THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Why George W. Bush? (10/17/04)

THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Why George W. Bush?

Promises made, promises kept

by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas

On November 2, Lesia and I will cast our votes for George W. Bush.

There are four reasons for our decision: taxes, education, security and family values.

We support President Bush because he is that rare politician, a man who keeps his promises. George W. Bush promised to lower our taxes. He did. Bill Clinton also promised to lower taxes. He raised them. George H.W. Bush said "read my lips, no new taxes," but his lips deceived us.

When George W. Bush took office, he inherited an economy going south. By lowering taxes for every taxpayer, he turned things around. Today we have a booming economy and low unemployment. Democrats accuse our president of providing tax cuts only for the rich. Lesia and I are not rich, and yet our taxes were cut. How come?

Did the rich get bigger tax cuts than Lesia and me? Of course. They should. They pay more federal taxes so their tax cut should be larger. A recent Treasury Department study on tax shares estimates that the top 1 percent of our population will pay 32.3 percent of the federal tax bill this year. The top 5 percent will pay 64.8 percent. The top 20 percent will pay 82 percent. The bottom 80 percent of our taxpayers, including the poor who pay no taxes, will only pay some 18 percent of the total taxes. We have no problem with that arrangement. Tax cuts for the rich are a good thing, because it means more money for investment; more investment means more jobs.

President Bush promised to improve public education, long a shameful blot on our nation. He kept that promise as well. We now have legislation called "No Child Left Behind." For the first time, schools and teachers are being held accountable nationwide. The budget for K-12 education has increased 49 percent since 2001. Included are increases of $139 million for reading programs and a 75 percent increase in special-education funding. Previous presidents paid lip service to our school problem. George H.W. Bush postured as "the education president" but did little. President Clinton did what the teachers union wanted. Education remained a low priority and our school children's academic performance continued to deteriorate. According to tests administered in 2000 by the Program for International Student Assessment (an arm of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), American students ranked 15th in reading among the 31 countries that participated in the survey. In a 1999 study of eighth graders in math and science, the United States ranked 19th out of 38 countries. Given this abominable performance by our students, something had to be done. George W. Bush did it.

When the United States was attacked by Islamo-fascists in 2001, President Bush promised to punish the perpetrators. He kept his promise. Today, Afghanistan, well on its way to becoming a democracy with equal rights for all, including women, is no longer a haven for terrorists. Saddam Hussein, a promoter of terrorism and a mass murderer, is no longer in power. For the first time in their history, the people of Afghanistan and Iraq are on their way to establishing a true democracy.

America has a long and proud history of nation-building. Think Japan and Germany after the second world war. The road ahead in Afghanistan and Iraq will not be easy, but President Bush will remain resolute and on task until the job is completed. Bet on it. Ukrainian Americans familiar with Soviet terror and its aftermath in Ukraine today should be able to relate to the kind of problems that emerge in newly freed nations.

Like it or not, the United States is at war and, despite the rhetoric of some misguided, "America is always wrong" academics and media bores, Lesia and I don't believe America asked for, or deserved this war. We were attacked by a crazed group of religious zealots who believe that the United States is the root of all evil in the world. Nothing we do will ever convince them otherwise. No negotiation is possible, because their goal is the total destruction of our society.

Family values are the final reason Lesia and I support President Bush. Although he isn't Catholic, we believe Dubya is more "Catholic" than John F. Kerry, who claims to be Catholic but doesn't practice his faith. Sen. Kerry supports abortion on demand. He's one of the few senators who voted against a bill to abolish the grisly procedure euphemistically referred to as "partial-birth abortion," a bill overwhelmingly passed by Congress but vetoed twice by President Clinton. How can Sen. Kerry, who claims to believe that life begins at conception, countenance such violent destruction of unborn innocents?

Gay marriage is another issue with which we have a problem. While we don't celebrate their lifestyle, we respect gays and lesbians as persons entitled to the same human rights as all Americans. Marriage is not a human right, however. For Christians, marriage is a sacrament. For the state, marriage is a civil right, a covenant between a man and woman. The state has an interest in marriage because it is the bedrock of society. Efforts to undermine marriage between one man and one woman (as in past attempts by Mormons to legalize marriage between one man and many woman) have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. President Bush supports the Defense of Marriage Act passed overwhelmingly by Congress and which, until the advent of an extremist judge in Massachusetts, was sacrosanct. To overcome the self-centered, deleterious influence of such a judiciary, President Bush is promoting a constitutional amendment which will settle the one man, one woman issue once and for all. Lesia and I support this effort.

And this brings us to the final reason for supporting President Bush. A number of judges will be retiring from the Supreme Court in the next four years. We want our president to nominate judges who will uphold the Constitution, not create laws according to their own whim. We want judges who will interpret the Constitution, not remake it in their own image. Lesia and I believe strongly that judges in this country have accumulated power that far exceeds what was envisioned by our founding fathers. The checks and balances among the three branches of the federal government, so brilliantly outlined in the "Federalist Papers," are being usurped by the judiciary. This dangerous trend bodes ill for the future of our country.

In conclusion, Lesia and I believe that a strong America, led by a principled and resolute president, is best for Ukrainian Americans, as well as for the people of Ukraine, many of whom still look to America for guidance and support. Only the people of Ukraine, however, can save Ukraine from the Russian bear. If Viktor Yushchenko is elected president, you can be sure that President Bush will invite him to the White House the first chance he gets. If the other Viktor wins, it will be a long four years for Ukrainians here and abroad.

Lesia and I urge you to vote for George W. Bush for all the right reasons.

Dr. Myron B. Kuropas and his wife, Lesia, are co-coordinators of Ukrainian Americans for Bush/Cheney 2004.

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