Kerry on Bush: 'Houston, We've Got a Problem'

Reuters ^ | 03/06/04

[Pokey78]

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Democratic White House candidate John Kerry blasted President Bush's economic stewardship on Saturday and declared in the Texan's own backyard, "Houston, we've got a problem."

During a Southern swing through four states -- Texas, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana -- that hold primary contests next week, Kerry said Bush had produced a "barrel of broken promises" on jobs, health care and the federal budget.

He called the president "a walking contradiction" who had also failed to make good on vows to change the tone in Washington.

"It's the worst it's ever been. This is the biggest 'my way or the highway' group of people I've ever met in my life," Kerry said.

The Massachusetts senator was on his first campaign trip since clinching the nomination this week with nine out of a possible 10 victories on Super Tuesday.

Bush, who will square off against Kerry on Nov. 2 for a second term in the White House, was at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, about 200 miles from Houston, where he held talks with Mexican President Vicente Fox.

"Didn't he (Bush) promise 4 million jobs would be created with those tax cuts?" a raspy-voiced Kerry asked during a town hall meeting at Houston Community College.

"We lost 3 million ... 2.8 million Americans have lost their health care, he promised he was going to reduce the debt of our country by $1 trillion and he's added $1 trillion to the debt of our country," Kerry said.

"As the phrase goes, Houston, we've got a problem." He was referring to the now-legendary report of trouble aboard the U.S. Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970.

ROLL BACK

Kerry has promised to roll back Bush's tax cuts for Americans earning more than $200,000 a year, but supports targeted middle-class tax cuts for college, child care and health care.

He said he would cut the federal budget deficit in half in four years. He has also proposed $50 billion for states to create jobs, tax credits for manufacturing, closing tax loopholes and cracking down on trade violations. Kerry used the Democrats' weekly radio address to criticize Bush for misplacing priorities in Iraq by spending billions of dollars on contracts to Halliburton Co., which Vice President Dick Cheney once headed, but not providing U.S. troops enough armor and other protective equipment.

"Families should be sending pictures and care packages to Iraq and the Department of Defense should be sending the body armor," Kerry said. He said he would introduce legislation later this month, called the Military Family Bill of Rights, "to prevent anything like this from ever happening again."

Bush and his allies have portrayed Kerry as an elitist Massachusetts liberal and a chronic waffler. Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel cited the radio address as another example of "his astonishing ability to say one thing and do another."

Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla of Texas said Kerry's fiscal policies would damage the state's economic momentum and pointed to "inconsistent stances" as evidence that the four-term senator lacked "the decisiveness to lead in difficult times."

The Republican National Committee has created an Internet boxing game, "Kerry vs. Kerry," to spotlight what it says are Kerry's changing positions on the war, taxes, education and other policies.

"Voters will be enlightened and entertained as they click to flip and then flop with Sen. Kerry on all the important issues of the day," the RNC said in a statement.

Kerry is considered highly unlikely to win Bush's home state in the Nov. 2 presidential election. But he can raise money in Texas, and he held private meetings with potential donors on Friday night.

[MEG33]

Kerry..GAG

[Free_at_last_-2001]

"a walking contradiction" - not that's funny coming from kerry!

[Amerigomag]

Pokey I'm saddened that we're wasting as much energy as we are on John Kerry.

Both you and I know that Kerry hasn't got a snow ball's chance in hell of being elected regardless of his media time or his rhetoric.

The election is Bush's to win or lose. I'd suggest we work on Bush a little more. He's got plenty of political capital to surrender by sliding to the right without endangering his victory.

How foolish will we all feel when Bush wins by a landslide and we did nothing to protect our conservative values.

[Arrowhead1952]

Democratic White House candidate John Kerry declared in the Texan's own backyard, "Houston, we've got a problem, and the problem is ME."

[longtermmemmory]

The media is in overdrive to give kerry free PR.

They are trying to keep interst now that the primaries are all over.

The democrat primaries are now a yawnfest.

[noexcuses]

Yet another unoriginal soundbite from Kerry - he has still to come up with something of his own.

[AmishDude]

He doesn't even get the line right. It's: "Houston, we have a problem."

[Political Junkie Too]

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

"We don't need a president who just says, 'Gentlemen start your engines.' We need a president who says 'America, let's start the economy and put people back to work.'"

"Houston, we have a problem."

So, in order to avoid talking about his record, all that John Kerry has to offer is one-liners? What's next?

"Well, I gotta tell ya..."

"The economy is so bad...
[audience] "...how bad is it?"

-PJ

[boomop1]

Hey Lurch look in the mirror, you moron.

[bray]

"It's the worst it's ever been. This is the biggest 'my way or the highway' group of people I've ever met in my life," Kerry said

Apparently he missed the Elian Gonzales storm troopers?? Talk about a braindead Liberal who speaks in cliches. Even Bring it..........Yaaaawn was plagerized from W?

Pray for W and the Truth

[GailA]

His targeted tax cuts leave empty nesters who haven't a need for subsidized health care out in the cold..GW put money back in our wallets regardless of the fact our kids are grown, have families of their own.

[Allegra]

"It's the worst it's ever been. This is the biggest 'my way or the highway' group of people I've ever met in my life," Kerry said.

Kerry never met the Clintons?

[McLynnan]

Kerry is considered highly unlikely to win Bush's home state in the Nov. 2 presidential election

Damn right, no need for him to foul our air again.

[CasearianDaoist]

Well you are right about that, on both counts. I do not understand why the GOP does not publish tables with factual data about the tax cut and its intent. Rolling back cut for people with over $200K is exactly what we should not do - that is the small business owner that you are hitting. The point is not to spurr consuption but rather investment. In truth the Dems sat down and figured out the lowest number they could tax that would still leave a majority below that income level. Evidently that number is $200k. The GOP has never successfully challenged the "Tax Break for the Rich Myth" and it has been floating around for 2 year. It now has become accepted as a fact. I get so irked at the GOP for not responding point for point with the Rats with hard factual data. They seem out of touch with how the average vote acquires information and formulates opinions. They are losing the Media War.

[squidly]

This is gonna be a damned long mano a mano campaign. I think I may just quit paying attention 'til the Conventions. All summer long there's going to be crap like this said every day, most of it not even worth the oxygen it took to say it.

[LibLieSlayer]

While in Houston, Lurch had better look up a blacksmith in nearby Sealy. He might want to melt down one of his elitist shotguns, and have it forged into an athletic protector. When the President puts on his "Crawford Kickers" and starts to kick some New England left-wing, pantywaist arse, methinks it might save him some future oratory embarrassment when spewing forth his venom from the well of the Senate.

[Just mythoughts]

This guy is a "mental" case, somebody needs to get him back in front of his Sony tv so he can replay his reenactment movies he filmed in Vietnam of his gun fights.

Not even the screwed up writers in Hollywood could make this stuff up.

[goldstategop]

Chutzpah.... Kerry's the same fellow who repeatedly voted to cut defense spending as Senator - and he wants to have the government ensure soldiers get their needs taken care of instead of having to rely on care packages. Talk about not putting your rhetoric where your votes are. And he says this in Texas - along with a claim we lost 3 million jobs at a time when economic recovery is well under way with unemployment at a low of 5.6% with inflation well under 1%. The Senator and his party can prosper politically only if things in America go bad. That's how they've set it up.

[EggsAckley]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the actual quote was "Houston, we HAVE a problem" not "we've got a problem."

[goldstategop]

If you watched the Tom Hanks movie... does Kerry do his own research or just make it up on the spot? ;-)

[cyncooper]

"It's the worst it's ever been. This is the biggest 'my way or the highway' group of people I've ever met in my life," Kerry said.

Petulant Pierre is just nasty.

[RichInOC]

Rich on Kerry:

John, you're Michael Dukakis without the ethnic zest and the sparkling wit. Good luck...you're going to need it.

[onyx]

Ditto your GAG, Meg.

[Colonel Jim]

In the old days we Texans would run folks like this out of town. Things have changed apparently.

[MEG33]

Texas is going to need a good airing out when this creep leaves the state.

[Voter#537]

The "Worst its ever been, Scary", was when you got nicked and left Nam, after 4 months, joined forces with Hanoi Jane, and got more of our guys, (thats guys who spent their complete tour, Scary) Killed. It also didn't help any of our POW's. Don't believe me, Ask them. You won't come within miles of any Nam POW.

NOW
Release all your Military records! ! !
We want to see who put you in for the Silver Star. Was it none other than John Kerry?

[onyx]

I can't watch Kerry or hear him speak, and it's all I can do to read about him here. November is such a long way off. He's making it painful.

[FITZ]

Sounds like it's all out-dated cliches with Kerry --- Kerry isn't cool at all.

[FITZ]

Kerry's probably one of those who says "you go girl!", and "thank you in advance". I hope he loses for this reason alone.

[MEG33]

He is pretty funny to watch when he says: Bring It On!

[onyx]

Kerry says "bring it on?" What a creep. He cannot be a normal guy.

[Brilliant]

This guy should replace Leno. He's the King of One-Liners.

[Lance Romance]

Here are some other Kerry quotes. He can't even be original there. At least Bush invents words and sayings and doesn't reheat canned responses.

This is the most say-one-thing do-another administration I've seen in all my time in public life." In last week's debate, it was, "This is the worst environmental administration that I've ever seen in all my time in public life."

[AM2000]

Kerry hasn't got a snow ball's chance in hell of being elected...

Don't be too sure. If the jobless recovery continues through October, Kerry's got a REAL good chance of winning. At that point, it won't even matter if they catch Osama.

[AM2000]

Kerry's probably one of those who says "you go girl!"

As long as he doesn't ask Bush to "talk to the hand"... ;-)

[AM2000]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe the actual quote was "Houston, we HAVE a problem" not "we've got a problem."

Last thing Kerry needs are copyright lawyers suing his campaign :D

[patriciamary]

Whats scares me is have been talking to alot of people and their voting for Kerry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FITZ]

That's a no brainer!

[goldstategop]

LOL. He's stepping all over himself! Who has said one thing and done another in his Senate career? The guy should go look in the mirror.

[johnb838]

That's a no brainer!

Duh!

I don't know if I can listen to this creep all summer either. I want to slap him silly when he brings up body armor when I know he voted against it.

[McGavin999]

These people can't come up with a single original thought. Even their campaign mottos are stolen from others. Sheeh, now he's even trying to pull off Bush's little wave, I about fell on the floor laughing when I saw that.

[isthisnickcool]

The last time John Kerry went to the proctologist the doctor stuck his finger in Kerry's mouth.

[gooleyman]

If the jobless recovery continues through October, Kerry's got a REAL good chance of winning.

-----
Don't take this the wrong way, but please explain to me how this is a "jobless recovery" when the Unemployment Rate stays at 5.6% or so month after month. That's always been negligibly close to full-employment all my life.

If there weren't enough jobs being created, the Unemployment Rate would go up, no? If any more jobs were created, there wouldn't be anyone to fill them. Wouldn't those jobs have to be offshored or filled by immigrants? Could be part of the reason we have so much offshoring of jobs.

[hosepipe]

[ He called the president "a walking contradiction" who had also failed to make good on vows to change the tone in Washington. ]

propaganda 101.. accuse your enemy of your own weaknesses..

[goldstategop]

He must have balls to complain about flip-flopping. Bwahahaha!!!

[hosepipe]

Am I crazy or does Kerry look like Lurch and GW like Alfred E. Neuman ?.. WHOS casting this dog and pony show ? Cause somebodys laughing somewhere, I can feel it...

[AM2000]

Exactly what % constitutes "Full unemployment" is open to debate. What matters, though, more so than an academic discussion on full employment, is popular perception. And popular perception is that plenty of people have lost their jobs since 2001 and quite a few of them either have not found another job, or have found another job at lower pay. I'm in IT and I personally know dozens who are now either underemployed or employed in a comparable position but at significantly lower pay. Most of these people see this is part of the "Bush economy". Some of them even voted Bush-Cheney in 2000. Now, whether this is fair to the Bush people or not does not matter. What matters is that the Bush people have a problem and they better pray that the problem begins to fix itself soon. They can't do much of anything to fix it themselves since they didn't create the problem, but they will have to face the consequences of a pissed off and scared electorate. Fair or not.

Regarding offshoring of jobs - that's got NADA to do with there not being enough Americans to do those jobs. To even suggest that shows how removed you are from the ground realities of the situation. Maybe offshoring is nothing more than something you hear about at seminars or corporate retreats... I work in the field I know there are people to do those jobs. They just cost more than people in India do (duh) so the jobs are being offshored. Offshoring isn't because of a shortage of labor here, it's due to cheaper people over there.

[anniegetyourgun]

Seriously. The guy only speaks in cliches.

[gooleyman]

It's kinda like Clinton did back in the '92 election. They just kept saying "worst economy in 50 years" all over the media and people believed it. It was an outright lie that the media let him get away with. In my opinion it's the same with the term "jobless recovery." The unemployment rate has been steady for the longest time while the population continues to grow. I reject the term for that reason. (Nothing to do with my support of George Bush...hehe)

My fault for throwing us off topic, but "Full Employment" since I was a kid was 5%. The explanation I always got was that 5% of the people were moving from place to place, quitting or getting fired at any give time, so that accounted for the number. I was told and it always made sense to me that 0% is physically unattainable, so somwhere there had to be a "full employment" line drawn. Maybe that line has changed over the years. The difference probably depends who's in office and whether the Econimist making the assesment if of that same party or the opposition.

Since I'm in the business of getting off-topic, it reminds me of that old made up term called the "misery index" from back in the 70's that has been repeated so often back then that it's still calculated. If I make no mistake, it was started by Republicans against Jimmy Cahtah. It can be a double edged sword, because I think Clinton used it against Bush Senior too. I expect it to be trotted out this year too. "Jobless recovery" seems to be on its way to the same "famousity." I just made that word up. Perhaps it will catch on too.