Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Bush the Liar
Bush's claim that John Kerry voted over 350 times for higher taxes is a flat lie:
From the Columbia Journalism Review:
"Bush’s presidency has been historic in this regard... Rather than simply lying, this White House uses carefully crafted language to create a misleading impression or make claims that are technically accurate but designed to produce inaccurate conclusions.
...
The president then rolled into another disingenuous attack. “...You make sure your friends and neighbors understand that as a United States senator, he voted over 350 times for higher taxes on the American people.” However, only a fraction of those 350 votes — a number the Bush campaign has been citing since March — are votes to increase taxes directly. Rather, the number is padded with votes on various tax matters spanning Kerry’s twenty years in the Senate: votes against decreasing taxes, votes to trim proposed tax cuts, votes against repealing tax hikes that were already enacted, and votes in favor of tax cuts that were smaller than what Republicans had proposed. Confused? That’s the idea."
Full text
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From the Columbia Journalism Review:
"Bush’s presidency has been historic in this regard... Rather than simply lying, this White House uses carefully crafted language to create a misleading impression or make claims that are technically accurate but designed to produce inaccurate conclusions.
...
The president then rolled into another disingenuous attack. “...You make sure your friends and neighbors understand that as a United States senator, he voted over 350 times for higher taxes on the American people.” However, only a fraction of those 350 votes — a number the Bush campaign has been citing since March — are votes to increase taxes directly. Rather, the number is padded with votes on various tax matters spanning Kerry’s twenty years in the Senate: votes against decreasing taxes, votes to trim proposed tax cuts, votes against repealing tax hikes that were already enacted, and votes in favor of tax cuts that were smaller than what Republicans had proposed. Confused? That’s the idea."
Full text
