First amnesty to illegal aliens, then stem cell research, and now this. What else was Dubyah saying just to get elected?
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/8/10/213235.shtml
Bush Supports Racial Preferences
NewsMax.com Wires
Saturday, Aug. 11, 2001
WASHINGTON - The Bush Justice Department filed a brief with the Supreme Court late Friday supporting racial set-asides of government contracts. [b]The decision goes against the president's campaign pledges.[/b]
The court had requested the administration's position in a landmark case out of Colorado on racial preferences.
It was the second controversial position taken by the administration in as many days, following the Thursday's decision on funding of stem-cell research.
Libertarians, constitutionalists and conservatives had hoped the president would stand by his campaign promise to work to end racial quotas.
``Being in a politically difficult position does not forgive you doing the right thing - constitutionally and morally,'' said Curt Levey, an attorney for the Center for Individual Rights.
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III and John C. Eastman wrote for The Claremont Institute: "Racial discrimination rarely, if ever, has any legitimate purpose, and instead undermines the very principle of human equality upon which this nation was based .... government must protect what we today call equality of opportunity, not equality of results."
They noted Attorney General John Ashcroft's own position. "In a 1998 speech, then-Senator John Ashcroft argued forcefully against any kind of race classifications in federal law: 'My own view is that the best way is to usher in a future of racial reconciliation by ending race conscious government programs, starting today. You don't end racial discrimination by promoting racial discrimination.'"
A Justice Department official said the filing should not be interpreted as the administration embracing racial preferences, only that the program in question was not improper.
``This is John Ashcroft doing what he said he would do during his confirmation hearings,'' spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said. ``When there is a good-faith argument to be made in defense of a statute, he will make it.''
Another Cave-in
Opponents of quotas were not mollified. ``I think this is not only horrendous policy, I think it is bad politics. To cave in so early bodes poorly for the administration taking a stand later on,'' said Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity. ``I think the motivation behind this decision was political.''
Representing the administration Friday, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson told the Supreme Court, "Congress has a compelling interest in eliminating discrimination and its effects on government spending and procurement."
The government's brief also argued that the evidence shows when such programs are eliminated, disparities between the classes of people getting such contracts returns.