Writing by Marq on Wednesday, 31 of January , 2007 at 2:29 am
She was raped, and the crazy jailer refused to administer the Mornging After Pill, you must read this and wonder why there is more and more that hate these damn religious nuts. Sadly this happened in my own home town, Tampa Florida.
From Fox 13 (bolds are mine)
A young woman was walking back to her car after the Gasparilla parade on Saturday when she says a man dragged her behind a building and raped her near the intersection of Howard and Swann.
She managed to get away and called 911. Police took her to the hospital and began a routine rape investigation.
When they started checking the victim’s background, they discovered she had an arrest warrant out for her.
It was from an arrest when the woman was a juvenile and she was accused of not paying restitution. The woman says she was not aware there was a warrant out for her, and her attorney says it appears to be a paperwork error.
“They were more interested in prosecuting her for something that’s a paperwork snafu from four years ago, that was juvenile. They were more interested in working on that than finding an experienced rapist,” stated the victim’s mother.
Still, the woman was put in handcuffs and taken to jail. She was not allowed bond, and the medical staff at the jail refused to give her the Morning After Pill even though it had been prescribed at the hospital.
“The medical supervisor would not allow her to take the pill because she said it was against her, the supervisor’s, religion. So, here we have a medical supervisor imposing her beliefs on a rape victim,” claimed the victim’s attorney Virlyn Moore. “As a human being, how someone could be so violated by this monster and then the system comes along and rapes her again psychologically and emotionally - it’s outrageous and unconscionable.”
“At this point, we’re very concerned about the welfare of this young woman,” said Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions about exactly how this unfolded we are going to get to the bottom of it.”
McElroy says there is a policy in place where anyone who is suspected of a misdemeanor is not taken to jail if they’re the victim of a sex crime.
She says while it’s nearly impossible to draw up a policy that addresses every situation, this may be a case where department policy should be reexamined.
“The system as a whole, that is so broken, it needs to be completely fixed, so broken, so broken that something like this could happen, something like this should never have happened,” said the victim’s mother.
The victim did manage to finally bond out of jail Monday afternoon. She was too emotionally distraught to speak with the media, and FOX 13 does not identify the victims of sexual assault.
Technorati Tags: Crazy Evangelicals, rape, religious nuts, Republican Culture of Corruption, Right Wing Hypocrisy, tampa florida, The Radical Right
Category: Crazy Evangelicals, Right Wing Hypocrisy, Republican Culture of Corruption, The Radical Right
Writing by Marq on Wednesday, 31 of January , 2007 at 1:08 am
Read this! Our own military is saying that there is not equipment to give these troops what they need to even dream of winning. Why does Bush, and the Republicans hate the troops so much
Washington Post (bolds are mine)
Boosting U.S. troop levels in Iraq by 21,500 would create major logistical hurdles for the Army and Marine Corps, which are short thousands of vehicles, armor kits and other equipment needed to supply the extra forces, U.S. officials said.
The increase would also further degrade the readiness of U.S.-based ground forces, hampering their ability to respond quickly, fully trained and well equipped in the case of other military contingencies around the world and increasing the risk of U.S. casualties, according to Army and Marine Corps leaders.
“The response would be slower than we might like, we would not have all of the equipment sets that ordinarily would be the case, and there is certainly risk associated with that,” the Marine Corps commandant, Gen. James Conway, told the House Armed Services Committee last week.
President Bush’s plan to send five additional U.S. combat brigades into Iraq has left the Army and Marines scrambling to ensure that the troops could be supported with the necessary armored vehicles, jamming devices, radios and other gear, as well as lodging and other logistics.
-snip-
Adding to the crunch, the U.S. government has agreed to sell 600 up-armored Humvees to Iraq this year for its security forces. Such sales “better not be at the expense of the American soldier or Marine,” Speakes told defense reporters recently, saying U.S. military needs must take priority.
Yep, read it people, we are willing to sell the damn trucks to Iraq, but fuck the American troops, they can kiss Bush’s ass. This makes me cry how much Bush is willing to toy with American troops lives, so he can cash in. FUCK YOU GEROGE!
Technorati Tags: army and marine, Bush, Failed Leadership, Failed Presidency, hurdles, iraq, Life in Bushs America, logistical, marine corps, Military, republicans, Those Under Arms, troop levels, War on Terror, washington post
Category: Life in Bushs America, Failed Presidency, Military, War on Terror, Failed Leadership, Those Under Arms
Writing by Marq on Tuesday, 30 of January , 2007 at 12:19 am
Well George Bush did it again today and sent a huge “Screw Off” to the American people. Bush is not going to be happy until ever American is enslaved and full of cancer from the poison in the water, food, and air.
New York Times (bolds are mine)
President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.
This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.
The White House said the executive order was not meant to rein in any one agency. But business executives and consumer advocates said the administration was particularly concerned about rules and guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In an interview on Monday, Jeffrey A. Rosen, general counsel at the White House Office of Management and Budget, said, “This is a classic good-government measure that will make federal agencies more open and accountable.”
Business groups welcomed the executive order, saying it had the potential to reduce what they saw as the burden of federal regulations. This burden is of great concern to many groups, including small businesses, that have given strong political and financial backing to Mr. Bush.
Here is something you should always remember, if business groups welcomed the executive order, and then you know it is not good for Americans, period. Bush now says everything has to be okayed by him, if he does not like it, he can stop it. Given Bush’s track record soon food will be full of asbestos and cockroach parts, and the air over some cities will be flammable.
Technorati Tags: Bush, Bush Lies, bush did, cancer, directive, george bush, Hate, Incompetent Establishment, Life in Bushs America, nytimes, White House
Category: Life in Bushs America, Bush Lies, Incompetent Establishment
Writing by on Friday, 26 of January , 2007 at 11:53 am
I am almost starting to think that Bush is just daring the Congress to do something to stop him.
From AP (bolds are mine)
President Bush, on a collision course with Congress over Iraq, said Friday "I'm the decision-maker" about sending more troops to the war. He challenged skeptical lawmakers not to prematurely condemn his buildup.
"I've picked the plan that I think is most likely to succeed," Bush said in an Oval Office meeting with senior military advisers.
The president had strong words for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are lining up to support resolutions opposing his decision to send 21,500 troops to Iraq. He challenged them to put up their own ideas.
"I know there is skepticism and pessimism and that some are condemning a plan before it's even had a chance to work," the president said. "They have an obligation and a serious responsibility therefore to put up their own plan as to what would work."
I say keep up little boy, you will loose in if you tangle with Congress. The American people are done with you, you are 3 day old guests, we are merely polite but want nothing more that for you to disappear. You see our troops as pawns in your every growing disaster called a legacy. In a desperate attempt to save face in the eyes of history you are willing to send OTHER peoples children to their death. George Bush, you are a coward, and the Republicans that have enabled you to take us this far down the road to hell are also cowards.
I beg Congress to call this little punk of a presidents bluff and cut all funding for the wars in Iraq, bring out troops home, or maybe even to the country that the 9/11 hijackers worked out of, Afghanistan.
Congress, Republican and Democrat, the ability to stop the insanity is in your hands, for the love of god, please stop this mess!
Technorati Tags: Failed Presidency, Incompetent Establishment, iraq, Life in Bushs America, Republican Culture of Corruption
Category: Iraq, Life in Bushs America, Failed Presidency, Republican Culture of Corruption, Incompetent Establishment
Writing by on Wednesday, 24 of January , 2007 at 9:04 pm
This story has no political sting, it is just par for the course for these freaken right-wing wackjobs that the Republican love. In the "I can not make this shit up if I tried" file…
From Associated Press (bolds are mine)
A prominent public health expert who is a top adviser to federal health agencies was arrested on suspicion of public indecency in an airport men's room.
Dr. Hugh H. Tilson, 67, was arrested Jan. 16 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after a plainclothes police officer said he saw Tilson masturbating at a urinal while watching other men urinate.
Tilson, a part-time faculty member at the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health, has advised the government and industry on health issues and co-authored an influential 1988 report on the future of public health in the U.S.
Tilson recently co-chaired a task force advising the Atlanta-based federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on setting agency priorities and goals. He was visiting Atlanta last week for a senior leadership retreat with CDC Director Julie Gerberding and others.
Technorati Tags: Crazy Evangelicals, Culture of Life, Life in Bushs America, Republican Culture of Corruption, The Radical Right
Category: Life in Bushs America, Crazy Evangelicals, Culture of Life, Republican Culture of Corruption, The Radical Right
Writing by on Wednesday, 24 of January , 2007 at 5:06 pm
I really agree with Bob Geiger when he says [he] is makin a list. These are the Republicans who hate Americans so much that they would not even vote for a minimum wage increase after 9 years of nothing. I have bolded the ones that are up for reelection (Thanks Bob).
Oh and one Senator did not bother to vote, and it is presidential candidate and spokesman for the right-wing whack-jobs, Senator Brownback, from the Theocratic Republic of Kansas
- Alexander (R-TN)
- Allard (R-CO)
- Bennett (R-UT)
- Bond (R-MO)
- Bunning (R-KY)
- Burr (R-NC)
- Chambliss (R-GA)
- Coburn (R-OK)
- Cochran (R-MS)
- Corker (R-TN)
- Cornyn (R-TX)
- Craig (R-ID)
- Crapo (R-ID)
- DeMint (R-SC)
- Dole (R-NC)
- Domenici (R-NM)
- Ensign (R-NV)
- Enzi (R-WY)
- Graham (R-SC)
- Grassley (R-IA)
- Gregg (R-NH)
- Hagel (R-NE)
- Hatch (R-UT)
- Hutchison (R-TX)
- Inhofe (R-OK)
- Isakson (R-GA)
- Kyl (R-AZ)
- Lott (R-MS)
- Lugar (R-IN)
- Martinez (R-FL)
- McCain (R-AZ)
- McConnell (R-KY)
- Murkowski (R-AK)
- Roberts (R-KS)
- Sessions (R-AL)
- Shelby (R-AL)
- Smith (R-OR)
- Stevens (R-AK)
- Sununu (R-NH)
- Thomas (R-WY)
- Thune (R-SD)
- Vitter (R-LA)
- Voinovich (R-OH)
Technorati Tags: Life in Bushs America, Republican Culture of Corruption, republicans, Republicans Hate Americans
Category: Life in Bushs America, Republicans, Republican Culture of Corruption, Republicans Hate Americans
Writing by on Wednesday, 24 of January , 2007 at 4:51 pm
For the first time in 6 year common sense and what is good for America and the world won out over the right-wing nut bags
From the AP
The Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee dismissed President Bush's plans to increase troops strength in Iraq on Wednesday as "not in the national interest," an unusual wartime repudiation of the commander in chief.
The vote on the nonbinding measure was 12-9 and largely along party lines.
"We better be damn sure we know what we're doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more Americans into that grinder," said Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, the sole Republican to join 11 Democrats in support of the measure.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the panel's chairman, said the legislation is "not an attempt to embarrass the president. … It's an attempt to save the president from making a significant mistake with regard to our policy in Iraq."
Technorati Tags: Failed Presidency, iraq, Life in Bushs America, Those Under Arms, War on Terror, War Profiteering
Category: Iraq, Life in Bushs America, Failed Presidency, War on Terror, War Profiteering, Those Under Arms
Writing by on Tuesday, 23 of January , 2007 at 10:52 pm
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Democratic Response of Senator Jim Webb
To the President's State of the Union Address
Good evening.
I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown - an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.
It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President's message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.
There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy - how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy - how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.
When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.
Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.
In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.
In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy - that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.
And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.
With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.
I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.
Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues - those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death - we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm's way.
We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us - sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.
The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable - and predicted - disarray that has followed.
The war's costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.
The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.
On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.
Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.
Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves "as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other." And he did something about it.
As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.
These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.
Thank you for listening. And God bless America.
Technorati Tags: Democrats, Life in Bushs America, War on Terror
Category: Life in Bushs America, War on Terror, Democrats, Democrats
Writing by on Tuesday, 23 of January , 2007 at 10:39 pm
Well after I posted the last thread, ThinkProgress posted a lot more, so I am going to place them all in one post… Thank you to ThankProgess.
Bush said: We hear the call to take on the challenges of hunger, poverty, and disease - and that is precisely what America is doing. I ask that you fund the Millennium Challenge Account, so that American aid reaches the people who need it, in nations where democracy is on the rise and corruption is in retreat.
FACT MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE PROGRAM WILL SOON BE BANKRUPT: President Bushs signature foreign-assistance program is likely to run out of money this year, leaving in the lurch several poor countries that have labored to meet its strict eligibility standards, according to aid officials. Mr. Bush introduced the Millennium Challenge program in 2002 as a new approach to fix the perceived failures of overseas-development assistance. [Wall Street Journal, 1/22/07]
Bush said: We must continue to fight HIV/AIDS, especially on the continent of Africa and because you funded our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the number of people receiving life-saving drugs has grown from 50,000 to more than 800,000 in 3 short years. I ask you to continue funding our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.
FACT BUSH POLICY HAS LED TO SHORTAGE OF CONDOMS: The U.N. and a number of advocacy groups for AIDS patients have charged that the Bush administration policy had led to a shortage of condoms in Uganda, increasing the risk of infection for many people, particularly married women and adolescents. Jodi Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity in Washington, D.C., said that there has been a dangerous and profound shift in U.S. donor policy from comprehensive prevention, education and provision of condoms to focus on abstinence only. [New York Times, 8/30/05]
FACT GAO REPORT CRITICIZED IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSH AIDS PLAN: An 87-page GAO report criticized the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) because a large part of the funding is going to promote abstinence and fidelity is causing confusion in many countries and in a few is eroding other prevention efforts, including ones to reduce mother-to-child transmission of the virus. The abstinence policy is basically unworkable, said Paul Zeitz, director of the Global AIDS Alliance. This shows the problem very clearly and starkly. [Washington Post, 4/4/06]
Bush said: I propose to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties. We will share ideas for how to position America to meet every challenge that confronts us. And we will show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory.
FACT CONGRESS OPPOSES WORKING GROUP, FAVORS STRUCTURES ALREADY IN PLACE: In a letter addressed to President Bush on Jan. 19, 2007, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote, We believe that Congress already has bipartisan structures in place, like the committee system and other Congressional working groups such as the Senates National Security Working Group, that could produce the result you described in your speech. [Pelosi/Reid letter, 1/19/07]
Bush said: Many in this Chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching.
FACT LAWMAKERS, MILITARY COMMANDERS, AND EXPERTS OPPOSE ESCALATION: Sen. John Warner (R-VA), an influential conservative on military affairs, offered a resolution that opposes President Bushs escalation plan. Combined with near-unanimous Democratic opposition to Bushs war policy, the Republican stands show a broad bipartisan lack of confidence in the presidents course. Nearly seventy percent of Americans say they oppose Bushs escalation. Top military leaders, including former Gen. Colin Powell, the current Joint Chiefs, and Gen. John Abizaid, have expressed their opposition to putting more U.S. troops on the ground. The presidents strategy goes against the recommendations of the recently-released Iraq Study Group. One Bush administration official admitted that the escalation plan is more of a political decision than a military one. [Seattle Times, 1/23/07; Newsweek, 1/20/07; Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Washington Post, 1/10/07; NBC, 1/2/07; ThinkProgress, 1/3/07]
Bush said: My fellow citizens, our military commanders and I have carefully weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach. In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success.
FACT ESCALATION HAS BEEN A FAILURE: During the last six months, the United States has increased or surged the number of American troops in Baghdad by 12,000, yet the violence and deaths of Americans and Iraqis has climbed alarmingly, averaging 960 a week since the latest troop increase. This past summer, Bush announced a major effort to secure Baghdad, stating at a news conference that thousands of U.S.-led coalition troops would be moved into the city. Violence intensified throughout the country, and U.S. deaths in Iraq spiked. [AP, 1/9/07; Washington Post, 10/27/06; CNN, 6/14/06]
Bush said: Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies and most will choose a better way when they are given a chance. So we advance our own security interests by helping moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy.
FACT RICE AVOIDED PUSHING DEMOCRACY IN MIDDLE EAST TRIP: On a recent trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to mention Egypts poor human rights record. It was clear that the United States facing chaos in Iraq, rising Iranian influence and the destabilizing Israeli-Palestinian conflict had decided that stability, not democracy, was its priority, Egyptian political commentators, political aides and human rights advocates said. [NYTimes, 1/16/07]
Bush said: For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments raise the price of oil and do great harm to our economy.
FACT BUSHS VOLUNTARY APPROACH HAS FAILED TO CURB EMISSIONS: Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have increased by 354 million metric tons since 2001. The Energy Departments latest analysis projects Americas carbon dioxide emissions will increase by one third from 2005 to 2030. [DOE; SustainableBusiness]
FACT BUSH STILL DENIES FUNDAMENTAL CLIMATE SCIENCE: Last February, President Bush claimed there is still a debate over whether [global warming] is man-made or naturally caused. There is no real scientific debate over this question. Most recently, the National Academy of Sciences has unequivocally stated that natural causes cannot explain the unprecedented warmth over the last 400 years. Rather, human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming, the report states. [ThinkProgress; National Academies Press]
Bush said: It is in our vital interest to diversify Americas energy supply and the way forward is through technology.
FACT BUSH PROMISED TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES LAST YEAR, DIDNT DELIVER: At last years State of the Union, President Bush said the best way to break this addiction [to oil] is through technology. Yet his 2007 budget actually proposed to spend less on energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy resources in inflation-adjusted dollars than was appropriated in fiscal year 2001 $1.176 billion in nominal dollars in both 2001 and 2007. [State of the Union, 1/31/06; Presidents Budget, FY 2007]
FACT EMPHASIS ON TECHNOLOGY IS STANDARD RIGHT-WING TALKING POINT: Influential conservative political consultant and wordsmith Frank Luntz has advised politicians to point to the promise of technology in order to delay implementation of mandatory cuts in global warming pollution. We need to emphasize how voluntary innovation and experimentation are preferable to bureaucratic or international intervention and regulation, Luntz advises. [Luntz Environment Memo]
Bush said: For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipmentsraise the price of oiland do great harm to our economy.
FACT DESPITE PAST RHETORIC, FOREIGN OIL DEPENDENCE HAS INCREASED: President Bush has pledged to reduce our energy dependence in every State of the Union he has delivered since taking office. At the same time, the United States has become increasingly dependent on foreign oil, from 58 percent of oil consumed in the U.S. in 2000 to 70 percent in September 2006. U.S. dependence on OPEC nations for oil imports has risen to its highest level in 15 years. By focusing on expanding domestic exploration, he perpetuates our dependence on oil. [ThinkProgress, 1/3/07; Department of Energy; Financial Times, 1/2/07]
Bush said: We need to expand Health Savings Accounts help small businesses through Association Health Plans reduce costs and medical errors with better information technology encourage price transparency and protect good doctors from junk lawsuits by passing medical liability reform. And in all we do, we must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies, but by patients and their doctors.
FACT HSAs DO NOT OFFER MEANINGFUL SAVINGS FOR AMERICANS: Low- and middle-income uninsured people will gain meager or no tax savings from health savings accounts, according to a Commonwealth Fund study. Roughly 50 percent of uninsured adults pay no federal income taxes, meaning that tax incentives for high-deductible health plans would have little impact on uninsured adults. [Commonwealth Fund, April 2005]
FACT HSAs PRIMARILY BENEFIT THE RICH: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the average income of HSA users was $133,000 in 2004, compared to $51,000 for all non-elderly tax filers. Most low-income individuals do not face high enough tax liability to benefit in a significant way from tax deductions associated with HSAs. [CBPP, 12/7/06; Kaiser Familiy Foundation, 10/4/06]
FACT HSAs WILL NOT DECREASE THE NUMBER OF UNINSURED: HSAs are not likely to be an important contributor to expanding coverage among uninsured people because most of uninsured Americans do not face high-enough marginal tax rates to benefit substantially from the tax deductibility of HSA contributions. [Commonwealth Fund, April 2005]
FACT AMERICANS ARE DISSATISFIED WITH HSAs: Just 33-42 percent of enrollees in consumer-driven health plans were satisfied with their health care, compared to 63 percent of those people with traditional coverage. Two-thirds of people prefer an employer-selected set of plans over an employer-funded account and choosing insurance on their own. [Commonwealth Fund, December 2005]
Bush said: My second proposal is to help the States that are coming up with innovative ways to cover the uninsured. States that make basic private health insurance available to all their citizens should receive Federal funds to help them provide this coverage to the poor and the sick. I have asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services to work with Congress to take existing Federal funds and use them to create Affordable Choices grants.
FACT BUSH PLAN WILL CUT $30 BILLION FROM PUBLIC HOSPITALS: Bushs Affordable Choice grants will not involve any new federal money. It will instead redirect some of the $30 billion the government spends annually to care for people without health insurance who show up at hospitals and emergency rooms. There are about 47 million Americans without health insurance. [USA Today, , 1/23/07; American Progress, 1/23/07]
Bush said: First, I propose a standard tax deduction for health insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for dependents. [F]or the millions of other Americans who have no health insurance at all, this deduction would help put a basic private health insurance plan within their reach. Changing the tax code is a vital and necessary step to making health care affordable for more Americans.
FACT MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WILL BE UNABLE TO AFFORD EXPENSIVE INDIVIDUAL PLANS: Karen Pollitz, a Georgetown University researcher who co-authored a 2001 study on the individual health-insurance market for the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that people who arent in perfect health are largely unable to buy individual health insurance. In her study, Pollitz found that roughly 90% of applicants in whats known as less-than-perfect health were unable to buy individual policies at standard rates, while 37% were rejected outright. Individual health insurers may deny coverage to people based on their medial history, or put them in a high-risk category that it makes health coverage too expensive. [MSN]
Bush said: The time has come to end this practice [of congressional earmarking]. So let us work together to reform the budget process expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress.
FACT BUSH HAS ENGAGED IN HIS OWN EARMARKING: Bush has engaged in his own earmarking, using the federal budget process to reward political supporters, campaign contributors and sometimes members of Congress for votes on a presidential priority. Unlike with appropriations bills, you have no way to know whether an executive earmark comes from some agencys discretionary fund, and they decide to put it in some key district or state for political gain. [Wall Street Journal, 2/21/06]
Bush said: A future of hope and opportunity begins with a growing economy and that is what we have. This economy is on the move and our job is to keep it that way, not with more government but with more enterprise.
FACT BUSHS TAX CUTS THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO BUDGET DEFICITS: Tax cuts have been the single largest contributor to the reemergence of substantial budget deficits. Between 2001 and 2006, the passage of the Bush tax cuts without the offsetting savings have cost $1.2 trillion in lost revenues, or more than 80 percent of the cumulative deficit during this period. [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 10/12/06; Center for American Progress analysis, 1/22/07]
FACT DEFICITS HAVE MUSROOMED UNDER BUSH: Bush has never proposed a balanced budget since it went into deficit, never vetoed a spending bill when Republicans controlled Congress and offered little sustained objection to earmarks until the issue gained political traction last year. The budget outlook for the period 2002 to 2011 deteriorated by $8.5 trillion from 2001 to 2006 and for 2006, it decreased by $753 billion. [Washington Post, 1/4/07; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/13/06; Center for American Progress analysis, 1/22/07]
FACT ECONOMIC GROWTH HAS BEEN RELATIVELY SLOW UNDER BUSH: Economic growth fell to 2 percent in the third quarter of last year, following 2.6 percent growth in the second quarter and a surprisingly strong first quarter growth of 5.6 percent. This was the first time in more than three years that the economy registered two consecutive quarters of growth below three percent. [CBS News, 12/21/06; Center for Amercan Progress analysis, 12/21/06]
Technorati Tags: Failed Leadership, Failed Presidency, Government, iraq, Republican Culture of Corruption
Category: Iraq, Failed Presidency, Failed Leadership, Republican Culture of Corruption, Government
I want to wish the Vice President of the United State a happy 666th birthday. I hope that you get what you deserve for your birthday. I hope that the great balancer and issuer of justice visits you for your birthday and you get what you have earned. I ask Karma to cast her gaze to you, and all that you have given to mankind comes back to you times 10. Hey Dick, you claim to believe in god, feelin’ lucky?
In what is the new way of disseminating information in the age of citizen media, here is the 
