I have a list mailed to me in 1998 by senator Bob Kerrey which lists nine authentic issues and the stands that the major parties have taken on them:
I would rank them in a different order, but I am quoting from Kerrey's letter.
He aslso goes into detail to show the positions of the two parties.
1) crime:
Senate Democrats are sponsoring Safe Streets legislation that would
help communities hire more police officers and expand proven crime
prevention programs
. Republicans focus on punishment of offenders
while relaxing gun control laws so that citizens can fend for
themselves.
2) the economy:
[Last year when I got this the issue was the deficit, now the issue
is what to do with the surplus.]
3} the environment:
Democratic senators have helped turn back attempts to relax clean air
and water standards while pushing for increased protection of endangered
species and habitat.
Republicans believe industrial polluters can be trusted to minimize
environmental damage, and that national park lands should be sold off
to private land owners.
4) campaign finance reform:
Democrats wnat the McCain-Feingld legislation passed.
Republicans [like Trent Lott] fillibustered against campaign reform.
5) education:
The Democratic party is fighting for adequate funding of Head Start,
student loan programs and other efforts to put a quality education
within the reach of every student.
Republicans believe the Department of Education can be safely eliminated
and school vouchers demanded by religious conservatives are the future
of education in America.
[the administration put a proposal to prevent local school districts
from doing "social promotion" in recent legislation, the Republicans
took that part out of the law before it passed.]
6) religious freedom:
Democratic Party principles call for respect and tolerance of all faiths
as mandated by the Constitution's Bill of Rights.
Some Republicans propose a constitutional amendment that would
tear down the wall of separation between church and state setting
the stage for the creation of an intolerant "Christian nation".
7) reproductive choice:
Democrats believe women can be trusted with private decisions regarding
family planning and reproductive choice.
The Republican Party platform calls for a constitutional amendment
that would make criminals of doctors who perform abortions and
women who seek them.
8) tax policy:
Democratis senators favor carefully targeted tax relief for working
families that ensures all Americans pay their fair share.
Republicans continue to call for the elimination of capital gains taxes
and other tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
9) national defense: [updated 1999]
Democrats support the nuclear test ban treaty.
Republicans voted against it for some unknown reason.
Automatically performs a linked relationship map:
" the partisans of the right now reveal themselves to be the lovers of oligarchy we always feared they were. Like the John Birchers of yore, they are essentially insisting that this is a republic, not a democracy. Against this hauteur, the left clamors for the right to vote and the right for votes to be counted. Many pent-up passions collide now. "[from Salon]
__________________________________________________________________Shadows of Forgotten Politicians I found a quote in the introduction of "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan that relates to the current political situation. We forget how much progress has been made in the past eight years. For instance, Bush Sr. has turned in his N.R.A. membership in the past couple of years. The quote from Sagan mentions two problems he was aware of in the late eighties that have been mostly solved now. Then I have some other rather long quotes to help us avoid repeating them. ____________________________________________________________________ From "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" "The book itself began in the early eighties when rivalry between the United States and the Sovie Union was making a potentially fatefull intersection with 60,000 nuclear weapons that had been accumulated for reasons of deterrence, coercion, pride and fear. Each nation praised itself and villified its adversaries, who were sometimes portrayed as less than human. The UNited States spent allmost ten trillion dollars on the Cold War - enough to buy everything in the country except the land. Meanwhile, the infrastructure was collapsing, the environment was deterirorating, the democratic process was being subverted, injustice festered, and the nation was converted from the leading lender to the leading debtor on hte planet." "As we complete this book, the Cold War is over. But somehow we are not home free. new dangers edge themselves onto center stage, and old familliar ones reassert themselves....The need to understand how we got into thismess and how to get out seems more urgent than ever." ____________________________________________________________________ >From "The Grid" 'In his eight years in the White House, Reagan carried out a continuous attack on the environment. On several occasions, he displayed his ignorance as well as his disdain for ecology. While campaigning in 1980 he stated, "80 percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emissions standards from man-made sources." On another occasion, he stated that "trees cause pollution." ' 'Corruption ran rampant in many government agencies. In the Department of Commerce, James Watt was a fiercely anti-environmentalist who protested federal control over the rich mineral and timber resources in the western states. Additionally, Watt set out to cripple the EPA and to permit oil drilling in scenic areas. After telling an off-color ethnic joke in 1983, Watt was forced to resign. He described members of a federal advisory panel as "a black ... a woman, two Jews, and a cripple." ' "Corporate fraud spilled over to Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Billions of dollars were channeled into the private sector, as developers, banks, and speculators profited. All this was occurring while HUD provided very few homes for the needy. For example, in the late 1980s a Palm Springs, California developer was given millions of dollars to build low-cost housing for the poor. However, very few poor families migrated to this expensive community. Also, a New Jersey developer embezzled millions of dollars in the late 1980s. Between 1981 and 1986, $17 billion was cut in HUD funds for public housing. " "While in the Reagan administration, Secretary of Interior Watt was indicted on 41 felony charges for using his HUD connections to help his clients seek federal funds for housing projects in Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Watt conceded that he had received $500,000 from clients who were granted very favorable housing contracts after he intervened. He also was given $100,000 for a project in Puerto Rico. Testifying before a House committee Watt said, "That's what they offered, and it sounded like a lot of money to me, and we settled on it." After over ten years of investigation, Watt was sentenced to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service for withholding documents from a grand jury which investigated HUD in March 1996. " "Corruption spread to the EPA. Anne Burford, who headed the superfund of the EPA, resigned after she bent environmental regulations for dozens of industrial polluters. One of Burford's subordinates, Rita Lavelle, headed the EPA's toxic waste clean-up program. She was indicted and served three months in a federal penitentiary for lying to Congress. She was able to clean up only a small handful of the nation's thousands of toxic waste sites. In addition, EPA administrator, John W. Hernandez, resigned after his staff disclosed that he illegally allowed Dow Chemicals to review a report which named it a dioxin polluter. Assistant EPA administrator John Horton was dismissed for using government employees for private business. Matthew Novick, EPA Inspector General, was fired after he used government officials to work on private business. Theodore Olson, Assistant Attorney General of the United States, was under investigation for obstructing justice in the investigation of the EPA. EPA General Counsel Robert Perry resigned after improper participation in a settlement which involved a former employer. John Tudhunter, assistant EPA administrator, resigned after being accused of meeting privately with chemical company lobbyists. Additionally, the Reagan administration sold and leased billions of dollars worth of coal and oil reserves, timber lands, and mineral reserves. " "In addition, Reagan tampered with environmental laws in his crusade to bolster corporate profits." http://www.thegrid.net/clear/legacy.htm ________________________________________________________________ From George Magazine, November GIFT-WRAPPED PARDONS 'Defeated president George H.W. Bush used his waning days in Washington to grant a generous holiday gift to his former Iran-Contra cronies: a "get away from jail free" card. On Christmas Eve, he played Santa Claus by pardoning former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other Reagan-era colleagues for their involvement in the illegal arms-for-hostages scandal [The Iran Contra affair]. He thereby spared them all the indignity of a courtroom trial - even though executive pardons are typically reserved for those who have already been convicted of a crime, not those yet to face trial. Bush’s curiously timed pardons effectively handcuffed special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh’s investigation into the Iran-Contra affair-an effort that, incidentally, might have led to President Bush himself. Without the threat of prosecution to compel cooperation, Walsh was unable to determine whether top administration officials like Weinberger had been lying to cover up the misdeeds of their bosses-Bush and his predecessor, Ronald Reagan. The result: Colonel Oliver North was left to take the fall for everyone. ' http://www.georgemag.com/xp6/George/Features/1100/TopTen.xml ___________________________________________________________________ The gradual progress of the past two hundred years will continue even if there are some setbacks. Repulicans can't bring back segregation, they can't get the Amish to carry guns, and they probably can't stop the abortion pill. Carl Sagan lobbied for a joint Russian-American space project, and now we have one. He campaigned to end the arms race, and the Berlin Wall came down. They will have to deal with Hillary now. The Republican's worst nightmare is an intelligent woman. Her mere existence is an affront to their values.
Many scandals revolved around the Bush family members. In January1990, President Bush signed a contract with an American corporation, the Texas-based Harken Energy Corporation in Bahrain. Under the terms of the deal, Harken was given the exclusive right to explore for gas and oil off the shores of Bahrain. If gas or oil were found in waters near two of the world's largest gas and oil fields, Harken would have exclusive marketing and transportation rights for the energy resources. This turned out to be a gold mine for a company which had never drilled an offshore well. George Bush, Jr. was on the board of directors of Harken as well as being a consultant and a stockholder. President's Bush's contract with Harken was a blatant conflict of interest. Their relationship made the president a valuable asset for Harken. George Bush's third son, Prescott, also was involved in fraudulent dealings. When his father flew to the Far East for a Presidential visit in February 1989, Prescott simultaneously scheduled a business trip to the same countries -- China, Japan and South Korea. Prescott was hired by Asset Management, which paid him a $250,000 fee for consulting in its joint venture with China to set up its internal communications network. Prescott was hired shortly after President Bush imposed economic sanctions in June 1989 in response to Beijing's crackdown after the Tienanmen Square demonstrations. Corruption in the Bush family continued with another son, Jeb, who profited handsomely when the Bush administration bailed out Broward Federal Savings and Loan in Sunrise in Florida. This savings and loan institution fell into bankruptcy in 1988, forcing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to absorb $285 million in bad loans. Another son of George Bush, Neil, plea bargained after the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan in Colorado. 45 Federal regulators shut down Silverado shortly after George Bush was elected president in 1988. Neil was a member of Silverado's board of directors from 1985 to 1988. "There was no conflict of interest," Neil told reporters. The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) in Washington issued a notice of intent in January 1990 to hold a hearing on the failure of Silverado Banking Savings and Loan. The federal bailout cost United States taxpayers $1 billion. Neil responded to charges made in an OTS report by stating that he had "breached his fiduciary duty" to Silverado by engaging in unethical and illegal business deals while a board member of the Denver savings and loan. The report documented that Neil personally profited from questionable Silverado loans to his business partners, Ken Good and Bill Walters. Good and Walters later defaulted on $132 million in loans to Silverado, leaving the taxpayers to pick up the remains. Corruption also spilled over into other savings and loan institutions. In 1988 alone, hundreds of savings and loans donated $800,000 in soft money to the George Bush campaign as well as giving $11 million to Congressional candidates and party committees throughout the 1980s. Eight financial institution officials donated more money to the Bush campaign, and five of these were involved in high-risk junk bond investments with Michael Milken. One of these was convicted felon Charles Keating of Lincoln Savings and Loan. The White House reciprocated by deregulating the savings and loan industry. This became a potential for a tremendous windfall for the institution's corporate officials, since they no longer were accountable to the government and free to speculate in high risk junk bonds. ..... Iran-Contra, part 1 October Suprise The Iran-contra scandal can be traced back to October Surprise in the 1980 Presidential election between incumbent Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. In the fall of 1980, Carter was marginally leading Reagan in the polls with the election right around the corner. The release of hostages before election day presumably would have insured the election for Carter. The Reagan team conspired to negotiate a deal with Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. Campaign manager William Casey and George Bush met with Iranian Prime Minister Bani-sadr in Paris in October, only weeks before the election and with Carter having a slight lead over Reagan. Part of the deal cut between the Reagan team and Iran was to provide military weapons which Iran desperately needed in its war with Iraq. As it turned out, the 52 American hostages remained captive in Teheran. Carter's popularity continued to plummet, enabling Reagan to be elected in November, and ironically the hostages were returned at 12 o'clock noon on January 21, 1981 when Reagan was inaugurated. The first meeting regarding arms-to-Iran occurred in July 1980 in Barcelona, Spain, not in Madrid as was initially reported. The Republican team met at the Hotel Princess Sofia and at the Pepsico International headquarters. The American team was led by Republican campaign director William Casey, who months later was to be named CIA chief by Reagan, and by Robert McFarlane, who later became National Security adviser under Reagan. In Paris, the Republican team gave $40 million to the Iranian government as a gesture of good faith that the Reagan team was serious in dealing with the terrorist Khomeini government -- and that the 52 American hostages should remain captive until after the November election. After the meeting, Bush had to quickly return to the United States in order to deliver a speech at the Washington Hilton Hotel. He departed France in an SR-71 reconnaissance plane, piloted by Gunther Russbacher. The plane was refueled by an Air Force tanker nearly 2,000 miles out of Paris. The entire return flight to the United States was less than two hours. ..... ran-Contra, part 3 The Iran-Contra Indictments It is not a crime to deceive the American public as high officials in the Reagan Administration did for two years while conducting the Iran and Contra operations. However, it is a crime to mislead, deceive, and lie to Congress when Congress seeks to learn whether Administration officials are conducting the nation's business in accordance with the law. Lawrence Walsh was hired as a special prosecutor to determine precisely if this had occurred. He subsequently found several upper-level Iran-contra participants in violation of the law. Several American laws were defied: The National Security Act. Select committees in both houses must be informed of all intelligence gathering by the CIA. The Hughes-Ryan Amendment (1974). The CIA may only use funds which are intended for obtaining necessary intelligence. The CIA must brief at least eight separate Congressional committees in regard to any covert action other than simple intelligence gathering. The Boland Amendment (1984). The United States cannot use funds to support any military operations in Nicaragua unless appropriated by Congress. The Neutrality Act (1794). It is illegal to initiate, organize, and/or provide money for military action against any foreign country which the United States is not officially at peace with. The United States had officially severed diplomatic relations with Iran which had been officially branded a terrorist nation. Oliver North was given Congressional immunity, and consequently most of his convictions were overturned by an appeals court. Ironically, North was sentenced to several hundred hours of community work to help the drug problem in Washington, D.C. The investigation and subsequent lawsuits by the Christic Institute against the "enterprise" of alleged drug traffickers were held up and later dropped in the federal courts. At the Iran-contra trials, North was found guilty of altering and destroying documents, accepting an illegal gratuity, and aiding and abetting in the obstruction of Congress. He was sentenced to a three year suspended prison term and two years probation; fined $150,000 and given 1,200 hours community work. In July 1990, North's conviction was overturned by a 2 to 1 appeals court ruling, because the evidence used to convict him was his Congressional testimony for which he was granted immunity. Former National Security adviser John Poindexter was convicted of five felonies involving conspiracy, obstruction of Congress, and false statements. He was sentenced to six months in prison. Robert McFarlane pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress. He was sentenced to two years probation and fined $20,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community work. Casper Weinberger was charged with withholding and concealing notes; lying about his knowledge of illegal Saudi Arabian contributions and lying about the existence of such notes; as well as perjuring himself twice by denying knowledge of Israeli arms sales to Iran and the need to supply Israel with arms it sold to Iran. Major Richard Secord, who helped arrange illegally purchased arms for the contras, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the Iran-contra committee. He was sentenced to two years probation. Richard Miller, who headed a Washington public relations firm, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to withholding information from Congress. He was given two years probation. Carl (Spitz) Channell, a conservative fund raiser, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States government. He was sentenced to two years probation. Clair George, former deputy director of the CIA, was charged with ten counts of perjury. He was convicted on two charges. Elliott Abrams, deputy Secretary of State to Central America, pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress. He was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours community work. Albert Fiers, part of the CIA's Central American task force, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges as part of the deal to cooperate with special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh's investigation. Albert Hakim, a California arms dealer in sending illegal arms to the contras, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for supplementing North's salary. As a large shareholder in Lake Resources, he pleaded guilty to the theft of government property, and illegally shipping arms to the contras. He was sentenced to two years probation and fined $5,000. Thomas Clines, CIA official, was found guilty for under reporting his earnings to the IRS between 1985 and 1988. He also received illegal profits in Iran-contra. Other high level White House officials were unscathed. Chief of Staff Donald Regan was not implicated, even though he had participated in top secret meetings which dealt with the illegal sale of arms to Iran. CIA director William Casey, who directly organized and orchestrated the covert contra war died before any charges were brought against him. Before special prosecutor Walsh completed his investigation, President Bush issued the Christmas eve pardons in 1992, .... [Muh mor
Bush and El Salvador Throughout the 1980s, the Roman Catholic Church and human rights groups described how Salvadoran security forces instilled a fear in its people by carrying out state terrorism. In November 1989, six Jesuit priests and two housekeepers were murdered at the Jesuit University in San Salvador by right wing military officers. The United States responded by declaring a moratorium on American aid. One Jesuit, Father Ignacio Martin-Baro, delivered a speech on "The Psychological Consequences of Political Terrorism" just months before he was killed. First, he stressed that the most important type is state terrorism and that it is "terrorizing the whole population through systematic actions carried out by he forces of the state. Second, he stated that such terrorism was an essential part of a "government-imposed sociopolitical project" designed to protect the elite. However, Bush chose January 15, 1991 as the date to restore $42.5 million in aid. On January 2, the FMLN had shot down an American helicopter and killed two American crew members. Two weeks later, El Salvador's only non government newspaper was destroyed. On January 16, 1991, 15 peasants were massacred in the city of El Zapote on the outskirts of San Salvador. The Catholic church's human rights organization charged the military with the crime and stated that it was the worst human rights abuse since the murder of the six Jesuit priests and two housekeepers in 1990. On January 29, the American government rewarded El Salvador with three jets and six helicopters. On February 1, 1991, 18 journalists were detained by the government for three hours. In the March 1991, National Assembly elections, the left ran candidates for the first time. Voting areas did not allow for secret ballots. Ten inch high partitions divided voting desks, allowing government officials to observe. Peasants who dared to vote for candidates of the left were intimidated. Polling places were set up only in cities, making it difficult or impossible for the majority of the population to vote. Even within the cities, some people told election monitors that they had to walk three hours to the polling places. The result was a low 47 percent voter turnout. The National Assembly required cards for proof of registration; however, this was never carried out. The far-right ARENA Party was responsible for voting lists. Yet, many names did not appear on computerized lists, and consequently these people could not vote. In addition, the polling places were surrounded by police and soldiers with automatic weapons, further intimidating many voters. [more at the link below] http://www.thegrid.net/clear/camerica2.htm#graneda
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