Edwards E-mail: ‘George Bush Doesn’t Care about Poor People’
USA TODAY’S ‘On Politics’ Blog reports: The subject line of a fundraising e-mail just sent out by the presidential campaign of Democrat John Edwards appears designed to get attention:
"George Bush doesn’t care about poor people."
It’s a take-off, of course, on the remark made by rapper Kanye West during a 2005 celebrity telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims when he said "George Bush doesn’t care about black people." West’s statement drew considerable criticism.
The e-mail, from Edwards adviser Joe Trippi, adds that:
John Edwards is launching the Road to One America Tour next week to shine a light on the 37 million Americans who live in poverty. If we don’t stand up for them, who will? George Bush and his corporate buddies won’t. The lobbyists in Washington won’t. And since the media can’t stop talking about Paris Hilton, you can bet they won’t help shine a light on it.
About the subject line: What do you think? Is it appropriate or not in a presidential campaign?
Email
Santorum: Money Will Not Defeat Obama, Ideas Will
Rick Santorum's Full Speech at CPAC 2012
Mr. Edwards is only half right.
The truth is Mr. Bush does not
care about anyone at all, with
the possible exception of himself.
Posted by: tucanofulano | July 13, 2007, 4:34 pm 4:34 pm
Gosh! That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking!
Posted by: artist22 | July 13, 2007, 4:38 pm 4:38 pm
Of course its appropriate. If its appropriate to put campaign ads out that arent even exaggerations but bold faced lies like Bush did during the 2004 election, then Anything is fair game after that.
Posted by: FormerRepub | July 13, 2007, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
Bush doesn’t care about poor people. Poor people should work harder. Its not our job to care for idiots, slackers, losers, and junkies.
Posted by: gregthebunny1 | July 13, 2007, 5:17 pm 5:17 pm
Why not put it out there? Its the truth. Bush cares about no one but #1 Georgie. If he cared about anything at all, our troops would be on their way home not sitting ducks for Iraqi police.
Posted by: Ron | July 13, 2007, 5:34 pm 5:34 pm
Let me tell you about the poor people out there they are a reflection of america. some have been misplaced by the shifting demomographics of the global economy, some have never escaped the mental impact of lifetime discrimination, some fought in Vietnam, the first Gulf war and the current war, some because of the restructing of benefits program can no longer afford basic healthcare for their families and some have been victimized by industry leaders whose greed and dishonesty caused them to loose their pensions and savings. Your insensitve note is what wrong with this country it is divisive and self serving it pits them aganist us. Grow up my friend and demonstrate compassion, because if you were honest with yourself you know you did not make it alone without help. I also hope that some unforseen incident does not land you for a period of time in their shoes. The majority of them indeed do have pride.
“Peace”
Posted by: murl41 | July 13, 2007, 9:05 pm 9:05 pm
murl41-Nice post, I totally agree. Although we do have a few “lazy” folks, we do have a large population that would love to work if given the job and skills.
Posted by: ccordero | July 13, 2007, 10:34 pm 10:34 pm
Ask impoverished seniors who no longer struggle as much to pay for the medication that keeps them alive. Where was that program under democrat incompetent rule? Democrats have made themselves unnecessary, retreading the same old crap….out of touch and out of ideas. Oh, except for joining with the ENEMY to defeat the United States Armed Forces in Iraq! How did that “FIRST 100 DAYS OF IGNORANCE” go? The FREAK SHOW in the houses not doing so well? I’m confident that you can come up with much more meaningless, time wasting drivel for the next year before you’re KICKED OUT.
Posted by: cheesetopping69 | July 13, 2007, 11:02 pm 11:02 pm
GW bush’s mother said it after Katrina, “They (poor and blacks who watched their loved ones dying in the streets)will come out of this ok. They were poor anyway.” Like mother, like son. Just think of the money spent on this war. What could it have done instead? Schools, health care, fund Social Security, health insurance for all, investigate why drugs cost more here in the U.S. than they do in other countries, research to find cures for Alzheimers, Lou Gherig’s disease, and a host of other good things that we need. But no. George W. Bush thinks demolishing a country and killing its people and sending our military into a civil war is better than solving problems caused by poverty and lack of money for research. Billions of $ have been spent on this war, but our military did not have suitably armored vehicles to withstand the explosives planted by the sides of roads. What about war money allocated for reconstruction. Has anyone seen any new construction in Iraq? There have been remarks about profiteering in this war. Where did the money go? GWBush does not care about the poor or the blacks. He got himself into a big mess and he is so delusional that he thinks postponing bringing the troops home will give him time to win the war. He is truly delusional. I would rather have spent some of the money on education for poor people–of course, with the outsourcing of jobs, would there be jobs for them if they got an education? This man has worked against the best interests of his own country time and time again. He should be impeached along with Cheney.
Posted by: rosemary | July 14, 2007, 6:31 am 6:31 am
I used to believe in justice. I used to believe in democracy. I have seen the levels to which greed and cruelty can rise when unchecked, and I don’t know if we can come back. If it’s Bush, Edwards, McCain, Clinton, or Obama, what does it matter. Our freedom has been bought and paid for. The corporations are our new elected leaders. We elected them when we bought that gas guzzling SUV. We elected them everytime we decided feeding our childred fried processed chicken hunks out of a ‘Happy Meal’ was a more viable option than making something good and wholesome ourselves. WE have allowed this. MONEY is the new justice. A man can bust out your car window, steal your stereo and get shot 12 times for his trouble. A CEO can steal 1 billion dollars from thousands of hard working employees retirement funds, and the police call to see if they can pencil him in for lunch and decide how they want to handle this. The more money you spend on your lawyers, the less time you serve for your crimes. THIS IS THE NEW JUSTICE SYSTEM. THIS IS THE NEW AMERICA. I used to believe in justice. I gave that up. But I still believe in what America CAN BE. We can only change the path we have set if we truly want to. Make an effort. Don’t buy something just because the t.v. says you want it. Save your money. Don’t be fooled by credit cards and loans. Corporations wrote the new bankruptcy laws, so once you are in debt, you become an endentured servant for life. TURN OFF THE T.V.! Sit down with your children. Tell them you love them. Read. Teach. Play. Show them that there is a world outside of that brainwashing box. We must learn to think for ourselves. A revolution of thought is coming. People can only be fooled into contentment for so long. Eventually they all wise up. Now is OUR time. WISE UP!
Posted by: Radiohedge | July 14, 2007, 9:57 am 9:57 am
…and John Edwards does care about poor people? This coming from the man who took a $50,000 check to the bank AFTER GIVING A SPEECH ON POVERTY? No thank you. Vote for change. Vote HillBillie ’08!
Posted by: Stoic Patriot | July 14, 2007, 11:14 am 11:14 am
give me a break! anyone voting for u is a joke….
Posted by: Nigweezy | July 14, 2007, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm
There is nothing more emblematic of Bush`s and Kennedy`s disdain for the poor than their Illegal Immigrantion policy. They would grant Amnesty to the illegals and the businesses that hire them when the result of their stealing jobs and working at unreasonably low wages have pushed the poor further into the shadows of poverty. In addition, they have taxed these same poor to support the illegals and granted tax breaks to the “businessmen” who have profited from the resultant wage suppression of American workers.
Posted by: A Viet Nam Vet | July 14, 2007, 12:58 pm 12:58 pm
True that Bush does not care about the poor but is Edward care about them too? Sure…….
Posted by: marc | July 14, 2007, 1:15 pm 1:15 pm
I was a Dem for some time until I worked in areas of “poor” that had more than me and they were on the government dole, then I became a Republican. I now feel that we are at a major turning point in our nation as the final straw and eye opener was the immigration bill.
This was pushed by all the Dems, Bush, and McCain, but would hurt most Americans – especially the poor and the present union members.
What I could not believe was that the unions supported this, and it was hurting their members financially. I also could not believe that many Republican Senators and Bush could support this when it would ultimately fracture the GOP and destroy our nation.
It is clear that this bill showed that Bush does not care about the poor as it is claimed – but not in the way that the Dems think. The Dems think of giving from government programs but Bush doesn’t think that way, he thinks of the poor working like you and me. Bush was pushing this as big business wants this to keep employee costs down. The problem is that the Dems were also pushing this bill which means they also don’t care either.
Does Edward care for the poor – yes – he pays more for hair cuts, He lives in high priced homes, and has a high priced life style. The only thing wrong with that is the HYPOCRISY of his message.
Posted by: Jeff | July 14, 2007, 3:15 pm 3:15 pm
Maybe the President doesn’t care because he has too many men dying across the big pond and that is taking all his energy right now…poverty needs addressing but the president needs a whole new crew hired by the people of this nation to help find out the truth…Women and children still suffer poverty…all men should work but where…how many women still get paid from so little…if it weren’t for my military career I would have nothing but headaches and two jobs just to make ends meet…social security is just a supplement that will be taken away, for the youngest at 16, they feel the mother can make it today…Congress sets the pace you see, so before you blame the President take a look at the power of the seats today! Yes, this story should unfold on the campaign trail…Poverty, women and children…men who have no jobs, and the lies states put out to cover-up, and control the masses to keep jobs from higher pay to offset the differences of wage… Apache
Posted by: Apachecheynne | July 14, 2007, 6:21 pm 6:21 pm
When the democrats manage to pass some sort of carbon tax or carbon trading scheme in the name of “saving the planet” who will the higher energy prices hurt first? The poor and the middle class. The further de-industrialization that has been proceeding in America will only accelerate more. There goes more of the middle class manufacturing jobs. I am upset with the President over immigration and the open borders, but just wait till businesses have one more reason to move overseas with even higher energy prices. We need to build more well secured nuke plants and drill more and lessen the regulatory burdens on buisiness here in the US if we wish to keep the middle class from becoming the poor class.
Posted by: Jon Baker | July 14, 2007, 8:38 pm 8:38 pm
I wonder why 5 million people ‘decided’ to become poor since Bush took office. And 25 million ‘decided’ to climb out of poverty when Clinton was in office. Oh those fickel poor folks.. they are just lazy when Republican are in office.. no?
Posted by: Doug | July 15, 2007, 12:41 am 12:41 am
Unfortunately in most instances these days, hardwork is not enough to get rich you are either gonna need an education or have a great idea for a business and do it yourself. If you are waiting for the goverment to get you there it will not happen for you especially now after NAFTA which if I remember right we have Clinton to thank for sending many many factory jobs to the south. As much as I dislike Bush, he is not the only one to blame like Doug is trying to imply.
Posted by: Brad | July 15, 2007, 7:11 am 7:11 am
Before you believe anything that bedevils the Democratic agenda in the House remember that nearly every Bill that gets passed has Bush’s signing statements all over it, usually changing even the spirit of the legislation. That is Constitutionally wrong, but if Congress cared about the Constitution they would have already started impeachment proceedings against this regime.
Posted by: bob crawford | July 15, 2007, 9:29 am 9:29 am
It’s not that George Bush doesn’t care about poor people. He just doesn’t know any.The famous interview that he had with a religious leader before he was elected proves it. He told him that he didn’t know how to talk to poor people because he had never been poor.
Posted by: cliff jones | July 15, 2007, 10:34 am 10:34 am
As a Native Texan, long time Republican, and lifelong die-hard conservative; the preponderance of evidence forces me to reluctantly conclude that not only does he not care about poor people (i remember his “hang ‘em high” record as Texas governor); he’s not all that charitable to the middle class, either. If it ain’t about anything good for “bidness”, it don’t matter to anyone in the Dubya administration.
Posted by: Jim Kendrick | July 15, 2007, 1:43 pm 1:43 pm
That story is pure bs. Of course Bush cares about the people. Without them, he wouldn’t be in offfice. And without them, he would have no one to rule over.
Posted by: carl bratananalewski | July 15, 2007, 6:54 pm 6:54 pm
Dear ABC News’ Political Radar:
Hi! I think John Edwards has a right to free speech. It is a civil right. Freedom of expression in another civil right. I feel that unless Bush or his Cabinet members don’t like the message and stand their ground against it, then Edwards should put anything they want on their campaign slogan. Knowing that I haven’t studied as much law yet as others, I am young and know that a good debate is worthwhile sometimes.
I still have yet to learn about the 2008 Unites States of America presidential candidates. Until I finish learning much, my opinion is that the next president should help the poor people in Iraq, Bosnia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, and every poor living area known to man. If we as a country just ignore the poor, we are doing ourselves a dis-service. We need to serve ourselves and others by actually helping people, building homes, sewage, irrigation systems, and clean running water systems as needed in parts of Africa, and deliver and develop medicine for developing countries such as AIDS medicine for Russia and HIV medicine as well as internal medicine for these future reigning countries as the U.S.
Now, I am not prejudice by any means, nor revert to reverse discrimination based on my own half South Korean half caucasian nationality, but do consider minorities when it comes to the next U.S. presidential race, poverty, and just helping each other out and get ahead as the white race is doing. We all want to be equal, and should help each other out. We are all human, so let’s try to make everything fair for the disabled and abled, the young and elderly, the women and men, and everyone and everything combined. I think it would be neat to have a thirty-five year old African American female president with one leg for instance, or a one-humdred year old Indian male who has five different talents.
I believe that if a person is president of the United States, he or she should care about people but not judge or be judged. The person should have a good heart and have human understanding. The person should like to give. The person should be a good listener and be able to solve problems. I appreciate your time and look forward to talking with you again soon in the future.
Thank you,
Autumn Song Cha
Posted by: Autumn Song Cha | August 18, 2007, 8:49 pm 8:49 pm
hmm,,your post is great i think
i am in line with you that person who want to be a president have to understand his/her citizens and unfortunately many of them were not.
wish all the best for our country,,
best wishes
Posted by: sandra | December 22, 2007, 6:03 am 6:03 am
I think bush only cares about himself to.I would money just to see him give up money to a poor person,or help one in general.
Posted by: Kelly pineman | January 14, 2008, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm