From the beginning, Bush has made his own credibility a central issue. He said, unlike Clinton �he led from principle, not from polls.�
On 10/11/00, then Governor Bush said: "I think credibility is important. It is going to be important for the president to be credible with Congress,
important for the president to be credible with foreign nations."
But President Bush's record belies his words; as a serial flip-flopper raising serious questions about whether Congress and foreign leaders can rely
on what he says. Here ae some examples of �principled, �stay the course� leadership� ala Bush 42:
1. OPEC
BUSH PROMISES TO FORCE OPEC TO LOWER PRICES..."What I think the president ought to do [when gas prices spike] is he ought to get on the phone with
the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots...And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price."
[President Bush, 1/26/00]
�....BUSH REFUSES TO LOBBY OPEC LEADERS With gas prices soaring in the United States at the beginning of 2004, the Miami Herald reported the president
refused to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds." [Miami Herald, 4/1/04]
2. IRAQ FUNDING
BUSH SPOKESMAN DENIES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE REST OF 2004..."We do not anticipate requesting supplemental funding for '04" [White House
Budget Director Joshua Bolton, 2/2/04]
��BUSH REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR IRAQ FOR 2004 �I am requesting that Congress establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming
fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops.� [President Bush, Statement by President, 5/5/04]
3. CONDOLEEZZA RICE TESTIMONY
BUSH SPOKESMAN SAYS RICE WON'T TESTIFY AS 'A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE'...�Again, this is not her personal preference; this goes back to a matter of
principle. There is a separation of powers issue involved here. Historically, White House staffers do not testify before legislative bodies. So it's
a matter of principle, not a matter of preference.� [White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 3/9/04]
��BUSH ORDERS RICE TO TESTIFY: �Today I have informed the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United States that my National Security Advisor,
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, will provide public testimony.� [President Bush, 3/30/04]
4. SCIENCE
BUSH PLEDGES TO ISSUE REGULATIONS BASED ON SCIENCE..."I think we ought to have high standards set by agencies that rely upon science, not by what
may feel good or what sounds good." [then-Governor George W. Bush, 1/15/00]
�...BUSH ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS IGNORE SCIENCE "60 leading scientists�including Nobel laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency
directors and university chairs and presidents�issued a statement calling for regulatory and legislative action to restore scientific integrity to
federal policymaking. According to the scientists, the Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and distorted scientific analysis from
federal agencies, and taken actions that have undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels." [Union of Concerned Scientists, 2/18/04]
5. AHMED CHALABI
BUSH INVITES CHALABI TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS...President Bush also met with Chalabi during his brief trip to Iraq last Thanksgiving [White House
Documents 1/20/04, 11/27/03]
�...BUSH MILITARY ASSISTS IN RAID OF CHALABI'S HOUSE"U.S. soldiers raided the home of America's one-time ally Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday and seized
documents and computers." [Washington Post, 5/20/04]
6. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the
federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything." [White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer, 3/19/02]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an
overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people." [President Bush, Address to the Nation,
6/6/02]
7WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (WMD)
BUSH SAYS WE FOUND THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION..."We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories�for those who say we
haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." [President Bush, Interview in Poland, 5/29/03]
�...BUSH SAYS WE HAVEN'T FOUND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION "David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons. And when David Kay goes in and says
we haven't found stockpiles yet, and there are theories as to where the weapons went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his
henchmen could have destroyed them as we entered into Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another country, and we'll find
out." [President Bush, Meet the Press, 2/7/04]
8. FREE TRADE
BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE... "I believe strongly that if we promote trade, and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this
issue." [President Bush in Peru, 3/23/02]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE "In a decision largely driven by his political advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles
last year and imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his
reelection." [Washington Post, 9/19/03]
9. OSAMA BIN FOGOTEN aka Osama bin Laden
BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE... "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" [President
Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]
�...BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA �I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him� I truly am not that concerned
about him.� [President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]
10. THE ENVIRONMENT
BUSH SUPPORTS MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE... "[If elected], Governor Bush will work to�establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of
four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide." [Bush Environmental Plan, 9/29/00]
�...BUSH OPPOSES MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE "I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions
reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act." [President Bush, Letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), 3/13/03]
11. WMD COMM ISSION
BUSH RESISTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE... "The White House immediately turned aside the calls from Kay and many Democrats
for an immediate outside investigation, seeking to head off any new wide-ranging election-year inquiry that might go beyond reports already being
assembled by congressional committees and the Central Intelligence Agency." [NY Times, 1/29/04]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE "Today, by executive order, I am creating an independent commission, chaired
by Governor and former Senator Chuck Robb, Judge Laurence Silberman, to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about
weapons of mass destruction." [President Bush, 2/6/04]
12. CREATION OF 9/11 COMMISSION
BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition
to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11." [CBS News, 5/23/02]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent commission to
investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." [ABC News, 09/20/02]
13TIME EXTENSION OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION
BUSH OPPOSES TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more
time to an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." [Washington Post, 1/19/04]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION "The White House announced Wednesday its support for a request from the commission investigating
the September 11, 2001 attacks for more time to complete its work." [CNN, 2/4/04]
14ONE HOUR LIMIT ON 9/11 TESTIMOMY
BUSH LIMITS TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF 9/11 COMMISSION TO ONE HOUR... "President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have placed strict limits on the
private interviews they will grant to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that they will meet only with the panel's top
two officials and that Mr. Bush will submit to only a single hour of questioning, commission members said Wednesday." [NY Times, 2/26/04]
�...BUSH SETS NO TIMELIMIT FOR TESTIMONY "The president's going to answer all of the questions they want to raise. Nobody's watching the clock."
[White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 3/10/04]
15. GAY MARRIAGE
BUSH SAYS GAY MARRIAGE IS A STATE ISSUE... "The state can do what they want to do. Don't try to trap me in this state's issue like you're trying
to get me into." [Gov. George W. Bush on Gay Marriage, Larry King Live, 2/15/00]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING GAY MARRIAGE "Today I call upon the Congress to promptly pass, and to send to the states for
ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife." [President Bush,
2/24/04]
16. NATION BUILDING
BUSH OPPOSES NATION BUILDING... "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a
serious problem coming down the road." [Gov. George W. Bush, 10/3/00]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS NATION BUILDING "We will be changing the regime of Iraq, for the good of the Iraqi people." [President Bush, 3/6/03]
17SADDAM/AL QAEDA CONNECION
BUSH SAYS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEEN AL QAEDA AND SADDAM... "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the
war on terror." [President Bush, 9/25/02]
�...BUSH SAYS SADDAM HAD NO ROLE IN AL QAEDA PLOT "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in Sept. 11." [President Bush,
9/17/03]
18U.N. RESOLUTION ( First one)
BUSH VOWS TO HAVE A UN VOTE NO MATTER WHAT... "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say
what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council. And so, you bet. It's time for people to show
their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam." [President Bush 3/6/03]
�...BUSH WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR VOTE "At a National Security Council meeting convened at the White House at 8:55 a.m., Bush finalized the decision to
withdraw the resolution from consideration and prepared to deliver an address to the nation that had already been written." [Washington Post,
3/18/03]
19. INVOLVEMENT IN PALASTINIAN CONFLICT
BUSH OPPOSES SUMMITS... "Well, we've tried summits in the past, as you may remember. It wasn't all that long ago where a summit was called and
nothing happened, and as a result we had significant intifada in the area." [President Bush, 04/05/02]
�...BUSH SUPPORTS SUMMITS "If a meeting advances progress toward two states living side by side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting.
I'm committed to working toward peace in the Middle East." [President Bush, 5/23/03]
20. CAMPAIGN FINANCE
BUSH OPPOSES MCCAIN-FEINGOLD... "George W. Bush opposes McCain-Feingold...as an infringement on free expression." [Washington Post, 3/28/2000]
�...BUSH SIGNS MCCAIN-FEINGOLD INTO LAW �[T]his bill improves the current system of financing for Federal campaigns, and therefore I have signed it
into law." [President Bush, at the McCain-Feingold signing ceremony, 03/27/02]
���this is the SHORT list���.. there are so many more examples to cite����but let�s leave it at this����