BuzzFlash presents Southern Style by Rebecca Knight
Assault On America
by Rebecca Knight
June 7, 2002
"You can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
-Abraham Lincoln
How much will the American people stand for? How far will the Bush administration go with its attempts to totally restructure American way of life? Does the average American even care?
The selection of George W. Bush signaled the beginning of a two-fold assault on America. It was commonly understood that there would be tax cuts to help the wealthy, which could only be done by using much of the surplus. The secondary benefit to all the right-wingers who profess to hate big government would be the necessary reduction in spending on programs that actually help those in need. We understood that is how right wing theories work. Help the rich get richer and cut back on governmental help for the poor.
Some of us with apparent psychic or clairvoyant abilities even went so far as to predict huge deficit spending, increased national debt, war, and cutbacks on programs for the needy and the environment. Why? Well, firstly, because Shrub's fuzzy-math did not add up! A wonderful book on this very topic was written by economist and columnist for The New York Times, Paul Krugman, entitled "Fuzzy Math; The Essential Guide To The Bush Tax Plan." I highly recommend this book. Secondly, because we understood the Republican Party's, and Bush family's in particular, propensity for raging war against enemies. The past strength of the Republican Party in fighting communism has deftly been transferred to fighting terrorism.
In less than eighteen months in office Bush has certainly been successful in pursuing his agenda. Just take into consideration the following Bush actions:
Assault on the Environment
- Cut the Environmental Protection Agency by $500 million.
- Let corporate polluters off the hook for cleaning up the toxic messes they leave behind, making John Q. Taxpayer foot the bill.
- Cut funding for research into cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks by 26 percent.
- Canceled the 2004 deadline for automakers to develop high-mileage prototypes.
- Abandoned his campaign promise to regulate carbon dioxide levels.
- Rescinded rules mandating energy efficiency regulations for air conditioners and heat pumps.
- Cut funding of renewable energy source research by 50 percent.
- Put pressure on state officials to open up national monuments for oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and clear-cut timber harvests.
- Proposed elimination of marine protections for the channel islands of California and the coral reefs of Hawaii.
- Eliminated funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program, which encourages farmers to maintain wetlands habitat.
- Abandoned his campaign pledge to invest $100 million in rain forest conservation.
- Abandoned his campaign promise not to put nuclear waste in the Yucca Mountains of Nevada.
- Cut funding for research into renewable energy sources by 50%.
- Pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto Treaty global warming agreement. Recently admitted that global warming is a reality, but has no plans to work to avoid it.
- Proposed to curtail the ability of groups to sue in order to get an animal placed on the Endangered Species List.
- Approved a controversial plan by Interior Secretary Gale Norton to auction oil and gas drilling operation.
- Announced intention to open up Montana's Lewis and Clark National Forest to oil and drilling.
- Proposes to re-draw boundaries of nation's monuments, which would technically allow oil and gas drilling "outside" of national monuments.
- Took steps to abolish the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
- Allowed Interior Secretary Gale Norton to shelve citizen-led grizzly bear re-introduction plan scheduled for Idaho and Montana wilderness.
- Proposed to reverse regulation protecting 60 million acres of national forest from logging and road building.
- Proposed to ease permit process, including environmental considerations, for refinery, nuclear, and hydroelectric dam construction.
- Proposed to give government the authority to take private property through eminent domain for power lines.
- Refused to fund continued cleanup of uranium-slag heap in Utah.
Assault on Health Care and Public Safety
- Suspended rules denying government contracts to companies that violate government regulations, including environmental and workplace safety rules.
- Rescinded a proposal to give the public information about public health and safety consequences of chemical plant accidents.
- Reduced the Community Access Program (for people without health insurance) by 86 percent.
- Suspended a rule requiring pharmaceutical companies to test whether their products are safe for children.
- Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.
- Cut a program that provided prescription contraceptive coverage to federal employees, though it still pays for Viagra.
- Cut $35 million in funding for doctors to get advanced pediatric training.
- Proposed to eliminate a federal program, designed and successfully used in Seattle, to help communities prepare for natural disasters.
- Repealed workplace ergonomic rules designed to improve worker health and safety.
- Banned federal aid to international family planning programs that offer abortion counseling with other independent funds.
- Closed the White House Office for Women's Health Initiatives and Outreach.
- Gutted the White House AIDS Office.
- Cut the Community Oriented Policing Services program.
- Continues to hold up federal funding for stem cell research.
- Refused to fund continued litigation of the government's tobacco company lawsuit.
- Is seeking the dismissal of class-action lawsuit filed in the US against Japan by Asian women forced to work as sex slaves during WWII.
- Earmarked $4 million in new federal grant money for HIV and drug abuse prevention programs to go only to religious groups and not secular equivalents.
Assault on the Needy
- Cut $60 million from a Boys & Girls Club of America program for public housing.
- Cut child-care to low-income families moving from welfare to work.
- Cut $15.7 million earmarked for child abuse and neglect investigations.
- Cut $200 million of work force training for dislocated workers.
- Cut $700 million in capital funds for repairs in public housing.
- Cut federal spending on libraries by $39 million.
- Blocked rules that would require federal agencies to offer bilingual assistance to non-English speaking persons.
- Makes sure convicted misdemeanor drug users cannot get financial aid for college, though convicted murderers can.
- Signed a bill making it harder for poor and middle-class Americans to file for bankruptcy, even in the case of daunting medical bills.
- Helped kill a law designed to make it tougher for teenagers to get credit cards.
- Proposed elimination of the "Reading is Fundamental" program that gives free books to poor children.
- Eliminated funding for the "We the People" education program, which taught school children about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and citizenship.
- Reduced the Low Income Home Assistance Program by 40%; it aided low-income individuals who need assistance paying energy bills.
Assault on the Budget
- Abandoned his campaign pledge not to tap into Social Security funds.
- Passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut, 43% of which will go to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.
- Proposed defense budget that exceeds the defense budgets for all other countries combined.
Assault on Accountability
- Appointed John Negroponte, an un-indicted high-level Iran/Contra figure, to the post of United Nations Ambassador.
- Appointed Otto Reich, an un-indicted high-level Iran/Contra figure, to Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.
- Nominated David Lauriski, an ex-mining company executive, to post of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.
- Will no longer seek guidance from The American Bar Association in recommendations for the federal judiciary appointments.
- Appointed recycling foe Lynn Scarlett as Undersecretary of the Interior.
- Appointed Diana Roth to the Council of Economic Advisers, who does not believe there is a pay gender gap.
- Appointed Kay Cole James, a opponent of affirmative action, to direct the Office of Personnel Management.
- Appointed John Bolton, who opposes nonproliferation treaties and the UN, to Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
- Nominated Linda Fisher, an executive with Monsanto, for the number two job at the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Nominated Michael McConnell, leading critic of the separation of church and state, to a federal judgeship.
- Nominated Terrence Boyle, an ardent opponent of civil rights, to a federal judgeship.
- Nominated Harvey Pitts, a lawyer for a teen sex video distributor, to head the SEC.
- Nominated John Walters, a strong opponent of prison drug treatment programs, to be Drug Tsar.
- Nominated J. Steven Giles, an oil and coal lobbyist, for Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
- Nominated Bennett Raley, who advocates repealing the Endangered Species Act, for Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.
- Nominated Ted Olson, who has repeatedly lied about his involvement with the Scaife-funded "Arkansas Project" to bring down Bill Clinton, for Solicitor General.
- Forced out Forest Service chief, Mike Dombeck, and appointed a timber industry lobbyist.
- Fails to clearly define "war on terrorism," abandoning campaign promises to always have an exit strategy and not get the military involved in nation building.
- Bush and Cheney both contact Daschle requesting a limited and secretive investigation of 9/11.
- Cheney refuses to comply with requests to turn over documents on energy policy to Congress.
- Bush signs executive order against the release of previous administrations' documents.
- Proposed use of nuclear weapons in war.
- Proposed "strike first" policy for conducting "war on terrorism" without Congressional approval.
- Restricts civil liberties by passage of the Patriot Act.
- Allows Ashcroft to expand FBI power to investigate American citizens.
- Waits eight months to acknowledge a warning received about 9/11 attacks.
- Restricts media coverage of "war on terrorism."
- Restricts administration criticism by labeling questioners as unpatriotic or traitors.
- Admits that terrorist attack warnings are sometimes used to reduce political criticism.
This list represents a very clear picture of what the Bush administration and Republican agenda is all about. It is about helping the oil industry, large conglomerates, and the wealthy. It is about a never-ending war against terrorism.
I certainly support ending terrorism, but the strategy should be explained to Congress and the American people as best it can be without compromising national security. That is what the Constitution requires when it gives Congress the power to declare war. As yet, Congress has not done so.
The secretive Bush administration has accomplished the great feat of avoiding accountability, which leads one to question their motives. It is entirely possible that their motives truly are genuine efforts to stop terrorism before American citizens suffer further attacks. However, it is also entirely possible that there are political and financial motivations behind some of their actions. The difficulty in uncovering the truth is compounded by their obsession with secrecy.
The great question remaining to be answered is what long-term effects the Bush administration actions will have on America. There is little doubt that they are not having a positive effect, since they are clouded in secrecy and they are widening the divide between the haves and the have-nots.
Yet, Bush continues to have rather high approval ratings. This is an indictment of the American people's lack of political knowledge and their blind support of the fight against terrorism. That is evident in the huge spike in Bush's approval rating immediately following 9/11. Given time, the American people will lose patience with the war efforts and they will begin to doubt the Bush domestic agenda. History shows us that by the failure of Bush 41 to win a second term. Bush 43's understanding of what happened to this father gives him reason to keep the war going. That will become evident as time passes.
Whether
the Bush administration ends in 2004 or 2008, his successor will have
some difficult choices to make as a result of their ill-conceived assault
on America.
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Rebecca Knight is a native Tennessean, who grew up in Nashville. She currently resides in a small town about sixty miles outside of Nashville. She attended the University of Tennessee at Martin. She has also lived in North Carolina and Kentucky. She may be reached at tennessee_gal655@yahoo.com.
© 2002 by Rebecca Knight
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