President George Bush

1
President George Bush

• Exploring American History
• Unit VIII - 1970s - Today

2
Election of 2000

• Election of 2000
• Candidates
• Republican- George Bush
• Democrat- Al Gore
• Campaign issues
• abortion
• campaign financing reform
• defense
• economy/energy
• education
• gun control
• environment
• Health care
• taxes
• Outcome- Closest in American History. Between
  Nov. 8 and Dec. 13 after the Supreme ordered no
  further recounts, there were various recounts.
  50,996,000 to 50,456,000 votes. 271-266 electoral.

3
President George Bush

• 43rd President- 2001- 2005 - Republican
• Who was he?
• Domestic Policies
• 1.6 Trillion tax cut- primarily to help wealthy.
• Sept. 11 Terrorist attack on World Trade Center
  and the Pentagon have push emphasis on foreign
  affairs.
• Office of Homeland Security
• Slow response to financial scandals- Enron
• Signed corporate-fraud bill - July 2002
• 2003- cut taxes by 670 billion over 10 years.
  Over 1/2 benefits go to 10 richest Americans.

4
President George Bush

• Foreign Policies
• International Terrorism
• Taliban in Afghanistan
• Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda
• Axis of Evil- Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom- March 19, 2003 and the
  capture of Saddam.
• High Tariffs on steel.
• Alienated many allies.

5
Election 2004 Bush v. Kerry

• The Two Sides- Civil Rights
• Republicans- Bush - Cheney
• Has both opposed and supported affirmative action
  
• Backs constitutional amendment banning same-sex
  marriage
• Supports "don't ask, don't tell" policy
• Opposes gay adoptions
• Opposes expanding federal law to cover sexual
  orientation
• Democrats - Kerry - Edwards
• Supports affirmative action policies
• Against gay marriage, backs benefits, rights for
  gay couples
• Favors allowing gay men and women to serve openly
  in military
• Supports adoption by gay men and lesbians
• Expand federal hate crimes legislation, assure
  equal

6
Election 2004 Bush v. Kerry

• The Two Sides- International Policy
• Republicans- Bush - Cheney
• Authorized war to oust Saddam Hussein regime
• Initially opposed U.N. involvement now warming
  to idea
• Announced new policy of pre-emption in June 2002
• More than 1 billion proposed for reconstruction
• Co-sponsored "Road map" plan for peace process
• Democrats - Kerry - Edwards
• Supported the war later said Bush misled nation
• Involve other nations more in Iraqi rebuilding,
  security
• Denounces threat of pre-emption would seek
  global consensus
• Boost international efforts to secure peace, beat
  al Qaeda
• Improve social, economic, political conditions in
  region

7
Election 2004 Bush v. Kerry

• The Two Sides- Taxes and Spending
• Republicans- Bush - Cheney
• Supports investing some Social Security taxes in
  stocks
• Allocated funds to help states pay increased
  security costs
• Signed two tax cut bills so far more tax cuts
  unlikely
• Reduce deficit by holding spending increases to 4
  percent
• Says 2001, 2003 tax cuts have helped keep economy
  going
• Democrats - Kerry - Edwards
• Opposes privatizing Social Security
• Give priority to giving states fiscal aid to
  resolve crises
• Repeal tax cuts for wealthy increase child tax
  credit
• Undo deficit trend with eye on corporate
  loopholes, spending
• Assist small businesses train workers
  infrastructure jobs

8
Election 2004 Bush v. Kerry

• The Two Sides- Social Issues
• Republicans- Bush - Cheney
• Opposes except cases of rape, incest or to save
  woman's life
• Supports death penalty
• Reduce illegal drug usage by 10 percent over two
  years
• Protect gunmakers from lawsuits
• Signed NCLB federal budget has not fully funded
  legislation
• Has cited Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia as
  model justices
• Democrats - Kerry - Edwards
• Supports a woman's right to an abortion planning
  resources
• Opposes death penalty
• More police aggressively target traffickers
  fund treatment
• Close gun show loophole require child safety
  locks
• Bar vouchers fully fund NCLB, special ed.,
  school building
• Appoint judges committed to law, civil and
  abortion rights

9
Election 2004 Bush v. Kerry

• The Two Sides- Health Care
• Republicans- Bush - Cheney
• Supports reducing drug costs for low-income
  patients
• Introduce private sector competition to reduce
  costs
• Supports adding drug benefit to Medicare
• Favors improving current system over
  government-based system
• Would place limits on patient lawsuits against
  HMOs
• Democrats - Kerry - Edwards
• Close loopholes financial incentives to lower
  drug costs
• Fund all health care by rescinding tax cuts,
  cutting waste
• Tighten rules on drug companies focus on
  seniors, vets
• Let people buy into govt. system, fund by
  reversing Tax cuts
• Allow patients to sue HMOs, collect money for
  damages

10
Election 2004 Bush v. Kerry

• The Two Sides-Energy and Environment
• Republicans- Bush - Cheney
• Favors opening refuge for gas and oil
  exploration, drilling
• Proposed 1.7 billion to develop hydrogen-powered
  fuel cells
• Supports market-based solution to improve air
  quality
• Supports 1.5 mpg increase for SUVs, light trucks
  by 2007
• Democrats - Kerry - Edwards
• Opposes oil exploration in Arctic refuge
• Promotes clean, renewable fuel sources,
  especially ethanol
• Set goals, incentives to reduce dependence on
  fossil fuels
• Push new gas requirements, hybrid cars, hydrogen
  fuel

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• The National Strategy for Homeland Security and
  the Homeland Security Act of 2002 served to
  mobilize and organize our nation to secure the
  homeland from terrorist attacks.
• Critical Mission Areas
• Intelligence and warning
• Border and Transportation Security
• Domestic Counterterrorism
• Protecting Critical Infrastructures and Key
  Assets.
• Defending against Catastrophic Threats.
• Emergency Preparedness and Response.

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Dept. of Homeland Security

• Strategic Goals
• Awareness -- Identify and understand threats,
  assess vulnerabilities, determine potential
  impacts and disseminate timely information to our
  homeland security partners and the American
  public.
• Prevention -- Detect, deter and mitigate threats
  to our homeland.
• Protection -- Safeguard our people and their
  freedoms, critical infrastructure, property and
  the economy of our Nation from acts of terrorism,
  natural disasters, or other emergencies.
• Response -- Lead, manage and coordinate the
  national response to acts of terrorism, natural
  disasters, or other emergencies.
• Recovery -- Lead national, state, local and
  private sector efforts to restore services and
  rebuild communities after acts of terrorism,
  natural disasters, or other emergencies.
• Service -- Serve the public effectively by
  facilitating lawful trade, travel and
  immigration.
• Organizational Excellence -- Value our most
  important resource, our people. Create a culture
  that promotes a common identity, innovation,
  mutual respect, accountability and teamwork to
  achieve efficiencies, effectiveness, and
  operational synergies.

13
The military objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom

• First, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.
• Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate,
  Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
• Third, to search for, to capture and to drive out
  terrorists from the country.
• Fourth, to collect intelligence related to
  terrorist networks.
• Fifth, to collect such intelligence as is related
  to the global network of illicit weapons of mass
  destruction.
• Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately
  deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and
  to many needed citizens.
• Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and
  resources, which belong to the Iraqi people.
• Finally, to help the Iraqi people create
  conditions for a transition to a representative
  self-government.

14
Operation Iraqi Freedom Reasons

• For
• Generally, Hussein is a proven threat to
  international security, he is interested in
  developing chemical, biological, and nuclear
  weapons and has shown a willingness to use such
  weapons on Iraq's neighbors but also against
  Iraq's Kurdish population.
• Alternatives to invasion won't solve the problem.
• If Iraq were to acquire Weapons of Mass
  Destruction it could threaten regional stability
  and deter any potential military action against
  Iraq.
• Winning the war would be easy and the costs would
  be minimal
• Removing Hussein would be consistent with the
  goals of the war on terrorism.
• The Iraqi people would support this action
• Toppling Hussein will have little or no negative
  impacts the region.
• If Hussein develops chemical, biological or
  nuclear weapons he could give the weapons to
  terrorist organization who could use those
  materials against the United States or its
  allies.

• Against
• Iraq is effectively contained.
• Inspections will work and were successful in the
  1990s.
• The United States' nuclear capability currently
  deters Hussein from using WMD on its neighbors.
• The costs of this war could be prohibitive.
  Reports indicate that over 200,000 troops could
  be needed and that the war could cost 80
  billion.
• Invading Iraq will hurt the war on terrorism. A
  US attack will alienate Muslim countries
  especially the Arab
• The conflict between the Israelis and the
  Palestinians centers on cultural and territorial
  issues that transcend political systems.
• Iran, fearing that it could be the next state to
  be attacked, could nuclearize.
• Fears that Iraq would give WMD to terrorists lack
  credibility.