Redstate

By aceintx Posted in Elections — Comments (28) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Most of Rudy Giuliani’s proponents point to his tough on crime stances, policies on limited government, tax cuts, and other economic issues as well as his response to the crisis as Mayor of NY on 911 as a reason to support him as the candidate most likely to deal with the War on Terror.

As I stated in my blog entry dated 12/8/2007, My support for Huckabee and my problems with the other Republican Candidates, Rudy’s response to the 911 crisis certainly points to his ability to handle a major disaster in one of the nation’s largest cities and makes a compelling case that he would have done a far better job of handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and organizing the rescue of New Orleans citizens than Ray Nagan. However, I fail to see how this experience specially equips him to handle our nation’s foreign policy and the overall War on Terror. I suppose one could consider his time as a prosecutor as equipping him to deal with terrorists in our court system but that would require us to believe as the Democrats do that Terrorism is a crime issue and not an issue worthy of declaring war in the truest sense of the word.

The issue that causes me the most heartburn when looking at Rudy’s record stems from his 10/29/1994 endorsement of the ultraliberal and the ultimate socialist Mario Coumo for Governor of NY. Many have dismissed this as a demonstration of his anger at the machinations of Senator Al D’Mato who was backing the Republican Candidate for Governor of NY that year. Whatever the reason, his endorsement of Cuomo came two weeks before the election and I believe was deliberately timed to torpedo any chance of Republicans controlling the State house in 1994. Whether I am correct in this assumption matters little. Whether Rudy made this endorsement as a slap at Pataki and D’Mato in a fit of petty rage, or because his principles were more closely in line with the liberal Cuomo, it is inconceivable to me how anyone could consider him as the top nominee of our party. I’ll let Rudy speak for himself as to why he endorsed Cuomo:

"George Pataki's only essential characteristic is that he offers an alternative," said Mr. Giuliani. "Strangely, however, after lengthy analysis and a lot of soul-searching, I've come to the conclusion that it is George Pataki who best personifies the status quo of New York politics -- a candidate taking as few positions as possible, all of them as general as possible, taking no risks and being guided and scripted by others. He has simply not made the case that he is the agent of change."

According to Rudy, even after 12 years in office Cuomo was a leader who offered the best opportunity for change. Of Mr. Cuomo, he said, "has learned a great deal from this election and that new insight will give him the strength and determination to establish his place in history."
Then there is his appearance as “Rudia”, a transvestite nightclub singer.

Here is the scene as described in the NY Times, Jaws Drop As Giuliani Steals Show In Heels by DAVID FIRESTONE, Published: March 3, 1997

“…the Mayor even sang a falsetto version of ''Happy Birthday, Mr. President'' -- a la Marilyn Monroe -- and waved daintily at the crowd of thunderstruck spectators…..

…. The audience of journalists, public officials and lobbyists greeted Rudia with a huge outburst of applause and hoots of sustained laughter, but when it became clear that the Mayor was actually going to deliver a sustained performance in the outfit, members of the crowd seemed torn between being amused and being appalled.

When he pulled a huge cigar out of his sock, and later began dancing an intimate tango with the star of ''Victor/Victoria,'' Julie Andrews (dressed as a man), several well-known audience members could be seen with their foreheads in their hands, open-mouthed.

The wonder only increased when Roxane Barlow of the show's cast sang a gyrating hymn to the sexual attributes of several recent mayors while watching Mr. Giuliani disrobe behind a screen.

There was the slightest bit of a political subtext to it all. Just as Ms. Andrews portrays a woman pretending to be a man dressing as a woman, Mr. Giuliani remarked that he is ''a Republican pretending to be a Democrat pretending to be a Republican,'' a reference to his real-life preference for ideological wardrobe changes."

And his truncated run for the Senate against Ole Hill herself. While finding out he had cancer was a legitimate reason for dropping out of the race and no one can fault him for doing so, his approach to the campaign and it’s aftermath can’t be ignored.

In the run up to the race Rudy seemed to be unsure of whether he wanted to run in the first place. He fund raised and made sporadic campaign appearances and sparred occasionally with the Clinton machine. In the midst of it all he carried on a very public affair coupled with a nasty divorce fight all the while neglecting the campaign trail. After ignoring upstate NY until well into the spring, (an area that should have been troublesome for the carpet bagger from Arkansas), and making a half hearted 30 minute appearance in Binghamton he went back to NY. A week after returning he canceled all his scheduled campaign events there because he wanted to attend a Yankee game. Needless to say, The Clinton campaign proceeded to play this insult to conservative up state New Yorkers up to great effect.

It can be said that his devil may care attitude about running is responsible for Senator Clinton. By campaigning and fundraising in the run up to the election he sucked the life out of his successor, Rick Lazio. Rudy’s campaign raised millions as I recall and was not required by election law to return the money when he dropped out of the race. While Lazio made some serious gaffs, it could be argued that had he been able to campaign from the start and been able to rely on the funds Rudy drained from the donor pool he may have been able to pull the race out and strangle the Clinton 08 baby in its crib

Now we come to the criticisms from the Club for Growth. Below are some excerpts from their Presidential White Paper largely as they are written. This article is a criticism so obviously I have picked out the troublesome excerpts for my post. I have added comments in parentheses.

Tax Cuts

(Rudy supported many tax cuts but his record includes the following)

• “Giuliani's opposition to Republican candidate George Pataki's proposed cut in the state income tax in 1994[13]
• Giuliani's opposition to the City Council's proposal to eliminate the commercial rent tax in 1999, in favor of spending the tax revenue on building baseball stadiums[14]
• Giuliani's $600 million extension of the 12.5% personal income tax surcharge for the fiscal years 1997 and 1998[15] and his opposition to the City Council's push to eliminate the surcharge in 1998[16]
• Giuliani's opposition to the flat tax as advocated by presidential candidate Steve Forbes in 1996[17]. Though he currently supports tax simplification, Giuliani has refused to endorse the flat tax as recently as March of 2007[18]

Giuliani's list of accomplishments is tinged by his occasional anti-growth positions. The context of these positions, however, helps to cast a redeeming light. Giuliani's opposition to Pataki's income tax proposal in 1994 was part of a larger political struggle between warring GOP camps. In 1998, Giuliani proposed a series of other tax cuts,[19] and eventually acquiesced to cutting the personal income tax surcharge.[20]

On balance, Giuliani's record of tax cuts outweighs what few indiscretions he has. It is important to remember that Gotham's economic revival was due, in large part, to Giuliani's determination to stimulate a stagnant economy by cutting taxes even in the face of fierce opposition. While Giuliani's record on taxes is not perfect, he deserves a lot of credit for tackling a municipal culture long addicted to taxing and spending itself into the ground.

Spending

Giuliani is often criticized for large spending increases during the surplus years, but it is instructive to compare his spending record with that of his predecessors and successor.

1994 21,723,132,203
1995 1995 21,382,377,315 -1.57%
1996 1996 22,038,088,100 3.07%
1997 1997 23,584,022,689 7.01%
1998 1998 24,509,691,220 3.92%
1999 1999 25,206,833,492 2.84%
2000 2000 26,640,719,162 5.69%
2001 2001 28,193,677,137 5.83%
2002 2002 27,037,645,408 -4.10% 2.84%

As the above chart demonstrates, Giuliani deserves some criticism for relaxing his initial fiscal discipline and spending more freely once surpluses began to flow into the city's coffers. Giuliani also demonstrated an alarming propensity for doling out corporate welfare to select companies, including News America Publishing; Viacom; Credit Suisse First Boston Corp.;[28] and his favorite pet project of all-sports stadiums[29].

Finally, Giuliani's narrow concern for New York City found him on the wrong side of the debate over the federal line-item veto. When President Clinton used his line-item veto to eliminate a line in the budget forgiving New York State's Medicaid debt, Giuliani filed a lawsuit that resulted in the veto's unconstitutionality[30]. If he were to become president, we hope Mayor Giuliani would support, at a minimum, enhanced rescission-a milder version of the line-item veto believed to pass constitutional muster.

In all, Giuliani's spending record demonstrates some years of remarkable fiscal discipline and an extraordinarily low spending average that puts his predecessors and successor to shame. Despite his occasional profligacy, Giuliani's ability to drastically cut spending in an adversarial climate speaks volumes about his ability to tackle Washington's spending binges were he to win the presidency. (I would argue that it is dangerous to make an assumption that a candidate is a fiscal conservative because his spending increases and anti growth policies are at least better than his predecessors. This is an example of the thinking that has allowed the creeping socialism to so infect this country).

Entitlement Reform

Unfortunately, Mayor Giuliani's strong record at the local level did not translate into free-market positions on the federal level. In 1996, Rudy Giuliani actively opposed federal welfare reform legislation, even suing the federal government over the matter.[42] Again, Mayor Giuliani claimed to be motivated by local concerns, opposing features in the legislation that would "shift costs to local governments" and cut off assistance to legal immigrants.[43]

His position on Medicare is more concerning. In 2000, Giuliani expressed a willingness to support President Clinton's proposal to provide "free" prescription drugs under Medicare[45], and in 2006, praised the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.[46]
Regulation

…The most egregious of these, (Failings) is Giuliani's active opposition to Governor Pataki's 1997 effort to phase out rent control, despite its proven distortion on the marketplace.[66] Giuliani also supported the extension of rent control in 1994[67] and 2000.[68] This opposition was apparently motivated by the overwhelming support for rent control among the Mayor's constituents. As Giuliani himself admitted, "It's better to keep your constituents happy than to keep a political party happy."[69]

Giuliani also initiated new regulatory requirements for furniture and appliance stores,[70] and called for new and more stringent price controls on wholesale electric power rates in New York State to combat a surge in the price of electricity.[71] Finally, in 2000, the same man who courageously vetoed a living wage bill declared his support for increasing the minimum wage.[72]

Political Free Speech

Rudy Giuliani's record on protecting political free speech falls woefully short. When John McCain launched his campaign finance crusade on the political stage, Mayor Giuliani was an unabashed supporter, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a 2000 interview: "I'm a very, very strong supporter of campaign finance reform. A very strong supporter of McCain-Feingold for a long, long time now."[79]

As recently as December 2006, Giuliani refused to back away from his previous effusiveness. When radio host Dennis Prager pressed him, asking "Why shouldn't people just be allowed to give any amount of money they want to any candidate, and just have it publicly known? Why should there be a law limiting that freedom?" the notoriously blunt Mayor hesitated, but ultimately embraced his previous support: "I think there are very good arguments on either side of that. I've always lived under a campaign finance law that had limitations on it, so I'm sort of pretty comfortable with it."[80]

Locally, Giuliani was embroiled in a number of campaign finance debates, but none of these demonstrated a general inclination to protect political speech.[81] Worse, dubbed by John McCain as his "soul mate" on campaign finance reform,[82] Mayor Giuliani offers no compelling reason to think that he would oppose further restrictions on the First Amendment.

Tort Reform

At the same time, Rudy Giuliani was not averse to using the courts when it suited his political aims. In 2000, Giuliani filed a lawsuit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors.[86] Whatever one's thoughts on gun control, Giuliani's use of the courts to punish a legally functioning industry is an abuse of the legal system, (This speaks volumes to me of his contempt for gun owners and the 2nd Amendment)..

Giuliani's support for limited tort reform is laudatory, but his 2000 suit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and the absence of information to flesh out his broader philosophy on tort reform is cause for concern. It would behoove Mayor Giuliani to demonstrate that his impressive municipal tort reform packages would apply equally to the private sector.

(What is The Club for Growth’s conclusion?) The most important question is what Giuliani's mayoral tenure tells us about how he would govern if elected president. The answer is not clear cut, as some of his local positions are worrisome and some of his federal positions are still unknown.