Cheney Raises $1M At GOP Dinner

Two years almost to the day after President Bush spoke at the President's Day Dinner in Atlanta it was Vice President Dick Cheney's turn.

Flying into Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport late Monday afternoon, Cheney was whisked to the Downtown Atlanta Hilton for a fly-by fundraiser that would net nearly a million dollars in less than an hour.

Cheney warned the crowd that this election year could bring critical changes, if the GOP lets its guard down.

"When you hear politicians saying they want to get rid of the Bush tax cuts, what they're promising is a major tax hike for working families," said Cheney.

The Vice President said the Democrats want to dismantle key Republican initiatives starting with those tax cuts.

"The effect would be average tax increase of 18-hundred dollars a year in tax bills for some 116 million Americans,? said the Vice President. ?Aside from the huge risk this would pose to the economy, there's the larger question of fundamental fairness to the American tax payer." Also at stake this November, Cheney says, is forward momentum with the troops in Iraq, who he says are reaching the objectives of their mission. "To secure that country and set up conditions for political reconciliation. And now we can see the effects. The new strategy is succeeding. The surge is working. The forces of freedom are winning in Iraq." The Vice President reminded the audience that the war on terror persists, and accused the Democrats of putting the country in harm's way. "One of the ways to prevent an attack and save lives is by monitoring terrorist-related communications,? Cheney said. ?Last year Congress passed major revision to the Terrorist Surveillance Law, but those revisions expired last month. For Congress to let that happen was simply irresponsible and makes this nation vulnerable to attack." Georgia remains a Republican strong-hold, and the Vice President asked voters to once again lead the country in GOP turn-out at the polls in the upcoming election.