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George
W. Bush's Resume "Expanded"
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Accomplishments
as president:
- Drafted
energy bill
in cahoots with lobbyists like Enron that will increase
the deficit by $19 billion to provide unnecessary
tax breaks and subsidies to utilities, railroads and
oil, coal and gas companies--all big donors to my
campaign. [1]
- Signed
off on a $19 billion farm subsidy program, which went
against my promise of "free trade" and stuck
consumers with higher prices. [1]
- Gave
the "swing state" Pennsylvania steel industries
protective tariffs resulting in higher prices for
everyone else. [1]
- Got
the FDA to relax the rules on making health claims
on labels on behalf of the food industry. [1]
- Cleared
the way for a Montana silver and copper mining company
by scrapping a carefully negotiated settlement for
protection of grizzly bears.[1]
- Got
the Interior Department to kill a 1997 regulation
that limited mining wastes, including cyanide and
other chemicals by reverting to an outdated reading
of the 1872 Mining Law. [1]
- Cut
backs in need-based state aid programs and federal
Pell grants prevented 170,000 high school graduates
who were the brightest in their classes from going
to college because they couldn't afford it. [2]
- Ran
an ad campaign (now discontinued) that promoted my
Clear Skies initiative to the Hispanic community,
a sought-after group of voters, that omitted key information
about air pollution that is particularly adverse to
Hispanics living in California - from
Daily Mis-lead
- Stacked
scientific and medical advisory panels with political
ideologues and fanatics. With weak credentials and
conflicts of interest, they have flooded schools with
medically worthless "abstinence-only" programs. They
punished HIV/AIDS prevention groups with audits and
gagged overseas healthcare workers who receive U.S.
funds. -
from Intervention
Magazine
- The
number of U.S. jobs lost has swelled to over 3.2 million
since taking office. [3]
- Broke
the all time budget deficit record when the deficit
hit 374.2 billion in 2003. [4]
- Stopped
playing by the rules candidates had voluntarily adhered
to since 1976 by refusing to take public money to
cap spending and instead opted out relying on private
money to spend as much as possible. Now the system
for campaign spending has been seriously undermined
and big money threatens to play a more pivotal role
in forthcoming elections. [5]
- During
my administration funding for Homeland Security and
the Iraq occupation are coming at the expense of public
safety and municipal leaders are facing cuts of $1
bn. in annual federal money for community policing.
[6]
- Trying
to block a court ordered award of nearly $1 bn. in
damages to 17 U.S. combat veteran POWs from the Gulf
War. [7]
- My
administration is being sued by 13 states and more
than 20 cities seeking to block changes to the Clean
Air Act contending that the new rules would weaken
air quality and threaten public health. [8]
- Overturned
the 1978 law that required presidential and vice-presidential
papers to become public record after 12 years to protect
the records of past, current and future top executives
but primarily his dad.
- During
my administration nearly 3.8 million families were
hungry in 2002 to the point that someone in the household
skipped meals because the family could not afford
them. That is 8.6 percent more families than in 2001,
when 3.5 million were hungry, and a 13 percent increase
from 2000. [9]
- The
Bush Administration's roll back of the Clean Air Act
caused the EPA to drop their investigation on 50 of
the oldest and dirtiest power plants; many of which
had already received notices of violation. - from
Kerry campaign
- Provided
revised environmental modeling data in order to justify
an increase in the allowable level of mercury pollution.-
from
Daily Mis-lead
- World
Trade Organization declared my March 2002 steel tariffs
illegal and the European Union is threatening the
U.S. with $2.2 billion in retaliatory sanctions if
these tariffs are not lifted immediately. [10]
- My
Attorney General, John Ashcroft, blacked out half
of a 168-page report detailing a poor record of workplace
diversity in the Justice Department.
-
Released a statement announcing that the Inspector
General in Iraq, "shall refrain from initiating, carrying
out or completing an audit or investigation or from
issuing a subpoena which requires access to sensitive
operation plans" due to reasons of national security.
The office of the Inspector General traditionally
has been responsible for matters relating to the prevention
of fraud, waste, and abuse. - from
CauseNet
- Supported
bill that undermines the entire Medicare program,
pushing people into the very HMOs which contribute
heavily to Republican lawmakers and barring the government
from negotiating for lower drug prices.
- Successfully
pressured Congress for new rules that could lead to
8 million Americans losing eligibility for overtime
pay, largely white-collar workers earning more than
$65,000 a year. More than 644,000 such employees would
lose the time-and-a-half pay now required when they
work more than 40 hours in a week. - from
Salon
- During
my term government spending increased more than 27
percent in the previous two fiscal years. In fact,
the investor class being reminded of fiscal discipline
in Washington is warning that, "The U.S. budget is
out of control," as asserted weeks ago by Wall Street
investment firm Goldman Sachs & Co.- from
Daily Mis-lead
- I've
called for mercury emission rules that would reduce
mercury to 34 tons by 2010, and 15 tons by 2015, regulations
that are "three times less stringent and would take
10 years longer to achieve than reductions critics
say are required under the Clean Air Act.- from
Daily Mis-lead
- Civil
enforcement of pollution laws has plummeted since
I took office over three years ago and we have caught
and punished far fewer polluters than the previous
two administrations. [11]
- The
success of my administration's anti-terrorism efforts
have been grossly overstated in that of the 6,400
people referred by investigators for criminal charges
in the two years since the attack, only 879 were convicted,
the median sentence was 14 days and only five people
were sentenced to 20 years or more. [12]
- Chose
to put the vast majority of the new funding for AIDS
programs into programs the US controls and operates,
rather than the effective Global Fund.- from
Daily Mis-lead
- Sent
US troops to Iraq without sufficient body armor to
protect themselves. As many as 30,000 soldiers in
Iraq are without body armor and are being forced to
use '"Vietnam-era flak jackets" that provide insufficient
protection from shrapnel and bullets. Military families
across the country are so concerned about the president's
negligence, that many have felt forced to raise the
$1,400 personally to pay for their loved one to have
the armor.-
from Daily Mis-lead
-
Responsible for more military casualties during the
first year of the takeover of Iraq than in the 1st
year of the Vietnam war.- from a viewer
- Ignored
GAO investigation report claiming the USDA and the
Food and Drug Administration had been lax in enforcing
beef safety regulations intended to protect people
from mad cow disease, including those intended to
guarantee that cattle feed wasn't contaminated. The
GAO report also claimed the FDA's record keeping was
so bad it was hard to tell whether these companies
were complying with feed bans intended to keep prohibited
proteins out of cattle feed. [13]
-
The IMF on January 8, 2004 called my huge budget deficits
a threat to the global economy by roiling currency
markets and driving up interest rates. [14]
- My
administration awarded a $1.8 bn. dollar contract
to Bechtel National, Inc and Parsons Corp. in partnership,
companies whose executives donated thousands of dollars
to my campaign and have two top executives serving
on White House and Pentagon advisory boards 15]
Records
and References:
-
Tom
Teepen, Atlanta-based Cox Newspaper's columnist, October
17, 2003 column appearing in the Detroit Free Press
on "Power of Big Buck Players", referencing
deals cut by the Bush Administration to help out key
political allies who are also big campaign donors.
-
Article
in The Nation citing findings from recent Advisory
Committee on Student Financial Assistance.
-
-
Associated
Press article of October 21, 2003 on record budget
deficit.
-
Knight
Ridder article by Dick Polman, October 23, 2003 entitled:
Election funding system at risk.
-
Report
from the annual convention of the International Association
of Chiefs of Police in Philadelphia on October 24,
2003 on the already noticeable effects of less federal
money on public safety.
-
Newhouse
News Service report by Miles Benson on Bush Administration
attempting to block monies awarded to Gulf War POWs,
dated 10/27/03.
-
-
Agriculture
Department report on the increase in families
who went hungry, based on US Census Bureau survey
and reported by AP on November 2, 2003.
-
Washington
Free Press News Services report, November 12, 2003,
on World Trade Organization ruling against the Bush
steel tariffs.
-
December 9, 2003 article titled: In Bush Years,
EPA nabs fewer polluters, published in the Detroit
Free Press by staff writer Seth Borenstein citing
17 different categories of enforcement activity obtained
by Knight-Ridder through the Freedom of Information
Act.
-
Government
records reviewed by Syracuse University's Transactional
Records Access Clearinghouse regarding the people
held and convicted of terrorism by the US Justice
Dept. reported in the Detroit Free Press, Dec. 8,
2003, 4A.
-
Detroit
Free Press article entitled: Hunt is on for mad cow
origin by Seth Borenstein, Washington staff, appearing
on December 25, 2003, Sec. 1A.
-
IMF Warns US Budget Gaps Endanger World Economy, by
Joseph Rebello, Dow
Jones Newswires, January 8, 2004.
-
Detroit Free Press news article on Bechtel $1.8 bn.
contract, Jan. 7, 2004, Sec. 4A.
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