Republican Mud Slinging

The latest accusations from RNC attack dogs against democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, include charges he consistently voted against weapons systems while serving in the Senate. These attacks are an effort to impugn the Senators stance on national defense and they deserve a closer examination.

Lets take a look at some quotes from the days of yore.

"After completing 20 planes for which we have begun procurement, we will shut down further production of the B-2 bomber. We will cancel the small ICBM program. We will cease production of new warheads for our sea-based ballistic missiles. We will stop all new production of the Peacekeeper [MX] missile. And we will not purchase any more advanced cruise missiles. The reductions I have approved will save us an additional $50 billion over the next five years. By 1997 we will have cut defense by 30 percent since I took office."

Was this John Kerry going soft on national defense again. Nope. In actuality, the above quotation comes from former President George H. Bush's 1992 State of the Union speech. Was he soft on defense?

Or how about the following remarks,

"Overall, since I've been Secretary, we will have taken the five-year defense program down by well over $300 billion. That's the peace dividend. And now we're adding to that another $50 billion of so-called peace dividend.

Congress has let me cancel a few programs. But you've squabbled and sometimes bickered and horse-traded and ended up forcing me to spend money on weapons that don't fill a vital need in these times of tight budgets and new requirements. You've directed me to buy more M-1s, F-14s, and F-16sall great systems but we have enough of them."

John Kerry right? Wrong. That was Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney speaking to Congress. He's defintely soft on defense.

Votes must be looked at in the context of which they are cast.