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From: Schorr Johnson <sjohnson@ncdemocraticparty.org> Date: October 31, 2006 2:42:49 PM EST Subject: Republican Tricks And Treats FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 31, 2006 Contact: Schorr Johnson, (919) 821-2777, ext. 216 Republican Tricks And Treats "This Halloween, Republicans will continue to try and scare the American people with more of their fear and smear tactics, offering only tricks to hard-working Americans and treats for themselves and their special interest friends. What's even scarier is that Republicans want to run North Carolina like they're running Washington," said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek. "The American people are tired of campaigns of lies, fear, and sleaze. Democrats promise a new direction. In one week, we will send a message to the world that our great nation is moving back on track." TRICK Bush: All Americans Benefit From The Bush Tax Cuts. "In other words, we just didn't talk about philosophy -- there's too many philosophers in Washington -- we acted. We got the job done. We cut the taxes on everybody who pays income taxes." [President Bush, 10/30/06] ...OR TREAT Bush Tax Cuts Treat Wealthiest Americans and Special Interests, While Eighty Percent of Taxpayers Don't Benefit Under Bush Tax Break Plan. On average, if the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy are made permanent, the majority of households "would lose more than they gain from the tax cuts ...That is, once the [tax cuts are paid for], the 2001 and 2003 'tax cuts' are best seen as...net tax increases or benefit reductions for the remaining 80 percent of the population as a group." [CBPP, 6/2/04] TRICK Bush Expects Troops To Get Everything They Need. Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary: "First of all, let me reiterate, the President is committed to making sure our troops have the best equipment and all the resources they need to do their job. And that's what he expects to happen. If there -- if our troops need additional resources or equipment, then we will work to make sure that they have that equipment and those resources." [White House Press Briefing, 12/10/04] .OR TREAT Vice President Cheney's Halliburton Treated by Raking in Massive Profits by Overcharging the US Government by Millions for No-Bid Contracts. Vice President Cheney's old company Halliburton, one of a number of companies with close ties to the Republican Party given no-bid contracts by the Bush Administration to deliver services in the reconstruction effort in Iraq, overcharged the U.S. government, bilking millions of taxpayer dollars resulting in massive profits for the company. These no-bid contracts have had no congressional oversight from the Republican-controlled Congress, despite Democratic efforts to do so and prevent war profiteering. [Washington Post, 10/19/06] Pentagon Study Found That 80 Percent Of Marines Killed By Wounds To Upper Body Could Have Been Saved If They Had the Right Kind of Armor. A Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials. [New York Times, 1/7/06] TRICK After Multiple GOP Scandals in Congress, Republicans Say They Will Pass Ethics Reform Legislation. "In mid-January [2006], Hastert proposed broad new restrictions on lobbying, including a ban on privately funded travel for lawmakers and tight limits on meals and other gifts." [Washington Post, 2/19/06] ...OR TREAT Under The Rubberstamp GOP Congress, Special Interests Get Treated To Abandonment Of Ethics Reform. John Boehner became House Republican Leader after Tom DeLay stepped down amid a swirl of ethics problems. In an interview with the Washington Post in February 2006 shortly after taking his new post, Boehner "emphasized that he has no plan to change lobbying rules." He also said that he would not seek a ban on "provisions in spending bills that fund lawmakers' pet projects," also known as earmarks. [Washington Post, 2/4/06] TRICK Then-Governor Bush in 2000 Campaign: "I Know a Lot About Energy"; Pledges to End America's Dependence on Foreign Oil. Bush argued six years ago that, "It's an issue [energy] I know a lot about. I was a small oil person for a while in west Texas. This is an administration that's had no plan. And all of a sudden the results of having no plan have caught up with America... It's time for a new administration to deal with the energy problem." During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush also criticized the Clinton Administration for allowing U.S. imports on foreign oil to reach 56% of U.S. oil consumption. [Presidential Debate, 10/3/00; House Government Reform Committee, Democratic Staff, 3/16/06] .OR TREAT Under Bush, America's Dependence on Foreign Oil Has Increased, Treating Big Oil Companies, Like ExxonMobil Who Have Announced Billions In Record Profits. Five years after President Bush announced his energy plan, U.S. imports of foreign oil have risen to 65% of U.S. consumption. And recently, ExxonMobil reported the largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. Royal Dutch Shell also "beat all forecasts with a 21 percent rise in underlying third-quarter profit." These earnings reports come "as high crude prices this year have fueled record profits in the oil industry" which has triggered "an outcry from consumers who were being asked to pay about $3 a gallon for gasoline in early August." [AP, 10/26/06; Reuters, 10/26/06; House Government Reform Committee, Democratic Staff, 3/16/06] TRICK Bush: All Seniors Helped By Prescription Drugs. "The prescription drug coverage, first of all, helps all seniors pay for prescription drugs, no matter how they've paid before. In other words, everybody should take a look at the prescription drug coverage." [President Bush, 5/9/06] .OR TREAT Prescription Drug Companies Get Treat When Bush White House Decided to Forbid Negotiating Drug Prices. "Families USA, a Washington healthcare advocacy group that has repeatedly sparred with the government on issues related to the new drug benefit, said it found that 49 of 50 common prescription drugs could be obtained at lower prices from the VA department than through the discount card. . It began in 2004 after the federal government passed the Medicare Modernization Act, which contains the permanent drug benefit. The Modernization Act was criticized by some because it prevents the government from negotiating bulk prices with manufacturers. Instead, each individual provider, such as health plans and pharmacy benefits companies, must negotiate separately." [Boston Globe, 10/28/05] TRICK Bush: The Economy Is Great For All Americans. "Well, the facts are in. The truth is the tax cuts have led to a growing economy that's added 6.6 million new jobs since August of 2003. The truth is real wages rose 2.2 percent over the past 12 months, and we have cut the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule." [President Bush, 10/30/06] ...OR TREAT Americans With Top Incomes Treated by Bush Economy but Median Household Income Declines By Nearly $1,300 Under Bush; Wage And Salary Increases Don't Cover Inflation. Although median household income increased by $509 last year, median household income has declined by $1,273 under the Bush Administration. And the failure of wage and salary increases to cover inflation has meant a real reduction of median income between 2000 and 2005 of 2.7 percent for households. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06] -- "In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people..." Leo Tolstoy