Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, speaking to a Hoover Overseers luncheon in Washington, delivered his message defining the policies he believes would keep America strong in the face of terrorism. He said, “We have to say to the rest of the world, ‘America doesn't like war’; America is not a military country. We've never been a militaristic country.” Giuliani would adjust the image that has been projected by national leaders who have repeatedly described our position as a “war on terrorism.” He would emphasize the fact that we are in this war, because it is a “war of the terrorists against us.”
What does a mayor know about foreign policy?
One of the scholars from the Hoover Institute asked Giuliani to address the issue that as a former mayor he has had little or no experience in foreign policy to which the mayor responded: “"What makes you think that the mayor of New York City doesn't need a foreign policy?”
Then he pointed out that as mayor of New York City, he was familiar with every aspect of foreign policy that affected the city during the 1990s. By the time he has left office in 2001, the mayor has traveled abroad 93 times to 35 countries, where he met with heads of state. He added: “It's something that I think I know as well as anybody else who's running for president, probably better than a lot.”
Private Economy vs. Government Economy
Giuliani emphasized his belief in the free-market regarding taxes, education, and health care. He pointed out the America’s economy is "essentially a private economy," and he asserted that Democrats tend to believe that the economy is a “government economy.”
He explained that this major difference between the parties was one of the reasons he left the Democrat Party. He mentioned the tax cuts of President Kennedy, and that since that time, Democrats have abandoned the low-tax policies that keep the economy strong.
Giuliani believes that school choice is the key to improvement of public education. He said he does believe that government schools should not be abandoned, but that they do require change. He supports allowing parents to choose the schools to which they wish to send their children and refunding their tax money to enable them to choose private schools. He wants to keep health care private and free-market driven; he believes that the socialization of medical care would be terrible mistake.
Freedom Party
Giuliani called on Republicans to define the Republican Party as the Party of Freedom. His policies that focus on tax-cuts, free-choice in education, and free-market driven health care exemplify the freedoms in which Republicans already believe, so taking on the appellation of Party of Freedom would clearly distinguish it from the party of high taxes and the government controlled lives for which the Democrats campaign.
Reference:
Giuliani: 'Party of Freedom' Will Define Republicans
