Posted on 10/05/2004 8:44:31 PM PDT by Byron Norris
Cheney Defends Bush, Blasts Kerry in Debate NewsMax Wires Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 Sen. John Edwards accused the Bush administration Tuesday night of bungling the war in Iraq and presiding over a historic loss of jobs. ``Your facts are just wrong,'' Vice President Dick Cheney shot back in a crackling campaign debate.
In a clash at close quarters, Edwards accused Cheney of ``not being straight'' with the American people about the war. He said U.S. casualties are rising monthly and the United States is bearing 90 percent of the cost and suffering 90 percent of the dead and wounded.
Cheney promptly challenged those figures, saying the Iraqi security forces had taken nearly half of the casualties. ``For you to demean their sacrifice is beyond the pale,'' he said to Edwards seated a few feet away.
``Oh, I'm not,'' Edwards protested before the vice president cut him off.
The debate format encouraged give-and-take, and neither the vice president nor Sen. John Kerry's running mate shrunk from the task.
``Frankly, senator, you have a record that's not very distinguished,'' Cheney said to the North Carolina lawmaker after accusing him of a pattern of absences in the Senate during his one term.
Edwards summed up his points like the former trial lawyer he is.
In a jab at the Bush-Cheney campaign's claim on experience, he said, ``Mr. Vice President, I don't think the country can take four more years of this type of experience.''
He also said that as a member of Congress more than a decade ago, Cheney voted against Head Start and banning plastic guns that can escape detection in metal detectors.
Edwards was on the attack from the opening moments of the debate.
He said that in addition to mismanaging the war in Iraq, the administration had Osama bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Afghanistan at one point, but turned over the hunt for the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to Afghan warlords.
``The senator has got his facts wrong,'' said Cheney. ``We've never let up on Osama bin Laden from Day One. We've actively and aggressively pursued him.''
In rebuttal to Edwards' charges on the war, Cheney repeatedly criticized the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, for shifting positions on the conflict.
Referring to Kerry's debate with President Bush last week, Cheney said the four-term Massachusetts senator had declared he would submit American military commitments overseas to a global test.
He said that was part of a record that led Kerry to oppose the first Persian Gulf War in 1991 and ``always being on the wrong side'' of defense issues.
On domestic issues, Edwards said Bush has presided over a loss of jobs during his administration - the first president to do so since Herbert Hoover sat in the White House. He also said more Americans are in poverty, and living without health insurance, than when the president took the oath of office in 2001.
But Cheney said jobs are being created, and said a Kerry-Edwards administration would seek to raise taxes.
Edwards denied that even before the vice president said it, noting that the Democratic proposal calls for rolling back the Bush tax cuts on only those earning $200,000 or more a year.
ping (whatever the hell that means :-))
Knock his lights out!
ok, anyone think Bush should dump Cheney from the ticket now?
over a half-million in FICA taxes he didn't pay via a legal loophole(written by fellow lawyers)
The moderator didn't cut Edwards any slack when I expected she would. It was great when she read Kerrys global test remark.
I loved it how Edwards "thought" they had a health plan.
It clearly demonstrated that Edwards was lying through his teeth. Knockout punch! The multimillionaire trial attorney was shaking in his boots the rest of the night. His eyes were blinking and his hands were moving like he'd been sucker-punched.
In other words, NO ONE should respect the record of a know-nothing, do-nothing ambulance-chasing Senator.
I was out driving around during the debate, catching it on the radio as I could. It was entertaining to listen to Cheney coldly slice the Breck Girl to shreds. I laughed ot loud when the Girl said, "A long resume doesn't mean that you have any experience". He just described his running mate!! Game over at that point, IMO.
Edwards had his a$$ handed to him several times. Cheney b*tch-slapped Pretty Boy plenty and I loved it!
He (Edwards) also said that as a member of Congress more than a decade ago, Cheney voted against Head Start and banning plastic guns that can escape detection in metal detectors.
There is not now, nor has there ever been plastic guns that can escape detection in metal detectors! It is a totally bogus issue!
The "Plastic Gun" Non-Issue
Controversy over non-issues doesn`t just waste time and money. It becomes dangerous when it diverts energies from addressing the real problems. Such was the case with "plastic guns," nefariously branded and paraded about as the terrorist`s new tool. Law enforcement, aviation officials and firearms experts exploded the "plastic gun" myth in testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime.
** The "plastic gun" is a myth. There was never an all-plastic gun in the marketplace. The notion was created by the media. Phillip McGuire, Associate Director of Law Enforcement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) testified: "The entire issue was raised in response to reports, many wildly inaccurate, concerning a particular firearm, the Glock 17." (House Subcommittee on Crime, May 15, 1986)
** The Glock 17--constructed of more than a pound of hardened steel, about 83% of its total weight--was fully detectable by airport security systems existing when it was approved for importation by BATF. Billie Vincent, FAA Director of Civil Aviation Security, testified: "(D)espite a relatively common impression to the contrary, there is no current non-metal firearm which is not reasonably detectable by present technology and methods in use at our airports today, nor to my knowledge is anyone on the threshold of developing such a firearm." (House Subcommittee on Crime, May 15, 1986)
** The FAA has concluded that "the first line of defense" must be "improved methods of screening as well as improving technology . . . to combat the threat of highjacking or terrorist activity in our air transportation systems." More effective efforts include better training and screening of airport personnel and having state-of-the-art detection equipment in our nation`s airports. Well-trained people to complement existing and new technologies will go a long way toward beating terrorism. Banning any firearm is not the answer. The fact is, it`s a media-made myth that dangerously ignores the real problem.
NRA-ILA
Shredded him like NC pulled pork. Just like I said. Kerry is next.
Instead of socking it to two-income families earning $200,000 per year, ......................
How about instituting a Wealth Tax on couples worth more than $10 million such as the Edwards' ($36 million) and the Heinz-Kerry's (over $550 million).
Kerry and Edwards want to tax "The Wealthiest Americans"?
Fine.
Let's institute a Wealth Tax on "The Wealthiest Americans" such as Edwards and Heinz-Kerry.
The DU crowd is debating each other over who won: Cheney won but debates don't matter, tie but it hurts (President)Bush, Who said Cheney won? It's fun watching them argue.
Kerry/Edwards have a "plan" for everything. Gets kinda tiring listening to the same old dribble.
Rush Limbaugh brought up the tax loophole and inferred that a Kerry Administration would keep their own loopholes while taking out others for the taxes they would reap.
Yes, seemed like a fair moderator, for once!
> Kerry/Edwards have a "plan" for everything.
I think this will come out great, after these two debates. Because that's exactly what the public will eventually realize, they're both snake oil salesman that have the only "advantage" that they've never had anything like the responsibility that Bush/Cheney have taken on, they can only criticize and say their "plan" is better.
But on their records, they are shameful. Cheney clearly stated both Kerry's and Edwards' records tonight, eventually that will sink in.
Most devastating was reference to Kerry's early statement that we should never go to war without approval from the UN. After 9/11, who on earth could endorse that sort of policy? Sums up the "record" they're trying to hide.
Absence isn't their worst offense, they've got worse records on the days they showed up.
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