Bush's Record (composited early 2004?)

George W. Bush - "The Record"
Here's a short list of the top 10 reasons to vote against President George W. Bush and his administration. We hope inspires you to look further into the policies of the Bush Administration and their effect on the American public.

1. 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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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) Meanwhile, huge corporations are paying fewer taxes than ever.
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.
8. Bush's Military Record: From May to November 1972, George W. Bush was living in Alabama working on the US senate campaign of Winton Blount and was required to attend drills with the Air National Guard unit in Montgomery, Alabama. There is no record that he attended any drills whatsoever.
On September 5, 1972, Bush had requested permission to perform duty for September, October, and November at the 187th Tactical Recon Group in Montgomery. Permission was granted, and Bush was ordered to report to General William Turnipseed. In interviews, Turnipseed, and his administrative officer at the time, Kenneth K. Lott, have stated that they had no memory of Bush ever reporting.
Seven months later, at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, Bush's two superior officers were unable to complete his annual evaluation covering the year from May 1, 1972 to April 30, 1973 because, "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report."
According to the records available from the National Guard, the period between May 1972 and May 1973 remains unaccounted for.
If the allegations are true that Bush deserted his country during a time of war, this is one of the gravest offenses one can commit against their country, short of treason.
9. Bush on veterans' benefits: The Republican majority on the House Budget Committee in March rammed through a resolution that would cut $844 million from veterans' medical care for next year. At the same time, they managed to come up with $900 million to give to Dick Cheney's old company Halliburton and a few other big Republican sugar daddies who will quite conveniently be rebuilding Iraq after the war.
Over the next 10 years, the Republican changes would cut $24.7 billion from veterans' medical care, disability compensation and other benefits. Just when they send our young men and women into military action in Iraq, the Republicans back home chop their current and future benefits.
10. Bush Creates Record Deficits: The U.S government has a $5.95 trillion debt limit that was about to be surpassed. The fact is we have mounting deficits because George W. Bush is the most gratuitous big spender to occupy the White House since Jimmy Carter. One could say that he has become the "Mother of All Big Spenders."
President Bush's budget for fiscal 2004 will project record deficits this fiscal year and next, even without the cost of a possible war with Iraq, administration officials said on Saturday.Bush's $2.2 trillion budget blueprint, scheduled for release on Monday, will estimate the deficit for fiscal 2003 at $307 billion, surpassing a 1992 record of $290 billion. The budget shortfall in fiscal 2004 would ease slightly to $304 billion, officials said.
The new estimates -- at nearly triple the $109 billion shortfall for 2003 forecast by the White House in July -- underscore a dramatic
deterioration in the nation's fiscal picture since a record surplus in 2000. As recently as 2001, the government was forecasting 10-year budget surpluses of $5.6 trillion.