VOLUME No: 66 Issue No:2
Washington, D.C. - October 15, 2004
The
Islamic Free Market Institute Foundation
Wishes You a Ramadan Mubarak!
The Islamic Free Market Institute Foundation would like to wish you and your family a very blessed and prosperous Ramadan. We hope this sacred month be a source of blessing and happiness and to keep all Muslims worldwide in your thoughts, especially those who are struggling.
Ramadan is a month in which the rewards for good deeds
and generosity are multiplied. Let us do all that we can to reap the
benefits of this blessed month.
Bush and Kerry Tackle Domestic Issues in Final Debate
This past Wednesday President George Bush and Senator John Kerry addressed domestic issues in the third and final Presidential debate. The debate highlighted the largest differences between the two candidates and received good reviews from both campaigns. The issues discussed included healthcare and social security reform, taxes, education, the definition of marriage, abortion, and illegal immigration. Here are the candidate’s positions on important debate issues:
Bush:
“If you’re a Christian, Jew, or Muslim, you’re equally an American. (The) great thing about America is the right to worship the way you see fit.”
“Healthcare costs are on the rise because the consumers are not involved in the decision-making process. I’m a strong believer in… health savings accounts….and medical liability reform.”
“I believe that younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of their own money and put it in a personal savings account, because I understand that they need to get better rates of return than the rates of return being given in the current Social Security trust.”
“There are ways we can work together to reduce the number of abortions: continue to promote adoption laws (and) continue to fund and promote maternity group homes; I will continue to promote abstinence programs.”
Kerry:
“As President I will always respect everybody’s right to practice religion as they choose – or not to participate – because that’s part of America.”
“The reason health care costs are getting higher… is that this administration has stood in the way of common-sense efforts that would have reduced the costs
“We're going to protect Social Security. I will not privatize it. I will not cut the benefits. And we're going to be fiscally responsible. And we will take care of Social Security.”
“I believe (abortion) is a woman's choice.
It's between a woman, God and her doctor. And that's why I support
that. I will not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v. Wade.
A full transcript is available online at www.debates.org
Post-Debate Polls
Q: Who do you think did a better job in the debate – John Kerry
or George Bush?
USA Today/CNN/Gallup (registered voters) October 13
Bush/Cheney: 39%
KERRY/EDWARDS: 52%
ABC News Instant Poll (registered voters) October 13
BUSH/CHENEY: 42%
Kerry/Edwards: 41%
Kerry and Edwards Remarks on the Patriot Act
Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards campaigned in Dearborn, Michigan last Saturday and addressed the controversial Patriot Act before a crowd of supporters. Edwards said, “John Kerry and I voted for and supported the Patriot Act, but we will not have an Attorney General of the Untied States like John Ashcroft, who used the Patriot Act as a tool to take away the rights and freedoms and liberties of the American people. When John Kerry is president of the United States, there will be no profiling.” Edwards specifically mentioned profiling of Arab Americans for no other reason then their ethnicity and promised to “…strengthen and enforce our hate crimes laws so that we know that people in this country are protected.”
Both Kerry and Edwards have included criticisms of the application of the Patriot Act in their attacks on the Bush Administration. In the second debate last week, Kerry answered a question regarding the Patriot Act by declaring “People’s rights have been abused.” Kerry expanded, saying his original support for the Patriot Act had been erased by misapplication and “inappropriate” usage of the legislation by Ashcroft. Bush answered the same question in favor of the Patriot Act, claiming the powers of non-court ordered law enforcement already existed and the Patriot Act was simply an extension of those powers to terrorism.
Poll Numbers Tighten After First Two Debates
Senator John Kerry has continued his upswing from the debates into a third week. Pollster John Zogby attributes this shift from September to the debate’s effect on undecided voters. In the most recent Reuters/Zogby poll, Zogby found that only 11% of them think Bush deserves to be reelected. In addition, 40% believe its time for someone new and 49% are undecided about his future. The relatively better performance of Bush in the third debate, however, may bring votes back into Bush’s corner.
Here are the latest polls
Reuters/Zogby (likely voters) October 11-13
Bush/Cheney: 45%
KERRY/EDWARDS: 46%
Nader/Camenjo: 1.5%
Rasmussen Reports (likely voters) October 11-13
BUSH/CHENEY: 48%
Kerry/Edwards: 46%
Economist/YouGov (registered voters) October 11-12
Bush/Cheney: 45%
KERRY/EDWARDS: 47%
Nader/Camenjo: 1%
Washington Post (registered and likely voters) October 10-12
Bush/Cheney: 48%
KERRY/EDWARDS: 49%
ABC News (likely voters) October 10-12
Bush/Cheney: 48%
Kerry/Edwards: 48%
Nader/Camenjo: 1%
CBS News (registered and likely voters)
October 9-11
BUSH/CHENEY: 48%
Kerry/Edwards: 45%
Nader/Camenjo: 2%
USA Today/CNN/Gallup (registered voters)
October 9-10
Bush/Cheney: 48%
Kerry/Edwards: 48%
Nader/Camenjo: 1%
Average Poll Numbers
Bush/Cheney: 47.1%
Kerry/Edwards: 47%
Nader/Camenjo: 1.3%
Other/Undecided: 4.6%
