Crawford, TX Rag Dumps Bush for Kerry...Big Deal? Eh...

Yesterday a left-leaning rag in the tiny town of Crawford, TX--Bush's current home town and population 691-- came out in favor of Kerry over Bush. So is this a huge blow? Well, hardly. Let's take a look at the Iconoclast endorsement shall we.
http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/Columns/Editorial/editorial39.htm

....Iconoclast purports Bush has done the following as a "hidden agenda":
(my counter to the assertion in blue)

• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.
Bush has borrowed from the "current surplus" in SS as has most every other president who's been in office sinc LBJ. I'd be interested in seeing what info tells them that SS benefits have been "slashed", I'm not aware of that and can't find reports that indicate such a truth. Perhaps they've stayed steady and b/c there is no increase that's perceived as a "slashing" of benefits. Bush has NEVER said he'd get rid of SS and even as recently as Tues. on O'Reilly stated that SS is a program that can't be abandoned and is an expectation since LBJ and he'll protect it yet would like to introduce a private component to it for those who'd like to invest rather than rely on the gov't handouts--which is quite progressive actually but dems didn't think of it so they hate it.
• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.
Where are the facts on this? Did they account for the largest prescription drug plan in the history of the country that was just passed earlier this year? Truth is that Bush isn't reducing benefits to vets but rather opposes changing the law that currently reduces a vet's benefits by the amount of disability they've received. He cites fiscal responsibility as a reason to resist this $58billion deal. I thought dems were pissed b/c Bush is carefree in spending but now he's heartless b/c he won't spend--what do you guys want?
• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.
Most of the workers who will lose overtime are already paid well. And more than 1 million low-wage workers -- who probably could use a salary boost -- would get overtime under the new rules. Salaried employees making less than $425 a week, or $22,100 a year, automatically would qualify for overtime, up from $155 per week, or $8,060, previously. Workers who make $65,000 or more would be exempt from overtime pay. And to suggest Bush can control oil prices is laughable. Period.
• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.
Bush gave tax cuts to everyone and those considered "rich" by most often times are our entrepreneurs, small business owners, etc. Furthermore, somehow Bush is spurring outsourcing by tax cuts--saving money sends jobs overseas--huh? Are people bitching in Japan when Toyota opens a car plant in San Antonio, TX which empolys thousands of skilled workers here in TX that didn't have jobs before? Japan's leader must suck too b/c of outsourcing. What would the dems propose? Increase taxes on corps thereby making cost of production higher and making them look out of the country for cheaper alternatives even more? Nice fix.• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.
• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and
This is an opinion, not an indesputable fact and no evidence of a hidden agenda for this is available so they shouldn't make such an assertion. Hate the war, that's fine but don't suggest a hidden agenda w/o proof.
• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.
Can you say, recession? Can you say 9/11? Can you say Afghanistan and Iraq? These events caused this government to pump money into it to provide for safety and prevent a recession from becoming a DEPRESSION. The economy was beginning a tailspin when Bush came in to office and on the heels of 9/11 the economy was dealt a huge blow--just ask the airline industry and others. Bush chose a tried-and-true method to pump up the economy which is reduce taxes to increase economic spending. We now have an unemployment rate that is equal to Clinton's in '96 which many consider one of our country's most rubust economic times. We see growth rates in the economy at near record levels this year. Sound like it worked. Now as the economy grows and tax income increases via spending increases and employment rate growth, the deficit will be reduced over the next 5 yrs. as proposed by Bush.Again, just trying to give the alternative view since this editorial doesn't.