The Economic Breakdown: What To Do About It

July 2023

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.:
LaRouche continued to call for an open Democratic Party Convention to take up the real questions of what to do about the failing economy, and how to break the Cheney warhawk grip on government.

On July 15, in Washington, D.C., LaRouche will give an international webcast, titled, "The New Threat of Fascism Today," for which he wrote, in late June, a statement of that name, stressing that, "Today, as the U.S.A. and the world wobble on the brink of the greatest world monetary-financial crisis in histroy, we need a new quality of Administration of the U.S.A. We require, absolutely, a new Administration, which is qualified in both intellect and commitment, to lead the planet, wracked by this new crisis, as Roosevelt saved the world from the fascist world tyranny which would have conquered the world, but for a Roosevelt-led U.S.A. over the 1933-1945 interval, until that President's untimely death...."

LaRouche gave special attention to the leadership crisis in the United States, by spending time in Europe in June, meeting with people, and issuing a series of campaign statements from there, combatting the wimpy idea that some leading circles now have in Europe, that the EU can stand back and benefit by letting the United States self-destruct, economically and politically.

Among the warnings, LaRouche stressed the danger and venality of certain EU intentions to start treating eastern Europe, and even Russia, the way that Wall Street--Synarchist--circles in the U.S. have looted Mexico and other nations through globalist, slave-labor, "free trade" practices. Among other dangers, this creates the guaranteed threat of war.

LaRouche wrote the following policy advisories on this:

June 4, 2023: LaRouche on U.S. Policy Toward Europe: The U.S. View of NATO and the European Union

June 18, 2023: "Is the Present European Union Doomed?"

June 28, 2023: "Hans Koschnick Poses a Question--Which the July Democrats Must Also Answer"

The reference to Mr. Koschnick in the last piece, is to a prominent interview of a former Vice-Chairman of the Social Democratic Party in Germany, who is sounding the alarm that long-standing parties--such as the Social Democrats [and the Democratic Party in the United States]--will be doomed if they continue to advocate implementing economic austerity, and fail to face the need for real economy-building, nation-serving measures.

John Kerry:
Senator Kerry continued his sniping at Bush's praise for the economy, with a limp, "we would do better" message. Speaking in Chicago in late June, at the annual Rainbow/PUSH conference, Kerry said, "This administration says this is the best economy of our lifetime. They say this is the best we can do. They've even called us pessimists. Well, I say the most pessimistic thing you can say is that we can't do better."

George W. Bush:
President Bush continued claims of economic success, telling reporters at a July 2 White House East Room briefing, "This economy of ours is steady and strong; it's steady and strong. It's steady and strong." The same day, Treasury Secretary John Snow said that, the "recovery is continuing."

These statements followed the advice of a recent two-page memo by and to the Bush-Cheney campaign, recommending talking up the economy more, according to a report in the {Palm Beach Post.}

Vice President Dick Cheney repeated the tax-relief line at a Kentucky event, the last week in June, "There's a simple reason for our growing prosperity. The Bush tax relief is working."

The same spin was offered for the June 30 Federal Reserve action to up the short-term interest rate from 1 percent, where it had been for four years, to 1.25 percent. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "It's not unexpected that as the economy continues growing stonger, that interest rates may rise some.... It's just a reflection that the economy is growing stonger and that people are finding work."

But the figures said to be backing this up, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are relying so much on "invisible" new jobs, and other hocus pocus, that the month-by-month Administration job-creation claims have become a sick joke. On July 2, the BLS reported that for the month of June, manufacturing employment fell by 11,000 jobs, with fully 7,000 of that number in {production} manufacturing. Overall, jobs reportedly rose by 112,000 in June this year--all in the service sector. Alongside this, according to the BLS computer model, 182,000 "new" jobs were spat out by phantom new companies, imputed by the model, to have come into existence! (This is 70,000 more than the official total gain in jobs reported by the BLS). The BLS reports that the official U.S. unemployment rate remains at 5.6%, or 8.2 million unemployed workers. This continues the fraud of not counting people who are "not looking for work" and other categories of actually unemployed.

Moreover, as of June 30, it is estimated that 2,031,000 out-of-work people will have suffered the expiration of all their unemployment benefits, sometime during the six-month period from December through end-of-June 2023, according to the Center for Budget Policy Priorities, which reports this as the largest number of such "exhaustees" in any six-month period since the early 1970s.

On June 28, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, at its annual meeting in Boston, released a new report saying that those people who have been able to find work, after they lost their jobs during the 2000-2003 period, are overall experiencing 12% lower wages in their new jobs. Also, 15% or more of the new jobs offer no health benefits at all.

Bush's July 2 claim of a "steady" economy is belied in particular by spreading hyperinflation, not just for households, in terms of food and fuel, but, for example, in basic commodities, such as steel. The June 29 {Detroit News} warned that surging steel prices could result in multiple bankruptcies of auto parts manufacturers within the next 90 days. The price of rolled steel, for example, has jumped 57% to $617 per ton this month, from $350 per ton in January.

June 2023

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Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.:
{$25 per Barrel Oil}. On June 5, the LaRouche in 2004 campaign released a statement on the candidate's May 27 call "for the oil-producing nations to set a target price of $25-$26 a barrel for petroleum, in order to bankrupt the speculators who have driven the price of oil into the stratosphere. LaRouche emphasized that these outrageous and harmful price levels {have nothing to do with supply and demand}, but are purely the product of speculation by hedge funds, financial institutions, and the London-based oil-marketing cartel, to pump up oil prices as a means of keeping the bankrupt global financial system afloat until after the U.S. Presidential elections."
The campaign statement concluded, "As President, Lyndon LaRouche will put a stop to this speculative looting, and restore the economy and financial markets to soundness and stability, putting the General Welfare of the population ahead of the greed of these financial parasites. He will prioritize re-regulation, and negotiate nation-to-nation contracts on a long-term basis.
"More information on LaRouche's analysis of the crisis can be found in {Executive Intelligence Review}, Vol. 31, No. 23, June 11, 2023 (www.larouchepub.com)."

{Hyperinflation/Breakdown}. In a series of radio interviews, broadcast in the remaining primary-election states--Alabama and South Dakota (June 1), New Jersey and Montana (June 8), LaRouche repeatedly stressed that the high oil prices were part of the general hyperinflation associated with the end-phase of the financial/economic breakdown crisis--the scope of which must be addressed, not denied.
On a June 1 Alabama radio interview, LaRouche summarized, "the lower 80% of the population of the United States has been in declining condition, physically, since about 1997. And now, today, for many people, it's worse. You have people who have full-time jobs, and they cannot afford to have a place of residence within those salaries. You have all kinds of things. We have a high rate of inflation. Look at food prices, meat prices, and so forth. So, the economic issue, including the runaway inflation, which is in process, in fact, the collapse of the dollar, the threatened collapse of the housing bubble, this is a major issue. And nobody is talking about it...."

{Open the Democratic Convention}. LaRouche is demanding that the July 26-29 Democratic Party Convention in Boston be truly open, and a stop put to the attempted ban on real policy debate, and attempted lock-out of millions in the Democratic Party. On June 8, Kentucky State Rep. Perry Clark (D-Louisville) said, "We need to shake up the Democratic Party before the National Democratic Convention, and we need to start telling the truth about the direction of our nation, before it is too late.
"In May of this year I endorsed Democratic Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, because he is not afraid to fight both the Democratic establishment and the terrible policies emanating out of the White House. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry.... Therefore, I join the call of Democratic Presidential candidate LaRouche to throw open the Democratic Convention in July. We need to have a deep, no-holds-barred debate on candidates and direction. Let the chips fall where they may, let the healthy policy debate begin."
LaRouche, trying to make the U.S. situation clear to European audiences in early June, said that Kerry would be a "different candidate" if he got the Party nomination after a real, open convention. In Berlin, May 30, LaRouche told a youth gathering, "Kerry is being advised to lay back, and let Bush hang himself. Well, that's rather stupid, as I think the former President Clinton recognizes. So there was a move in the Democratic Party to say, "Let's have an open convention." Which means, as I had proposed, have Kerry agree to release his delegates ... to vote their conscience on the first round, of the nominating poll, then you would have an open conference, an open convention...." And you would be, "bringing everybody in who should be brought in, for the kind of discussion and so forth the convention should represent...."

George W. Bush:
President Bush continued his April Fool pattern of claiming (fictitious) job creation and galloping economic recovery. (See April, below). On June 4th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report for May, claiming that, according to its household survey, the official U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6%, representing 8.2 million unemployed workers--that is, not counting the millions of jobless workers who are dumped into the category called, "not in the labor force." The BLS said there was a rise of 248,000 jobs in May, based on its survey of establishments, in which it uses a computer model to estimate how many {imputed} jobs are created by imputed--i.e., imaginary--companies.
According to this model, some 195,000 invisible jobs--{nearly 80% of the official increase}--were created in May! (These phantom numbers are not really ever verified, according to the BLS's Current Employment Statistics Net Birth/Death Model.) Employment in seasonal occupations also contributed to the purported increase in jobs; e.g., construction employment rose by 37,000 this spring.
All told, from March through May, 618,000 invisible jobs were reported by the BLS, nearly two-thirds of the purported 947,000 jobs-gain, much praised by the Cheney-Bush campaign.
On other lying matters, Cheney denied the charge by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in his book, {The Price of Loyalty}, that Cheney said, "deficits don't matter.... Reagan proved that." On June 7, Cheney reiterated his promise to halve the Federal budget deficit in five years.

{Oil Hyperinflation}. On official policy, the Cheney/Bush Administration holds to expressions of hope that "market forces" will bring down prices once OPEC increases output on July 1; and that the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve must be continue to be filled, not tapped, as security in case of terrorist attack.
Unofficially, Cheney has now personally come under renewed attention for his complicity in energy-bilking by so-called "market forces," during his tenure as chairman of the Bush Energy Taskforce, during the California debacle. In late May, utility commissioners in Washington state released transcripts of phone calls between Enron energy speculators from spring 2023, gloating over how they were ripping-off California. Blatantly illegal practices by Enron and other energy pirateers--Reliant, El Paso, Calpine, Williams, etc.--were abetted and protected by Cheney, who headed the energy task force, January-May 2023. To this day, Cheney has refused to release any of his task force records, despite court action.
Now Cheney's complicity with Halliburton, the energy logistics firm, getting a multi-billion-dollar contract from the Defense Department, is in question. An e-mail has been exposed, dated March 5, 2023 (less than two weeks before the start of the Iraq War), from the Army Corps of Engineers, saying the Vice President's office was consulted about the mega-deal, for which the award was made three days later. The June 7 issue of {Time} magazine reveals more details: On June 4, Cheney told CNBC, "My office is not involved in lending contracts to DOD or any place else. Vice Presidents don't do that; never have."

John Kerry:
On June 4, the Kerry campaign responded to the new Bush Administration hokey unemployment numbers, by taking them at face value. "Any step forward in the job market is good news for workers," said the campaign press release, which then repeated Kerry's stock economics themes and provisos: "But America is still in the worst job recovery since the Great Depression, with 1.9 million private-sector jobs lost in the Bush Presidency.
"Families are still struggling in this economy. Jobs are scarce and those lucky enough to have one are making $1,500 less each year. Meanwhile, their budgets are being squeezed by skyrocketing costs of health care, college tuition, and gasoline.
"John Kerry has a real economic plan to create 10 million new jobs in his first term as President. He will end special tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs, help companies and families address the skyrocketing costs of health care, and move America towards energy independence." End release.
In practice, Kerry continues his backing for all key Cheney-Bush policies, with barely a caveat.
* {Outsourcing.} Kerry gave tacit support to Wal-Mart, the biggest outsourcerer of them all, in a crass me-too-ism of Dick Cheney, who held a rah-rah campaign event at Wal-Mart headquarters in Arkansas during the primaries (see April, below). On Memorial Day weekend, Kerry joined Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) in Hampton Roads, where Warner had just announced a gift to Wal-Mart, of $100,000 from the Governor's Opportunity Fund, to go to James City County, to support the expansion of Wal-Mart's superport facility serving all its eastern states stores! Already, Wal-Mart imports more than 40,000 containers a year through Virginia; and Warner may give it even more state aid, through the James River Enterprise Zone.
* {Alan Greenspan.} Kerry congratulated Bush's May 18 nomination of Greenspan for a fifth term as chairman of the Federal Reserve System, calling his record "one of distinction," in particular in terms of "fiscal discipline."
Kerry also continues his association with his infamous economic austerity advisers, Felix Rohatyn, George Soros, and Warren Buffett, the profit-guru who advised the Schwarzenegger campaign! In deference, Kerry persists in repeating the policy slogan, "fiscal responsibility." Soros was a principal sponsor, and keynote speaker at the June 3 "Take Back America" Democratic Party bash in Washington, D.C.
Kerry's deference to the money men is causing havoc at the grass roots. Typical is a recent Democratic Party "Meet-Up" for Kerry in Houston. Dismay broke out in the crowd, when the Houston campaign representative for Kerry sank to giving an extended defense of why Kerry should sound wishy-washy! He said that, "We don't want to give Bush anything to attack Kerry on." The meeting broke wide open, after someone then raised the demand that Kerry better sure differentiate himself from Bush on supporting Sharon. A LaRouche Youth Movement organizer asked the Kerry representative, "How can Kerry be differentiating himself when he brings in Warren Buffet and is playing with the idea of McCain?" A Kerry backer countered, "You have to have {money} to win," to which the LaRouche youth replied, "No, you need the People!" To which the same baby-boomer "money" person replied, "The people, my ass." The whole room gasped.
* {Blame Saudia Arabia for oil prices.} Kerry continues to talk the talk of the Cheney Energy Task Force's theme of energy independence, while focussing blame for oil and gas hyperinflation on Saudi Arabia. The Kerry campaign issued a release in April saying, "Bush's refusal to take on the Saudi's has cost Americans $24 billion this year alone."

May 2023

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LaRouche met with state legislators and community leaders in Louisville, Kentucky (May 5-7); and Little Rock, Arkansas (May 10-14), on the crisis, and what is required.

On May 17, LaRouche taped an address, that will be part of a mass-circulation campaign DVD, in which he summarized, why there such a huge campaign to stifle his policy voice todayeven to the point of the Democratic Party abrogating the 1965 Voting Rights Act. He said, "We're now in the greatest financial crisis since 1929-33. The present one, which is coming on fast, is worse than that, as you will soon experience this. The inflation which is now going on, the collapse of the markets, careening in from Europe and Japan, means that we are in trouble. Oil per barrel is over $41 now: Probably it will go much higher. This means a crash.

"Now, in the times of a crash, when banking systems go out, the question is: Who is going to pay for the collapse of the financial system? Will it be the speculators, the financial speculators? Or will it be the people?

"That was the issue back in 1929 to '33, when Hoover went to defend the bankers against the people. Franklin Roosevelt went for the people, and was elected for his support of the 'forgotten man....'"

Among the needed policies, LaRouche summarized: "In the same way as Roosevelt did back in 1933 and thereafter, we must resort to the Federal ability to manage the economy, to manage the currency, to create a fund of capital investment, initially for large-scale infrastructure projects, to get enough people employed, enough businesses activated, to bring the level of activity and income of the households and the states, up to the point that the states can manage their budgets, and meet their obligations.

"At the same time, we must bring the nation as a whole, up above the breakeven point, where we're building our way out of the crisis. This means large-scale infrastructure, it means employment in power generation and distribution of power; it means employment in water projects, of which we need many. It means employment in mass transportation. It means also aid to education, especially to rebuilding our shattered health-care system, which again, the HMO bill has devastated. It means also providing credit to banks which may be bankrupt themselves, but must still function as institutions for managing credit in local regions. To make sure that funds are available, credit is available, to businesses of merit in local areas, to build up private employment in the environment created by expansion of employment, in the building up of basic economic infrastructure.

"That is what has to be done. So far, because the leadership of both parties, that is, the campaign leadership, has completely ducked the issues, we're now plunging into a great depression...."

On May 18, Bush nominated Sir Alan Greenspan, for an unprecedented fifth term to head the Federal Reserve System. Since he took office in 1987, Greenspan's tenure has seen an unprecedented number and size of bubbles, including the info-tech, the fiber-optic, and now the one currently ready to pop, home-mortgage securities. The derivatives marketthe mother of all bubbles, originated and grew to its current, out-of-control volume, under Greenspan's watch.

In itself, Kerry's goal of "10 million new jobs" is a me-too of the LaRouche program for 10 million new jobs, for which LaRouche has given detailed plans for dealing with the financial bad-debt blow-out, how to extend low-interest credits, and what priority infrastructure projects must lead the recovery.

Kerry's proposals announced in April, for how to create 10 million new jobs, are premised on the misconception that the underlying economy is sound. He calls for a mish-mash of actions, including tax incentives, inducements to new investmentsuch as in river-front projects, tax penalties on businesses for moving jobs off-shore, and tougher trade practices, etc. Kerry's website provides state-by-state statistics on numbers of lost manufacturing jobs.

On May 16, Kerry continued this "me-too" on Bush's backing for globalized trade, by saying, "This Administration hasn't enforced our trade dealsI will." Speaking to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Las Vegas, Kerry committed to "level the playing field." Then, he told the Teamsters, "there's not a country in the world the American worker can't compete with and win."

Kerry singled out health care in a series of events, May 13-16Edinboro, Pa. (relief to households from high health-care costs), Louisville, Ky. (relief to small business from high health-care costs), Little Rock, Ark. (relief to Veterans, for health-care costs), etc. May 12, in Orlando, Fla., at a campaign event, he focussed, in a "me-too" mimic of Bush, on medical costs being the essential issuenot HMOs, not the shutting down of hospitals, not infrastructure, not deregulation of health care, etc. For example, Kerry said, "Imagine if you had a President who made sure you could buy drugs cheaply and safely from Canada, instead of telling us we can't When I'm President, you won't have to imagine anymore...."

On May 15, Kerry released a series of five vignettes, to give the math of comparisons of health-care-cost situations, under either a Bush or a Kerry Presidency. He also announced a new spot on his campaign website, for the public to "share stories" of how they are affected by the health-care-cost crisis.

April 2023

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George W. Bush: On April 2, President Bush said, "The economy is strong; it is getting stronger." Speaking at a small-businessmens event at a West Virginia univerity, Bush said, "The tax relief we passed is working." He praised new the Labor Department statistics announced April 2, which claimed that 308,000 new jobs were created in March. On his weekly radio show April 3, Bush called these figures a "powerful confirmation" of his tax-cut plan for recovery.

Bush repeated this theme later in the month--for example, campaigning in Pittsburgh April 19. He appeared with Sen. Arlen Specter (R), and said, "The steel industry is strong. Business investment is rising. Disposable income rising. Inflation is low and home ownership is at an historic high. The tax relief we passed is working."

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.: On April 3, LaRouche issued the statement, "Terror on World-Wide Main Street: President Bush's April 2." It began, "April Fools' Day came a day late this year. On Friday, April 2, the pack of ghouls and goniffs otherwise known as President George W. Bush, Jr.'s campaign strategists, pulled one of the dumbest publicity stunts in modern history, with the way in which they, and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, orchestrated the fraudulent reports intended to convince the world's dumbest suckers that there is an ongoing uptick in the already stumbling, bumbling, broken-down U.S. economy."

John Kerry: The Senator's first reaction to the April 2 Bush jobs statement was, "It's welcome news. I hope it continues." Then, over the weekend, Kerry caught himself, and re-emphasized the massive job losses throughout George W. Bush's Presidency. On the April 3 weekly Democratic radio reply to Bush's radio address, Kerry ignored the Bush jobs hoax report, and repeated his proposal to create jobs by putting penalty taxes on businesses taking jobs overseas, and cutting taxes domestically. He elaborated these themes on April 7, in a webcast from Georgetown University, billed as a major economic policy address, titled, "Fiscal Responsibility: a Stronger America." Under a banner of pledging to create "10 million jobs," Kerry ignored any idea of job-creation through infrastructure or needed economic activity, and instead called for a combination of punitive taxes on jobs shipped overseas, and otherwise, tax cuts for for "99% of American businesses and 98% of Americans," combined with "fiscal discipline." He said, "We will impose spending restraints."

Kerry continued these themes. On April 17, he spoke at a University of Pittsburgh rally, delivering his message, that "fiscal responsibility" by government is the key to economic recovery.

In a speech in Michigan April 28, billed as his third major policy address of the campaign, Kerry said, "Manufacturing should not--and must not--be a ghost of America's past." In order to bring it to life, he unveiled his plan to for government-backed investment to help create manufacturing businesses: a grand total of $200 million dollars during a Presidential term!

LaRouche vs. Kerry: On April 1, at a campaign event at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a Howard alumna asked Kerry, "From my travels and reading the foreign press from Russia, Europe, etc., it is clear that we are facing the end of the dollar system and Greenspan and his friends are just faking the figures. I have heard your plans for tax cuts, tuition credits, etc. You may be well-intentioned, but unless you address the collapse of the financial system, all of this will be moot. Several people have been calling for a new financial architecture and to look at the FDR precedent to protect the 'forgotten man'.... People are suffering. So I wanted to come here today to hear what you had to say, although my candidate is Lyndon LaRouche." To which Kerry replied, "As soon as you said the phrase, 'New Financial Architecture,' I knew whom you represented."

Kerry then said that he didn't agree that the economy is in a depression, or that things are as bad as the questioner portrayed. However, he said, the world economy faces many dangers and it would be his job to protect the United States from these dangers. "I, of course, will call together all of the greatest minds to work on these problems. For example, I am already working with Robert Rubin." As of May 1, the Kerry campaign asked Warren Buffett to consult on economics; Buffett was the Co-Chairman of the Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign, along with George Schultz.

March 2023

Internationally, the show-down between the IMF and Wall Street against the nation of Argentina, over unpayable debt obligations, characterized the bankrupt state of the entire financial system. On March 9, the IMF and Argentina made a time-buying agreement, with nothing settled. In the United States, the month of March saw dozens of states, counties and municipalities heading into the final quarter of the fiscal year (ending June 30), with lawmakers in emergency sessions, unable to deal with the financial crisis of how to continue government functions. For example, in January, Pittsburgh was officially declared in "financial distress"--the state terminology for bankruptcy-equivalence.

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.: During the month, LaRouche conferred with state lawmakers in Kentucky (March 8), Pennsylvania (March 29), and elsewhere, on the urgency of understanding the economic crisis. In Harrisburg, LaRouche said at a meeting with Pennsylvania legislators, "We're going to have to react to this crisis, with the mental outlook of Franklin Roosevelt's entry into the White House in 1933.... We would take emergency measures of the type that Roosevelt did--more drastic, but the same principle, in order to make sure that nothing collapses; that pensions are paid, that jobs continue, and essential services are continued. We would then, under bankruptcy reorganization, launch a large-scale infrastructure-building program. What I've shot for, for the next four years--$6 trillion of investment in basic economic infrastructure: the generation and distribution of power; large-scale water systems; large-scale transportation systems, both for communities as well as for the nation. To reactivate the states, with Federal credit to states, for creating public utilities in states, restoring public utilities, with the cooperation of legislation passed by the states.... This will create a core of jobs. The objective is, a 10 million net increase in jobs in the United States, during that period."

George W. Bush: On March 3, Treasury Secretary John Snow, speaking at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., repeated his statements on the U.S. economic recovery. The question was then put to him by a LaRouche Youth Movement member of the audience: "I have come across two great sophists in economic history. One was Adam Smith. The other, sir, is you. My question is, if you were able to speak with President Kirchner of Argentina, right now, what would you tell him? Would you say to him, 'Listen to the banks; pay the debt'; or would you say, 'Save the people!'"

Snow responded: "What would I tell President Kirchner, if I were to talk with him now? The same thing that I have already told him: 'You have made certain arrangements with the IMF, and your creditors. You need to hold up your end, you must see it through to the end, no matter what happens. If you do this, the United States will support you; if not, well, I won't come between Argentina and her creditors.'"

On March 26, Vice-President Dick Cheney addressed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, boasting of the great success of the Bush tax cuts in getting the economy going, and of the prospect of recovery and new jobs.

John Kerry: Senator Kerry and his campaign ignored the stand-off policy crisis in Argentina in March. On March 26, Kerry gave Part One of his three-part "Economic Program"--which he filled out at events later in the week. Part I of Kerry's plan was presented as a jobs program--not by emergency infrastructure programs, but by using tax incentives to keep jobs at home. He wants to eliminate the tax deferment policy for U.S. companies overseas, whereby they can defer taxes until they repatriate the earnings, often avoiding taxes altogether. This tax increase would be matched by a tax cut on businesses that stay in the United States, although he also would raise taxes on the highest brackets.

January 2023

As of early January 2023, the total U.S. indebtedness (government, corporate, household, etc.) was over $36 trillions (reported at end of third quarter 2023) which is three and one-half times the U.S. Gross Domestic Product; meantime, the economic contraction is so severe, that some 2.7 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past 2.5 years, with U.S. domestic consumption at record levels of import-dependence. As of January, the dollar had fallen 22% in one year, relative to the euro.

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

George W. Bush: In his infrequent remarks on the U.S. economy, the President spoke of its "success," given the blows and pressures against the United States, from such negative impacts on the economy as that of the 9/11 attack, the expenses of waging war on Iraq to "protect freedom," and such factors as OPEC limiting oil output. Treasury Secretary John Snow presented the Bush Administration assertion of the "recovery" underway in 2004, on a Jan. 11 ABC-TV show. Snow said, "We're in a good recovery. And with a recovery, jobs come. That's the nature of a recovery. We have very high productivity in the American economy today, which is slowing the job creation process."

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.: The LaRouche campaign circulated the candidate's economic policy statement, "On the Subject of Tariffs and Trade (Jan. 12, 2023): "The subject of this report, is certain urgently needed, radically new policies, respecting the regulation of tariffs and trade. These will be a crucial part of the changes, in our nation's thinking and practice, which must be made soon, if there is to be any realistic hope of a durable reversal of the presently inevitable, and early bankruptcy of the U.S. economy. This collpase, unless reversed by an early turn to the philosophy or practice of President Franklin Roosevelt in comparable circumstances, would mean a collapse of the present world monetary-financial/economic system into a relatively much deeper trough than during 1928-1933."

John Kerry: Tacitly accepting the Administration premise that the economy is working and will continue to work, Kerry focussed his own economic proposals on the need to be "fair" and not serve special, rich interests the way Bush does. Kerry also focussed on Bush's lies about job losses. On Jan. 7, Kerry announced his "10-Point Workers' Bill of Rights," calling for "fairness" in tax policy, in the workplace, in retirement plans, overtime pay, etc. He said he would create a White House Director of Family Economic Security. Kerry denounced Bush for what Kerry called Bush's "Special Interest Bill of Privileges."

In his Jan. 20 reply to Bush's State of the Union address, Kerry said, "This President only hears the special interests and lobbyists; he doesn't see what is happening in our economy." Kerry faulted Bush for standing by, while "we've lost more jobs than at any time since the Great Depression."

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Campaign 2023: Where They Stand
It's Down To LaRouche and Kerry

Strategic Crises - Southwest Asia

July 2023

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George W. Bush:

As of the Fourth of July, both the Administration and a Dick Cheney-protection network in the House of Representatives, were attempting to "wait out" the Super-Watergate building up against them, over potential culpability for war crimes arising from practices in Iraq, as well as for a raft of other open questions of misconduct or outright criminality, such as the misuse of huge flows of corporate funds, regarding Nigeria, during Cheney's chairmanship of Halliburton Corp.
There is a hearing scheduled July 22, in the House Government Reform Committee, on the Halliburton contract scandals, and in the Senate, John Warner (R-Va) is expected to hold a series of hearings on the Abu Ghraib torture atrocities, but otherwise, a small network is attempting to thwart further attention and investigations, by various means of obstruction. This includes House Republicans Duncan Hunter (Calif) and Tom Davis (Va), Porter Goos (R-Fla) and others.
Cheney's stance was shown in June, in his "Go f*** yourself" flipout at Senate Judiciary Committee member, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), on the floor of the U.S. Senate. This display of temper comes amidst mounting demands from Republicans that Cheney be replaced on the 2023 party ticket.
Bush himself continues to restate his confidence and pleasure in Cheney, and in Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, even as the scrutiny of the chain-of-command shows culpability for the Abu Ghraib prison torture practices. The most recent charge of Cheney's direct involvement is the report in the July 12 {Newsweek}, by Daniel Klaidman, that the now-infamous Jan. 25, 2023 memorandum, on how to evade Geneva Convention limitations on torture, originated in Cheney's office. According to {Newsweek} sources, the memo was written by Cheney's counsel, David Addington, and eventually was provided to President Bush by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, about whom rumors are flying of his desire to quit his post and return home to private life in Texas.
The Cheney-Bush Administration and campaign, continue to insist--in an "imperial Presidency" stance--that their pursuit of the war on terrorism overrides constraints on dealing with "enemy combatants." Even the Supreme Court, on June 28, issued rulings counter to this. The Court ruled 6 to 3, that all detainees at Guantanamo are entitled to access to U.S. Federal Courts to challenge their detention; and the Court ruled 8 to 1 that a U.S. citizen cannot be held as an "enemy combatant" without having the opprotunity to fully challenge in Federal court, the government's case for his detention.
Bush also received a rebuff from Europe in June, when he asked for NATO forces to be sent to Iraq. Instead of this, European NATO members offered the token gesture of willingness to train Iraqi security forces, but only on their own territory in Europe, not in Iraq.
On June 28, Bush described as "a success," the sudden, stealthy turnover of power in Baghdad, from the occupation, to the appointed so-called sovereign government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Left behind in Iraq, is a bankrupt country, with about $120 billion in foreign debt, no economy, and an insurgency growing worse. The Defense Department is mustering more U.S. forces, deploying thousands more from the National Guard, extending tours of duty; and, for the first time since Operation Desert Storm, the U.S. Army will mobilize thousands of troops from the Individual Ready Reserve. This includes civilians who have either retired, or were discharged after previous service. The Army is seeking around 6,500 from these "Ready Reserves."

Lyndon LaRouche:

The LaRouche campaign continues its organizing drive around the necessity for a cooperative economic rebuilding of Iraq in the context of its Southwest Asia neighbors of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. This LaRouche policy is receiving ever-widening circulation internationally; it is titled, "The LaRouche Doctrine; The Key to Peace in Southwest Asia."
In addition to that, a newly-released LaRouche campaign pamphlet, revealing who opposes such a development perspective, has reached the mass circulation of 800,000 as of July 4th. This hot item, issued in mid-June, is titled, "Children of Satan III; the Sexual Congress For Cultural Fascism." The reference is to the cultural warfare agency, founded in 1950, deceptively called the "Congress for Cultural Freedom," and to its activities, and those of related networks who were Nazi re-treads, which have contributed, over the decades, to bringing into public office, such dangerous personalities as Dick Cheney.
Third in a series of "Children of Satan" pamphlets, which LaRouche commissioned as a way to alert people to the names, the history, and the dangers, this latest pamphlet gives a documented account of the history of media control and other public mis-education operations done by such persons as Henry Luce, and the {Time} magazine empire--common knowledge as of the 1950s, but today considered incredible. LaRouche wrote the Preface for the 50-page booklet, stressing how the public has been worked over by corruption, but must now begin to act to remove the menace to the nation. His piece is titled, "How `The Sexual Congress of Cultural Fascism' Ruined the U.S.A. and Gave Us 'Beast-Man' Cheney."
LaRouche has been leading the charge on the necessity of getting Cheney, et al. out of office, to the point on July 2, of reitering his call for the resignation of Terry McAuliffe, Chairman of the Democratic Party, and Bob Shrum, an adviser to John Kerry, on grounds of their being, "the two Democratic campaign managers most likely to re-elect Bush and Cheney." LaRouche's action arose out of McAullife's emphatic statement the day before, that he directly supports Cheney remaining in office--and this, after the mammoth outburst of Bronx cheers against Cheney, at Yankee Stadium the same week.
On July 1, LaRouche Youth Movement campaigners confronted McAuliffe, at a youth campaign mobilization.org rally in Washington, D.C., on the need to mobilize to get Cheney out of office, and on the need to have an open Democratic Party convention, in order to have that on the agenda. McAuliffe replied, "Keeping Cheney in office is good for us."

John Kerry:

On the Fourth of July, Kerry wrote a guest column for the {Washington Post}, headlined, "A Realistic Path in Iraq," in which he rehashed reasons for his "call on NATO to step up to its responsibilities," even after Europe has just refused the same demand from Bush. Kerry called for policies in Iraq that would make the nation acceptable to the world investment community--good treatment of women, respect for minorities, and other platitudinous advice. Ignoring glaring realities in Iraq of economic disaster, no infrastructure, insurgency, and so on, Kerry spoke of how to win over NATO nations by urging them to forgive Iraqi debts owed to them, and get them in on reconstruction contracts.
Kerry concluded with the appeal, "I hope President Bush will fashion policies that succeed. But today we are not pursuing the most effective path. It is only by pursuing a realistic path to democracy in Iraq that we can connect our ideals with American common sense. Only then can we heal the wounds between our allies and ourselves and only then can we muster the might of our alliances to isolate our enemies and win the war on terrorism around the world."

June 2023

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

George W. Bush:
In early June, President Bush retained a personal attorney, in the face of numbers of open questions of high level chain-of-command culpability. Among the principal matters: insisting on going to war, based on known-to-be falsified evidence; the crime of "outing" the CIA-agent identity of the wife of Ambassador Joe Wilson, the man who exposed Dick Cheney's false charges of Iraq uranium purchases; and the revelations of top-level involvement of the Defense Department and the Vice Presidency in mandating prison atrocities in Iraq. The June 3 resignation announcement by CIA Director George Tenet signifies the fact that the Bush Administration is becoming unglued.
Further revelations are coming out on the Abu Ghraib prison torture orders. On June 7, the contents of a March, 2023, 100-page memo from senior Pentagon lawyers, was revealed ({Wall Street Journal}), which justified the President's right to authorize torture, to override U.S. law, and signed international accords, such as the Geneva Convention, and to absolve U.S. agents who practice torture.
Still, Bush retains Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney in office, despite, in particular, ever more vocal opposition in the military. Bush's official position is that his "five-step plan to help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom" is working. He is currently giving weekly updates--begun May 24--on "progress" in Iraq, toward the June 30 deadline for turning over some government functions to Iraqis.
On Bush's European tour, June 4-8, he reiterated the Cheney line on Iraq warfare justification, saying that appeasement of Saddam would have been equivalent to how Hitler was appeased. This fell flat.

Lyndon LaRouche:
On June 3, LaRouche announced support for the open letter to President Bush released that same day by senior Democratic members of six Committees of the House of Representatives, demanding Bush's cooperation in getting information to hold a public House investigation of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. They said that, if House Republican leadership continued to block such an investigation, the Democrats would carry out it out themselves. They are demanding to receive documents in 35 specified categories, by June 17.
LaRouche further made the public challenge, "I demand that John Kerry support that complaint, openly. He must stop being wishy-washy. I challenge Kerry to {have the guts} to support these House Democrats." A quarter million copies of LaRouche's June 3 statement hit the streets on June 8, titled, "LaRouche Challenges Kerry: Be Presidential, Show the Guts To Support Democrats' Call for Investigation."
On June 4, LaRouche wrote a policy statement, "The U.S. View of NATO and the European Union," to make clear, what is "the only competent view of the current strategic role of Europe from relevant circles in the U.S.A." He stressed that the context must be understood, namely, "The world as a whole is presently dominated by two leading factors of immediately threatened global catastrophe.
"First, the continued onrush of an already ongoing process of general breakdown of the world's present monetary-financial system.
"Second, the Anglo-American policy of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Vice President Cheney, of perpetual, nuclear-armed warfare, as is merely typified by the current asymmetric quagmire."
In early June, LaRouche commissioned a special report, for mass-circulation in the United States (released targetted for mid-month), to be titled, "Children of Satan III--The Sexual Congress of Cultural Fascism." The title reference is to an outfit called the Congress of Cultural Freedom, set up in 1950 as a capability, by re-located, trans-Atlantic, neo-Nazi interests, for the purposes of undermining science, culture, and public political judgment. The forthcoming pamphlet will feature extensive documentation. The Preface, by LaRouche, is titled, "How `The Sexual Congress of Cultural Fascism of Cultural Fascism' Ruined the U.S.A. and Gave Us `Beast-Man' Cheney."
LaRouche writes in the Preface, "During the 1964-81 interval, from the launching of the U.S. official war in Indo-China, through the inauguration of Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve System, the United States of America was transformed from the world's leading producer society, into what became that presently, terminally bankrupt 'post-industrial' wreckage which has been bestowed upon the currently crumbling Administration of Vice President Dick Cheney's puppet, George W. Bush, Jr. So far, as the worsening horrors now reported from U.S. operations in Iraq attest, what the world has seen there, is a growing image of that U.S. display of a quality of sheer, literally Hitler-like ``beastliness'' toward mankind, of which only depraved men were capable of becoming, at home, and, therefore, also abroad.
"The available remedy for these perilous conditions, would be a return to the successful precedents of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration."

John Kerry:
The Kerry campaign includes among its recent TV ads, one on "Winning the Peace in Iraq." The Kerry website continues to run his three-point "Strategy for Success in Iraq." The goal: "to establish security and move forward with the transition to Iraqi sovereignty." The first point is to, "Make Iraq a Part of NATO's Global Mission; the second, "Authorize a High Commissioner for Governance and Reconstruction" by the UN Security Council; and thirdly, "Launch a Massive effort to Build an Iraqi Security Force."
The non-starter character of Kerry's approach to Iraq was underscored June 8, by the praise given to Kerry from the right-wing Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), on its online, "New Dem Daily," in a commentary called, "Kerry for the Defense." The DLC praises features of what Kerry said June 3, on defense, in a speech in Springfield, Missouri--Truman's hometown--where Kerry called for the very kinds of policy directions Cheney and Rumsfeld have been pursuing all along, i.e., Cheney-lite.
Kerry said, "Despite all its talk of transforming the military, the Bush Administration has done FAR TOO LITTLE to adapt our forces to the new missions they must undertake." The DLC continues its favored quotes from Kerry: "We went into Iraq with too few troops to prevent looting and crime, and we failed to secure nearly a million tons of conventional weapons now being used against our troops.... These mistakes have complicated our mission: a stable Iraq, with a representative government, secure in its borders."
Kerry called for a "New Total Force" designed to "defeat any enemy, any time, any place," including such things as doubling the Special Forces, stopping spending "billions to deploy an unproven missile defense system," implementing "military transformation" that is, "technology-driven," and other Cheney-isms.

May 2023

Iraq Warfare Crisis

As of mid-May, an unprecedented number of retired U.S. military leaders were speaking out, on the record, for exit from Iraq. For example, Gen. William Odum (U.S. Army-Ret.) said that it was delusional to "stay the course" in Iraq (Wall Street Journal, April 28). Gen. Joseph P. Hoar (USMC-Ret.), former CentCom Commander-in-Chief spoke of the wrongness of ever launching the Iraq war in 2023 (May 6, EIRNS).

There are numerous calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to leave office, including by the Army Times, the Navy Times, the Marine Times, the Air Force Times, and major regional press, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Long Island Newsday, and others.

During April, thousands of Iraqis and dozens of U.S. servicemen were killed in Iraq. A bloody show-down was averted in Fallujah on April 30, only by the U.S. commander on the scene, Gen. James Conway (1st Marine Expeditionary Force) arranging for the security of the city to be taken over by Maj. Gen. Yassim Mohammed Salah, formerly of the Iraqi Republican Guard. Reportedly, high-ranking civilian officials at the Pentagon opposed this.

On April 28, CBS's "60 Minutes" publicized photos of abuse of Iraqi prisoners, done by U.S. military police, intelligence, and private contract agents, at the Al Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Since then, dozens of photos, plus video clips, have been appearing. At a May 11, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, a Pentagon official close to both Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, detailed how the chain of command responsible for the abuse in Al Ghraib included Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, who is notorious for expressing Uebermensch claims that his God is superior to that of Islam. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, asked for Boykin to be relieved of his office, back in October 2023, because of those statements.

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

George W. Bush:
On May 10, Bush went to the Pentagon, and personally reiterated his support for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to remain in office, amidst growing a furor for his resignation. Bush viewed photos of abuse at the Al Graib prison, not yet made public. On Saturday, May 8, Cheney issued a statement from his office, aggressively defending Rumsfeld. "Don Rumsfeld is the best Secretary of Defense the United States has ever had. People ought to get off his case and let him do his job."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld defended himself on May 6, before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, admitting responsiblity for the prison conduct failure and promising an investigation, but insisting he was the best person to continue to head the Department.

On May 5, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz met with Senate and House members, asking for an additional $25 billion for the war in Iraq, after the Administration had said last November that the $87.5 billion already allocated, would be "enough" to cover operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

On the campaign trail, Bush repeatedly defended Cheney and Rumsfeld, and especially focusses on the need for aggression against any individual or state that "harbors terrorists." On May 11in line with the Cheney doctrine of continuing warfarethe Administration imposed sanctions on Syria for aid to Iraqi terrorists.

On May 5, at a campaign event in Washington, D.C., Bush stressed what he and Cheney have done for the military. "When Dick Cheney and I came to office, we found a military that was underfunded and underappreciated. So we acted. Along with the Congress, we gave our military the resources and respect they deserve. And today, no one can question the skill and the strength and the spirit of the United State military."

On May 4, in Lebanon, Ohio, in a speech focussed on security, Bush said, "I see clearly where we need to go to make this country safer and stronger," adding that, "We've had no finer Vice President than Dick Cheney.... I'm proud of my team working with the members of Congress," etc.

On Aug. 29, Bush testified before a closed-door session of the 9/11 Commission, but only on condition that Cheney be at his side the entire timeone of the negotiated terms of compliance by the White House, with the Commission's request for testimony. The other terms included that the testimony would not be sworn, and no video or audio tapes be made, nor notes taken for public information.

Lyndon LaRouche:
Many public endorsements have been given for LaRouche's April 17 exit strategy for Iraq, the "LaRouche Doctrine for Southwest Asia." Among them: Sheikh Ahmed Al-Kubaisi, Sunni scholar and Chairman of the United Iraqi Patriotic Movement; Professor Mohammed Selim, Director of the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Cairo; Dr. Al-Bazergan, Chairman of the Iraq Information and Research Center in London, and many others.

The LaRouche Doctrine has been publicizied widely, including coverage in the London-based Arabic daily, Al-Arab; Middle East Online; the Damascas-based daily, All4Syria, and many others. On April 29, LaRouche engaged in a live chat-dialogue on the Islam Online website.

LaRouche has continued his focus on the urgency of putting Dick Cheney out of office.

On April 30, LaRouche addressed the threat of Cheney intervening in the Democratic Party against LaRouche, in reply to a questioner at LaRouche's Washington Webcast event, who asked about the ability of Cheney to remain in office. The LaRouche campaign press release reported, "The Vice President is working with a crowd of scoundrels at 10 Downing Street, to run a dirty operation against him [LaRouche]. The object of the operation would be the protection of Cheney from the effect of LaRouche working closely with the Democratic Party, for the Vice President's immediate removal." He identified the involvement of Britain's Baroness Symonds, and close ties to Lynne Cheney. "They're trying to run an international, fake scandal, through the British press, which they're going to bring into the United Statesit's scheduled to come into the United States, as a dirty operation against me, from a period of about two weeks before the Democratic convention..."

John Kerry:
On May 5, at a press conference in Los Angeles, Kerry responded to a reporter, "I called for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation months ago, based on his miscalculations with respect to Iraq and based on the lack of a plan to win the peace." He said of the revelations on the Al Ghraib prison: "With respect to this particular incident, we've got to have the facts. I want to know, as I think Americans do, is this isolated? Does it go up the chain of command? Who knew what when? All of those questions have to be answered. So I don't want to shoot from the hip on that. I think it's very important to have those questions answered as rapidly as possible."

The Kerry campaign site has posted a petition, "Donald Rumsfeld MUST Resign," for e-signing.

April 2023

Iraq Warfare Crisis

On April 15, the Bush Administration announced that 20,000 military personnel scheduled for return to the United States would be retained in Iraq for at least 90 days, or longer. During April, the United States lost 140 troops in fighting in Iraq--many more than were killed in the March-April 2023 blitz that toppled Saddam Hussein. All told, nearly 750 U.S. soldiers had died as of the end of April 2023, and more than 15,000 Iraqis, including civilians.

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

George W. Bush: The President said on April 15, "We are not going to be run out" of Iraq; and during subsequent days, repeated his theme of "staying the course."

John Kerry: On April 13, John Kerry's guest column in the Washington Post supported Bush's "staying the course," but criticized the means. The piece, titled, "A Strategy for Iraq," said that, "If our military commanders request more troops, we should deploy them." He called for seeking more "international support," saying that, "We should urge NATO to create a new out-of-area operation for Iraq under the lead of a U.S. commander. This would help us obtain more troops from major powers." He defined the mission in Iraq, as to "build a stable, peaceful and pluralistic socierty. No matter who is elected president in November."

Lyndon LaRouche: On April 17, LaRouche issued a strategic document, "Southwest Asia: The LaRouche Doctrine," saying, "The immediate subject of my present policy-statement here, is the task of successfully and quickly extracting U.S. military forces back to safety, out of the hopeless Hell-hole of the presently disintegrating U.S. military occupation of Iraq."

LaRouche issued an elaborated 10-point plan, covering the relevant military and economic development policies.

On April 24, he taped a video interview on this with EIR-Arabic journalist Hussein Askary, for circulation internationally in both English and Arabic.

On April 30, LaRouche conducted a webcast from Washington, D.C., "The Keys To Peace: The LaRouche Doctrine."

Israeli/Palestinian Crisis

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

George W. Bush: On April 14, President Bush announced his support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's scheme to permanently retain arrogated Palestinian lands, and to refuse the right of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to their land. This drastic change of 40-years' American policy and snubbing of 40 years of UN resolutions, quickly turned into an embarrassing failure; on May 2, Prime Minister Sharon's own Likud party rejected his scheme in a referendum.

John Kerry: Kerry immediately backed Bush's endorsement of Sharon's "disengagement" plan, saying "What's important, obviously, is the security of the state of Israel, and that's what the Prime Minister [of Israel] and the President, I think, are trying to address.

Lyndon LaRouche: The candidate's April 17 strategic document, "Southwest Asia: The LaRouche Doctrine," stated on the Israel-Palestine conflict: "The effort to establish such a zone of mutual security in Southwest Asia, would fail, unless the U.S.A. also took the boldest action toward bringing about the realization of an unconditional U.S. commitment to immediate negotiation of a two-state peace-agreement along long-standing, predetermined lines, between the Palestinian and Israeli states. No one in Southwest Asia or much of the world besides, would believe the United States to be an honorable party unless the United States came down hard, without its present and customary equivocation, on the long-overdue establishment of a kind of Palestinian-Israeli peace consistent in fact with the principled precedent of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia."

Assassination of Abdel Aziz Rantisi

On April 17, Israeli helicopter gunships assassinated Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the leader of Hamas, the Palestinian organization whose former head was Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was killed March 22 by Israeli forces.

Click on the name of a candidate to view his stand on this topic:

George W. Bush: The Bush Administration issued a standard statement of "concern" over the Rantisi killing.

John Kerry: On the April 18 NBC TV "Meet the Press" show, when asked if he supported Rantisi's assassination, Kerry said, "I believe Israel has every right in the world to respond to any act of terror against it." He said that Hamas "has had years to make up its mind to take part in a peaceful process. They refuse to...and I support Israel's efforts to try to separate itself and to try to be secure."

Lyndon LaRouche: LaRouche reiterated his denunciation of the support given to Ariel Sharon, saying in an interview April 24, "What Sharon is doing in the Middle East, and with the consent and backing of the United States President, and Cheney, especially: This is mass murder. This is Hitler-like crimes. And you have a long period of a long war of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. And you [commit] cruel, monstrous oppression, actions which are comparable to those of Hitler, perpetrated in occupied territory. You create a general acceleration of deep simmering hatred, which has been going on for generations."