The Steve Forbes campaign has not actually said that the President only deals with one issue: taxes. The Forbes Campaign actions are speaking much louder than their words.
In the process of determining who to endorse for the presidency, Citizens For A Better America® sent request letters to all 10 GOP candidates. We requested their positions on a whole host of issues that are critical to the Presidency. From abortion,
homosexuals in the military to NAFTA and GATT/WTO, from education in America to our nation’s sovereignty there were actually 14 different areas that we requested responses to.
Bob Dole completely ignored our requests for information. The other candidates responded to some but not all the issues. The only candidate that really responded to all the issues that we raised was Patrick Buchanan. His campaign sent a packet of
published articles he had written, position papers, etc. It was refreshing to find that there was a candidate who was not trying to hide his stand on issues, and frankly makes his positions known.
The Forbes campaign seemed to be either in total disarray, or they were purposely trying to avoid the issue’s, or, worst of all, Forbes himself does not have any other positions. Why are you hiding Mr. Forbes?
Is the flat tax all there is to Steve Forbes?
If it is we are not impressed. Steve Forbes’ only official position, the flat tax proposal, is the same as Dick Armey’s proposal. It would eliminate both home mortgage interest deductions and contributions to charitable organizations.
He and Congress are right about eliminating federal handouts, but by not allowing individuals to deduct their charitable contributions, his plan would destroy the only avenue of help to the needy individuals and non profit organizations. Under the
Buchanan proposal, charitable contributions remain tax deductible and people will not be penalized for helping the needy
Steve Forbes, flat tax plan hits the family too. A home interest deduction lessens the over all cost of owning a home. Sure, like they told us with NAFTA, the impact will even out over time, but this means some families will have to give up being able
afford that home after all. In the Patrick Buchanan flat tax proposal, both of these deductions would stay firmly in place.
Well, we were frustrated that the news media was just not asking Steve Forbes the tough questions on the tough issues. And getting the information from his campaign went beyond frustrating to infuriating it would take me to much time and space to share
that with you all the gory details.
So, here is a brief summary, in case you need a play by play. We faxed the request for information on 11/29/95. We had a confirmation report to verify they received it. We called to tell them that we had faxed the request on 11/30/95. Those request were
completely ignored. We called again on 12/27/95 and asked to speak to the campaign manager, Bill Dal Col. Jill Schroeder, his assistant took the call and told us she would put the stuff in the mail that day. She did and we received a very pretty,
lavishly printed package that dealt with only one of the 14 different areas we addressed. You guessed it, taxes. Oh, and the picture of his family looked nice too.
Well we did not give up. It was possible they had not understood the directness of our request. We wanted positions, Steve Forbes positions on Education, Welfare, Abortion, and Homosexuals in the military, Speaking of military how about on Bosnia and the
U.N. There was more we wanted to know. At least with Bob Dole we could look at his record even if he too ignored our requests So, we gave it another try. On 12/27/95, they said they were working on them. We spoke again on 02/05/96 and upon pressing them
for the position papers they said they had position papers on Taxes. I said great, you sent us that, what about the others. He said we have position papers on taxes. Well, we still have not seen any other position papers.
Well the digging we did revealed a few things. One item helped confirm our suspicious that Steve Forbes was not coming out on any other issues. “Rarely in American politics has a candidate risen so high as Steve Forbes with so few issues.” (The Atlanta
journal and Constitution 01/31/96) Below are some of the other things we dug up. What we found may not sound too good to middle America. So, maybe this is what Forbes does not want you to know:
1. IMMIGRATION: “Mexico needs ”a safety valve," If that country’s most productive, energetic people have no outlet for their talents and no alternative hope of entering the U.S., they could turn into a destructive political force at home." Forbes
Magazine, Page 31, 06/17/85.
2.“GAYS IN THE MILITARY: He supports President Clinton’s, “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which allows lesbians and gay men to remain in the military if they keep their sexual preferences secret and do not act on them." The Atlanta Constitution, 01/31/96.
3.ABORTION: “Most definitely he can unite the party. He is exactly where the center is, the mainstream Republicans who are economic conservatives and social moderates," says Ann Stone, who heads the national abortion rights group Republicans for Choice."
The Washington Times, 02/02/96.
“Phyllis Schlafly, who heads a Republican pro-life group,says she has concluded that Mr. Forbes is “not pro-life and does not support the pro-life statement." that has been in the GOP platform for the last three elections." The Washington Times,
02/02/96.
4.MODERATE: “Mr. Forbes’ opponents love to point out that he also has the support of New Hampshire state Sen. David Currier, who was state campaign co-chairman for liberal GOP Sen. Arlen Specter’s brief run at the nomination. Mr. Currier said that, with
Mr. Specter out of the race, Mr. Forbes is now the man for “moderate” Republicans." The Washington Times, 02/02/96.
5.RONALD REAGAN: “Today, Forbes presents himself as an heir to Ronald Reagan’s message of “hope, growth and opportunity." But in 1976, he opposed Reagan’s challenge to President Gerald R. Ford, writing: “If the Republican convention dumps Ford for
Reagan, then the GOP will get -and deserve - a thrashing at the polls this November." LATimes, 01/23/96.
Taken all together, it may just be, that the Emperor has no clothes.
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