead in the public opinion polls to double digits.

Gore must get a bounce of his own in the polls at the Democratic National Convention, which opens on Aug. 14 in Los Angeles, to at least tighten the contest.

Traditionally in presidential races, whoever is leading on Labor Day wins. The election is Nov. 7.

Gore said again on Friday he intends to name a vice presidential running mate on Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, and reiterated that he has cut his list of possible contenders to six finalists, plus what he has described as a ``wild card.''

Democratic sources have said the leading three appeared to be Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

Two of the three others -- U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen -- have said they are not interested in the No. 2 slot. But Gephardt, unlike Shaheen, has not said he would turn it down if it was offered.

Also on the short list was Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana. The ''wild card'' remained a mystery. One source described the person only as a ``potential dark horse.''

Gore came to Chicago following a week-long vacation to resume his campaign after the Republican convention.

He said he and Clinton helped build a robust economy following a nagging recession that dogged their Republican predecessor, Bush's father, former President George Bush.

Later in the day, he returned to Washington to attend two fundraising events where Democrats expected to bring in about $425,000.

Speaking at a fundraiser in suburban Alexandria, Va., Gore said Americans did not want to go back to the days when Bush's father was president, noting the country had been mired in a recession and suffered huge budget deficits.

``We went from the biggest deficit to the biggest surplus,'' Gore said. ``Instead of a triple-dip recession we have tripled the stock market.''

Instead of a high unemployment rate, the United States is currently enjoying its lowest unemployment rates, particularly among African Americans and Latinos, he said.

``Behind the balloons and the bunting is a massive budget-busting, tax giveaway that would primarily benefit the wealthy,'' he said. ``They are for the powerful and we are for the people.''

-- new world order sucks (don't vote @ for. reptiles), August 05, 2000

Answers

Wouldn't it be funny if he picked Bill Clinton as his VP?

*giggle*

No, he wants to win the election.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), August 05, 2000.


It cracks me up when they say that "we don't want to go back to the way it was eight years ago". They forget two things. George W. Bush is not George H. W. Bush and more importantly Al Gore is not Bill Clinton. Whether or not you like Clinton, you have to admit he is both highly intelligent and charismatic. Gore is neither.

-- Another four more for Gore? (I@hope.not), August 05, 2000.

Al Gore may not have the charisma, but he's certainly got the intelligence. I like how the country is just cooking along. Did everybody forget how bad the economy was during the Bush administration? Did everybody forget that the Reagan economics which senior Bush called "voodoo economics" put more than half the country's farmers into bankruptcy and sent food prices through the ceiling? Did everybody forget that senior Bush's economics then hypocritically followed right along in the Reagan path with a high deficit? Did everyone forget what a high deficit means? It means high unemployment and low wages for those who do have a job. And now the Republicans are screaming about the marriage tax veto. But did anyone notice that the Republican scheme calls for increased taxes in the 15% bracket? Who is in the 15% bracket? I thought it was all us poor working stiffs who bear the burden of the taxation in this country. Am I wrong on that point? And do you think the newspapers are going to bring out the fact that all the rich are taxed less and have more loopholes for tax breaks? Not on your life. Know why? 'cause they are among the beneficiaries of Republican tax policy. Now, I would prefer to vote for Ralph Nader, but I don't want to waste a vote so---

-- Im sure gonna (vote@for.gore), August 05, 2000.

Gore is a buffoon.

-- Hiway (Hiway441@aol.com), August 05, 2000.

Did "I'm sure gonna vote for Gore" forget that it was decades of Democratic control of Congress that lead to huge govenment spending programs before Reagan took office? Did he/she/it also forget that Reagan set out to win the cold war by outspending the Russians, and did just that?

-- Fotios Astopopoulous (it's@ll.greek.to.me), August 05, 2000.


SICK SCANDAL STALKING BUSH

Analysts say George W Bush's campaign could be badly hit by the grave-robbing accusations, and by Apache claims that he and his famous father belong to a bizarre secret society which uses the skull in midnight rituals.

As Bush accepted the Republican nomination and basked in his opinion poll lead over Democrat Al Gore, Apache leader Ned Anderson told him to return the skull and save his family's honour.

He said: "George W could put an end to this without it becoming an election issue.

"It's sacrilege and a national disgrace. How would he feel if we'd stolen his grandfather's skull?

"They desperately want to keep this sick scandal quiet. But we'll never let it rest until they return the skull and let our great leader rest in peace."

Geronimo, a legendary fighter revered by all Apaches, died in 1909 and was buried at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Mr Anderson said George W's grand-father, Prescott Bush, was an officer there at the end of World War I. He and two colleagues were in the Yale Skull and Bones Club, an exclusive, shadowy group that meets in a windowless clubhouse at the famous university known as The Tomb.

It's claimed the trio dug up the skull, stripped it of flesh and hair with acid and took it back to Yale with two other bones and Geronimo's stirrups.

According to Mr Anderson, a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache tribe, the skull became the club's greatest prize and was used prominently in weird ceremonies.

The Bush family lived at Yale while ex-president George Bush senior was studying there. Father and son were both to become Skull and Bones members.

Mr Anderson said he was told of the theft by a disgruntled member of the society, who wrote to him in the 80s when the Apaches were trying to get Geronimo's bones moved to his native Arizona.

He demanded the relic's return back then, but claims the club handed him a fake.

Skull and Bones club lawyer Endicott Davison denied they have the skull. He admitted the club history tells of the theft but claimed it was "a hoax on the members".

But Mr Anderson is adamant that the skull remains in the club crypt. And with US voters highly sensitive to how politicians treat ethnic minorities, Geronimo could yet ambush George W's campaign.

-- skulldugery (no@bones.com), August 05, 2000.


W speaks Spanish (I think). W is married to an intellect. W is ok, barely.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), August 05, 2000.

Tipper Gore might have some intelligence, but we are not electing her. We are electing her no-brainer husband Al.

-- come on (get@it.right), August 05, 2000.

I'm with I'm Sure Gonna." I too prefer Ralph Nader, but this is one election where I don't want to waste my vote.

I would hate to see the Republicans in office, because they have to kowtow to the religious right. That is one thing that hurt Bob Dole. I can just see a Supreme Court stacked with judges that take away rights that has to do with morals; reproduction, birth control, abortion, drug laws, religion in schools and public places and censorship of anything of a sexual nature. And from our Skull and Bones Shrubya, and his allies in congress, more subsidies and tax breaks for corporations and 1% of the ultra rich.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), August 05, 2000.


I would remind you Asstopolous that it took two hundred years for the U. S. Government to amass a debt of 990 billion dollars, which it was when Reagan took office. In the twelve years that Reagan, Bush & Company were in office they added 3.5 trillion dollars to the national debt! Reagan also gave the richest 1%, the largest tax break in the history of the U. S. He also did more to trash the environment than any other president in history.

He ended the Cold War--that's debatable.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), August 05, 2000.



Tsk, tsk, tsk, gilda. I had thought that there was hope for you. My hopes of your fledging Libertarianism are dashed. No, you are a liberal, hence the immediate name calling (asstopolous) so typical of liberals. And such blatant classism! Of course the rich do NOT deserve to keep what they earn, so petty an idea, Marx would be proud. How different is that from saying that Blacks do not deserve freedom? It is bigotry, plain and simple, only it is economic bigotry, classic liberal economic bigotry.

I too do not look forward to seeing the Republicans take power, for I too feel that they are social Nazis. Of course they do at least pretend to want smaller government, unlike the Dems who think that government should control every single aspect of our lives. Socialist schools, socialist medicine, socialist taxation, one size fits all you cannot run your life so we will governance. And the drug law thing, that is funny. The Dems have no more guts in this dept than do the Repubs.

Hence I shall not "waste" my vote. I have the guts to vote for who my conscience tells me would best refect my views if elected, not for who the 'powers that be' say have a "chance". That is why I shall vote for Harry Browne.

Try this test.

-- Fotios Astopopoulous (it's@llgreek.to.me), August 05, 2000.


OK pop, I'm addressing you that way so you won't think I'm name calling again. I apologize, for it did look that way. But actually if you will notice, I forgot to capitalize the A, and also misspelled the rest of the name. Good grief, if that is your real name, I'd change it. If it's not, I sure wish you'd get a shorter handle, hence the pop. In case you think I'm just blowing smoke, I use my maiden name in real life because its short and common. My husband's name is longer and difficult, and always mistaken for something else.

As far as the rest, I'm Libertairan fiscally, and do not feel everyone is entitled to help from the cradle to the grave. But you also know the wealthy have all kinds of access to tax shelters, trusts, and a multitude of loopholes that aren't available to the middle class. I was once married to a very wealthy man--about the same net worth as G.Bush, Sr.--and the taxes we paid were lower in proportion than what E. and I now pay, on a much smaller income.

By the same token, I feel the rich should pay more because they can, and it wouldn't hurt them one bit. For instance, we are not rich by a long stretch. But we have more than we need, so we donate about 5 to 8% of our income to various charitable causes--mainly the environment--each year. I much prefer doing this to paying income tax, which I resent every year, considering where much of it goes.

Yes, I know Ralph Nader is the best choice. But when I think of the Supreme Court Justices that might take away all the freedoms they deem immoral, then I simply can't vote for Ralph.

About the "drug law thing," I agree, both parties continue to carry on the insanity. And now they are considering more money to be thrown at the South American drug lords.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), August 06, 2000.


My friends call me Fots.

Insofar as loopholes go, change it so that middle America has the same loopholes as the rich, or so that neither have any. It is classism to suggest that because the rich have more they should pay a greater percentage of their income in taxes. Personally, I believe that we should have ZERO income tax. A Constitutional government could be funded as the Framers wished, by duties and excise taxes. I also would have no quarrel with a consumption tax, ie a sales tax, on consumer items to pay for any deficit until government can be reduced to Constitutional levels, so long as the 16th Amendment is revoked.

And I shall admit to a classism of a different sort, or perhaps it is simple humanity. The poor should pay no taxes, but those beyond the poverty level should share equally in the necessary evil that funds the government.

-- Fotios Astopopoulous (it's@ll.greek.to.me), August 06, 2000.


Fotios: You've sure got that right. A sales or consumption tax is the answer. But everybody ignored the funny looking little guy that brought that to the Republican debates.

-- I'm still gonna (Vote@for.gore), August 06, 2000.

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