Bush the flip-flopper
1. Department of Homeland Security
BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY...
"So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve
the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government
that have to be coordinated. So the answer is
that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything."
[White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, 3/19/02]
..BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
"So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in
creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission:
securing the homeland of America and protecting
the American people." [President Bush, Address to the Nation, 6/6/02]
2. Weapons of Mass Destruction
BUSH SAYS WE FOUND THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION...
"We found the weapons of mass destruction. We
found biological laboratories for those who say we haven't found the
banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons,
they're wrong, we found them." [President Bush, Interview in Poland, 5/29/03]
BUSH SAYS WE HAVEN'T FOUND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
"David Kay has found the capacity to produce
weapons. And when David Kay goes in and says we haven't found stockpiles
yet,
and there's theories as to where the weapons
went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his henchmen
could have destroyed them as we entered into
Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another
country,
and we'll find out." [President Bush, Meet the
Press, 2/7/04]
3. Free Trade
BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE...
"I believe strongly that if we promote trade,
and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this issue."
[President Bush in Peru, 3/23/02]
..BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE
"In a decision largely driven by his political
advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles last year
and imposed
heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling
mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his reelection."
[Washington Post, 9/19/03]
4. Osama Bin Laden
BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE...
"I want justice. And there's an old poster out
West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'"
[President Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]
BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA "I don't know where
he is. I have no idea and I really don't care.
It's not that important." [President Bush, Press
Conference, 3/13/02]
5. The Environment
BUSH SUPPORTS MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE...
"[If elected], Governor Bush will work to establish
mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants:
sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon
dioxide." [Bush Environmental Plan, 9/29/00]
BUSH OPPOSES MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE
"I do not believe, however, that the government
should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon
dioxide,
which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air
Act." [President Bush, Letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), 3/13/03]
6. WMD Commission
BUSH RESISTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD
INTELLIGENCE FAILURE...
"The White House immediately turned aside the
calls from Kay and many Democrats for an immediate
outside investigation, seeking to head off any
new wide-ranging election-year inquiry that might go beyond
reports already being assembled by congressional
committees and the Central Intelligence Agency." [NY Times, 1/29/04]
..BUSH SUPPORTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD
INTELLIGENCE FAILURE
"Today, by executive order, I am creating an
independent commission, chaired by Governor and former
Senator Chuck Robb, Judge Laurence Silberman,
to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially
our intelligence about weapons of mass destruction."
[President Bush, 2/6/04]
7. Creation of the 9/11 Commission
BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION...
"President Bush took a few minutes during his
trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing
a special commission to probe how the government
dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11." [CBS News, 5/23/02]
..BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11
COMMISSION
"President Bush said today he now supports establishing
an independent commission to investigate
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." [ABC News, 09/20/02]
8. Time Extension for 9/11 Commission
BUSH OPPOSES TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION...
"President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert
(R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more time
to an independent commission investigating the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." [Washington Post, 1/19/04]
..BUSH SUPPORTS TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION
"The White House announced Wednesday its support
for a request from the commission investigating the
September 11, 2001 attacks for more time to complete
its work." [CNN, 2/4/04]
9. One Hour Limit for 9/11 Commission Testimony
BUSH LIMITS TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF 9/11 COMMISSION
TO ONE HOUR...
"President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney
have placed strict limits on the private interviews they will
grant to the federal commission investigating
the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that they will meet only with the panel's
top two officials and that Mr. Bush will submit
to only a single hour of questioning, commission members said." [NY Times,
2/26/04]
..BUSH SETS NO TIMELIMIT FOR TESTIMONY
"The president's going to answer all of the questions
they want to raise. Nobody's watching the clock."
[White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 3/10/04]
10. Gay Marriage
BUSH SAYS GAY MARRIAGE IS A STATE ISSUE...
"The state can do what they want to do. Don't
try to trap me in this state's issue like you're trying to get me into."
[Gov. George W. Bush on Gay Marriage, Larry King
Live, 2/15/00]
..BUSH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING
GAY MARRIAGE
"Today I call upon the Congress to promptly pass,
and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to
our Constitution defining and protecting marriage
as a union of man and woman as husband and wife." [President Bush, 2/24/04]
11. Nation Building
BUSH OPPOSES NATION BUILDING... "If we don't
stop extending our troops all around the world in
nation-building missions, then we're going to
have a serious problem coming down the road." [Gov. George W. Bush, 10/3/00]
..BUSH SUPPORTS NATION BUILDING
"We will be changing the regime of Iraq, for
the good of the Iraqi people." [President Bush, 3/6/03]
12. Saddam/al Qaeda Link
BUSH SAYS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEEN
AL QAEDA AND SADDAM...
"You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam
when you talk about the war on terror." [President Bush, 9/25/02]
..BUSH SAYS SADDAM HAD NO ROLE IN AL QAEDA PLOT
"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was
involved in Sept. 11." [President Bush, 9/17/03]
13. U.N. Resolution
BUSH VOWS TO HAVE A UN VOTE NO MATTER WHAT...
"No matter what the whip count is, we're calling
for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what
their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the
utility of the United Nations Security Council. And so, you bet.
It's time for people to show their cards, to
let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam." [President
Bush 3/6/03]
..BUSH WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR VOTE
"At a National Security Council meeting convened
at the White House at 8:55 a.m., Bush finalized the decision to withdraw
the resolution from consideration and prepared
to deliver an address to the nation that had already been written." [Washington
Post, 3/18/03]
14. Involvement in the Palestinian Conflict
BUSH OPPOSES SUMMITS...
"Well, we've tried summits in the past, as you
may remember. It wasn't all that long ago where a summit was called and
nothing
happened, and as a result we had significant
intifada in the area." [President Bush, 04/05/02]
BUSH SUPPORTS SUMMITS
"If a meeting advances progress toward two states
living side by side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting.
I'm committed to working toward peace in the
Middle East." [President Bush, 5/23/03]
15. Campaign Finance
BUSH OPPOSES MCCAIN-FEINGOLD...
"George W. Bush opposes McCain-Feingold...as
an infringement on free expression." [Washington Post, 3/28/2000]
BUSH SIGNS MCCAIN-FEINGOLD INTO LAW
"[T]his bill improves the current system of financing
for Federal campaigns, and therefore I have signed it into law."
[President Bush, at the McCain-Feingold
singing ceremony, 03/27/02]