If the press were so "liberal", one would think these would get more coverage.

On Flip-Flops
 
Somehow, Bush accuses Kerry of flip-flopping on the $87 billion for Iraq. The fact is that Kerry took the principled position of voting for it when it was to be paid for by rolling back tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. But when Republicans defeated that amendment, that left Senator Kerry no choice but to vote against Republican fiscal irresponsibility. Republicans don't let the truth stand in the way of their accusations.

The list of Bush flip-flops is much longer and they actually are real flip-flops, inconsistencies, prevarications, and lies.

Below are:

• my list
• American Progress Action Fund flip-flop list
• Both Candidates Often Shift Positions By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
  September 13, 2004, Filed at 9:22 a.m. ET
  

Bush FLIP-FLOPS
0: Bush's flip-flop on getting Osama bin Laden
1: Bush's lie on the link between al Qaeda & Saddam
2: Bush flip-flop on U.N. vote authorizing force
3: Bush flip-flop on Condoleezza Rice testifying to 9/11 commission
4: Bush flip-flop on Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site
5: Bush waffling on support for democracy
6: Bush inconsistency on trade with Communist regimes
7: Bush waffling on the threat from nuclear weapons
8: Bush prevarication on class warfare
9: Bush waffling on support for the troops
10: Bush flip-flop on being a "uniter, not a divider"
11: Bush pre- and post-election flip-flop on nation building
12: Bush pre- and post-election flip-flop on CO2 emissions
13: Bush waffling on judicial activism
14. Bush prevarication on the liberation and occupation of Iraq
15. Bush prevarication on Social Security
16. Bush prevarication on immigration
17. Bush flip-flops on roadless rule for national forests

================================================
0: Bush's flip-flop on getting Osama bin Laden

In September 2001 Bush said, "The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." Then six months later, "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." This the mother of all flip-flops.

The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our Number one priority and we will not rest until we find him!" - George W. Bush,
September 13, 2001

"I don't know where he is. . . I just don't spend that much time on him really, to be honest with you. . . I truly am not that concerned about him." - George W. Bush,
March 13, 2002
Reference: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020313-8.html

================================================
1: Bush's lie on the link between al Qaeda & Saddam

I sent the letter below to Denver Post Letters on 6/25 but have not gotten a response so they're apparently not going to print it. This is important in rebutting those who say there's no proof bush lied.

Re: "When has president claimed a direct link?" 6/21 letter by John Porfilio

Bush and Cheney continually link the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq by mentioning them in the same breath. Now, even though the 9/11 Commission report on 6/16/04 states there was "no collaborative relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam," they refuse to admit they misled the public.

Despite continuing implicit links, they explicitly admit that there's no connection between 9/11 and Iraq. Bush admitted in a 1/31/03 press conference, when asked if he believed there was a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, that, "I can't make that claim." And Bush said after a cabinet meeting on 6/17/04, "This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda."

But he did. In his Presidential Letter to Congress on 3/21/03, two days after he ordered U.S. troops to attack Iraq. He wrote, "I have also determined that the use of armed force against Iraq is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001." With this, he made an explicit link between the 9/11 attacks and the nation of Iraq.

Bush and Cheney have trapped themselves in a web of lies. They should be impeached.

Backup info and Links:  For example, Cheney said to Meet the Press on 9/14/03 that "If we're successful in Iraq, ... so that it's not a safe haven for terrorists, now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.

Links:
"I can't make that claim."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-23.html

Bush said after a cabinet meeting
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040617-3.html

Presidential Letter to Congress
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030321-5.html

Cheney said to Meet the Press
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/

================================================
2: Bush flip-flop on U.N. vote authorizing force:

Mr. Bush is proud of the recent June 8 unanimous U.N. support for the resolution endorsing the Iraqi government that just "took control."

It's a reminder to think back to the previous unanimous U.N. resolution that authorized inspections, but not authorize an attack, only "serious consequences."

Remember that just before Bush ordered attacks on Iraq there was a need for a second resolution authorizing force. Bush said "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote" to make the U.N. Security Council "show their cards" as to whether the U.N. would support an attack on Iraq.

But only days after his cowboy "show their cards" statement, it became clear he'd lose the vote, so he decided to not call for a vote. He knew that having lost that vote, an attack would have been explicitly and obviously in violation of international law. It's no wonder he opposes the International Criminal Court ... he knows he would be charged as a criminal before it.

This is one of the biggest "flip-flops" in history ... or perhaps it was simply another of George Bush's lies.

============================================
3: Bush flip-flop on Condoleezza Rice testifying to 9/11 commission

Bush said Condoleezza Rice couldn't testify under oath before the 9/11 commission due to the solemn necessity to preserve executive privilege; then, when the polls were unfavorable about her many not-under-oath appearances on TV programs, he says she can appear before the commission. (Remember now, Bush doesn't do polling!)

============================================
4: Bush flip-flop on Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site

Before the 2000 election Bush spoke out against using the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada for nuclear waste disposal. it helped him win Nevada over Gore by 4 percentage points. After the election, he flip-flopped and now supports Yucca Mountain as a permanent site.

<http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-08-10-kerry-nuke-waste_x.htm>
<<
... Bush won Nevada in 2000 after promising to approve the project only on the basis of "sound science." But Bush endorsed the Energy Department's recommendation even though scientific questions about the site's safety were -- and still are -- unresolved.
>>

Bush as a strong and consistent leader? I think not.

============================================
5: Bush waffling on support for democracy

Mr. Bush says he's for democracy, but approved of the overthrow of democratically-elected governments in Venezuela and Haiti.

He's for democracy, but he's critical when citizens oust a Spanish government because the war in Iraq was opposed by 90% of the population. In addition, for political gain that government was perceived to lie about the origin of terrorist attacks.

He's for democracy, but supports trade without labor and environmental standards. For example, individuals can't "purchase a clean environment," governments must value and enforce environmental standards. Undemocratic regimes don't care about the effects of low standards, or no standards, on their populations.

http://www.harpers.org/WeeklyReview2002-04-23.html
Harpers Weekly Review, Posted on Tuesday, April 23, 2002. By Roger D. Hodge.
White House officials admitted that senior members of the Bush Administration met with the Venezuelan coup plotters in the weeks before they attempted to overthrow President Hugo Ch¨¢vez. Some officials claimed that they had discouraged the plotters, others that they had encouraged them. One, asked if the Administration recognized Ch¨¢vez as the legitimate president of Venezuela, replied that "legitimacy is something that is conferred not just by a majority of the voters." Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said: "I think you have to be very careful about advance knowledge of a specific act and general talk of unease in a nation like Venezuela that has been marked by a very difficult internal democratic situation." Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut observed that the Administration's performance on Venezuela cried out for "more adult supervision."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/international/americas/16DIPL.html
April 16, 2002
Bush Officials Met With Venezuelans Who Ousted Leader
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
<<
Asked whether the administration now recognizes Mr. Ch¨¢vez as Venezuela's legitimate president, one administration official replied, "He was democratically elected," then added, "Legitimacy is something that is conferred not just by a majority of the voters, however."
...
On Sunday, President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, expressed hopes that Mr. Ch¨¢vez would deal with his opponents in a less "highhanded fashion."

But to some critics, it was the Bush administration that had displayed arrogance in initially bucking the tide of international condemnation of the action against Mr. Chavez, who was democratically elected in 1998.

Arturo Valenzuela, the Latin America national security aide in the Clinton administration, accused the Bush administration of running roughshod over more than a decade of treaties and agreements for the collective defense of democracy. Since 1990, the United States has repeatedly invoked those agreements at the Organization of American States to help restore democratic rule in such countries as Haiti, Guatemala and Peru.

Mr. Valenzuela, who now heads the Latin American studies department at Georgetown University here, warned that the nations in the region might view the administration's tepid support of Venezuelan democracy as a green light to return to 1960's and 1970's, when power was transferred from coup to coup.

"I think it's a very negative development for the principle of constitutional government in Latin America," he said. "I think it's going to come back and haunt all of us."
>>

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/1/2002/275
Molly Ivins, More News and Commentary, April 21, 2002
<<
But my favorite quote of the Venezuelan coup is in this passage from The New York Times: "Asked whether the administration now recognizes Mr. Chavez as Venezuela's legitimate president, one administration official replied, 'He was democratically elected,' then added, "Legitimacy is something that is conferred not just by a majority of the voters, however."
>>

============================================
6: Bush inconsistency on trade with Communist regimes

Trade with Communist China is OK; but with Communist Cuba it's not OK.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/5/29/204557.shtml
Bush Wants to Reward China by Extending Trade Status NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, May 30, 2001
"When we open trade, we open minds," Bush said. "We trade with China because trade is good policy for our economy, because trade is good policy for democracy, and because trade is good policy for our national security."

The Sunday, 2/27/04, Parade magazine ranks Hu Jintao, president and general secretary of the Communist Party of China, as #3 on it's list of "The World's 10 Worst Dictators." Parade, "The World's 10 Worst Dictators" by David Wallechinsky, 2/27/04

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002/05/20/bush-cuba.htm
05/21/2002 - Updated 10:07 AM ET 
Bush: Cuba must change or embargo stays By Richard Benedetto, USA TODAY
Bush rejected calls by former president Jimmy Carter and a bipartisan coalition in Congress to lift the 40-year-old embargo. Proponents of ending the embargo say it has been ineffective. But Bush was unmoved. "I know what trade means with a tyrant," he said. "It means that we will underwrite tyranny, and we cannot let that happen."

============================================
7: Bush waffling on the threat from nuclear weapons

Mr. Bush didn't believe Iraq when they said they didn't have nuclear weapons, but then didn't believe North Korea when they said they did have them.

He said it was necessary to attack Iraq to avoid proliferation of nuclear weapons, even though they didn't have them, but somehow Pakistan is our friend even though they have them and have been selling nuclear secrets to our enemies for years.

============================================
8: Bush prevarication on class warfare

Mr. Bush and Republicans propose cutting dividend and capital gains taxes to zero so that people who invest their money to make money don't pay taxes. Instead, those who invest their time to make money should pay taxes to support the systems that safeguard the capital investments of the wealthy.

And then, adding insult to injury, he says it's class warfare to point out that this is class warfare. As Warren Buffett said, "If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning."

============================================
9: Bush waffling on support for the troops

Mr. Bush says, "Support the troops," but instead supports reducing military retired pay when they receive VA disability pay. He touts his tax cuts even though they don't apply to military grades E-3 and below, who are on food stamps.

Bush deployed insufficient force strength to Iraq, which left the troops vulnerable. Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki estimated that "several hundred thousand troops" would be needed a secure post-war Iraq, but Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz ridiculed his estimates as "wildly off the mark," saying "the notion that it would take several hundred thousand American troops just seems outlandish." Now there are 138,000 American troops deployed in Iraq and many believe this is still not enough. Former Army Secretary Thomas White said, "the facts bear out that [Shinseki] was pretty accurate in his estimate."

Lack of support has been financial, too. The Army Times reported that the White House characterized a modest proposal to double the $6,000 gratuity paid to families of troops who die on active duty as "wasteful and unnecessary." It also wanted to roll back modest increases in monthly imminent-danger pay (from $225 to $150) and family-separation allowance (from $250 to $100) for troops getting shot at in combat zones. As the Army Times editorial said, "While Bush's proposed 2004 defense budget would continue higher targeted raises for some ranks, he also proposed capping raises for E-1s, E-2s and O-1s at 2 percent, well below the average raise of 4.1 percent."

In Bush's request to Congress last year for $87 billion, there was a request $300 million for life-saving body armor. If he'd supported the troops, they wouldn't have been sent to Iraq without it.

Bush banned photos of flag-draped coffins coming home, but uses pictures of flag draped corpses at Ground Zero in his political commercials. And he's also refused to attend funerals of the fallen in Iraq.


For details on lack of support for the military:
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292259-1989240.php
Army Times Editorial: Nothing but lip service, July 02, 2003

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20030909b1.html
on "U.S. Budget Request For Additional FY04 Funding For War on Terror"
and the body armor request

============================================
10: Bush flip-flop on being a "uniter, not a divider"

Before the last election Bush said, "I'm a uniter, not a divider," then he pursued an extremist partisan agenda that divided Americans even than ever. Inadvertently however, perhaps he was telling the truth on this one, because he's united world opinion against his war and his administration.

============================================
11: Bush pre- and post-election flip-flop on nation building

Before the election Bush said he opposed nation building; now he has the U.S. engaged in nation building in Afghanistan and Iraq.

============================================
12: Bush pre- and post-election flip-flop on CO2 emissions

Before the election Bush said he supported regulating CO2 emissions. After the election he decided the opposite.

============================================
13: Bush waffling on judicial activism

Bush says he's against judicial activism, except of course to use it to deliver the presidency to George W. Bush.

============================================
14. Bush prevarication on the liberation and occupation of Iraq

Bush ended the occupation of Iraq, but before the war he said the U.S. invasion of Iraq would be a liberation, not an occupation. But all the while he knew that by international law U.S. presence would necessarily be classified as an occupation.

Now giving "full sovereignty" to the Iraqis means they have a right to participate in all security decisions "including policy on sensitive offensive operations" such as those in Fallujah and Najaf where Iraqis were unwilling to join allied troops in fighting. A "right to participate" is "full sovereignty?"

Reference:
http://www.tennessean.com/nation-world/archives/04/06/52609666.shtml
Security Council votes to give Iraq 'full sovereignty', Wednesday, 06/09/04

============================================
15. Bush prevarication on Social Security

Mr. Bush is financing his war in Iraq and his tax cuts by spending the Social Security surplus. At the same time he says the system is underfunded and must be "reformed," which means it's necessary to cut future benefits because the money is gone.

============================================
16. Bush prevarication on immigration

Mr. Bush proposes letting an unlimited number of immigrants into the country to fill "jobs that American citizens are not willing to take." But somehow he manages to neglect that an abundance of low wage labor drives the wages of those jobs down below the poverty level. Obviously Americans don't want them because the pay requires living 10 to a room.

============================================
17. Bush flip-flops on roadless rule for national forests

Dems join "flip-flop" claim game, Denver Post, 7/18/04

Last week's announcement by bush officials that they intended to scuttle a Clinton administration rule protecting 60 million acres of national forest gave Democrats a chance to fling a popular Bush campaign criticism of challenger John Kerry back in President Bush's face. In May 2001, Bush promised to uphold the Clinton roadless rule with only minor changes.

"I am very disappointed that President Bush has decided to flip-flop on protecting America's forests," said U.S. Rep, Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat. "The reversal of the rule endangers the list of our remaining roadless lands and is a cynical election-year maneuver by the bush administration to turn even more land over to the timber, oil and gas industries."

_______________

American Progress Action Fund flip-flop list

President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief
September 2, 2004, Updated
Download Poster

From the beginning, George W. Bush has made his own credibility a central issue. On 10/11/00, then-Gov. Bush said: "I think credibility is important.It is going to be important for the president to be credible with Congress, important for the president to be credible with foreign nations." But President Bush's serial flip-flopping raises serious questions about whether Congress and foreign leaders can rely on what he says.

1. Social Security Surplus ... touch vs. drain
2. Patient's Right to Sue ... yes ... no
3. Tobacco Buyout ... quota vs. buyout
4. North Korea  ... incentives or not?
5. Abortion  ... leave it to a woman & her doctor
6. OPEC ... get them on the phone
7. Iraq Funding  ... need for add't funds
8. Condoleeza Rice Testimony ... no ... yes
9. Science ... sound science vs. ignore science
10. Ahmed Chalabi ... special guest vs. hardly knew him
11. Department of Homeland Security ... oppose vs. support
12. Weapons of Mass Destruction ... found them vs. didn't
13. Free Trade ... support vs. steel tariff
14. Osama Bin Laden ... "dead or alive" vs "not that concerned" (duplicate)
15. The Environment ... CO2, limit vs. don't limit
16. WMD Commission ... no independent commission vs. creating
17. Creation of the 9/11 Commission ... no independent commission vs. creating
18. Time Extension for 9/11 Commission ... no ... yes
19. One Hour Limit for 9/11 Commission Testimony ... limit vs. no limit
20. Gay Marriage ... "state issue" vs "federal ban"
21. Nation Building ... no vs yes
22. Saddam/al Qaeda Link ... "can't distinguish" vs. "no involvement in 9/11"
23. U.N. Resolution ... "U.N. vote" vs. "withdrawn resolution" (duplicate)
24. Involvement in the Palestinian Conflict ... "summit led to conflict" vs. "summit might help"
25. Campaign Finance ... "oppose McCain-Feingold" vs. "it improves the system"
26. 527s ... "ban not OK" vs. "they're bad" vs. "thought we'd gotten rid of"
27. Medical Records ... "private" vs. "can't expect confidentiality"
28. Timelines For Dictators ... "deadline" vs "don't set"
29. The Great Lakes ... "maybe divert" vs. "never divert"
30. Winning The War On Terror ... "of course you can" vs. "don't think you can"

1. Social Security Surplus ... touch vs. drain

BUSH PLEDGES NOT TO TOUCH SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS... "We're going to keep the promise of Social Security and keep the government from raiding the Social Security surplus." [President Bush, 3/3/01]

...BUSH SPENDS SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS The New York Times reported that "the president's new budget uses Social Security surpluses to pay for other programs every year through 2013, ultimately diverting more than $1.4 trillion in Social Security funds to other purposes." [The New York Times, 2/6/02]

2. Patient's Right to Sue ... yes ... no

GOVERNOR BUSH VETOES PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "Despite his campaign rhetoric in favor of a patients' bill of rights, Bush fought such a bill tooth and nail as Texas governor, vetoing a bill coauthored by Republican state Rep. John Smithee in 1995. He... constantly opposed a patient's right to sue an HMO over coverage denied that resulted in adverse health effects." [Salon, 2/7/01]

...CANDIDATE BUSH PRAISES TEXAS PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "We're one of the first states that said you can sue an HMO for denying you proper coverage... It's time for our nation to come together and do what's right for the people. And I think this is right for the people. You know, I support a national patients' bill of rights, Mr. Vice President. And I want all people covered. I don't want the law to supersede good law like we've got in Texas." [Governor Bush, 10/17/00]

...PRESIDENT BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION ARGUES AGAINST RIGHT TO SUE "To let two Texas consumers, Juan Davila and Ruby R. Calad, sue their managed-care companies for wrongful denials of medical benefits ?would be to completely undermine' federal law regulating employee benefits, Assistant Solicitor General James A. Feldman said at oral argument March 23. Moreover, the administration's brief attacked the policy rationale for Texas's law, which is similar to statutes on the books in nine other states." [Washington Post, 4/5/04]

3. Tobacco Buyout ... quota vs. buyout

BUSH SUPPORTS CURRENT TOBACCO FARMERS' QUOTA SYSTEM... "They've got the quota system in place -- the allotment system -- and I don't think that needs to be changed." [President Bush, 5/04]

...BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL SUPPORT FEDERAL BUYOUT OF TOBACCO QUOTAS "The administration is open to a buyout." [White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo, 6/18/04]

4. North Korea ... incentives or not?

BUSH WILL NOT OFFER NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM... "We developed a bold approach under which, if the North addressed our long-standing concerns, the United States was prepared to take important steps that would have significantly improved the lives of the North Korean people. Now that North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program has come to light, we are unable to pursue this approach." [President's Statement, 11/15/02]

...BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFERS NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM "Well, we will work to take steps to ease their political and economic isolation. So there would be -- what you would see would be some provisional or temporary proposals that would only lead to lasting benefit after North Korea dismantles its nuclear programs. So there would be some provisional or temporary efforts of that nature." [White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 6/23/04]

5. Abortion ... leave it to a woman & her doctor

BUSH SUPPORTS A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE... "Bush said he...favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question." [The Nation, 6/15/00, quoting the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 5/78]

...BUSH OPPOSES A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE "I am pro-life." [Governor Bush, 10/3/00]

6. OPEC ... get them on the phone

BUSH PROMISES TO FORCE OPEC TO LOWER PRICES... "What I think the president ought to do [when gas prices spike] is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots...And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price." [President Bush, 1/26/00]

...BUSH REFUSES TO LOBBY OPEC LEADERS With gas prices soaring in the United States at the beginning of 2004, the Miami Herald reported the president refused to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds." [Miami Herald, 4/1/04]

7. Iraq Funding ... need for add't funds

BUSH SPOKESMAN DENIES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE REST OF 2004... "We do not anticipate requesting supplemental funding for '04" [White House Budget Director Joshua Bolton, 2/2/04]

...BUSH REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR IRAQ FOR 2004 "I am requesting that Congress establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops." [President Bush, Statement by President, 5/5/04]

8. Condoleeza Rice Testimony ... no ... yes

BUSH SPOKESMAN SAYS RICE WON'T TESTIFY AS 'A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE'... "Again, this is not her personal preference; this goes back to a matter of principle. There is a separation of powers issue involved here. Historically, White House staffers do not testify before legislative bodies. So it's a matter of principle, not a matter of preference." [White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 3/9/04]

...BUSH ORDERS RICE TO TESTIFY: "Today I have informed the Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United States that my National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, will provide public testimony." [President Bush, 3/30/04]

9. Science ... sound science vs. ignore science

BUSH PLEDGES TO ISSUE REGULATIONS BASED ON SCIENCE..."I think we ought to have high standards set by agencies that rely upon science, not by what may feel good or what sounds good." [then-Governor George W. Bush, 1/15/00]

...BUSH ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS IGNORE SCIENCE "60 leading scientists?including Nobel laureates, leading medical experts, former federal agency directors and university chairs and presidents?issued a statement calling for regulatory and legislative action to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. According to the scientists, the Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and distorted scientific analysis from federal agencies, and taken actions that have undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels." [Union of Concerned Scientists, 2/18/04]

10. Ahmed Chalabi ... special guest vs. hardly knew him

BUSH INVITES CHALABI TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS...President Bush also met with Chalabi during his brief trip to Iraq last Thanksgiving [White House Documents 1/20/04, 11/27/03]

...BUSH MILITARY ASSISTS IN RAID OF CHALABI'S HOUSE "U.S. soldiers raided the home of America's one-time ally Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday and seized documents and computers." [Washington Post, 5/20/04]

Added to American Progress list:
Chalibi a "special guest" of Mrs. Bush: Special Guests of Mrs. Bush at the State of the Union: Dr. Ahmed Chalabi Iraqi Governing Council Member Dr. Chalabi is founder and head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC). He is also a mathematics professor and a businessman.   1/20/04

Bush only met Chalibi briefly: My meetings with him were very brief. I mean, I think I met with him at the State of the Union and just kind of working through the rope line, and he might have come with a group of leaders. But I haven't had any extensive conversations with him. 6/1/04

11. Department of Homeland Security ... oppose vs. support

BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything." [White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, 3/19/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people." [President Bush, Address to the Nation, 6/6/02]

12. Weapons of Mass Destruction ... found them vs. didn't

BUSH SAYS WE FOUND THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION..."We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories...for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." [President Bush, Interview in Poland, 5/29/03]

...BUSH SAYS WE HAVEN'T FOUND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION "David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons.And when David Kay goes in and says we haven't found stockpiles yet, and there's theories as to where the weapons went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his henchmen could have destroyed them as we entered into Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another country, and we'll find out." [President Bush, Meet the Press, 2/7/04]

13. Free Trade ... support vs. steel tariff

BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE... "I believe strongly that if we promote trade, and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this issue." [President Bush in Peru, 3/23/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE "In a decision largely driven by his political advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles last year and imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his reelection." [Washington Post, 9/19/03]

14. Osama Bin Laden ... "dead or alive" vs "not that concerned"

BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE... "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" [President Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]

...BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA "I don't know where he is.You know, I just don't spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned about him."[President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]

15. The Environment ... CO2, limit vs. don't limit

BUSH SUPPORTS MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE... "[If elected], Governor Bush will work to...establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide." [Bush Environmental Plan, 9/29/00]

...BUSH OPPOSES MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE "I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act." [President Bush, Letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), 3/13/03]

16. WMD Commission ... no independent commission vs. creating

BUSH RESISTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE... "The White House immediately turned aside the calls from Kay and many Democrats for an immediate outside investigation, seeking to head off any new wide-ranging election-year inquiry that might go beyond reports already being assembled by congressional committees and the Central Intelligence Agency." [NY Times, 1/29/04]

...BUSH SUPPORTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE "Today, by executive order, I am creating an independent commission, chaired by Governor and former Senator Chuck Robb, Judge Laurence Silberman, to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about weapons of mass destruction." [President Bush, 2/6/04]

17. Creation of the 9/11 Commission ... no independent commission vs. creating

BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11." [CBS News, 5/23/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." [ABC News, 09/20/02]

18. Time Extension for 9/11 Commission ... no ... yes

BUSH OPPOSES TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more time to an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." [Washington Post, 1/19/04]

...BUSH SUPPORTS TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION "The White House announced Wednesday its support for a request from the commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks for more time to complete its work." [CNN, 2/4/04]

19. One Hour Limit for 9/11 Commission Testimony ... limit vs. no limit

BUSH LIMITS TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF 9/11 COMMISSION TO ONE HOUR... "President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have placed strict limits on the private interviews they will grant to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that they will meet only with the panel's top two officials and that Mr. Bush will submit to only a single hour of questioning, commission members said Wednesday." [NY Times, 2/26/04]

...BUSH SETS NO TIMELIMIT FOR TESTIMONY "The president's going to answer all of the questions they want to raise. Nobody's watching the clock." [White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 3/10/04]

20. Gay Marriage ... "state issue" vs "federal ban"

BUSH SAYS GAY MARRIAGE IS A STATE ISSUE... "The state can do what they want to do. Don't try to trap me in this state's issue like you're trying to get me into." [Gov. George W. Bush on Gay Marriage, Larry King Live, 2/15/00]

...BUSH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING GAY MARRIAGE "Today I call upon the Congress to promptly pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife." [President Bush, 2/24/04]

21. Nation Building ... no vs yes

BUSH OPPOSES NATION BUILDING... "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road." [Gov. George W. Bush, 10/3/00]

...BUSH SUPPORTS NATION BUILDING "We will be changing the regime of Iraq, for the good of the Iraqi people." [President Bush, 3/6/03]

22. Saddam/al Qaeda Link ... "can't distinguish" vs. "no involvement in 9/11"

BUSH SAYS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEEN AL QAEDA AND SADDAM... "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror." [President Bush, 9/25/02]

...BUSH SAYS SADDAM HAD NO ROLE IN AL QAEDA PLOT "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in Sept. 11." [President Bush, 9/17/03]

23. U.N. Resolution ... "U.N. vote" vs. "withdrawn resolution"

BUSH VOWS TO HAVE A UN VOTE NO MATTER WHAT... "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council. And so, you bet. It's time for people to show their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam." [President Bush 3/6/03]

...BUSH WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR VOTE "At a National Security Council meeting convened at the White House at 8:55 a.m., Bush finalized the decision to withdraw the resolution from consideration and prepared to deliver an address to the nation that had already been written." [Washington Post, 3/18/03]

24. Involvement in the Palestinian Conflict ... "summit led to conflict" vs. "summit might help"

BUSH OPPOSES SUMMITS... "Well, we've tried summits in the past, as you may remember. It wasn't all that long ago where a summit was called and nothing happened, and as a result we had significant intifada in the area." [President Bush, 04/05/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS SUMMITS "If a meeting advances progress toward two states living side by side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting. I'm committed to working toward peace in the Middle East." [President Bush, 5/23/03]

25. Campaign Finance ... "oppose McCain-Feingold" vs. "it improves the system"

BUSH OPPOSES MCCAIN-FEINGOLD... "George W. Bush opposes McCain-Feingold...as an infringement on free expression." [Washington Post, 3/28/2000]

...BUSH SIGNS MCCAIN-FEINGOLD INTO LAW "[T]his bill improves the current system of financing for Federal campaigns, and therefore I have signed it into law." [President Bush, at the McCain-Feingold signing ceremony, 03/27/02]

26. 527s ... "ban not OK" vs. "they're bad" vs. "thought we'd gotten rid of"

Bush opposes restrictions on 527s: "I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising [in McCain Feingold], which restrains the speech of a wide variety of groups on issues of public import." [President Bush, 3/27/02]

...Bush says 527s bad for system: "I don't think we ought to have 527s. I can't be more plain about it?I think they're bad for the system. That's why I signed the bill, McCain-Feingold." [President Bush, 8/23/04]

Added to American Progress list:
... Bush says he thought  he'd gotten rid of them:  "I'm denouncing all the stuff being on TV of the 527s. That's what I've said. I said this kind of unregulated soft money is wrong for the process. ... I, frankly, thought we'd gotten rid of that when I signed the McCain-Feingold bill." 8/23/04

27. Medical Records ... "private" vs. "can't expect confidentiality"

Bush says medical records must remain private: "I believe that we must protect?the right of every American to have confidence that his or her personal medical records will remain private." [President Bush, 4/12/01]

...Bush says patients' histories are not confidential: The Justice Department?asserts that patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential." [BusinessWeek, 4/30/04]

28. Timelines For Dictators ... "deadline" vs "don't set"

Bush sets timeline for Saddam: "If Iraq does not accept the terms within a week of passage or fails to disclose required information within 30 days, the resolution authorizes 'all necessary means' to force compliance--in other words, a military attack." [LA Times, 10/3/02]

...Bush says he's against timelines: "I don't think you give timelines to dictators." [President Bush, 8/27/04]

29. The Great Lakes ... "maybe divert" vs. "never divert"

Bush wants to divert great lakes: "Even though experts say 'diverting any water from the Great Lakes region sets a bad precedent' Bush 'said he wants to talk to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrø‡en about piping water to parched states in the west and southwest.'? [AP, 7/19/01]

Bush says he'll never divert Great Lakes: "We've got to use our resources wisely, like water. It starts with keeping the Great Lakes water in the Great Lakes Basin...My position is clear: We're never going to allow diversion of Great Lakes water." [President Bush, 8/16/04]

30. Winning The War On Terror ... "of course you can" vs. "don't think you can"

Bush claims he can win the war on terror: "One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we're asking questions, is, can you ever win the war on terror? Of course, you can." [President Bush, 4/13/04]

...Bush says war on terror is unwinnable: "I don't think you can win [the war on terror]." [President Bush, 8/30/04]

...Bush says he will win the war on terror: "Make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win [the war on terror]." [President Bush, 8/31/04]

________________

September 13, 2004
Both Candidates Often Shift Positions By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:22 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While working relentlessly to portray Democratic Sen. John Kerry as a ``flip-flopper,'' President Bush has his own history of changing his position, from reversals on steel tariffs and ``nation-building'' to reasons for invading Iraq.

Most recently, Bush did an about-face on whether the proposed new director of national intelligence should have full budget-making powers as the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission recommended. Bush at first indicated no, then last week said yes.

Just as GOP efforts to question Kerry's military record in Vietnam helped revive nagging questions about Bush's service in the Air National Guard, the ``flip flop'' attacks on Kerry could boomerang against an incumbent running on his record and reputation as a straight talker.

``The guy who is the ultimate flip and flop is this sitting president,'' said Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware.

Yet so far Democratic efforts to paint Bush as ``Flip-Flopper-in-Chief,'' as one Democratic news release put it, have not seemed to have had much impact on the race.

Republicans have been driving home their depiction of Kerry as a flip-flopper for months, in campaign ads, speeches and interviews. And polls suggest this line of attack is working.

Far more voters give Bush high marks for being decisive than they do Kerry. Three-fourths, 75 percent, in the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll said the president is decisive, up 7 percentage points from August, while 37 percent said Kerry is decisive, down 7 percentage points from a month ago.

Republican audiences chant ``flip-flopper'' when Kerry is mentioned, some political novelty stores are carrying flip-flop sandals bearing Kerry's picture, and the theme is reinforced by late-night comedians.

``Gee, I wonder if Bush will say the 'F' in John F. Kerry stands for flip-flop,'' said NBC's Jay Leno after Kerry last week suggested the ``W'' in George W. Bush stood for ``wrong.''

If he is a flip-flopper, Kerry has company.

--In 2000, Bush argued against new military entanglements and nation building. He's done both in Iraq.

--He opposed a Homeland Security Department, then embraced it.

--He opposed creation of an independent Sept. 11 commission, then supported it. He first refused to speak to its members, then agreed only if Vice President Dick Cheney came with him.

--Bush argued for free trade, then imposed three-year tariffs on steel imports in 2002, only to withdraw them after 21 months.

--Last month, he said he doubted the war on terror could be won, then reversed himself to say it could and would.

--A week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush said he wanted Osama bin Laden ``dead or alive.'' But he told reporters six months later, ``I truly am not that concerned about him.'' He did not mention bin Laden in his hour-long convention acceptance speech.

``I'm a war president,'' Bush told NBC's ``Meet the Press'' on Feb. 8. But in a July 20 speech in Iowa, he said: ``Nobody wants to be the war president. I want to be the peace president.''

Bush keeps revising his Iraq war rationale: The need to seize Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction until none were found; liberating the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator; fighting terrorists in Iraq not at home; spreading democracy throughout the Middle East. Now it's a safer America and a safer world.

``No matter how many times Senator Kerry flip-flops, we were right to make America safer by removing Saddam Hussein from power,'' he said last week in Missouri.

Bush has changed his positions on new Clean Air Act restrictions, protecting the Social Security surplus, tobacco subsidies, the level of assistance to help combat AIDs in Africa, campaign finance overhaul and whether to negotiate with North Korean officials.

But while Bush's policy shifts have been numerous and notable, Democrats haven't succeeded yet in tarring him as a flip flopper, said American University political scientist James Thurber.

``Kerry has made some statements about it, but he doesn't have a clear strategy for hammering back at the flip flops of the president,'' Thurber said.

The sustained Bush attack draws on Kerry's 20-year Senate record, with special emphasis on his votes to authorize force in Iraq in 2002 and against final passage last year of an $87 billion aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kerry didn't help himself by explaining that he first supported an amendment to provide the $87 billion by rolling back Bush's tax cuts. ``I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,'' he said. The Bush campaign turned the quote into an ad.

Bush aides brush off suggestions by Democrats that the real flip-flopper is Bush, not Kerry.

``One moment they say the president's too stubborn and the next day accuse him of being a flip-flopper. It's generated to a point of incoherence,'' said Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt.