The Truth... Please help me understand!
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| Tue, 08-24-2004 - 4:49pm |
Bush's tax cuts overwhelmingly favor the wealthy.
The top 1% will save more than $30,000 per year while 31% save nothing at all. Source: Citizens for Tax Justice and AFL/CIO
The nation faces a record $500 billion deficit. The biggest cause of the deficit is Bush's tax cuts. Source: www.govexec.com
President Bush is under-funding education with the smallest percentage increase in funding in eight years. Source: Committee on Education and the Workforce
2.9 million jobs have been lost under the Bush Administration. Source: New York Times
Bush misled the public about the reasons for going to war with Iraq. No weapons of mass destruction have been found. Source: The Guardian
Bush's Medicare bill helps corporations, not the elderly. 43.6 million U.S. citizens do not have health care. Source: www.misleader.org
Halliburton, the company where Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO, was given multi-billion dollar contracts in Iraq without competitive bidding. Source: New York Review of Books
Pentagon officials found that Halliburton overcharged the U.S. government by $61 million for gasoline in Iraq. Source: Associated Press
2 – Number of nations George W. Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into office.
130 – Approximate number of countries (out of a total of 191 recognized by the United Nations) with a U.S. military presence.
10 million – Estimated number of people worldwide who took to the streets in opposition to the invasion of Iraq , setting an all-time record for simultaneous protest.
$100 billion – Estimated cost of the war in Iraq to U.S. citizens by the end of the year.
104 – Number of American combat deaths in Iraq between May 2003 (when Bush landed on an aircraft carrier and declared an end to the open conflict and the middle of October 2003.
907 – Number of U.S. deaths in Iraq as of July 26th, 2004.
37 – Percentage of Americans who approve of Bush's handling of the situation with Iraq. Source: NY Times
95 - Percentage of Army Reserve Soldiers in Iraq and other Middle East bases experiencing significant pay problems. Source: GAO report
What the bipartisan 9/11 commission said on the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and Al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."
BUSH: MONEY MANAGER
$28 billion - Amount of proposed cuts to veterans' benefits in the congressional Republicans' budget resolution for fiscal year 2004.
$127 billion - Amount of U.S. budget surplus in fiscal year 2001, the last year Clinton was president.
$374 billion - Amount of U.S. budget deficit in fiscal year 2003.
#1 - This year's deficit will be the biggest in U.S. history.
$7.29 trillion - Current national debt.
$1.98 billion - Amount on average the national debt increases each day.
$23,396 – Amount of each citizen's share of the national debt as of October 21, 2003.
#1 – Record for most bankruptcies filed in a single year (1.57 million) set in 2002.
#1 – Set record in 2003, for most residential real-estate foreclosures in a one-quarter period.
1.6 – Percentage increase in economic growth since Bush took office, the slowest rate of increase over an equivalent period for any administration in 50 years.
Bush: Has Lots of Friends
$11.5 million – Amount of hard money Bush raised through the controversial “Pioneerâ€
program. Pioneers pledged to raise at least $100,000 by bundling together checks from friends and family.
212 – Total number of Pioneers identified by the Bush 2000 campaign.
524 – Total number of Pioneers later revealed through court documents.
61 – Number of Pioneers subsequently named to government posts.
19 – Number of Pioneers subsequently appointed as U.S. ambassadors.
2 – Number of Pioneers subsequently appointed to the Cabinet.
$5.3 million – Amount Bush raised this past September 30 toward his re-election campaign, breaking the one-day record he himself set.
Bush: The Environment
58 million- Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging, and drilling.
200 - Number of public-health and environmental laws Bush has worked to downgrade or weaken since taking office.
#1 - Rank of U.S. worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
Bush: More Like the French Than He Would Care to Admit
28 - Number of vacation days Bush took in August this year, the second-longest vacation of any president in U.S. history (Record holder: Richard M. Nixon.)
13 - Number of vacation days the average American receives each year.
Bush: Loves to Travel
65 – Approximate number of fund-raisers attended in 2002.
0 – Number of trips taken to Afghanistan before waging war against that country.
0 – Number of trips taken to Iraq before waging war against that country.
0 – Number of funerals or memorials Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq.
Bush: Tough On Crime
#1 – First president to execute a federal prisoner in the last 40 years.
8 – Number of days after that first execution that a second federal prisoner was executed.
#1 – As governor of Texas , executed more prisoners (152) than any governor in modern U.S. history.
Bush: Employment Record
2.4 million – Number of Americans who lost their jobs during the first two and half years of the Bush administration.
9 million – Number of workers unemployed as of September 2003.
#1 – The administration is well on its way to being the first since Herbert Hoover's to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office.
Bush: Helping the Rich
#1 – Has assembled the wealthiest Cabinet in U.S. history.
$10.9 million – Average wealth of the members of Bush's original 16-person Cabinet.
75 – Percentage of Americans unaffected by Bush's 2003 cuts in the capital-gains and dividend taxes.
$42,000 – Average savings members of Bush's Cabinet are expected to receive this year as a result of cuts in capital-gains and dividends taxes.
$42,228 – Median household income in the U.S. in 2001.
$116,000 – Amount Vice President Dick Cheney is expected to save each year in taxes.
9 – Number of members of Bush's Defense Policy Board who also sit on the corporate board of, or advise, at least one defense contractor.
Bush: Helping the Poor
43.6 million – Number of Americans without health insurance as of 2002.
$300 million – Amount cut in December 2002 from the federal program that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes during the winter.
Bush: Foreign Relationships
35 – Number of countries to which U.S. has suspended military assistance after they failed to sign agreements giving Americans immunity from prosecution before the International Criminal Court.
#1 – First American president to ignore the Geneva Convention on warfare (by refusing to allow inspectors access to U.S.-held prisoners of war).
Bush: Public Opinion

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This is a myth. Bush did not cut veterans benefits.
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Of course the tax cuts favor the wealthy, because the wealthy pay the vast majority of the taxes. The top 1% pays about 40% of all the taxes, while the bottom 31% doesn't pay any, which is why they didn't save any money on the tax cuts. You have to actually pay taxes in order to have them cut.
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The source of all budget deficits is not tax cuts, it's SPENDING. Look at it this way. If you get a pay cut, how do you respond? If you're responsible, you cut down your spending. But the government (Dems AND Repubs) don't do that - instead, they increase spending regardless of revenue and then Democrats blame deficits on tax cuts.
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You've got to be kidding here. Bush's administration spends over 700 BILLION on education, and his budget increased federal education spending by 40%, which is actually one of the LARGEST increases in education in history.
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You don't really rely on the Guardian as a source of unbiased news? If you do, I'm going to start calling Rush Limbaugh's show an objective news program.
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Did you put those two sentences together by mistake? I don't see how the two connect to each other.
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True. Why is this wrong? Do you know WHY Halliburton was given the contracts without competitive bidding?
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True, but what does this have to do with Bush? Last time I looked, Cheney was no longer CEO of Halliburton, and Bush never did work for them, so what's your point?
<<2 – Number of nations George W. Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into office. >>
50 million - number of citizens in those two nations who now live without fear of seeing their family members raped, tortured, and murdered for sport by the Taliban or Saddam Hussein.
<<130 – Approximate number of countries (out of a total of 191 recognized by the United Nations) with a U.S. military presence. >>
130 - Number of countries who don't have a problem with the military presence there.
<<1.6 – Percentage increase in economic growth since Bush took office, the slowest rate of increase over an equivalent period for any administration in 50 years.>>
Don't know where you got this number. A little education for you, courtesy of the Department of Commerce:
GDP by quarter:
1st Qtr 2001: +1.2
2nd Qtr 2001: +.3
3rd Qtr 2001: -1.3
4th qtr 2001: +1.7
1st qtr 2002: +6.1
2nd qtr 2002: +1.3
3rd qtr 2002: +4.0
4th qtr 2002: +4.0
1st qtr 2003: +1.4
2nd qtr 2003: +3.3
3rd qtr 2003: +8.2
4th qtr 2003: +4.1
1st qtr 2004: +3.9
The final numbers for the 2nd quarter 2004 aren't in yet. If you do the math, the average for the first 13 quarters of the Bush administration is +2.94.
<<58 million- Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging, and drilling.>>
Why is this wrong?
<<0 – Number of trips taken to Afghanistan before waging war against that country.
0 – Number of trips taken to Iraq before waging war against that country. >>
LOL - what is the president supposed to do, go sightseeing? Did Roosevelt visit Germany or Japan before he entered us into WWII? Give me a break.
<<75 – Percentage of Americans unaffected by Bush's 2003 cuts in the capital-gains and dividend taxes>>
Doubt that, hon. Are you aware that most of the people who have 401Ks or IRAs were affected by these cuts?
<<#1 – First American president to ignore the Geneva Convention on warfare (by refusing to allow inspectors access to U.S.-held prisoners of war).>>
False. The Internation Red Cross at least has already visited and inspected the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Sorry I couldn't answer all your questions - it's past my bedtime. I would point out that a large number of your sources come from blantantly biased organizations that are very obvious about their anti-Bush stance, so most of your so-called data is a just a teensy bit suspect. But if you like, I'll provide links to a couple of my "objective" news sources for you:
www.rushlimbaugh.com
www.hannity.com
Edited 8/25/2004 7:36 am ET ET by haley420000
"130 - Number of countries who don't have a problem with the military presence there."
I was in the army overseas twice, both countries had big problems with us being there. And it doesn't apear that any of these mid east countries are all that happy about us being there. I'm sure there are plenty of citizens that are happy with our help, but there are a lot of them who would rather we all die then be in their country. Or should I say that they would like us to die because we are in their country.
Venus
The source isn't a problem here! The simple FACT is that NO WMD have been found. There's nothing biased about that.
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50 million - number of citizens in those two nations who now have the 'privilidge' of living with the fear of those same things now being done to them by the US military!
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True. Why is this wrong? Do you know WHY Halliburton was given the contracts without competitive bidding?]]
Why is it wrong?? You're not serious are you?? In a democratic society, the spending of public money, and awarding of public contracts, has to be open and accountable. Award non-bid contracts, particularly ones of such large sums in such a contentious area, to a company that has close ties to the VP smacks of corruption and cronyism at the highest level.
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I don't believe the Red Cross has been allowed into Guantanamo Bay at all. Could you please provide some evidence that the International Red Corss has had acces to Guantanamo Bay? However, that's not the only area of the Geneva Convention which has been blatently ignored. Bush has publically stated that the detainees in Guantanamo Bay are not covered by the Geneva Convention. Not only that, he has also stated that if CLEARED by a military tribunal (eg, found innocent!!) he (Bush) can and will continue to detain those prisoners indefinitely - which could mean for the term of their natural life!
Watch out....it might be you, or someone you love, who is the next detainee at Guantanamo Bay - held without charge, without rights, and without recourse to natual justice!
They actually have found some WMDs, namely Sarin and Mustard gas in artillery shells. Besides, the point is that even if there are no more found (they are still looking, by the way), Bush did not mislead anyone. The Bush administration relied on intelligence gathered by our CIA as well as intelligence gathered by the French, Germans, Russians, Poles, Czechs, Brits, Spaniards, Japanese, Israelis, Saudi Arabians, and many other countries, not to mention the United Nations, and every one of these intel agencies all said the same thing - that Saddam Hussein had WMDs. So if Bush misled anyone, so did just about every other civilized and half-civilized country in the world. Try reading UN Resolution 1441, adopted by every member of the UN Security Council:
www.un.org/Docs/scres/2002/sc2002.htm
<<50 million - number of citizens in those two nations who now have the 'privilidge' of living with the fear of those same things now being done to them by the US military!>>
Ah, yes, I guess I missed the stories that announced that we had started up the plastic shredders, acid baths, and rape rooms. I also missed the stories that announced that we had begun torturing children in front of the their parents, raping wives in front of their husbands, cutting off limbs, electric shock, etc. Could you point me to those stories, because I can't seem to find them. And don't start ranting about Abu Ghirab, either. Piling naked people on top of each other and putting panties on someone's head in no way compares to feeding people feet-first into plastic shredders and apply electric shock to children. You're not really trying to paint the US military as being morally equivalent to Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, are you?
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First of all, awarding contracts without bidding does not mean that it is not accountable. Second, the contracts that you are referring to were contracts for fighting oil field fires and repairing/restoring oil fields. There was not enough time for the administration to go into the lengthy bidding process that normally takes weeks or months when Hussein could have fired up the oil fields at any time. It is not unusual for the U.S. to award no-bid contracts to Halliburton under these kinds of circumstances - Clinton did it in the 90s for our peacekeeping mission in the Balkans.
www.money.cnn.com/2003/03/25/news/companies/war_contracts/
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www.redcross.org/news/in/intllaw/020118detainees.html
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I doubt that, hon, since I'm not a terrorist. The detainees in Cuba are all there because they were fighting with terrorists against us, something I don't plan on doing in my lifetime. Don't you think that if the Bush Admin was rounding up random innocent civilians and shipping them off to Guantanamo that we'd have heard about it by now?
I think that the people are glad we are helping to free their country, but want us out ASAP.
"I think that the people are glad we are helping to free their country, but want us out ASAP."
ITA.
I noticed this too Venus.
Miffy - Co-CL For The Politics Today Board
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