Decoding Bush

Following Robert Redford’s approach to understanding presidential parlance.

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Nearly every statement that comes from this administration includes the phrase “The American people.” Every time I hear that phrase I just substitute “industrial interests.”
— Robert Redford in The New York Times Magazine, December 8, 2002.


The presidency does not belong to any one person…. It belongs to the American people.”
— George W. Bush, on inauguration day, January 21, 2001


My budget will fund our priorities, from education to defense to protecting Social Security and Medicare. It will pay down our national debt. And when we have done all that, we will still have some money left over. I strongly believe we should return that money, the leftover money, to you, the American people, in the form of tax relief.
— Bush promoting his trillion-dollar tax cut, February 18, 2001


This is a historic day… We have done right by the American people today.
— Bush, celebrating the passage of his tax cut, May 27, 2001


I oppose blanket amnesty. The American people need to know that. I do believe, though, that when we find willing employer and willing employee, we ought to match the two.
— Bush on illegal immigrants, July 27, 2001


It’s a combination of good conservation and an increase in supplies…. I think most of the American people understand that.
— Bush, on sound energy policy May 11, 2001


I ask Congress to work hard and put a stimulus plan into law to help the American people.
— Bush, on economic recovery, November 09, 2001


The final great priority of my budget is economic security for the American people.
— Bush’s State of the Union, January 30, 2002


As president of the United States, charged with safeguarding the welfare of the American people…I will not commit our nation to an unsound international treaty.
— Bush, dismissing the Kyoto protocol, February 15, 2002


Ronald Reagan believed in the strong character of the American people, even when some on both the left and right were quite skeptical of that character.
— Bush, praising the Gipper, May 17, 2002


The Senate now has one week left to make progress for the American people, and I urge them to seize the opportunity.
— Bush, urging the passage of fast-track trade authority, July 29, 2002


It goes to show that when we put our partisanship aside, when people stop all the yelling and hollering and finger-pointing and say, “How can we help the American people?” we can get a lot done in this town.
— Bush, thanking Congress for his new powers, August 3, 2002


It is landmark in its scope and it ends a session which has seen two years worth of legislative work which has been very productive for the American people.
— Bush, on the passage of the Homeland Security Act and the close of the 107th Congress, November 20, 2002

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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