George W. Bush 2000 On The Issues
Government
Reform
Governor Bush believes a strong
leader focuses on solving problems, not settling scores. As
President, he will restore honor and dignity to the White House, and set a
new tone of respect and bipartisanship in Washington. To restore
confidence in government, he will: reform the budget process to encourage
cooperation and prevent government shutdowns, attack pork-barrel spending,
and return civility to the nomination process.
Principles of Reform
Restore Bipartisan Cooperation: The budget process is a perennial
flash point for partisan battles. Governor Bush will reform the budget
process so that lawmakers cooperate earlier in the process.
Restore Trust: A frequent criticism of the federal government is
that the annual budget contains too much "pork-barrel spending."
The persistence of pork erodes citizen confidence in government, and
skirmishes over pork contribute to personal and partisan divisions. Governor
Bush will root out pork-barrel spending in order to restore confidence in
government.
Restore Civility/Attract Good People to Government: The
presidential nomination and confirmation process is often used as a
political weapon to gain leverage in negotiations over other matters. As a
result, the process has been described by one nominee as "nasty and
brutish without being short," thus discouraging good people from
entering public service. Governor Bush will work with the Congress to
restore civility to the nomination process.
Governor Bush's Reform Proposal
To promote bipartisan cooperation in the budget process, Governor Bush
will:
- Adopt biennial budgeting, as Texas and 20 other states have
to promote long-range planning and to allow budget decisions to be
made in non-election years; alternating years would be used for
oversight and strategic planning.
- Require a Joint Budget Resolution, signed by the President, to
promote early agreement on an overall budget framework. There
is little current incentive for the President and the Congress to
reach early agreement on the broad outlines of a budget package, thus
increasing the chance of a "train wreck" at the end of the
process. However, a Joint Budget Resolution, which would have
the force of law, would compel early agreement on the overall level of
appropriations, mandatory spending, taxes, and debt reduction in a
simple document.
- Prevent government shutdowns by enacting legislation allowing
the government to stay open even if an appropriations bill is not
signed by October 1st of the new fiscal year. Affected programs
would continue to be funded at the level of the President's budget, or
the previous year's level as approved by Congress - whichever is
lower.
To restore trust in government and eliminate pork-barrel spending,
Governor Bush will:
- Support a Bipartisan Commission to Eliminate Pork-Barrel Spending,
whose recommendations will be presented to the Congress for a straight
"up or down" vote on the entire package. A bipartisan
commission would root out egregious examples of government waste.
- Seek constitutional, line item veto legislation linked to debt
reduction, allowing the President to defer indefinitely
unnecessary spending and use the savings to pay down the national
debt.
To minimize delay and division over presidential appointments, and
attract good people to public service, Governor Bush will:
- Make the prompt submission of presidential nominees a top
priority, and challenge Congress to act within 60 days of the
submission of nominees for the new Administration - regardless of
who is elected president in 2000.
Position Proposal & Speeches
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The
Texas Record
Governor Bush has a strong record of bipartisan leadership, uniting
people behind common goals. In Texas, he has successfully
worked with a Democrat legislature to:
- Pass the first overhaul of the Texas Education code in over a
decade.
- Cut taxes by $3 billion.
- Significantly reform the civil justice system and the Juvenile
Justice Code.
He will bring this same spirit of cooperation to Washington.
Source: George W. Bush for President 2000 Web Site
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