September 15, 2004
WAIT FOR IT....:
My Economic Policy - A new CEO in Washington would be good for American business. (JOHN KERRY, Wednesday, September 15, 2004, Wall Street Journal)
I am not waiting for next year to change the tone on fiscal discipline. Every day on the campaign trail, I explain how I pay for all my proposals. By rolling back the recent Bush tax cuts for families making over $200,000 per year, we can pay for health care and education.
So, who is the grand "We", Senator?
By cutting subsidies to banks that make student loans and restoring the principle that "polluters pay," we can afford to invest in national service and new energy technologies. My new rules won't just apply to programs I don't like; they will apply to my own priorities as well.
Could this be any more vague? And how can we know that you'll be for all this until you're against it?
If the entire command and support structure of the campaign is dilusional enough to think that the next revelation about Bush's National Guard service will be the one that finally turns the American people against the president, why shouldn't Kerry think he can continue to remain vague about every single posiion relating to current domestic and foreign policy?
Maybe Dan didn't bail them out, or Seymour, or Kitty, but they know the next one is going to be the one that turns the tide. Their optimism in the face of all recent evidence to the contrary is admirable in some strange way, I guess, but I don't believe anyone has ever won the presidency using the Wile E. Coyote method of campaign management.
Posted by: John at September 16, 2004 12:08 AMcutting subsidies to banks that make student loans
What the . . .? Where the heck did that come from? We're going to pay for education by making people pay more for education?
Posted by: David Cohen at September 16, 2004 12:10 AMThe "we" is John and Teresa, of course.
He surely doesn't mean Edwards, who is staying as far away from Kerry as possible. I doubt if they make another joint appearance during the campaign.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 16, 2004 12:32 AMSomeone is writing Kerry's talking points in his sleep. Taken as a whole, none of this adds up. I think the strategy is that there's so little time left in the campaign that just saying nice things about mothers and puppies will be enough to get his campaign on some kind of track. No serious analyst is defending his program as being able to provide what he says and still cut the deficit in half in four years. The Boston Globe tried it this morning, and the best they could do (with a completely botched analysis) was to claim that Bush would cost more.
As Kerry talks more about his economics, he sounds less grounded and more frightening.
Posted by: Dave Sheridan at September 16, 2004 12:34 AMI'm sure they're proud of the nice little collection of focus-grouped phrases they presented. Of course the numbers don't come close to adding up, but hey, the average voter doesn't do math.
Posted by: PapayaSF at September 16, 2004 1:17 AMI'm just very puzzled by Kerry's incompetence.
The guy's been a Senaor for twenty years and this is the kind of campaign he runs?
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at September 16, 2004 4:41 AMBob Dole was a career Senator and his campaign didn't dazzle anyone.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at September 16, 2004 6:52 AMSo it's not individuals making $200K but "families" making $200K he wants to milk--wonder how many two-income households in blue America will be surprised to find out that they're the "wealthy"?
Posted by: AC at September 16, 2004 7:45 AMThere's a difference between a lack of dazzle and incoherence and chaos :)
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at September 16, 2004 8:05 AMThere's a reason Senators don't get elected to the presidency.
Posted by: David Cohen at September 16, 2004 9:17 AM