Yellow Dog

Excuses, excuses. I am getting tired of an administration that takes no blame for any of the problems that have occurred on its watch. Twice now (once in a press conference and once again in the second debate) Bush has failed to respond to a question regarding what mistakes he has made. If you can't acknowledge any mistakes, how can you possibly begin to address the problems that face this country?

Was invading Iraq, a country that posed no threat to us, a mistake? Not according to Bush, who blames his misjudgment on "bad intelligence" and keeps reinventing after the fact our reasons for going to war.

Was the idea to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy during a time of war a mistake? More excuses. Bush blames the bad economy on the recession, September 11th, the stock market, corporate scandals, and the war.

Here's the reality:
"Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and George Bush Sr. all faced wars and managed to create jobs. Franklin Roosevelt led America toward victory in World War II, after recovering from a devastating attack upon Pearl Harbor. Yet Roosevelt still managed to create jobs: from 1941 until his death in 1945, FDR created 5,567,000 private sector jobs. Truman led the United States to victory over Japan in World War II, and acted to prevent Communist North Korea from taking over South Korea, yet he managed to create 6,452,000 private sector jobs during his term. LBJ committed the United States to the divisive war in Vietnam, yet managed to create 9,458,000 private sector jobs during his term. Nixon faced the Vietnam War, yet created 7,117,000 private sector jobs during his term. The first Bush's recession lasted July 1990-March 1991. George H.W. Bush led a victorious world coalition against Iraq after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Yet George H.W. Bush created 1,465,000 private sector jobs during his term. [Bureau of Labor Statistics; National Bureau of Economic Research]

From http://blog.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/archives/003353.html#more

Dogmatic: "Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles."

Some examples: "The economy is growing." "We are turning the corner." "We are winning the war in Iraq." "We are safer now that Saddam Hussein is gone."

Here are more Bush myths and the counter-reality:
Top Twenty Bush Myths

You can read more in the Yellow Dog archives about Bush's dangerous environmental rollbacks and policies that favor his buddies in the energy industry, but here's more on his laughable statement in the second debate that he is a "good steward" of the land.

Would a "good steward"
--allow utilities to upgrade their facilities without adding pollution control equipment? (hey, it saves the coal industry money, so screw the consumers--and their lungs!)
--prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating carbon dioxide emissions, the most important source of "greenhouse gases"? (this was a 2000 campaign promise that Bush broke--flip flopper!)
--loosen the regulation of mercury emissions? (a little mercury won't kill anyone; or will it?)
--limit the amount of land that can be formally declared "wilderness"? (goodbye wilderness; hello Wal-Mart)
--make logging easier in old-growth forests? (Bush cynically calls this plan to cut down trees the "healthy forests" initiative)

This LA Times piece has more, and as someone who lives in a much smaller southeastern city that is, along with LA, on the top ten most polluted cities list, I care about this issue and am very concerned that Bush got a grade of "F" from none other than The League of Conservation Voters, which, as this columnist points out, "is hardly a radical environmental group." Aren't conservatives supposed to care about conservation? I guess this is just another example of how Repugs will have to hold their nose and vote for Bush despite his dangerous policies.

Environmental Whopper

The federal deficit has now surged to a record $413 billion.

Here's something we all should remember:

"Bush took office after a four-year string of federal surpluses, and the 2004 surplus of $387 billion that he forecast upon taking office became an actual deficit of $413 billion — an $800 billion reversal."

It's time to, once again, elect a more fiscally responsible Democrat to clean up the mess.


Yahoo! News - Federal Deficit Surges to Record $413B

Why is it that every story I have read lately on attempts to disenfranchise voters always involve Republican officials up to their dirty tricks? Unbelievably, the New England regional chair of Bush-Cheney 2004, who is under investigation in an election fraud case, is still operating as the chair. And then there's the latest case of the RNC-backed organization throwing out Democratic voter registrations in Oregon and Nevada. Read this NYT story for more examples from Ohio, Wisconsin, and, of course, Florida. Bottom line: When it comes to a dog fight, Republicans don't fight fair.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Block the Vote

For the third straight debate, all the post-debate opinion polls say Kerry won. Even the disgusting wad of spittle which resided in the corner of Bush's mouth for the first half hour of the debate failed to distract John Kerry.

Gallup. Snap poll following debate:
Kerry 52%
Bush 39%

CBS News Poll:
Kerry 39%
Bush 25%
Tie 36%

CNN Focus Group:
Kerry 42%
Bush 29%
Tie 29%

ABC News:
Kerry 42%
Bush 41%
(To keep it close, ABC polled 38% GOP, 30% Dem, 28% Independents)

Unfortunately for Bush, there was not a single question about education during tonight's presidential debate. While dodging important questions about jobs, wages, affirmative action and divisiveness in America, Bush ducked and hid behind third grade kids. No fewer than four times did Bush invoke his magical goal of raising test scores.

JOBS: What do you say to someone who has lost his job to someone overseas?
Bush: No Child Left Behind!

WAGES: Is it time to raise the minimum wage?
Bush: No Child Left Behind!

RACE: Do you see a need for affirmative action programs?
Bush: No Child Left Behind!

UNITY: Will you set a priority in bringing the nation back together?
Bush: No Child Left Behind!

That's George W. Bush's complete domestic agenda: No Child Left Behind. He signed it into law on January 8, 2002 within one year of taking office. He then did not fully fund it, teachers hate it, and still he hopes it will solve every problem facing America today.

We need a top dog that can learn some new tricks.

Just what we need: $140 billion in new corporate tax cuts. I have to agree with this New York Times editorial:

"In our time of war and deficits, Congress should be ashamed to have passed this bill, and the president should be ashamed to sign it."

Read more here:
The New York Times > Opinion > Congress Gives Away the Store

Kerry on the campaign trail today...

"Here I am in the state of New Mexico. George Bush is still in the state of denial," Kerry told the supportive crowd Sunday. "New Mexico has five electoral votes. The state of denial has none. I like my chances."

State of New Mexico:




State of Denial:




More information about the State of Denial is here, and here, and here

Paul Krugman, in today's New York Times, predicts eight lies or distortions you'll hear in Wednesday's debate, and the truth about each:

Jobs

Mr. Bush will talk about the 1.7 million jobs created since the summer of 2003, and will say that the economy is "strong and getting stronger." That's like boasting about getting a D on your final exam, when you flunked the midterm and needed at least a C to pass the course.

Mr. Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a decline in payroll employment. That's worse than it sounds because the economy needs around 1.6 million new jobs each year just to keep up with population growth. The past year's job gains, while better news than earlier job losses, barely met this requirement, and they did little to close the huge gap between the number of jobs the country needs and the number actually available.

Unemployment

Mr. Bush will boast about the decline in the unemployment rate from its June 2003 peak. But the employed fraction of the population didn't rise at all; unemployment declined only because some of those without jobs stopped actively looking for work, and therefore dropped out of the unemployment statistics. The labor force participation rate - the fraction of the population either working or actively looking for work - has fallen sharply under Mr. Bush; if it had stayed at its January 2001 level, the official unemployment rate would be 7.4 percent.

The deficit

Mr. Bush will claim that the recession and 9/11 caused record budget deficits. Congressional Budget Office estimates show that tax cuts caused about two-thirds of the 2004 deficit.

The tax cuts

Mr. Bush will claim that Senator John Kerry opposed "middle class" tax cuts. But budget office numbers show that most of Mr. Bush's tax cuts went to the best-off 10 percent of families, and more than a third went to the top 1 percent, whose average income is more than $1 million.

The Kerry tax plan

Mr. Bush will claim, once again, that Mr. Kerry plans to raise taxes on many small businesses. In fact, only a tiny percentage would be affected. Moreover, as Mr. Kerry correctly pointed out last week, the administration's definition of a small-business owner is so broad that in 2001 it included Mr. Bush, who does indeed have a stake in a timber company - a business he's so little involved with that he apparently forgot about it.

Fiscal responsibility

Mr. Bush will claim that Mr. Kerry proposes $2 trillion in new spending. That's a partisan number and is much higher than independent estimates. Meanwhile, as The Washington Post pointed out after the Republican convention, the administration's own numbers show that the cost of the agenda Mr. Bush laid out "is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion" and "far eclipses that of the Kerry plan."

Spending

On Friday, Mr. Bush claimed that he had increased nondefense discretionary spending by only 1 percent per year. The actual number is 8 percent, even after adjusting for inflation. Mr. Bush seems to have confused his budget promises - which he keeps on breaking - with reality.

Health care

Mr. Bush will claim that Mr. Kerry wants to take medical decisions away from individuals. The Kerry plan would expand Medicaid (which works like Medicare), ensuring that children, in particular, have health insurance. It would protect everyone against catastrophic medical expenses, a particular help to the chronically ill. It would do nothing to restrict patients' choices.

(In other words, everything Bush says will be a lie or distortion.)

The New York Times > Opinion > Krugman: Checking the Facts, in Advance