We Can't Afford GB

George Bush's convention speech included many positive sound bites. There were even moments when it sounded like he had changed parties.

Mr. Bush's record, though, is full of occasions in which his actions and policies are contrary to his promises. Look back to his 2000 election promises. You don't have to remember or research them. His 2004 convention speech was just a repeat of his 2000 speech with about 17 Democratic promises added for the "fence riders".

In 2000 he promised to care for the elderly. Instead he has increased medicare costs to the elderly by 17%. He and the Republican congress closed the "drug tunnel" from Canada, increasing the costs of medicines for our aged and infirmed citizens by several billion dollars every year. Even several drug company execs have stated that many of the medicines purchased from Canada were either the same drug or equivalent in effectiveness and safety as those sold in the U.S. I'm sure that made Mr. Rumsfeld and his fellow stock holders at G.D. Searle & Company very happy.

In 2000 Mr. Bush promised education reform through his "No Child Left Behind" program. It sounded good. Congress approved it. The states were required to uphold it. But Mr. Bush never released the money to the states until there were threats of State vs Federal lawsuits. That's why states had to either find more tax dollars, borrow millions, or cut some educational programs for a couple years. Now Mr. Bush is thinking of cutting the funding for NCLB, because the states have proven, in his mind, that they don't need it!

In 2000 Mr. Bush promised major steps toward making the U.S. energy independent. Only after he was elected did he reveal that his approach to securing that independence was to explore oil deposits in our nation's wildlife and wilderness areas. Of course. It would be cheaper for his oil buddies, like Dick Cheney's Haliburton, or the Unocal Corp., where both he and his father had been on the Board of Directors until recently. Since it's public land they wouldn't have to pay royalties to land owners for the oil they removed. They could keep that money in their own pockets.

In 2000 Mr. Bush promised to lower health care costs for Americans. He has done nothing in that regard except to promote legislation mandating a maximum amount anyone could receive from a malpractice lawsuit. Actually it would be a quite minimal amount for the burden many experience of poor medical treatment. This is a main reason insurance companies and doctors support him. That would keep more money in the insurance companies' coffers and lower malpractice premiums doctors now pay. It would do nothing, though, to lower costs or improve benefits to patients.

He also promised a stronger economy in his 2000 campaign. Instead, he and the Republican Congress provided incentives to companies to either move entire operations or at least outsource jobs overseas and to Mexico. Since he took office the U.S. has lost nearly 23 million jobs.

The few jobs gained back this past year are due more to natural market fluctuations than to anything Mr. Bush or the Republicans in Congress have done. Those jobs tend to pay on average over $9,000 less per year than the jobs those people had before. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the Department of Labor and Industry, over 61% of people who now hold minimum wage jobs are over 21 years old; many of them over 30 years old. At that age they aren't "first time job holders" like Mr. Bush claims.

When he took office Mr Bush received a growing and stable economy with a $430 billion surplus. He has since transformed that into a $550 billion deficit - a $980 billion spending spree in only four years that your children and their childrens' children will have to pay for.

Many people say they support George Bush because, "he seems like an honest man". Delude yourself if you want. For those that study the facts, though, GB is anything but honest. We can't afford him for another four years.

Bush Flip Flops For MidWest Votes

Hoping to gain support among MidWest voters during his visit to Michigan last week Bush stated emphatically that, "We've got to use our resources wisely, like water." He went on to claim, "My position is clear: We're never going to allow diversion of Great Lakes water."1

That's a complete flip-flop from his pre-campaign goal of diverting Great Lakes water to the west and southwest states. In 2003 Bush claimed, "A lot of people don't need the water, but when you head South and West, we do need it." Mr. Bush obvously forgets that his statements are documented.

Your Vote Says, "I Do"

When you get married everyone who influences your spouse will now have some influence over your life. Similarly, voting for a candidate is like saying, "I want this person, and all who influence them, to represent me."

In three and one-half years Bush's open-door to influence from multi-national corporations has proven detrimental to millions of American families. Bush and the Republican Congress provided incentives for multi-national corporations to outsource jobs overseas. 23 million Americans lost their jobs because of the influence large corporations have with Bush.

Mr. Bush promised less reliance on foreign energy and protection of America's resources. Instead he proposes exploration in our natural resource areas. Exploration and development would be cheaper there for energy corporations, since it would be on public lands.

Bush promised better health care for the elderly, but he and the Republican Congress slammed the door on cheaper medicines in Canada with their latest Medicare legislation.

His idea of holding down health care costs is mandating a maximum on malpractice suits. Doctors, drug and insurance companies, and other health care businesses may continue making exorbitant profits.

The influence over him begins with his key people. VP Cheyney was CEO of Halliburton, one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the oil and gas industries. Rumsfeld was an executive with the worldwide drug company, G.D. Searle & Co. Rice is on the Board of Chevron Corp. Bush and his father are heavily invested in Unocal Corp. Unocal is planning a pipeline through Iraq. Hussein won't allow that. Oh yeah, we dethroned him for unproven claims that he aided terrorists.

When you consider the influence of his close friends and associates, average Americans cannot afford another four years of George Bush. four years of George Bush.

Bush Leak Lets Terrorists Escape

Bush continues to claim that his administration is doing everything to fight terrorism. But his administration's disclosure of the arrest of a suspected terrorist helped other al-Qaeda members escape. The whole story in USA Today.

The White House leaked the secret information to justify raising the terrorist alert level this week, thereby taking attention away from the Democrats and their convention and making it appear as though the Republicans were the ones protecting Americans. In reality their disclosure not only allowed al-Qaeda operatives to escape, but crippled a Pakistani anti-terrorist investigation. The "suspected terrorist" was actually an undercover operative of the Pakistani Intelligence Service working against the terrorist network (More...).

Additionally the Bush administration's leak may have negatively affected a major British anti-terrorism operation. Even our own CIA had also previously used this individual, so the U.S. was no stranger to his efforts and activities. Obviously the Bush White House will use any means or method available to further their own political gain - even if it negatively affects America's security.

Bush Flip-Flops Again

Last week, George Bush said he is working to "restore, improve and protect at least 3 million wetland acres over the next five years."¹ But according to a new report released today, Bush ignored that promise and has done the opposite by using a key court ruling to encourage a severe degradation of wetlands throughout the country.
[1] "Supporting America's Farmers and Conserving America's Land", The White House, 08/04/04

Bush Flip-Flops

With some of his most ardent supporters airing dishonest and discredited attack ads against Sen. John Kerry's military record, George Bush is refusing to denounce the tactics. Not only is Bush ignoring calls from Republicans to intervene, he is directly contradicting his own demands made during the 1992 presidential campaign.

According to the July 14, 1992 Washington Post, George W. Bush authored a letter to more than 85,000 Republican donors on behalf of his father's presidential campaign urging them to stop funding sleazy and dishonest attacks on Bill Clinton.¹ Now, however, Bush is remaining silent as his top Texas fundraiser, Robert Perry² bankrolls ads against Kerry, which independent academic institutions have discredited.³

Even as Sen. John McCain(R) demands the White House issue a statement denouncing the tactics⁴, Bush refuses. Even as one of the veterans in the ads apologizes for his attacks⁵, Bush, who talks so much about restoring "civility", and maintaining "integrity" has taken nothing but a passive, non-committal approach to his friends' ads.

[1] "Bush Camp Files Complaint Against Horton Ad Maker", The Washington Post, p.A9, 07/14/92.
[2] "Top Texas Donor's Influence Far More Visible Than He Is", Los Angeles Times, 08/08/04
[3] "Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry's War Record", FactCheck.org, 08/06/04
[4] "McCain: Denounce Smear", New York Daily News, 08/06/04
[5] "Veteran Retracts Criticism of Kerry", The Boston Globe, 08/06/04

Un-American Attitude

In a Senate hearing many years ago John Kerry claimed he ran a watery border of Vietnam and Cambodia along the Mekong River. John O'Neill, another former swift boat commander, stated, "How do I know he's [Kerry] not in Cambodia? I was on the same river. ... Our patrol area ran to Sedek, it was 50 miles from Cambodia. There isn't any watery border."

Maybe O'Neill really was "50 miles from Cambodia". He didn't learn much, though, about the river he claims he was on. The Mekong River, called the "Mother of Waters", runs through the heart of Cambodia with scores of smaller rivers and tributaries feeding it all along its journey from Tibet. As far as "any watery border", several of those smaller rivers, all part of the Mekong River system, do in fact flow along the border between Cambodia and Vietnam.

O'Neill is co-founder of the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, co-author of an anti-Kerry book, "Unfit for Command", and contributor to both the Republican National Committee and George Bush's campaign. He has been deeply involved with subversive politics for the Republican party, even against John Kerry, since the Nixon days when he started the Vietnam Vets For A Just Peace with the support of the Whitehouse.

Recently CNN aired a video taped discussion between Richard Nixon and John O'Neill in which O'Neill was then claiming to have also "run the border" of Cambodia in a Swift boat. Talk about flip-flopping! If he cannot today remember his own involvement how can he be trusted to remember the involvement of another boat he wasn't even on?

His repeated proven lies and slander say an enormous amount about O'Neill's lack of integrity. It says just as much, though, about the lack of integrity of those who condone his comments and efforts. The national Republican party learned during the McCarthy era that lies and slander produce great benefits in the forms of election victories and coercing the minds of citizens. They fine-tuned their campaign methods during the Nixon-Segretti "dirty tricks" days.

The "win by slander" technique of campaigning has become such an integral part of the Republican ethic they even use it against one another in the primaries. George Bush is doing it again. His supporters smeared Sen. John McCain's military record during the 2000 campaign. Now they're financing O'Neill's group to do the same thing against John Kerry, even though the U.S. Navy's records prove their statements to be false.

It's that totally un-American attitude that prompted me to change parties. I do not believe the end justifies the means. If you can't succeed honorably you should not be allowed to succeed at all. That's American!

Bush Economics For PA

Since George W. Bush was appointed President by the Electoral College in the then Republican controlled Congress:

• 337,000 people in PA have lost their health insurance.
• 160,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in PA
• 140,000 more people have fallen below the poverty level.
• The average wages for growing industries pay $9,120 less than those in shrinking industries.
• Bankruptcy skyrocketed as 76,864 PA households filed for bankruptcy just in 2003; a 37% increase from 2000 when Bush took office.
• PA family health insurance premiums increased by more than $2,700 to $9,477 per year.
• PA families with teenagers pay $612 more each year for gasoline.
• College tuition in PA has increased by $1,914 per year at 4-year public institutions.
• Overall child care costs increased by $2,050 to $12,910 for a family with two children under age 5 in full-time daycare.

It would seem that whoever is chosen to replace Bush could not do any worse for Pennsylvania. In fact, odds are in Pennsylvanians' favor that virtually anyone could do MUCH better.