Just when you think the Bush Administration couldn’t get any lower, they dig a little deeper. This time the President himself had a press conference to announce his opposition to Congress’ version of the SCHIP bill. Charles Dickens must be spinning in his grave!
It’s one thing to oppose this program, but to go so far as to LIE TO MAKE YOUR REASONS SOUND PALATABLE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
It’s not news that this Administration is built on lies. There has been absolutely nothing, NOTHING!, about this Presidency that can stand the scrutiny of the light of day. From the election of 2000 on, it’s just been one falsehood after another. But back to the case at hand:
Here is a quote from FactCheck.org (http://www.factcheck.org/ ), the non-partisan website run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania that strives to set the record straight, regardless of whether you’re a Republican or Democrat:
“President Bush gave a false description of proposed legislation to expand the 10-year-old federal program to provide health insurance for children in low-income working families…Bush has threatened a veto. In explaining his opposition to Congress' plans, however, he falsely characterized the bill in one instance and was misleading in others…He said it ‘would result’ in covering children in families with incomes up to $83,000 per year, which isn't true…Bush said, ‘The legislation would raise taxes on working people.’ Actually, what SCHIP would do is increase the federal tobacco excise tax on all tobacco products.”
I could go on, but you can read FactCheck.org’s report in its entirety on their website. I’m here to rant about this new outrage. First of all, note that this program was put in place before the Bush fiasco.
What exactly does this president think his legacy is going to be? He has said that history will judge. Well I don’t think we need to wait 30 or 40 years to figure it out. President Bush would much rather send people not much older than those who are to be covered in this bill to a country half-way around the world to fight in a war that he lied us into, than give them medical care. And if he has his way, some of those that would be covered under this plan would be sent to Iraq because we would be there long enough!
Mr. President, what exactly do you consider a moral imperative? If it’s not the truth, if it’s not upholding the Constitution, if it’s not caring for our wounded vets when they come home from fighting your immoral war, if it’s not being good stewards of our environment, if it’s not even helping under-privileged children, then what in God’s name is it?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Throwing Good Money After Bad
I remember the summer of ’66. I went to the county fair with my boyfriend. He decided to try his luck at a roulette game and had, unfortunately, brought with him all the money he had saved up to buy his class ring. He started out small, but he kept losing until he had lost all his money. Then I put in my summer savings (to go towards a new stereo) and lost that, too.
What reminded me of this painful experience? George Bush’s plan to ask for $50 billion more for his war in Iraq. The total spent so far, according to the Pentagon, exceeds $400 billion. And every time Bush runs out of money, he goes to Congress and tells them that this time the money they give him will make a difference. This time the troops will be able to make progress. This time they will win! Sounds the same as that barker who kept two gullible kids betting on a number that never came up.
What’s more, Bush is pretty sure that Congress will go along with it. After all, they’ve been giving him everything he asked for so far. Some of the Dems are meekly asking to bring home some troops, but they are hesitant to cut off funding. Woe to them who are blamed for putting our troops in harms way. But who actually put our troops in harms way to begin with? That’s right – George!
We can only hope that by the time we get around to bringing home our troops, there will be money to do so and in an orderly, planned manner – quite the opposite of the way we went in.
Until then, Bush (with the blessing of Congress) will just keep throwing good money after bad, promising that this time it will be different.
What reminded me of this painful experience? George Bush’s plan to ask for $50 billion more for his war in Iraq. The total spent so far, according to the Pentagon, exceeds $400 billion. And every time Bush runs out of money, he goes to Congress and tells them that this time the money they give him will make a difference. This time the troops will be able to make progress. This time they will win! Sounds the same as that barker who kept two gullible kids betting on a number that never came up.
What’s more, Bush is pretty sure that Congress will go along with it. After all, they’ve been giving him everything he asked for so far. Some of the Dems are meekly asking to bring home some troops, but they are hesitant to cut off funding. Woe to them who are blamed for putting our troops in harms way. But who actually put our troops in harms way to begin with? That’s right – George!
We can only hope that by the time we get around to bringing home our troops, there will be money to do so and in an orderly, planned manner – quite the opposite of the way we went in.
Until then, Bush (with the blessing of Congress) will just keep throwing good money after bad, promising that this time it will be different.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Just who is trying to take over our country?
In case you missed it, right wing weirdo Melanie Morgan made a comment on Hardball recently that just shows the idiocy of her fellow freaks. Responding (or ranting) at Naomi Wolf, Morgan shrilled (I know it's not a verb, but it fits), "Keep attacking, keep attacking Naomi, because you’re going to look great in a burka. You’re going to look super in a burka."
I am not as worried about Islamic fundamentalists taking over our country as I am of the right wing radicals like Morgan. How many of us would sit by and let terrorists take over without dying for our freedom? I don't own a gun, but I would sure as hell get one if this happened -- and a lot of ammo, too!
And yet we just wait for Jauary, 2009, hoping for a change that will swing the pendulum back the other way. But that's over a year away. Until then we're stuck with Bush. He still has the power. He never used the veto (signing statements, excluded) when the Rs were there to feed him their pablum. But anything, ANYTHING the Dems try to put through is vetoed. And many of our Dems are not standing up for us. They've become "Blue Dogs" and side with the right.
What truly troubles me is that we are in more danger of being taken over from insde by well meaning albeit non-thinking Americans. Morgan and her ilk fail to see how the Bush administration is changing our country from a republic to a dictatorship, or, if you prefer, a kingdom. When one man or one branch of government is given power that goes unchecked, we no longer have a means of reining him in.
When the Senate and the House were controlled by the Rs, they rubber stamped everything Bush sent their way. Now the Dems are taking their tablespoons and trying to empty the ocean of inappropriate actions this administration has heaped upon us. There has been a lot of criticisn of the Dems for not being more effective, but as far as I'm concerned, they can only do so much. It started the week after the new Congress was installed. Questions started surfacing about why the Dems hadn't ended the war yet. How absurd can you get!
But what can you expect when the righties have nothing left to counter with, except "You're going to look great in a burka." Let the fear mongering continue.
I am not as worried about Islamic fundamentalists taking over our country as I am of the right wing radicals like Morgan. How many of us would sit by and let terrorists take over without dying for our freedom? I don't own a gun, but I would sure as hell get one if this happened -- and a lot of ammo, too!
And yet we just wait for Jauary, 2009, hoping for a change that will swing the pendulum back the other way. But that's over a year away. Until then we're stuck with Bush. He still has the power. He never used the veto (signing statements, excluded) when the Rs were there to feed him their pablum. But anything, ANYTHING the Dems try to put through is vetoed. And many of our Dems are not standing up for us. They've become "Blue Dogs" and side with the right.
What truly troubles me is that we are in more danger of being taken over from insde by well meaning albeit non-thinking Americans. Morgan and her ilk fail to see how the Bush administration is changing our country from a republic to a dictatorship, or, if you prefer, a kingdom. When one man or one branch of government is given power that goes unchecked, we no longer have a means of reining him in.
When the Senate and the House were controlled by the Rs, they rubber stamped everything Bush sent their way. Now the Dems are taking their tablespoons and trying to empty the ocean of inappropriate actions this administration has heaped upon us. There has been a lot of criticisn of the Dems for not being more effective, but as far as I'm concerned, they can only do so much. It started the week after the new Congress was installed. Questions started surfacing about why the Dems hadn't ended the war yet. How absurd can you get!
But what can you expect when the righties have nothing left to counter with, except "You're going to look great in a burka." Let the fear mongering continue.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Another Freedom Bites the Dust
One by one the Bush Administration has stripped American citizens of the rights that the Constitution has guaranteed. Habeas Corpus was revoked. Warrantless wiretapping has been practiced with abandon. And now the President has issued an Executive Order that is titled: “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq, Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act”. Follow this link to read the entire order.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html
If the objective of this administration is to instill fear in the people of this country, they have finally succeeded! However, it’s not fear of a terrorist attack that scares me; it’s the fear that my own government can take me away to a secret prison for writing this and not let me have a lawyer or tell my daughter that her mother is being held for doing what I am doing right now. It’s a fear that I may have to go live in Canada like I’ve been threatening to do ever since Bush was elected. I’d certainly be better off. At least I’d have better access to health care. But that’s another blog.
We have heard time and time again that those of us who speak out against the War in Iraq are traitors. Those of us who want to bring home our sons and daughters are accused of wanting to cut and run. We who question the planning or lack thereof of this Administration and the Pentagon are called traitors. We have been posed the question, “Do you think it would be better if Saddam Hussein were still in power?” To this I have found the answer. YES!!!!! Furthermore, I believe that if you ask that question of the people of Iraq, they would loudly echo that answer. If you asked that question of the families of innocent Iraqis who have been killed and maimed if it was worth losing their loved ones for a democracy that they never asked for, I think they would look at you like you were speaking gibberish. No one bothered to ask them before we invaded this sovereign nation if they wanted to have a democracy.
Someone in the White House must stay awake at night trying to think up ways to rescind the freedoms that we have cherished since the founding of our nation. Perhaps what we need is another Revolution, one that would free us from the current King George. I can only repeat what I’ve heard so many people quote – of all things, a cartoon: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I’m not half as afraid of being targeted by a terrorist as I am by George W. Bush.
Actually I don’t really believe he’s like a king…I think he’s more like a dictator. When Hussein was toppled as dictator of Iraq, Bush took over as dictator of the United States of America.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html
If the objective of this administration is to instill fear in the people of this country, they have finally succeeded! However, it’s not fear of a terrorist attack that scares me; it’s the fear that my own government can take me away to a secret prison for writing this and not let me have a lawyer or tell my daughter that her mother is being held for doing what I am doing right now. It’s a fear that I may have to go live in Canada like I’ve been threatening to do ever since Bush was elected. I’d certainly be better off. At least I’d have better access to health care. But that’s another blog.
We have heard time and time again that those of us who speak out against the War in Iraq are traitors. Those of us who want to bring home our sons and daughters are accused of wanting to cut and run. We who question the planning or lack thereof of this Administration and the Pentagon are called traitors. We have been posed the question, “Do you think it would be better if Saddam Hussein were still in power?” To this I have found the answer. YES!!!!! Furthermore, I believe that if you ask that question of the people of Iraq, they would loudly echo that answer. If you asked that question of the families of innocent Iraqis who have been killed and maimed if it was worth losing their loved ones for a democracy that they never asked for, I think they would look at you like you were speaking gibberish. No one bothered to ask them before we invaded this sovereign nation if they wanted to have a democracy.
Someone in the White House must stay awake at night trying to think up ways to rescind the freedoms that we have cherished since the founding of our nation. Perhaps what we need is another Revolution, one that would free us from the current King George. I can only repeat what I’ve heard so many people quote – of all things, a cartoon: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I’m not half as afraid of being targeted by a terrorist as I am by George W. Bush.
Actually I don’t really believe he’s like a king…I think he’s more like a dictator. When Hussein was toppled as dictator of Iraq, Bush took over as dictator of the United States of America.
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