“THE WAY WE WERE”/”THE WAY WE ARE”

LIGHT THE CORNERS OF MY MIND
MISTY WATERCOLOR MEM’RIES
OF THE WAY WE WER

When I sing that song now, I can’t help but think about it politically.

SCATTERED PICTURES
OF THE HOUSE WE LEFT BEHIND

LOVELY DEMOCRATIC MEM’RIES
OF THE WAY WE WERE

It was 1993… a time of hope… of new possibilities. We believed
that our children would live in an age of extraordinary opportunity.

We had a Democratic Congress that put the country on the road to
prosperity…passed the family and medical leave act…legislation to
increase funds for education…an anti-crime bill that banned assault
weapons and violence against women…safe water and clean air acts.

We had a president who enforced the peace agreement in Bosnia… helped
reach the peace accords in Northern Ireland…We were even on the verge
of a settlement in the Middle East.

The American dream was alive and well…

UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH IN THE ECONOMY.
THE DOW WAS UP, THE DEFICIT WAS DOWN.

AS LONG AS DEMOCRATS WERE THE MAJORITY,
I COULD SLEEP NIGHTS,
NOT WEEP NIGHTS.

PEOPLE
SEE THEIR SAVINGS SLIP AWAY
AS THEY FEEL THE WORLD AROUND THEM
BECOME MORE FRIGHT’NING EV’RY DAY.

Talk about frightening…

Shortly after George W. Bush was elected…sort of…I saw him on
television say, “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck-of-a
lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” And he laughed…

You know people never really joke. That was very revealing…a taste of
things to come…the arrogance of wanting unlimited executive power… a
government that operates in secret…keeping presidential papers
secret…holding secret meetings with oil companies.

I find George Bush and Dick Cheney frightening…Donald Rumsfeld and
John Ashcroft frightening.

I find the erosion of our civil liberties in the guise of “homeland
security” frightening…

I find the shrinking ozone layer and the melting icecaps frightening…

I find bringing the country to the brink of war unilaterally five weeks
before an election questionable – and very, very frightening.

MIS’RIES,
SEEMS THAT’S ALL THAT FILLS THE NEWS,
BLAME THE FELLAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE

FOR THE WAY WE ARE

IT’S NO WONDER
WE ALL SING THOSE TEXAS BLUES
IT’S THAT TOO-FAR-TO-THE RIGHT HOUSE
AND THE WAY WE ARE.

The way we are…

The accountants’ lobbyist heads the SEC
The timber lobbyist heads the forest service

The Federalist Society is in charge of judges
The Christian Coalition is in charge of White House appointments

…And Lady Justice is wearing a shroud.

All that in less than two years!

GLOBAL WARMING? DON’T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT
AND WHAT’S A DROP OF ARSENIC OR TWO?
SAVING MEDICARE? THEY NEVER HEARD OF IT.
TO THEM, HEALTH CARE
IS WEALTH CARE

In the last election, some people said it didn’t make a difference –
Republican, Democrat…what’s the difference?

I’ll tell you the difference.

This is what the Republican House did in the last two years:

Passed the drug companies’ prescription bill that does nothing to
control prices.

Passed the Enron energy bill, that does nothing to reduce our dependence
on foreign oil.

Passed a sham pension reform bill that eliminates employee retirement
accounts.

Now we have tax cuts for the rich, but no raise in the minimum wage for
the poor…

…poison in the water, salmonella in the food, carbon dioxide in the
air and toxic waste in the ground that polluters no longer have to pay
to clean up — the taxpayers do.

WE KNOW

CRIME IS NOT SUPPOSED TO PAY.
MEANWHILE SITTING ON HIS ASSETS,
IS ENRON’S OWN KENNETH LAY.
OH, WHAT WE NEED IS,
SOMEONE TO CURE US
‘CAUSE BABY WE’VE GOT “TSURUS”
THE WAY WE ARE.

If we take back the House, we can limit the damage the Bush White House
does.

We can check the power of an administration that wants to police what
you do in your bedroom and hide what they do in office.

We can force votes on programs that benefit people – working men and
women, children, seniors, teachers, veterans, fire-fighters, police
officers, coal miners …Americans that this administration seems to
care about only when the TV crews are around.

SO ON
NEXT ELECTION DAY I PRAY
THAT THE COUNTRY WILL DELIVER,
A HOUSE WITHOUT TOM DELAY!
WE NEED A TEAM CHANGE
A DEFINITE REGIME CHANGE.
OH, THAT WOULD BE A DREAM CHANGE

FROM THE WAY WE ARE.

We have the facts on our side…the truth on our side

We have to get the facts out…the truth out…and the vote out!

SO, IN NOVEMBER,
LET’S MAKE THE CONGRESS
A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS
THE WAY WE WERE
THE WAY WE WERE!

Based on “The Way We Were”. Words by Alan and Marilyn Bergman; Music by
Marvin Hamlisch. Copyright 1973 Colgems-EMI Music, Inc. (ASCAP). Special
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Reprinted by Permission. All rights
reserved.

Speech Copyright 2002 – Barbra Streisand. Reprinted by Permission. All Rights Reserved.