OIL CRISIS CONTINUES --
BUSH SLAMS GORE'S OIL POLICIES
From RMNews:
It appears as if G.W. has read Rumor Mill News and is following the advice laid down in an earlier article on the oil crisis.
This is from a speech he gave today attacking Al Gore's oil reserve policy. Watch the news, if RMNews is right, G.W. will continue with his attacks on the Clinton/Gore lack of oil policies as the oil crisis continues and the stock market continues to fall.
``The reserve should not be used for short-term political gain at the cost of long-term national security,'' Bush said.
From a RMNews article called Oil Crisis -- Saddam's Hidden Agenda? --
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=4403
"If the economy turns down as a result of the oil crisis then G.W.’s new campaign slogan should be: "It’s the economy, stupid!"
"...if this crisis is orchestrated as cleverly as I think it is, each new day will bring new crises. Each day G.W. will give a speech talking about what he would do to stop this immediately" (End of RMNews Quote)
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Articles about Bush's Comments on Gore's Oil Policies --
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000921/pl/campaign_bush_dc_216.html
Thursday September 21 9:46 AM ET
Bush Says Gore Oil Plan Threat to Security
Reuters Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush's campaign condemned Democrat Al Gore's proposal to release strategic oil reserves as ``an election year political ploy'' that could threaten national security.
Bush's communications director Karen Hughes told reporters in New York: ``That reserve is intended for strategic and national security purposes, not for election year political purposes.''
She called Gore's plan ``an election year political ploy'' that was ``shortsighted and potentially harmful to national security.''
``If we dip into our reserves now (Iraqi leader) Saddam Hussein may drop production and literally put this country over a barrel,'' she said.
Gore was expected on Thursday to call for the release of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help stabilize decade-high oil prices.
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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000921/pl/campaign_bush_dc_217.html
Thursday September 21 4:30 PM ET
Bush Slams Gore on Oil, Social Security
Reuters Photo
By Patricia Wilson
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush (news - web sites) accused Democratic rival Al Gore (news - web sites) on Thursday of playing politics with U.S. oil reserves and the nation's retirement system.
Bush said the vice president had flip-flopped on energy policy with the White House election less than seven weeks away and ignored his own senior advisers in urging President Clinton (news - web sites) to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to lower the highest oil prices in a decade.
The Texas governor opened a town hall meeting at a factory in suburban Cleveland scheduled to focus on drawing sharp distinctions between his plan to reform Social Security and Gore's, with a strong statement condemning Gore's move as ``an attempt to drive down oil prices right before an election.''
``The reserve should not be used for short-term political gain at the cost of long-term national security,'' Bush said.
Calling Gore's position ``bad policy,'' he pointed out the vice president previously opposed dipping into the reserves and that Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, in a memo earlier this month, said he and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan believed it would be ``a major and substantial policy mistake'' to do so.
``The vice president seemed to recognize the wisdom of this advice just last winter,'' Bush said. ``Now that we are 47 days from the election he's changed his mind and is ignoring his own advisers.''
Similar Charge
He also raised the question of leadership, saying the Clinton and Gore had no energy policy and that the United States had become increasingly dependent on foreign oil during their administration.
They were the same charges that Bush, locked in a tight race for the presidency and looking to regain the lead in opinion polls before the Nov. 7 election, has made in raising the issue of Gore's integrity and credibility.
Suggesting his opponent was willing to ``say and do anything'' to win, Bush has criticized Gore for trying to frighten the elderly by misrepresenting his plan to partially privatize Social Security.
``I understand politics,'' he told staff at Thergamon Inc., a company that makes heat-regulating devices for computer chips. ''There are people trying to scare people into the voting booth.''
Bush proposes allowing younger workers to use some of their payroll taxes to invest in the equity and bond markets. He has not specified the amount but uses 2 percent as a theoretical example.
Vowing ``a promise made is a promise kept,'' Bush pledged to ''lockbox'' $2.3 trillion of the estimated $4.5 trillion federal budget surplus for Social Security and maintain existing benefits for current retirees without raising taxes.
Saving Social Security
At almost every campaign stop, he touts his plan over Gore's proposal to create government-assisted savings plans that could be invested in the stock market outside the structure of the Social Security system, saying his initiative ''trusts people to manage their own money.''
The Gore campaign maintains Bush would have to reduce benefits if he allows workers to take money out of the system. The governor's advisers argue that the vice president does nothing to solve Social Security's long-term solvency problem.
With the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age, the system is forecast to go broke by 2035 unless it is reformed.
Earlier on Thursday in New York, Bush took his campaign to the heart of pop culture, bantering with his hosts on the mid-morning talk show ``Live With Regis Philbin,'' and telling his largely female audience about his plans for Social Security and reform of the public education system.
