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Here's a short list of the top 7 reasons we're
running this ad campaign against President George W. Bush and
his administration. We hope this inspires you to look further
into the policies of the Bush Administration and their effect
on the American public.
1. It appears that the Bush Administration
has consistently misled the American public about Iraq,
most significantly regarding Saddam Hussein's possession of
weapons of mass destruction and his ties to al Queda and Osama
bin Laden. More recently, the failure of Sec. of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld to address abuse of Iraqi detainees has generated
international outrage, threatening to further destablize
the region and prolong fighting.
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/features/iraq_on_the_record
2. The Bush Administration's regressive environmental policies have lowered cleanliness standards for our air and water while allowing utility companies (many of whom are Bush campaign contributors) to profit off of the weakened regulations. In 2002, the head of the EPA's Office of Regulatory Enforcement resigned, complaining that the agency was “fighting a White House that seems determined to weaken the rules we are trying to enforce." (CNN, Aug. 22, 2002)
The Bush Record on the Environment for 2004:
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/2004.asp
3. Bush is underfunding education. The
President cut $200 million from his own No
Child Left Behind Act, eliminating crucial educational
programs for lower income children and cutting professional
training for more than 20,000 teachers. Flawed from its very
foundation, No Child Left Behind is based on then-Governor
Bush's late-‘90s “Texas Miracle,”—a program of standardized
testing designed to increase performance and reduce dropout
rates--now recognized as a scandalous failure.
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0338/schanberg.php
4. The Bush Administration's Patriot Act threatens our constitutional rights and civil liberties. Passed by a post 9/11 Congress, the Patriot act expands the ability of law enforcement to conduct secret searches, and engage various forms of surveillance, including internet monitoring and wiretapping. It gives the FBI access to American citizens' highly personal medical, financial, mental health, and student records without notification or permission, and allows them to investigate individuals without probable cause of a crime. Finally, it permits non-citizens to be jailed based on mere suspicion and held indefinitely in six month increments without meaningful judicial review.
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12126&c=207
5. Bush's Tax Cuts only benefit the rich. Bush
claimed that his tax cut would “reduce tax rates for everyone
who pays income tax.” He failed to mention that this “relief” program
would put half of the tax cut's dividends into the hands of our
nation's wealthiest 5%, while 8.1 million citizens in the bottom
half of the income bracket receive approximately $300 a year. Reducing
tax revenues while doubling the growth rate of federal spending
has caused the federal budget deficit to balloon to a projected $4
trillion over the next
10 years.
http://www.ctj.org/html/gwbfinal.htm
6. 3.3 million jobs (93,000 in August of
2003 alone) have been lost since Bush took office--more
than the last 11 Presidents combined. (Bureau of Labor Statistics,
June 2001-August 2003) Bush is likely to be the first president
since Herbert Hoover to show a net
loss of jobs at the end
of his first term. Meanwhile, huge corporations are paying
fewer taxes than ever:
http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/jobs/jobcrisis.cfm
7. Bush is underfunding homeland security.
While energetic in waging war abroad, the Bush administration
has been oddly lethargic in fortifying our defenses at home.
Domestic security agencies have been neglected. Police and firefighters
have been denied essential resources, and muddled public strategy
has only spread alarm and confusion.
http://www.ppionline.org/
More Recommended Reading:
The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century, by Paul Krugman
Dude, Where’s My Country?, by Michael Moore
Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, by
Al Franken
The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder, by Mark Crispin Miller
Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America, by Molly Ivins
Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, by James Moore
The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception, by David Corn
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq, by Sheldon
Rampton, John C. Stauben
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