Like father, not like son.

[MM38084]

Like father, not like son.

George H.W. Bush was a success in foreign policy and a failure in domestic policy -- and was a one-termer. The economic policy of his son, George W. Bush, has brought a boom, while his Iraq policy has brought a debacle. The voters will have to sort it all out.

The elder Bush was successful in international relations. He learned the importance of maintaining the NATO alliance. Another lesson was cooperating with the United Nations.

The result was a grand alliance against Saddam Hussein in 1991, including Arab neighbors. When the war was won, some argued that America should keep going all the way to Baghdad. But Bush refused, because he had learned the lesson about the extreme difficulty of prolonged occupation of other countries.

Yet Bush was persuaded to break his no-new-taxes pledge. He shattered his political coalition, deepened a recession and increased the deficit.

Eight years later, the younger Bush came into office promising a tax-cutting economic agenda. That rate-reduction plan was enacted in mid-2001; since then, despite terrorism, war and corporate scandals, the economy has rocked on. The growth rate for the third quarter was 7.2 percent.

Yet the younger Bush has veered from the tried-and-true on foreign policy. After September 11, he correctly destroyed al-Qaida in Afghanistan. But then he ruined alliances, created new enemies with reckless rhetoric and plunged into the quagmire of Iraq.

Thus the paradox of the Bushes: They can get it right, but only half-right.



Bush split


George H.W. Bush

* He raised taxes.

* He worked with United Nations.

* He didn't occupy Iraq.

George W. Bush

* He passed tax cuts.

* He avoided working with United Nations.

* He occupied Iraq.

[HARDCORE]

MM38084

What more can be said?

VERITAS

[SuperScout]

This might be some interesting differences and similarities:
GWB found the UN totally irrelevant, as did his father. Both successfully prosecuted a war in the Middle East without the UN. Both have found that the opposition to be totally perfidious. The current state of affairs in Iraq is hardly a debacle. GWB will probably be reelected next year, while the press in 1994 gave the opposition a free pass.

[Gimpy]

a few "F-A-C-T-S" about Bush # two, or "shrub" as he's so eloquently called in some parts!

This President is the only President to have never attended the funeral of a fallen soldier, nor personally met with the family to provide comfort and encouragement.

This President is the first to prohibit the Press Corps from Dover Air Force Base, where those who have given their lives for his cause make their return to American soil, thus depriving the populace from the privilege of honoring the sacrifice of these brave young men and women.

This President is the first to present a budget to Congress that provides less money to the Veterans' Administration than the previous year.

This President is the only President to have been Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from his own military service -- a deserter in a time of war.

This President is the only American President to have appeared publicly -- in official capacity -- wearing a military uniform, mocking those who actually serve.

This President is the first President to roll back benefits to active duty military personnel and veterans alike.

This President is the only one to have sent American troops off to war, then cut their hazardous duty pay.

This President has ordered that the Veterans' Administration is not to inform veterans of the benefits legally due them.

This President has rescinded military medical benefits for all retired military personnel, breaking a promise made to people who have decided to spend their lives in service since before the Korean War.

This President has pressed into active duty more National Guard troops than at any time since World War II, leaving states' militias ill-prepared to deal with normal duties, such as natural disaster response.

This President has instituted "processing fees" of $250 for veterans trying to claim their legally-due benefits, and increased co-pay at VA Medical Centers.

This President has sent our young loved ones off to war under false pretenses.

In addition to these atrocious, cynical slaps at the military and veterans, he has gone after their families. Money has been cut for military housing, military dependant medical benefits, and hardship pay, all of which help military families to deal with the harsh realities of day to day life.

For the first time in American history, an unknown person in the current administration has committed treason. By publicly revealing the name of an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency, the most treasonous act committed during the current war, someone in the White House has killed dozens, if not scores, of American intelligence agents abroad. Yet this President does not seem concerned with finding the traitor. In fact, he doesn't even call him that. The official word calls this despicable act of treason "a leak," as though it were some simple matter of a staffer revealing to Geraldo Rivera that the President naps in the Oval Office.


Yep------------"daddy" Bush was a disgrace alright-------BUT, "shrub" is the WORST of them ALL! No contest!!!

:cd:

[Gimpy]

of the type that show how this Bush adminstration and his radical right-wing agenda are affecting ordinary Americans!

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HEALTH CARE
'Playing Roulette'

Congress Daily reports that, "despite a tentative agreement between House and Senate GOP leaders and two moderate Senate Democrats, an actual conference agreement to ratify the [Medicare] deal appears less than inevitable." The legislation remains stuck and many polarizing issues remain unresolved. Although President Bush called for Congress to "finish the job" yesterday in a speech to Florida retirees, the WP reports he "dealt only lightly with the specifics of the Medicare negotiations during his appearances," instead "singling out aged members of the audience with names like Estelle and Marge and discussing their financial difficulties paying for prescriptions." Democrats strongly disagree with segments of the legislation, with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) claiming, " It's playing roulette with the lives of senior citizens." Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) also weighed in, saying, "It would be the end of Medicare as we know it." Center for American Progress Fellow Jeanne Lambrew has an analysis today outlining some of the shortfalls of the legislation, warning legislation "would alter the fabric of Medicare as a social insurance program by undermining its guaranteed benefit and capping its government funding," jeopardizing Medicare for future retirees. Here are some of the issues:

POORLY DESIGNED DRUG BENEFIT: Lambrew writes the drug bill "could leave millions of Medicare beneficiaries with less, not more, prescription drug coverage." A cost-savings measure could scale back drug coverage for 6 million "nursing home residents, people with disabilities and truly indigent seniors." According to the LA Times, "for many of the 12 million seniors who get drug benefits from their former employers, the proposed Medicare plan is less generous than what they already have." Also, government and independent estimates show the proposed bill "would prompt employers to drop retiree health coverage." The CBO estimated that " between 3.9 to 4.5 million seniors would lose their private drug coverage as companies unload this portion of their pension liabilities onto ever-generous Uncle Sam." Finally, a quirk in the legislation leaves a coverage gap; although seniors will have to continue to pay premiums year-round, half will be without coverage for part of the year.

FUNDING CAPS WILL LEAD TO DECREASED BENEFITS: Proposed caps to spending guarantee major cuts in Medicare benefits in the near future. While President Bush yesterday claimed the $400 billion he budgeted over the next decade for a stronger Medicare system "is enough to meet our commitments to the seniors today and to future generations of Americans," that's not the case. As the NYT reports, "the Congressional Budget Office says prescription drugs for the Medicare population over 10 years will cost roughly $1.8 trillion."

INCREASED PREMIUMS: The government announced last month that "Medicare premiums will rise in 2004 by 13.5%." This increase erodes "much of the 2.1% cost-of-living adjustment that Social Security recipients will receive in 2004." And while "seniors will see out-of-pocket medical costs drop in the short run" because of the new drug bill, Newhouse News reports that the Department of Health and Human Services warns "over time?[seniors] must expect Medicare to pay a smaller share of their health care costs," no matter what the outcome of the legislation.

HURTS RURAL SENIORS: A quarter of Medicare beneficiaries live in rural America and face special challenges. A study by the Center for American Progress in September found that rural beneficiaries "are nearly twice as likely to lack prescription drug coverage, spend 25% more out-of-pocket for medications, and have less stable access to private health insurance plans." However, rural seniors under the current plan face a prescription drug coverage gap double that of their urban counterparts and a weakened fallback measure which should give access to Medicare benefits when fewer than two insurers offer coverage in a given market.

REIMPORTATION STRIPPED OUT: The WSJ reports that "big drug firms gain" in their efforts to kill provisions giving Americans access to world market prices for prescription drugs. Despite the House and Senate overwhelmingly passing reimportation legislation, the pharmaceutical industry appears to have killed those provisions in the conference committee. As one of the 675 drug industry lobbyists said "it's very good." Still, the House has to pass the conference report, and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), who passed a reimportation bill earlier this year, said the emerging deal could cost her vote the next time around. "Obviously, the conferees are ignoring us and listening to the drug industry."

SHAMELESS SHILLING FOR DRUG INDUSTRY: Despite skyrocketing drug prices at home, conservatives and the White House claim that the most pressing problem is low prices abroad, saying the industry needs even higher prices to support research and development. The Administration has been pushing to use trade leverage to challenge Canada's price controls and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a top recipient of drug industry cash, has called for other countries to raise prices as well: "That's kind of the bare minimum that we need to have them do." But this tactic ignores the fact that the drug industry is reaping record profits, and spends more money on advertising and lobbying than R&D. "An estimated 61.1% of the Medicare dollars that will be spent to buy more prescriptions will remain in the hands of drug makers as added profits." A similar report showed "many of the dollars that drug manufacturers claim are spent on research of new pharmaceutical products are actually spent on marketing research," or research on promotional campaigns, not the "development and discovery of new drugs." (Pharmaceutical companies spend more on ads than Coca-Cola or McDonalds.)

COMPANIES HIRE MERCENARY "GRASSROOTS" GROUP: To influence the final Medicare bill, the drug industry has bankrolled a front group to air ads throughout the country. The United Seniors Association ( USA) is "a conservative, grassroots organization for the elderly? just as likely to be flacking for corporate special interests as it is to be representing seniors." The drug lobby pays the group "as a front for its TV and radio 'issue' ad campaigns," which is also "used by several corporate energy front groups pushing for the GOP legislation."

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[Gimpy]

still not convinced this Bush administration is a failure!

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October Unemployment Numbers

November 7, 2003

Today?s employment report which showed job growth in October of 126,000 jobs is certainly good news after the past 3 years of consistent job losses. Job growth is always better than no job growth, but a closer look shows that the overall labor market picture remains dire:

The recession ended two years ago, but you wouldn?t be able to tell by looking at the labor market:

? 1.3 million private sector jobs lost since the end of the recession in November 2001.

? 3 million fewer private sector jobs than in March 2001, when the recession began.

? Even the recent job gains have made up for only 9 percent of the private sector job loss that has taken place under the Bush administration.

? Even if jobs continue to be created at October?s rate, by the end of President Bush?s term, the economy will still have lost 1.2 million private sector jobs ? the worst record since the Hoover administration.

? Manufacturing continues to shed jobs. In October, employment in manufacturing lost 24,000 jobs, and is down 480,000 for the year to-date. This continues the prolonged employment collapse in this crucial sector that started in March 1998. Since then, manufacturing has lost more than 3 million jobs.

Other indicators from the jobs report do not bode well for the economy:

? 8.8 million people are still unemployed.

? Nearly one in four unemployed workers ? more than 2 million people ? has been out of work for more than half a year. There is no other period on record when, this far into a recovery, the share of long-term unemployed has been so high.

? The share of the working-age population that is employed rose only slightly to 62.2 percent after hitting its lowest level since 1993 in September.

? 4.8 million workers who want full-time jobs are working only part time ? 32 percent higher than when the recession began.

? The number of people who want jobs but are not in the labor force increased to 4.9 million in October, up 450,000 from pre-recession levels.

The labor market slump has created a vicious cycle for the U.S. economy:

? Because economic growth is not strong enough to generate the millions of jobs necessary, wages and salaries are not growing fast enough to boost consumption.

? Inflation-adjusted wages and salaries declined by 0.1 percent in the third quarter.

? Without rising wages supporting it, the consumption growth that has sustained our economy will fall. Retail personal spending in September fell by 0.3 percent - the first decline in eight months and the largest decline in a year.

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Now THAT'S the REAL truth about how this Presidents' programs are N-O-T working!