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| Background |
Age: |
58 |
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| Marital Status: |
Married |
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| Religion: |
Methodist |
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| Education: |
B.A from Yale University (1968) and MBA from Harvard University (1975) |
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| Current Job: |
U.S. President |
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| Previous Job: |
Governor of Texas |
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| Previous Elected Office: |
TX Governor, 1994-2000 |
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| Military Experience: |
National Guard |
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| Financials (provided by
Center for Responsive Politics) |
Money Raised: |
$243,656,202 |
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| Money Spent: |
$207,994,857 |
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| % Money from PACs: |
1% |
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| Position on Issues |
Stance on Iraq: |
The conflict with Iraq was primarily developed and implemented by Bush and his administration. |
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| Abortion: |
Voted Yes on Partial Birth Abortion Ban, believes in "the unalienable right of life."
On his first day in the Oval Office, Bush reinstated the infamous Global Gag Rule, cutting off U.S. funding to international family planning organizations that offer abortion counseling or services with their own privately-raised funds, lobby the host government for abortion law reform, or disseminate information about abortion. The policy had been instituted under the Reagan administration in 1984 and had been overturned by President Clinton. |
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| Gun Control: |
We stand strongly for the Second Amendment, which gives every American the individual right to bear arms |
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| Capital Punishment: |
I was the governor of a state that had a death penalty and, as far as I was concerned, I reviewed every case and I was confident that every person that had been put to death received full rights and was guilty of the crime charged. |
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| Same Sex Marriage: |
The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honoring -- honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. |
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| Economy: |
On Taxes: The President’s tax relief gave America’s businesses, large and small, an increased incentive to make the investments they need to stay competitive and to create more jobs. His tax relief quadrupled the limit on small business expensing to $100,000 and offered larger businesses 50 percent bonus depreciation. These tax provisions reduce businesses’ upfront costs when they purchase new computers, trucks and other equipment to make their employees more productive. |
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| Employment: |
On Outsourcing: The President is concerned about the loss of any job. His priority is to focus on creating jobs in this country, while ensuring that American workers have the skills they need to access those jobs.
That is why he three times led the Congress to pass major tax relief bills to help the economy create more jobs, and why he has worked to open foreign markets to American made goods and services…Open trade with the world encourages foreign companies to locate their plants here and to hire American workers. Foreign firms provide paychecks to 6.4 million Americans.
Increased foreign investment means more factories and more jobs. A retreat into economic isolationism would jeopardize these jobs. The answer to outsourcing is to make Americans more competitive in the global marketplace, not isolate ourselves from it. The President’s pro-growth and job training polices are helping American companies and workers to do just that.
On Job Training: The President is committed to helping American workers acquire the skills necessary to access higher-paying jobs. His budget commits $23 billion for job training and employment assistance in programs throughout the government.
He has proposed more than $500 million for his Jobs for the 21st Century initiative to help prepare U.S. workers to take advantage of the better skilled, higher-paying jobs of the future. This initiative includes $250 million for America’s community colleges to train workers for industries that are creating new jobs today, as well as funding for new secondary education programs to better prepare high school students for the jobs of the 21st Century. |
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| Healthcare: |
On Medicare: Signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
According to Factcheck.org “the average drug bill for seniors is expected to be $3,160 in the year 2006, when the new drug benefit will go into effect. The new benefit will pay more than half of that, and even after deducting an estimated $35 per month in premiums to purchase the coverage, seniors with that average drug bill will be $1,080 ahead. For those with very large drug bills the new benefit provides catastrophic coverage that pays 95% of all drug costs above $5,100." |
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| Stem Cell Research: |
As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research.
I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life and death decision has already been made… Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line, by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life.
This year, your government will spend $250 million on this important research. … I will also name a President's council to monitor stem cell research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations, and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation.
Proponents of stem cell research, opposed President’s Bush decision to limit funding for research to existing stem cell lines. |
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| Environment: |
On the Kyoto Protocol: Opposed the Kyoto Protocol on the grounds that it was hurtful for the US economy and that neither China nor India were subject to the Protocol’s measures.
“Implementation of the Kyoto treaty would have cost our economy up to $400 billion and would have resulted in the loss of up to 4.9 million American jobs. The United States Senate also rejected the treaty 95-0 in 1997.”
Proponents of the Kyoto Protocol have argued that on a per capita basis emissions from India and China are far less than the ones produced by the US.
On an alternative to the Kyoto Treatment: President Bush has committed America to meeting the challenge of long-term global climate change by reducing the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output, or greenhouse gas intensity, by 18 percent by 2012 compared to 2002. The United States is sponsoring, with international and private-sector partners, a $1 billion, 10-year demonstration project to create the world’s first coal-based, zero-emissions electricity and hydrogen power plant (FutureGen).
This project is designed to dramatically reduce air pollution and capture and store greenhouse gases.
When the Bush administration first introduced its alternative proposal to the Kyoto treatment, MIT professor Paul Krugman wrote the following in the New York Times: “What is this thing called greenhouse gas intensity? It is the volume of greenhouse gas emissions divided by gross domestic product. The administration [of George Bush] says that it will reduce this ratio by 18 percent over the next decade. But since most forecasts call for G.D.P. to expand 30 percent or more over the same period, this is actually a proposal to allow a substantial increase in emissions.
Still, doesn't holding the growth of emissions to less than the growth of the economy show at least some effort to face up to climate change? No, because that would happen anyway.”
On alternative energy: The President has called for tax incentives totaling $4.1 billion through 2009 to spur the use of clean, renewable energy, and energy-efficient technologies, such as hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, residential solar heating systems, renewable energy produced from landfill gas, wind, or biomass, and efficient combined heat and power systems.
On transportation issues: through the President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by pollution-free fuel cells. The Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the FreedomCAR Partnership will provide $1.7 billion over five years to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, a hydrogen infrastructure, and advanced automobile technologies that emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases.
On Clear Skies Act: President Bush’s Clear Skies legislation would dramatically improve air quality by reducing power plants’ emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and mercury by approximately 70 percent over the next 15 years, more than any other clean air initiative. |
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| Candidate Bio |
George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn into office January 20, 2001, after a campaign in which he outlined sweeping proposals to reform America's public schools, transform our national defense, provide tax relief, modernize Social Security and Medicare, and encourage faith-based and community organizations to work with government to help Americans in need.
President Bush served for six years as the 46th Governor of the State of Texas, where he earned a reputation as a compassionate conservative who shaped public policy based on the principles of limited government, personal responsibility, strong families, and local control.
President Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, and he grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1968, then served as an F-102 fighter pilot in the Texas Air National Guard.
President Bush received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1975. After graduating, he moved back to Midland and began a career in the energy business. After working on his father's successful 1988 presidential campaign, he assembled the group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989.
He served as managing general partner of the Texas Rangers until he was elected Governor on November 8, 1994, with 53.5 percent of the vote. He became the first Governor in Texas history to be elected to consecutive four-year terms when he was re-elected on November 3, 1998, with 68.6 percent of the vote.
Since taking office, President Bush has signed into law bold initiatives to improve public schools by raising standards, requiring accountability, and strengthening local control. He has signed tax relief that provided rebate checks and lower tax rates for everyone who pays income taxes in America. He has increased pay and benefits for America's military and is working to save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.
He is also committed to ushering in a responsibility era in America, and has called on all Americans to be "citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building communities of service and a Nation of character."
The attacks of September 11th changed America - and in President Bush's words, "in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment."
President Bush declared war against terror and has made victory in the war on terrorism and the advance of human freedom the priorities of his Administration. Already, the United States military and a great coalition of nations have liberated the people of Afghanistan from the brutal Taliban regime and denied al Qaeda its safe haven of operations. Thousands of terrorists have been captured or killed and operations have been disrupted in many countries around the world.
In the President's words, "our Nation - this generation - will lift a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."
President Bush is married to Laura Welch Bush, a former teacher and librarian, and they have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna. The Bush family also includes their dog, Barney, and a cat, India.
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| Vice President |
Cheney - Vice President Richard B. Cheney has had a distinguished career as a businessman and public servant, serving four Presidents and as an elected official. Throughout his service, Mr. Cheney served with duty, honor, and unwavering leadership, gaining him the respect of the American people during trying military times.
Mr. Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 30, 1941 and grew up in Casper, Wyoming. He earned his bachelor's and master's of arts degrees from the University of Wyoming. His career in public service began in 1969 when he joined the Nixon Administration, serving in a number of positions at the Cost of Living Council, at the Office of Economic Opportunity, and within the White House.
When Gerald Ford assumed the Presidency in August 1974, Mr. Cheney served on the transition team and later as Deputy Assistant to the President. In November 1975, he was named Assistant to the President and White House Chief of Staff, a position he held throughout the remainder of the Ford Administration.
After he returned to his home state of Wyoming in 1977, Mr. Cheney was elected to serve as the state's sole Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
He was re-elected five times and elected by his colleagues to serve as Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee from 1981 to 1987. He was elected Chairman of the House Republican Conference in 1987 and elected House Minority Whip in 1988. During his tenure in the House, Mr. Cheney earned a reputation as a man of knowledge, character, and accessibility.
Mr. Cheney also served a crucial role when America needed him most. As Secretary of Defense from March 1989 to January 1993, Mr. Cheney directed two of the largest military campaigns in recent history - Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. He was responsible for shaping the future of the U.S. military in an age of profound and rapid change as the Cold War ended. For his leadership in the Gulf War, Secretary Cheney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush on July 3, 1991.
Mr. Cheney married his high school sweetheart, Lynne Ann Vincent, in 1964, and they have grown daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, and three granddaughters.
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