http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/05/14/bush.guns.ap/index.html
Bush renewing pledge to combat gun violence

May 14, 2001
Web posted at: 5:40 AM EDT (0940 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, stepping back into the
gun-control debate, is renewing his pledge to help communities and
states combat gun violence.
Bush was visiting Philadelphia on Monday to highlight his efforts to
catch gun offenders. Bush has advocated "vigorously" enforcing laws
involving gun crimes and said it should be a priority to keep
juveniles from obtaining guns.
Underscoring the contentiousness of the issue, a gun-control
advocacy group was airing ads urging him to support mandatory
background checks for customers at gun shows.
"Felons in 32 states can get guns at gun shows with no questions
asked, and resell them on our streets," the radio spot says. "That's
why we need a national law requiring background checks at all gun
shows."
The 60-second ad was being run in Philadelphia Monday by Americans
for Gun Safety of Rosslyn, Va., founded by Andrew McKelvey, the
creator of the Monster.com online job referral service.
The group's mission statement says it "supports the rights of
individuals who own firearms and seeks stronger new laws and tougher
enforcement of current laws to help keep guns out of the hands of
criminals and kids, and to make guns safer in the home."
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., has proposed requiring a three-day waiting
period on gun show purchases, and Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and
Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., plan to introduce similar legislation.
Bush said during the presidential campaign that he supported closing
gun show loopholes.
With Monday's trip to Philadelphia, the president was returning to
an issue that was a thorny one for him during last year's campaign.
Democratic rival Al Gore appealed to urban and suburban voters by
painting Bush as pro-gun. Bush, then the governor of Texas, appealed
to his rural base by defending firearm owners' rights.
Bush's proposed 2002 budget includes $49.8 million for states to
establish programs for increasing arrests and prosecution of gun
offenders.
The budget also contains $75 million in federal matching funds for
ChildSafe, which provides law enforcement agencies with kits
containing trigger locks and lessons on safe gun storage.
An additional $20 million would provide grants to support
state-level prosecutions of gun offenders and establish "safe
school" task forces involving local police and schools.
The Justice Department's budget request also includes $9 million for
a federal-state partnership to prosecute juvenile gun offenders and
crack down on illegal gun traffickers selling to children. It
creates 94 new positions in U.S. attorneys' offices for a
partnership to identify and prosecute juvenile offenders and those
who supply guns to them.
Also Monday, Bush was meeting with Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of
the city's archdiocese.
Monday's trip was his third to Pennsylvania, a swing state that went
narrowly to Gore in November. He travels to the state again on
Friday to promote his national energy strategy.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.

© 2001 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.

He'll sell us out if its helps him cuddle up with the moderate dermocrats.  

Told Ya So, Told Ya So, Told Ya So.

Harry Browne (libertarian party) or Howard Phillips (constitution party)





edited because I originally added a quote without meaning to.

April 30, 2001

A Surprising Quiz: Bush's First 100 Days
By Steve Dasbach


To celebrate President George W. Bush’s first 100 days in office, let’s conduct a modest thought experiment, shall we?

Imagine, if you will, that you were whisked out of the country on November 7, 2000, as the outcome of the presidential election hung in the balance.

Imagine that for the past six months, you’ve had no access to any news source. No newspapers. No TV. No internet. No political discussion with friends.

Now, imagine that on Sunday, April 29 — exactly 100 days after the new president was inaugurated — you were plunked down in front of a television as the usual crew of talking-head pundits debated the new administration’s record.

If those pundits didn’t mention the president’s name, would you know whether Bush or Gore had won the election?

“What a foolish question!” most Republicans and Democrats will sputter. “Bush and Gore are as different as, well — Bush and Gore. Their records after 100 days would be so utterly and so radically different that no one could confuse them!”

Really? If that is the case, take this quick 12-question quiz to see how different the Bush administration has been from the could-have-been Gore administration:

1) If elected president, which one — Bush or Gore — would boost spending for Bill Clinton’s AmeriCorps program by $282 million?

[ ] Al Gore

[ ] George W. Bush

ANSWER: George W. Bush. Some conservatives had predicted that Bill Clinton’s “domestic Peace Corps” program would be quickly abolished, but, instead, Bush has requested a funding increase of $282 million. [Source: USA Today, April 10, 2001]

2) Which one would continue the Clinton administration’s lawsuit against tobacco companies?

[ ] George W. Bush

[ ] Al Gore

ANSWER: George W. Bush. Not only is the Bush administration not ending the legalized extortion against the tobacco companies, Attorney General John Ashcroft boasted that the Justice Department plans to spend as much as Janet Reno did to proceed with the suit. [Source: The Washington Times, April 27, 2001]

3) Which one would increase federal spending on elementary and secondary education by a whopping 72%?

[ ] Al Gore

[ ] George W. Bush

ANSWER: George W. Bush. Although Republicans had previously promised to abolish the federal Department of Education, Bush requested $18.6 billion more in spending for elementary, secondary, and vocational education — a 72% increase. [Source: USA Today, April 10, 2001]

4) Which one would maintain the so-called “Gore Tax” — a hidden $2.3 billion-a-year levy on telephone bills, used to wire schools to the Internet?

[ ] George W. Bush

[ ] Al Gore

ANSWER: George W. Bush. Three years ago, conservatives blasted the “Gore Tax” as an unconstitutional tax, since it was imposed by the Federal Communications Commission. But instead of repealing it, the Bush administration has been working to halt any attempts to limit it. [Source: Cato Institute Daily Commentary, April 9, 2001]

5) Which one would request a 3.6% pay hike for all federal workers?

[ ] Al Gore

[ ] George W. Bush

ANSWER: George W. Bush. The average federal civilian employee already makes $50,000 a year — but Bush doesn’t think that’s enough. His pay-hike proposal would increase federal wages even faster than inflation. [Source: The Washington Post, April 10, 2001]

6) Which one would impose by White House decree the Clinton administration’s medical “privacy” rules — which give control of Americans’ medical records to the government?

[ ] George W. Bush

[ ] Al Gore

ANSWER: George W. Bush. After Clinton proposed his so-called “privacy” rules, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services was flooded with 24,000 letters opposing them. In response, Bush ordered the HHS to disregard the public comments, and implement the rules immediately. [Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2001]

7) Which one would boost spending on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by $10 million?

[ ] Al Gore

[ ] George W. Bush

ANSWER: George W. Bush. For years, conservatives have asked why the federal government funds a television network with tax dollars, since tens of thousands of free-market stations compete for listeners. Bush’s response was to request a $10 million funding increase. [Source: USA Today, April 10, 2001]

8) Which one would bar development on privately owned wetlands, and promised environmental policies that will “continue and complete the work of [the Clinton] administration”?

[ ] George W. Bush [ ] Al Gore


ANSWER: George W. Bush. Here, surely, there’s a difference between Bush and Gore! Not as much as you might think. Not only did Bush refuse to overturn a Clinton-era ban on wetlands development, he boasted he would continue the Democrat’s environmental programs since “this is the way environmental policy should work.” [Source: Syndicated columnist Robert Novak, April 26, 2001]

9) Which one would vow a “renewed commitment” to enforcing America’s 20,000 gun laws, and budget an additional $158 million for that purpose?

[ ] Al Gore

[ ] George W. Bush

ANSWER: George W. Bush. And you thought Al Gore was anti-gun? Attorney General John Ashcroft said there was “no question” the Bush administration needs a “renewed commitment” to enforce America’s myriad anti-gun laws, and has requested $158 million more for that purpose. [Source: The Washington Times, April 27, 2001]

10) Which one would spend an additional $46 billion on a new federal program to give low-cost prescription drugs to seniors?

[ ] George W. Bush

[ ] Al Gore

ANSWER: George W. Bush. During the campaign, both Bush and Gore promised to dramatically increase the role of the federal government in the prescription dug business. The cost to taxpayers of Bush’s program: $46 billion over five years. [Source: Associated Press, April 27, 2001]

(cont. last one)
11) Which one would delay any effort to privatize Social Security retirement accounts for younger workers by deferring it to a federal commission for more study?

[ ] Al Gore

[ ] George W. Bush

ANSWER: George W. Bush. As a candidate, Bush made the partial privatization of Social Security a cornerstone of his campaign. But as president, he has drop-kicked that potential hot potato to a federal commission for “study.” [Source: Associated Press, April 27, 2001]

12) Which one would give the IRS more money so it can hire 4,000 additional tax collectors?

[ ] George W. Bush

[ ] Al Gore

ANSWER: George W. Bush. At Congressional hearings in 1998, Republicans harshly criticized the Internal Revenue Service for mistreating taxpayers and running roughshod over the law. Three years later, Bush has proposed a $400 million budget increase for the agency. [Source: USA Today, April 16, 2001]

Shocked by the answers? Perhaps you shouldn’t be, since President Bush made it clear — even during his days as a candidate — that making the federal government smaller, less expensive, or less intrusive was not on his agenda. Given that, is it a surprise that he is governing like Al Gore?

In fact, after looking at the record of President Bush’s first 100 days, there’s really only one thought experiment question left to ask: Why was the outcome of the 2000 presidential election so fiercely contested — since it seems to have made no real difference who won?

My wife woke me up and told me this, so i got on here, and well shure enough. well gentlemen
he did give a promise in the election so next on his gun agenda would be to ban high compacity
mags next or the importation of them anyways.

13) Who has absolutley no sense of political reality?

ANSWER: Anyone who voted for Harry Browne

Why do you say that?  Do you think it is a throw away vote or do you disagree with the LP?  Just curious.

Band named Corrosion of Conformity wrote a song called "Vote with a Bullet." Those votes are never wasted.

(DeerSlayer puts on his flame-proof suit)

He has not changed position.  He is merely suggesting a "common sense" change.
I don't mind any legislation that is designed to keep guns out of criminal hands.  I personally don't mind having to license myself to own guns if it stops there.  I bet it wouldn't but I can dream.  If that is what it takes to keep the 2nd ammendment as it is, then fine.  I feel like we are going to lose the gun war eventually.  I hope I am wrong.