Text 2559, 62 rader
Skriven 2004-09-24 20:02:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Kerry
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The debates will be fun to watch...

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http://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm

Inside the Beltway


By John McCaslin


Kerry out attack 
    During a 1997 debate on CNN's "Crossfire," Sen. John Kerry, now the 
Democratic presidential nominee, made the case for launching a pre-
emptive attack against Iraq. 
    So reveals Rep. Peter King, New York Republican, who appeared with 
Mr. Kerry on the program. 
    Mr. King says the U.N. Security Council had just adopted a 
resolution against Iraq that was watered down at the behest of the 
French and the Russians. Yet the candidate who now criticizes President 
Bush for ignoring French and Russian objections to the Iraq war blasted 
the two countries, claiming that they were compromised by their business 
dealings with Baghdad. 
    "We know we can't count on the French. We know we can't count on the 
Russians," said Mr. Kerry. "We know that Iraq is a danger to the United 
States, and we reserve the right to take pre-emptive action whenever we 
feel it's in our national interest." 
    While no "Crossfire" transcripts from 1997 are available, Mr. King 
in recent days produced a tape of the show, sharing it with New York 
radio host Monica Crowley for broadcast, and this Inside the Beltway 
column for publication. Stay tuned. 
     
    Hill harvest 
    In passing the 2005 Transportation, Treasury and Independent 
Agencies Appropriations Act, Congress this week handed itself a pay 
raise — jacking up its annual salary nearly $4,000 above a current 
income of $158,000. 
    It marks the sixth straight year that Congress has accepted an 
automatic pay raise. Hats off to two-term Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah 
Democrat, who last week made a procedural attempt to prevent the annual 
pay increase, but his measure was voted down 235 to 170. 
    Does anybody care that the congressional paycheck is growing while 
the country is $422 billion in debt? 
    "Members of Congress must think that money grows on trees," says 
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz, who 
agrees that "one of the many perks of being a member of Congress is that 
it is the only job in which you can apparently get away with giving 
yourself a pay raise during a time of increasing red ink." 
     
    Flip-flopping 
    Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani told President Bush this 
week that he is sorry. 
    "I owe you an apology," Mr. Giuliani began. "I made a mistake during 
my [Republican National Convention] speech ... I said that with 64 days 
to go, John Kerry could change his mind five or six times about what to 
do in Iraq. Well, he's already changed his mind four or five times and 
I'm going to be proven wrong again because I think we're looking more 
like eight or nine times."

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