[IP] Bush pledged to back ban in November, G.O.P. aide says
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 09:30:46 -0500
From: Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Bush pledged to back ban in November, G.O.P. aide says
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Dave,
For IP if you like (note: this is about process, not gay marriage --
please see the 2nd half)
The official talking points out of the White House is that the
Constitutional Amendment banning Gay Marriage only came about after
Activist Judges forced the President to intervene (See, for example, this
Op/Ed in todays NYT: <a
href="<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/opinion/29SCHI.html>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/opinion/29SCHI.html";
>How the Judges Forced the President's Hand</a>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/opinion/29SCHI.html)>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/opinion/29SCHI.html).
It turns out that's simply a giant lie, according to a GOP aide quoted in
the Rocky Mountain News :
"President Bush pledged to Rep. Marilyn Musgrave that he would support her
proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage three months
before he made Tuesday's public pronouncement, according to Musgrave's top
aide.
The White House has said Bush made the decision only after officials in
San Francisco and New Mexico presided over same-sex marriages.
Guy Short, Musgrave's chief of staff, said Musgrave discussed her Federal
Marriage Amendment with the president during a Nov. 24 trip aboard Air
Force One to Fort Carson, where Bush visited troops and met with survivors
of military personnel killed in Iraq."
Those confidential assurances by the president encouraged Musgrave and her
staff to proceed. "We wanted to respect his timing, but we knew it was
coming," Short said.
Forget the politics of this: My concern (I'm an independent) is the
process of governance: There is simply a frightening over reliance on
deception and falsehoods from this administration. Any scientist
understands the obvious dangers of this in research. There is a similar
problem with this form of governance. We saw it with Stem Cell Research,
with Iraq (and you may recall I was pro Invasion but for reasons other than
WMD), with the Medicaid program, with tax cuts (many of which I supported),
and on the deficit projections.
And now, the same pattern arises with the proposed Constitutional Amendment
prohibiting Gay Marriages.
This should be a concern for every US citizen. This impacts our credibility
in the World -- and that's important for a debtor nation who's financial
obligations are 46% owned by foreign investors and governments. If they
ever decide to stop buying US Treasuries, we would be in some real fiscal
trouble. Their purchases are what's keeping interest rates so low. If
overseas governments stop buying US Treasuries, interest rates would spike
up dramatically. That's why, setting aside the politics of Gay Marriage or
Stem Cell Research or whatever -- the process of government needs to be
credible and transparent. At present, its neither.
In politics, as in most endeavors, I expect to disagree with people. I
frequently engage in enthusiastic debate. Occasionally, I will even have
someone change my mind. But I never expect totally disingenuous argument
with fabricated facts, timelines, details and data. That is simply and
totally unacceptable -- even in Politics.
Yes, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Soon, we may need to add
a 4th category: the "factual" basis for any policy announcement out of this
White House.
Barry L. Ritholtz
Market Strategist
Maxim Group
britholtz at maximgrp dot com
(212) 895-3614
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