Kerry waxes Wisconsinlike - Bush slapped 160 countries in the face by abandoning Kyoto

SPRING GREEN - Invoking images he hoped would resonate with local voters, presidential candidate John Kerry talked Monday of America's love for the Green Bay Packers, his memories of working on his uncle's dairy farm and fishing trips as a child during a 90- minute town-hall style meeting at River Valley Middle School.

Kerry even held up a copy of the Wisconsin State Journal and answered three questions posed by readers. And he tried out his humor on the local crowd with a jab at President Bush's leadership - and the fact that he's 5 inches taller than Bush.

Kerry said a supporter in Madison asked him whether America should "change horses in midstream" while in Iraq. "I said to him, 'You know, when your horse is heading down toward the waterfall and when your horse is drowning, it's a good time to change horses.

"May I also suggest that we need a taller horse?" Kerry asked to hearty laughter. "You can get through deeper water that way."

The Massachusetts senator told the 250 invited guests, including 50 River Valley middle and high school students, that he welcomed the chance to talk directly to voters rather than hearing his message distorted through "phony" and "trumped up" 30- and 60- second "special interest" ads that turn off voters

Kerry, who's in Wisconsin to prepare for Thursday's debate with Bush, used the forum to criticize the current administration's handling of everything from the war in Iraq to subsidies for dairy farmers. Citing comments by U.S. agriculture officials earlier this year, Kerry charged that the Bush administration was trying to "maximize votes" in dairy states like Wisconsin by hiding a plan to kill payments to dairy farmers when milk prices drop.

Kerry also blamed Bush's policies, including tax breaks for U.S. companies that operate overseas, for the loss of 67,000 manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin that he said have been replaced by jobs with lower pay and benefits.

"(Bush) said he would create 135,000 jobs right here in Wisconsin," Kerry said. "Well, he's created 200 and he lost 67,000 jobs."

Kerry asserted that under Bush, "You pay less tax for going to Shanghai than you do for staying in America. Not when I'm president."

That message hit home with Liz Jones of Hollandale, who said the manufacturer her husband works for has cut jobs at home while adding them abroad. And after she lost her state-funded job, Jones said, the only work she could find even with a college degree paid just $8 to $10 an hour.

Kerry repeatedly criticized the Bush tax cuts and touted his plan to reinstate higher taxes for those earning $200,000, saying the money should be used to fund improvements in health care and education.

"He insisted on a great big tax cut for the wealthiest Americans," Kerry said. "We went racing into deficit. We've got deficits as far as we can see, and they're piling up on our children. The good, common sense, fiscally conservative citizens of Wisconsin know that it's our responsibility to pay our bills and not dump them on our kids and our future generations."

He said health-care reform would be the first thing he would do if elected, including universal insurance coverage for children and financial incentives to help businesses and individuals lower the cost of health insurance.

"All children in America will be covered automatically, day one, no questions asked," Kerry said, adding. "I want universal health-care coverage for all Americans."

Responding to criticism that the proposal constitutes government-run health care, the Democratic senator said, "My health-care plan is not a government plan. It's an incentive, market-based plan."

Kerry worked hard to appeal to Wisconsin voters, whose support is seen as crucial by both major parties.

But it was not his references to hunting, clean water for fishing or "common sense" Midwestern values that seemed to strike the strongest chord. The biggest ovations were prompted by Kerry's promises to win back the world's respect.

He criticized Bush for "slapping 160 countries in the face" by abandoning the international global-warming treaty and for alienating potential allies in the war in Iraq.

"I'm going to restore our reputation and credibility in the world by bringing truth and vision and American values back to the foreign policy of our country. And I will recognize that even the United States of America needs friends. The fact is, working with other nations is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength."

Kerry's stepson courts 'new voters' at USM (Chris Heinz) Sept 28, 2004

…..Dressed in a rust colored T-shirt, cargo pants and sneakers, Heinz said these days can seem like bleak times for a young voter.

He pointed to the slow growth of new jobs and the rise in college costs, saying the Bush administration's performance is a good reason for young people to mobilize this fall. Heinz accused Bush of neglecting the environment and the country's diminishing natural resources. "(Kerry) understands that we've been offered a false choice between the environment and jobs," he said. "We have to make the environment a portion of our next wave of jobs."…….

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/040928heinz.shtml

DU discussing Chris Heinz running for Rick Santorum's seat

***Chris and Kerry went to the same schools (St. Paul's, Yale); they're both jocks (downhill skiing and lacrosse for Chris) with a somewhat goofy sense of humor; and they share a fascination with politics and the Vietnam War, which was the subject of Chris' undergraduate thesis. What's more, they look alike—both big guys with helmets of unruly hair and a chiseled Mount Rushmore visage. ....*** Skiing the New Hampshire Primary

October 01, 2004

Kerry's Curious Kyoto Claim
Christopher Horner

During Thursday's presidential debate, Democratic candidate Senator John Kerry invoked the Kyoto Protocol on “global warming”, one of two instances where he specifically invoked that shibboleth, when responding to a question from moderator Jim Lehrer about a president’s prerogative of preemptive force.

Kerry alluded to an anecdote about (naturally) former French President Charles DeGaulle during the Cuban missile crisis – where France as always played the indispensible role. “’No, no, no, no’”, Kerry cited DeGaulle as saying, “’The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me…How many leaders in the world today would respond to us, as a result of what we've done, in that way? So what is at test here is the credibility of the United States of America and how we lead the world…You don't help yourself with other nations when you turn away from the global warming treaty, for instance.”

That's mighty strong rhetoric, Senator. And rhetoric is all that it is. Kerry employed it previously in his campaign’s inaugural foreign policy and environment speeches in 2003. That he made it in this context shows just how deeply he is dedicated to the Kyoto cause. It also shows how little he knows, or is willing to forget as he campaigns.

It takes little research to discover front pages blaring, margin-to-margin, "Europe-U.S. Rift Widens", bemoaning U.S. unilateralism. "Chirac Remarks Provoke Pessimist U.S. Senators". One inside page juxtaposes "German Scolds U.S." and "Chirac says what others mumble." The complaint? U.S. refusal to accept Kyoto’s terms. The dateline? The Hague, November 2000, during the Clinton administration.

The U.S. refusal to accept the EU suddenly changing key terms came during negotiations coinciding with the 2000 Florida recount. The party that ultimately walked away from the agreed upon deal, after seeking to muscle desperate Gore acolytes into ridiculous concessions was the EU. The lead Member on the U.S. delegation seeking to save this treaty from EU perfidy? Sen. John Kerry.

It's true. Look it up. Particularly enjoy the visibly saddened, saddened Senator John Kerry working the phones to avert the EU tanking a struck deal, prominent in the November 22 Earth Times. The greens, too, blamed the EU (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ science/nature/1041194.stm). The Brits deflected responsibility to the French (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/ hi/uk_news/politics/1041756.stm). Lead U.S. negotiator Under Secretary of State Frank Loy confirms this turn of events on the November 26 New York Times front page. Things never recovered (thank heaven).

To review, President Clinton agreed to Kyoto on 1 December 1997, yet steadfastly refused over 3-plus years in office to send it to the Senate for ratification. He did not however fail, for instance, to promote the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He demanded a vote, and campaigned hard. Senate Republicans received a briefing by attorney Douglas Feith (now the Pentagon's highest ranking civilian) warning of the commitments that actually do accompany un-renounced treaty signatures. They called his bluff and a major fight ensued. CTBT lost.

No such vote has still ever occurred on Kyoto. The reason is that President Bush, too, refuses to transmit the treaty to the Senate. He did, however, say mean things about it, which journalists accepted as sufficient. In fact, uttered words have no meaning in this context, and environmentalist groups have already prepared lawsuits that could turn on the fact that the U.S. never actually "unsigned" Kyoto. Like Clinton-Gore, President Bush has told his base what it wants to hear but made no effort to consummate his promise, leaving the matter for his predecessor to conclude as he sees fit.

A simple review of the State Department's website would inform the intrepid journalist - or angry European -- that the requisite step for an Executive to reject a signed-but-not-ratified treaty is glaringly absent (for an example, see www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/ 2002/9968.htm).

Yes, in fact the EU killed Kyoto in 2000 by mendaciously seeking to change critical terms on a vulnerable U.S. For this, we should be ever thankful, despite the sloppy and/or agenda-driven reportage to the contrary.

The U.S. said "no" to the EU's proffered Kyoto terms under Clinton-Gore. Bush has not altered Clinton's stance on Kyoto in any way other than saying he doesn't like it. That is meaningless, as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Article 18), customary international law, and even section 312 of The Restatement of the Law of Foreign Relations will tell you. No diplomat does not know both of these facts.

Regardless, full U.S. delegations continue to participate in the Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations, including under Bush in Bonn, Marrakech, New Delhi, the recent Milan COP-9 and upcoming COP-10 in Buenos Aires. The U.S. in fact sends often the largest delegation of any nation in the world not only to these major meetings but the interim, "subsidiary body" talks.

If “Kyoto” truly is even partial justification for any nation's behavior regarding Iraq, they need to grow up. Either way, we have no need to appease such tantrums over our President merely saying he will not be the one to adopt what at least one EU Commissioner, Margot Wallstrom, has admitted is really intended to level the EU’s economic playing field. Senator Kerry’s invocation in the first debate of Kyoto revealed far more than he intended.

###

Christopher C. Horner serves as Counsel to the Cooler Heads Coalition and a Senior Fellow at CEI. In the former capacity, he oversees petitions and litigation on topics including the National Assessment on Climate Change, Freedom of Information Act, data access and quality laws, plus other projects, agency statutory compliance, and other legal matters involving environment and energy issues, international environmental treaties, and climate policy.

chorner@cei.org

http://www.opinioneditorials.com/contributors/chorner_20041001.html

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