"Talk and rhetoric is cheap; results are what really matter." This is what Nicholas James Kalman, et al wrote in the Feb. 24th edition of the University Press, attacking Senator John McCain's campaign for presidency in favor of Governor George W. Bush's. Unfortunately for Kalman's argument, his own words work against him; and against Bush.
"George W. Bush is an effective governor who gets results." Oh, really? What might these results be? Kalman references Bush's record several times in his article, but not once does he give any examples. Well, Governor Bush indeed has made it a point to direct people to his Texas record, I suppose as a sign of what to expect should he be elected President of the United States. Let us not hesitate to take a look!
This being a university newspaper, let us begin by looking at Bush's record on education. Kalman says that Bush has enacted "real educational reform." Under him, Texas' high school completion rate is #46 out of the 50 states (U.S. Department of Education). It's no wonder, considering that Texas rose 30% in teen drug use, despite going down nationally (1998 Texas School Survey of Substance Use Among Students: Grades 7-12, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse). Perhaps girls are having trouble graduating high school because Texas has the fifth highest teen birth rate (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). And perhaps teachers are having trouble concentrating on their jobs, considering that Texas is the worst state for teacher salaries plus benefits (National Education Agency). These just to name a couple of possible contributors to the poor goings on in Texas high schools. But I'm sure this is all nothing that Governor Bush should be held accountable for.
We've looked at high-school students. Let's look at younger children. Does Texas have the highest number of children living in poverty? No, no it doesn't. They have the second highest number of children living in poverty. They are the same for children living without health insurance. And they are the state with the highest percentage of children living without health insurance. Texas also has the highest percentage of people without health insurance (U.S. Bureau of Census, Current Populations Trends).
And Kalman boasts that Bush signed "some of the best patient protection laws in the country"? That doesn't mean much if you can't afford medical care to get your foot in the door. And Texas is 48 in spending for health per capita (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services), despite an abundant budget surplus.
Kalman boasts of Bush's two largest tax cuts in the state's history. This would certainly include Texas' property tax cuts. According to Texas Representative Toby Goodman (R) and Louis Malfaro of the Texas Federation of Teachers, nobody even asked for such cuts. To the contrary, they point to polls showing a greater-than-ten-to-one margin of Texans favoring Texas' surplus being spent on schools and teachers, and definitely not on any "tax relief." But in his time as governor, Texas' ranking for teachers' salaries moved down two places, from 36 to 38 (National Education Agency).
Do you care about the environment, as do I? Texas is #1 in: Pollution released by manufacturing plants; Pollution by industrial plants in VIOLATION of the Clean Air Act; and Greenhouse gas emissions (U.S. EPA, Office of Pollution and Prevention). Governor Bush has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporations who violate what his father, former President Bush, helped put in place. In return, the governor has pressed to make following of the environmental laws a matter of "voluntary compliance" (GeorgeBush2000.com).
George W. Bush cares about corporations, not people. It is as simple as that. The term "tort reform" has been thrown around recently. People hear the second word, and know nothing about the first. Tort reform makes it difficult or impossible to sue rich corporations, not only to protect them from frivolous suits, but also the most serious. So your neighborhood is being poisoned by the factory next door? You can't touch them. Your child has been killed due to a clear case of a dangerous product that should have never been put on the market? The manufacturer is no longer legally liable. Your mother has been killed due to serious medical malpractice? Sorry! Now go home. This is Bush as a "reformer."
One wonders what Governor Bush has meant this entire time with the self-description of being a "compassionate conservative." He's clearly not very compassionate towards people. In a recent presidential debate conducted by Larry King on CNN, King addressed the issue of another Republican governor recently calling a moratorium on the death penalty. The reason for this being that many inmates already executed have been cleared in the crimes for which they were sentenced. Under Bush, Texas has led the nation in the number of executions carried out. Yet, even with so many people being cleared as new technology comes around and new facts unique to a given case surface, Bush insisted to King that there is no doubt in his mind that all who have been executed, and all who are currently sitting on death row*, are guilty of the crimes for which they have been sentenced. No ifs, ands or buts about it. This is compassionate?
I have only touched the tip of the iceberg in regards to Bush's abhorrent record. How he has a reputation as being a serious, not to mention genuinely good and effective, politician is beyond me. I have not gotten into his private business dealings, including his and his partners' unethical and illegal taking of the land on which they built the Ballpark at Arlington. They refuse to pay back $7.5 million to the city of Arlington that is court-ordered, a small fraction of the amount that they made on the deal. The money is to be paid back to the Mathes family who had owned the land in question (Austin Chronicle, Vol. 17, #19). So much for Bush's supposed stance in favor of protecting property owners' rights.
I also have not gone much into the actions that Bush has taken to directly help his top contributors at the expense of the Texan people. And I haven't written about his very illegal insider trading, as reported by U.S. News and World Report.
To check on what I have written, go to the critical George W. Bush 2000 web site: http://www.georgebush2000.com. See the information for yourself. Check the sources. And whatever you do, don't ever vote for George W. Bush unless you want to vote for somebody who lies, spews hypocrisy, cheats and steals, and screws everyone that gets in his way, all for his own gain and nothing else. If George W. Bush has any sort of integrity, then I am a lamppost.
David W. Perle
Copyright (c) David W. Perle, 2000. All Rights Reserved.