Priorties
Topic: Bush
I thought that those of you who voted for Bush might want to know what he's been up to. Besides slashing and burning various countries around the world he's presently gutting "big government" programs so that he can create even bigger and badder, bastardized, government programs that typically help those that are already rich or the self-righteous. Take a look at what the man of the people is up to. These programs are slatted for either cuts to their budgets (55) or total elimination (99) as per the Bush budget (154 total programs in case your counting):
Agriculture DepartmentAMS Biotechnology Program
Forest Service Economic Action Program
High Cost Energy Grants
NRCS Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations
Research and Extension Grant Earmarks and Low Priority Programs
Commerce DepartmentAdvanced Technology Program
Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Program
Public Telecommunications Facilities, Planning and Construction Program
Education DepartmentComprehensive School Reform
Educational Technology State Grants
Even Start
(High School Program Terminations:)
Vocational Education State Grants
Vocational Education National Activities
Tech Prep State Grants
Upward Bound
Talent Search
GEAR UP
Smaller Learning Communities
Perkins Loans: Capital Contributions and Loan Cancellations
Regional Education Laboratories
Safe and Drug Free Schools State Grants
(Small Elementary and Secondary Education Programs:)
Javits Gifted and Talented Education
National Writing Project
School Leadership
Dropout Prevention Program
Close Up Fellowships
Ready to Teach
Parental Information and Resource Centers
Alcohol Abuse Reduction
Foundations for Learning
Mental Health Integration in Schools
Community Technology Centers
Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners
Foreign Language Assistance
Excellence in Economic Education
Arts in Education
Women's Educational Equity
Elementary and Secondary School Counseling
Civic Education
Star Schools
(Smaller Higher Education Programs:)
Higher Education Demos for Students w/Disabilities
Underground Railroad Program
Interest Subsidy Grants
(Small Job Training and Adult Education Programs:)
Occupational and Employment Information
Tech-prep Demonstration
Literacy Programs for Prisoners
State Grants for Incarcerated Youth
(Small Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance Programs:)
LEAP
Byrd Scholarships
B.J. Stupak Olympic Scholarships
Thurgood Marshall Legal Opportunity
(Small Vocational Rehabilitation Programs:)
Vocational Rehabilitation Recreational Programs
Vocational Rehab (VR) Migrant and Seasonal Workers
Projects with Industry
Supported Employment
Teacher Quality Enhancement Program
Energy DepartmentHydropower Program
Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization
Nuclear Energy Research Initiative
Oil and Gas Programs
Health and Human Services DepartmentACF Community Service Programs
ACF Early Learning Opportunities Fund
CDC Congressional Earmarks
CDC Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant
CDC Youth Media Campaign
Direct Service Worker Delivery Grants
HRSA Emergency Medical Services for Children
HRSA Health Facilities Construction Congressional Earmarks
HRSA Healthy Community Access Program
HRSA State Planning Grant Program
HRSA Trauma Care
HRSA Traumatic Brain Injury
HRSA Universal Newborn Hearing Screening
Real Choice Systems Change Grants
Housing and Urban Development DepartmentHOPE VI
Interior Department
BLM Jobs-in-the-Woods Program
LWCF State Recreation Grants (NPS)
National Park Service Statutory Aid
Rural Fire Assistance (BLM, NPS, FWS, BIA)
Justice DepartmentByrne Discretionary Grants
Byrne Justice Assistance Grants
COPS Hiring Grants
COPS Interoperable Communications Technology Grants
COPS Law Enforcement Technology Grants
Juvenile Accountability Block Grants
National Drug Intelligence Center
Other State/Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program Terminations
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP)
Labor DepartmentMigrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Training Program
Reintegration of Youthful Offenders
Transportation DepartmentNational Defense Tank Vessel Construction Program
Railroad Rehabilitation Infrastructure Financing Loan Program
Environmental Protection AgencyUnrequested Projects
Water Quality Cooperative Agreements
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Hubble Space Telescope Robotic Servicing Mission
Other AgenciesNational Veterans Business Development Corporation
Postal Service: Revenue Forgone Appropriation
SBA: Microloan Program
SBA: Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Participating Securities Program
MAJOR REDUCTIONS:
Agriculture Department
Federal (In-House) Research
Forest Service Capital Improve and Maintenance
Forest Service Wildland Fire Management (incl. supp. and emergency funding)
Biomass Research and Development
Broadband
CCC - Bioenergy
CCC - Market Access Program
Farm Bill Programs (EQIP
Farm Bill Programs (CSP)
Farm Bill Programs (WHIP)
Farm Bill Program (Farm and Ranchland Protection)
Farm Bill Programs (Ag. Management Assistance)
IFAS
Renewable Energy
Rural Firefighter Grants
Rural Strategic Investment Program
Rural Business Investment Program
Value-added Grants
Watershed Rehabilitation
NRCS Conservation Operations
NRCS Resource Conservation and Development Program
Water and Wastewater Grants and Loans
Commerce DepartmentManufacturing Extension Partnership
Education DepartmentAdult Education State Grants
State Grants for Innovation
Energy Department
Environmental Management
Health and Human Services DepartmentHRSA Children's Hospitals GME Payment Program
HRSA Health Professions
HRSA Rural Health
SAMHSA Programs of Regional and National Significance
State, Local & Hospital Bioterrorism Preparedness
GrantsHousing and Urban Development Department
Housing for Persons with Disabilities
Native American Housing Block Grant
Public Housing Capital Fund
Interior DepartmentBureau of Indian Affairs School Construction
National Heritage Area Grants
Payments in Lieu of Taxes
USGS, Mineral Resources Program
Justice DepartmentFederal Bureau of Prisons Construction Program
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program
Juvenile Justice Law Enforcement Assistance Programs
Labor DepartmentInternational Labor Affairs Bureau
Office of Disability Employment Policy
Workforce Investment Act Pilots and Demonstrations
State DepartmentAssistance for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union
Transportation DepartmentFAA - Facilities and Equipment
FAA - Airport Improvement Program (Oblim)
FRA - Next Generation High Speed Rail
Treasury DepartmentInternal Revenue Service - Taxpayer Service
Environmental Protection Agency
Alaska Native Villages
Clean Water State Revolving Fund
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Aeronautics: Vehicle Systems Program
Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter
Other AgenciesArchives: National Historical Publications & Records Commission
U.S. Institute of Peace, Construction of New Building
MAJOR REFORMSAgriculture: Rural Telephone Bank
Commerce: Economic and Community Development Programs
Homeland Security: State and Local Homeland Security Grants
Homeland Security: Transportation Security Administration, Recover Aviation Security Screening Costs Through Fees
Labor: Job Training Reform, Consolidate Grants Program
Transportation: Amtrak
Army Corps of Engineers (Civil Works): Performance Guidelines for Funding Construction Projects
U.S. Agency for International Development and Department of Agriculture: International Food Aid
Think about what we spend on military expenditures and ask yourself if you have an alarm on your house. Is that a good defense against intruders? Why don't you figure out what percentage that expenditure is of your total budget? What do you think? Maybe 3 percent? That's probably really high, right? Then figure out what this country spends on the military and relate it to your house. You would first need a moat, bullet-resistant glass in all the windows, a private security gate, a full-time 50 man armed security detail, concrete reinforced walls, motion and scent detectors, industrial sized spot lights, a double reinforced impenetrable dome and sharks with freakin laser beams on their heads in the moat and the scale of what we spend on the military would still not even be close to the paranoia clad house you've created.
Governmental budgets are no different than individual ones. Everyone including our government has choices to make and they depend upon our priorties and this President's priorties are completely out-of-whack.
Social Security Political Crisis
Topic: State Of The Union
George W. Bush and the brains behind the man, Karl Rove, are some of the most politically calculating people to ever walk the earth. They are cold and cunning. Rove is pushing this "crisis" in Social Security because he knows that the Democrats are going to fight tooth and nail against the cons to protect Social Security.
I think they have something else in mind. I may be wrong (not likely) but I think Rove is either looking to cash in on another political chip instead of Social Security or what I really fear is some compromise that may come out of the argument over Social Security. I can no longer believe a word that this President says and I now view everything he does through a Machiavellian lens. Rove is definitely no idiot but he's entirely unscrupulous. He's bluffing this hand and I hope the Democrats don't fall again into his political trap.
Take a look at what the Buying Of The President website (www.bop2004.com) lists as Bush's career patrons:
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. $672,175
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. $654,704
Pricewaterhouse Coopers $637,498
MBNA Corp. $608,791
Enron Corp. $603,875
UBS AG Inc $564,100
Credit Suisse First Boston $538,850
Vinson & Elkins $498,100
Goldman Sachs Group $487,849
Ernst & Young LLP $473,154
Take Enron out and what are you left with? A picture of a President purchased almost entirely by financial companies. These same companies stand to gain the most by the privatization of Social Security. If Rove is up to what I think he is, any compromise would wind up creating a great windfall for the major benefactors of the Bush campaign for President. Contrast these donations with John Kerry's and there's a world of difference:
Harvard University $300,495
Time Warner $276,466
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo
$271,047
Citigroup $226,910
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom $205,475
FleetBoston Financial Corp. $202,087
University of California $194,750
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi $193,950
Goldman Sachs Group $190,750
Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand/Piper Rudnick $178,452
Just like Bush's support of toppling Hussein for the sake of Israel, Saudia Arabia and oil, Bush is now trying to forsake the future of the American people to pay back his top 8 campaign contributors. Or maybe I'm just a cynical liberal who no longer trusts our President? Maybe it's just coincidence that the companies that stand to gain the most by the President's latest "crisis" just happen to be his largest campaign donors? I don't know.
By the way, has anyone seen a WMD?
Origins Of The War
Topic: Iraq
It has been the case that throughout history many people have attempted to revise history to suit the needs of their time. In an unprecedented way, many people in power today are trying to revise contemporary history and they seem to be getting away with it (at least 61,000,000 people are buying it). The Indy Voice wanted to re-revise history to represent reality (wow, what a concept).
Many have said that George W. Bush's idea for war with Iraq came only after 9/11 and was only for national security reasons. The reality is that many within the administration were pushing for a military strike against Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power going back to 1998. In fact, on January 26, 1998 the members of "The Project for the New American Century" (PNAC) sent a letter to then President Bill Clinton outlining their reasons for removing Hussein from Iraq. Their reasons DID NOT include an imminent threat. Actually the language they used was "we MAY soon face a threat".
The present day positions of these PNAC members include the National Security Council, Deputy Secretary of State, George W. Bush's speechwriter, Under Secretary of Arms Control and International Security, Under Secretary of Global Affairs, counsellor to United States Secretary of Defense, Advisory Board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and former chairman of the Defense Policy Board, Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs in the Department of Defense, Chairman of the Defense Science Board, Ambassador and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Defense. They let President Clinton know that they believed that "it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq's chemical and biological weapons production" and "in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons." How then was this administration so certain that Iraq possessed WMD in 2002?
As for the threat posed by Iraq on the mainland they mentioned nothing. They believed that Iraq possessing WMD would have a "seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East." And "if Saddam DOES acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction" he will threaten "the safety of American troops in the region, [sic] our friends and allies like ISRAEL and the moderate Arab states" (like Saudi Arabia?) And they stated another reason why they were concerned. They were worried that Hussein would put at risk "a significant portion of the world's supply of oil." Interesting?!
They also made statements that may have been the origin of the more recent sentiments that have sought to defend unilateralism. They believed that the hanging of our "success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners" was "dangerously inadequate". They proposed that the "aim of American foreign policy" should be "removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power" through "military action".
The most interesting part of the letter is the ending. It seems that the 1st five paragraphs of the letter could have spent a lot more time talking about the threats that Iraq posed directly against our country. Instead they talk about "our interest in the gulf" which as far as they see it, included Israel, the moderate Arab states and oil. If there was in fact legitimate threats against the mainland why wouldn't they tell the President more about them? And what "fundamental national security interests" did they have in mind other than the moderate Arab states, Israel and oil? Why didn't they list those?
Maybe all the members that signed this letter had a legitimate change of heart and mind post 9/11? Maybe they truly believed that a new threat existed in Iraq after 9/11 that dictated that we should invade to protect more than the moderate Arab states, Israel and oil? Maybe some new technologies have come about since long ago in 1998 and we are now capable of determining with total certainty that Iraq possessed WMD?
Maybe they forgot about our vital interests in the gulf, Israel, the moderate Arab states and the oil they have and decided to protect the U.S. from the new imminent threat posed by Hussein in a post 9/11 world? It's also possible that the President made the decision to invade Iraq without using the counsel of all these men. Maybe he didn't listen to Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz who were telling him to invade Iraq to "protect our vital interests in the gulf?" Maybe the members of the PNAC just forgot to add all the connections to terrorists that Hussein and his regime had? Maybe they forgot to mention the need to liberate the Iraqi people?
I don't know. Maybe I'm just a crazy liberal conspiracy nut. I like to think that I'm a rational person and believe that the simplest answer tends to be the correct one.
Maybe you can read the letter and make up your own mind
Project For The New American Century Letter
The Iraqi Election
Topic: Iraq
Just a couple of thoughts about the recent "election" in Iraq:
1- The election in Iraq is neither a victory nor a defeat for George W. Bush and the ideology he represents.
At no point prior to the start of this conflict was the establishment of democracy an explicitly stated goal of this administration. That is not why the Senate voted to authorize the use of force and it is not why the American people gave the war overwhelming initial support.
Democracy, if that does in fact come about, would only be a victory for the people of Iraq.
2- Why would a terrorist like Zarqawi or the insurgents attack on a day when the country is virtually shut down?
Zarqawi's goal is not as stated, to destroy democracy. Bin Laden's and Zarqawi's goal is to create a worldwide conflict between the U.S. and the moderate Muslims. His statements and actions, especially using the Iraqi people, are only a means to an end.
3- Our continued occupation of Iraq is only just beginning.
Barring the Iraqi's telling us to get out of their country, this election is just an intermediary step on the path toward true democracy. It's going to be a long, arduous and unfortunately deadly process. Unless the Iraqi's demand our complete withdrawal the level of our forces will remain for years to come and will be followed by our continued presence through numerous extremely large military bases.
4- People of the liberal persuasion do not welcome or hope for failure in Iraq.
Liberals hope for the best for the people of Iraq. However we recognize that this conflict has brought additional crises to the doorstep of the Iraqi people who have suffered greatly within the past 25 years. We also have faced the reality that the people who have attacked us on 9/11 are literally getting away with murder. The reality of the situation is that the fundamental reasons that created those terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 still exist and the occupation of Iraq has only exacerbated this critical problem. The threat of terrorist attack on American soil is as great as it was the day before 9/11 and possibly even greater.
Liberals also recognize that the Iraqi's could have come to this point through their own means, with their own will and with their own hands.
5- The insurgency is not dead.
The insurgents are not stupid. They recognized that the elections were going to take place despite their violence. Contrary to popular belief, the insurgency is made up of predominately Sunni Iraqis which compromise 40% of the total population. They are now, through political means, stripped of power. That will only further the adoption of violence by the Sunnis. With the few trained and experienced terrorists that are moving into Iraq the insurgency will become more insidious and more lethal. Additionally the borders are still not sealed and will remain that way at the present troop levels.
Some Perspective:The Iraqis have a long and dangerous road ahead. Their courage today should not be made into a political tool wielded by anyone within this country. Keep things within the context of what has occurred leading up to today:
- 100,000 Iraqi's have been killed
- 1400+ U.S. troops have been killed
- thousands have been maimed and injured for life
This is not a time for celebration. This may be a time for a little cautious optimism for the people of Iraq.