Author: Trish

Bush Tax Cuts at Work: Roads, Waterways, and Skies are a Mess

Trish

Chalk up another failure for the Bush tax cuts. The head of UPS today is warning that America’s neglected infrastructure is hobbling us in the global marketplace.

“What’s shocking, quite frankly, is the inability of our transportation infrastructure to keep up with the normal day-to-day stresses imposed upon it,” said UPS CEO Mike Eskew

Describing the nation’s roads, ports, railroads and airports as the backbone of global trade, UPS’s chief executive officer today warned that America was taking a chance with its future by neglecting its infrastructure.

“What’s shocking, quite frankly, is the inability of our transportation infrastructure to keep up with the normal day-to-day stresses imposed upon it,” said UPS CEO Mike Eskew. “Our highways, waterways, railroads and aviation networks are simply not keeping up with ordinary demands.

After Hurricane Katrina even emergency supplies languished in ports and parking lots. Eskew said you don’t have to wait for a storm or earthquake or terrorist attack to see the problems. You also don’t have to be a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, but they have issued a scathing analysis of our transport system.

“In 2005, here’s what our infrastructure report card looked like: our aviation system got a D+; navigable waterways a D-; roads a D, and rails a C-.”

“What does the overall report card on our national transportation infrastructure look like? Well, let’s put it this way: if your kids brought home report cards like this, someone would be grounded.”

Eskew was especially critical of railroads. As those of us who live near its Jacksonville headquarters are well aware, Bush Treasury Secretary John Snow was head of CSX before his crony status qualified him for a seat at the Bush cabinet table. CSX is a leader in the rail industry at avoiding liability and sticking it to the taxpayers every time its worn-out tracks cause an Amtrak derailment.

Eskew [added] one private business sector that particularly needs to step up is the rail sector. The nation’s railroads are “under-investing” in advanced technologies available today that could improve the capacity and safety of their networks, he asserted.

The problem is not insurmountable, he added, but it’s time “to sound the alarm.”

New & Improved: Actually See What You’re Typing!

Trish

To all the insightful P.R. readers who let us know that leaving a comment on our posts involved magnifying glasses and microscopes, thanks. No. 1 Editor Jon seems to have fixed the problem and accommodated all those who, like me, just had to hope we were typing what we thought we were. Sometimes the phrase “web master” just doesn’t cover it. How about “web genius?” Thanks Jon!

If tiny type was holding you back before, please feel free to comment early and often now.

Update: I made another adjustment. Check it now.

If You’re Gay, BMW Wants Your Money. But Forget About Those Employee Benefits

Trish

It takes more than targeting ads to gays to make a company gay-friendly. Ad Age is reporting that gaywheels.com is calling BMW out for soliciting gay sales but failing to provide benefits for partners of gay employees.

In an article called, “What is the German Word for Hypocrisy?” Joe LaMuraglia says both BMW and publications like “Out” and “The Advocate” that accepted the ad money, are at fault.

Our goal is not to incite a boycott of BMW’s cars, but rather to arm you, our readers, with awareness of the company’s actions as well as of those of the media outlets that published the ad. Speaking of which, one would hope that the publishers of GLBT-owned magazines and web sites would have higher standards than to accept advertising from a major, multinational corporation whose policies discriminate against the very audience that those publications were created to serve.

According to Ad Age, BMW claimed that since it is headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, it is just following Garden State laws.

The site goes on to list companies which are — and which are not — gay-friendly.

Gay-friendly:
DaimlerChrysler’s Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and Maybach
Ford MotorCo.’s Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin and majority-controlled Mazda
Toyota Motor Sales USA’s Toyota, Lexus and Scion
General Motors Corp.’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn
Volkswagen of America’s Audi, VW and Bentley
Subaru of America
Isuzu Motors America
Mitsubishi Motors North America

Non-gay-friendly:
American Honda Motor Co.’s Acura and Honda
BMW’s Mini and BMW
Hyundai Motor America and affiliate Kia Motor America
Nissan North America’s Nissan and Infiniti
American Suzuki Motor Corp.

Bo Derek Boy Toy Named to Replace Andy Card

Trish

According to opensecrets.org, this isn’t the first time Josh Bolten has stepped in when someone in the Bush Administration lost favor.

Josh Bolten was originally slotted to handle much of the president’s domestic policy agenda. However, as the administration soured on Larry Lindsay’s performance as head of the National Economic Council, Bolten gradually took over. He began dealing with all economic matters, and Bush came to depend on him for honing ideas for the president’s consideration. Once Mitch Daniels, former head of the Office of Management and Budget, resigned in late 2002, Bolten was quickly targeted to fill the slot. Credited as the architect of the Bush tax cuts as well as the hiring of Steve Friedman as NEC chairman, Bolten has become one of Bush’s closest advisors next to Karl Rove.

In an article called, “No Relation No. 14: The Bush White House Edition” Slate says unlike the U.N. guy, this Bolten has an interesting friend.

How do you tell the difference between Bush administration officials Josh Bolten and John Bolton? Both worked in the Reagan administration, both worked for Bush’s dad, and both worked on Bush’s legal team during the Florida recount before landing jobs with the administration. And their names sound alike. But the similarities end there:

Josh Bolten is the White House’s deputy chief of staff for policy. That makes him the president’s chief domestic policy adviser, and since Sept. 11 he has headed the White House’s new “domestic consequences group” that has developed post-attack legislation such as the airline bailout and the stimulus package. The New Republic’s Ryan Lizza calls him “increasingly powerful” and “the anonymous fourth man in the inner circle of Bush’s staff” (after Andy Card, Karl Rove, and Karen Hughes). U.S. News says he has emerged after the terrorist attacks as Bush’s “chief economic architect,” and the Washington Post says Bolten “has a quiet hand in all domestic policy and international economic policy.”

“Bolten is publicity-shy — the rare profile of him always mentions that he didn’t want the story written” but he has received some attention for his relationship with Bo Derek. The Austin American-Statesman says the two are just friends but that the relationship has included “several briefings” and a motorcycle ride. (Bolten owns a Harley.)

Madeleine Albright: Hope is Not a Policy

Trish

Fabulous analysis by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in today’s L.A. Times. Makes you wish she were still in that position, instead of the lying, apologist idiots who have followed her.

Albright points out that Bush continues to make the same mistake in foreign policy he does in virtually every other area: he oversimplifies and ignores important details that don’t fit his predetermined ideas.

“The administration must stop playing solitaire while Middle East and Persian Gulf leaders play poker”

For years, the president has acted as if Al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein’s followers and Iran’s mullahs were parts of the same problem. Yet, in the 1980s, Hussein’s Iraq and Iran fought a brutal war. In the 1990s, Al Qaeda’s allies murdered a group of Iranian diplomats. For years, Osama bin Laden ridiculed Hussein, who persecuted Sunni and Shiite religious leaders alike. When Al Qaeda struck the U.S. on 9/11, Iran condemned the attacks and later participated constructively in talks on Afghanistan. The top leaders in the new Iraq — chosen in elections that George W. Bush called “a magic moment in the history of liberty” — are friends of Iran…

The administration is now divided between those who understand this complexity and those who do not….

Although this is not an administration known for taking advice, I offer three suggestions. The first is to understand that although we all want to “end tyranny in this world,” that is a fantasy unless we begin to solve hard problems…

Second, the Bush administration should disavow any plan for regime change in Iran — not because the regime should not be changed but because U.S. endorsement of that goal only makes it less likely…

Third, the administration must stop playing solitaire while Middle East and Persian Gulf leaders play poker…

In the long term, the future of the Middle East may well be determined by those in the region dedicated to the hard work of building democracy. I certainly hope so. But hope is not a policy.

Is Bush Being Subliminally Sexual?

Trish

Two things on Bush saying the next president will have to get us out of Iraq .

Premature withdrawals, quick pullouts, lordie, lordie. I think Bush is more worried about his studly reputation than war strategy.

1. He’s trying to lower expectations and at the same time, make us stop shouting for him to go. If we agree that the next president will have to undo this in a few years, it means it won’t help to impeach or censure him now.

2. Is it just me, or is it getting warm in here?

The president…warned several times about the danger of a ”premature” withdrawal.

…Asked whether his comments signaled that a complete pullout would not happen during the three remaining years of his presidency…Bush’s comments — widely seen as an attempt to shift public expectations away from the notion of a quick pullout — dovetailed with comments yesterday by Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain…

Premature withdrawals, quick pullouts, lordie, lordie. I think Bush is more worried about his studly reputation than war strategy. But maybe I’m just hoping for a speedy climax to our frenzied penetration of Iraq.

Iraq Three Years Later: Heckuva Job, Georgie!

Trish

Three years ago today, most of us were as close as we could stay to CNN or NPR. Today was the day, at 0230 GMT, that the arbitrary 48-hour deadline which Bush gave Saddam Hussein to vacate his country expired. The day before, France, Germany, and Russia condemned Bush’s plan since it was not approved by a U.N. resolution. But in what would become a pattern over the next three years, Bush plowed ahead anyway.

“In 2003 and 2004, I thought the violence would pass and we would be OK,” an Iraqi shopkeeper said. “Now I feel as if this will never end. The situation seems to be only getting worse.”

So Junior, three years later, in the words of Dr. Phil, how’s that working for ya? Chicago Tribune:

In a bustling shopping district in a Shiite neighborhood that has been a frequent target of terrorist attacks, grocer Duraid Mohammed Hussein recently created a no-parking zone in front of his shop, fashioned from red packing cord and a couple of metal stands that he prays will keep car bombers at bay.

The notion that a piece of cord could improve his chances in an insurgent attack is illogical, Hussein acknowledged. But the 35-year-old shopkeeper said he had to do something to ward off a suffocating sense of vulnerability, a feeling that seems pervasive among Iraqis these days.

“In 2003 and 2004, I thought the violence would pass and we would be OK,” Hussein said. “Now I feel as if this will never end. The situation seems to be only getting worse.”

On the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion, anxieties in the capital are high, and Iraqis–politicians and average citizens–are debating whether their fragile country is tearing apart at the seams. Even Iraqis who considered themselves optimists about their country’s future say they fear the deepening Shiite-Sunni strife will push the country into a dark abyss.

At the Pentagon last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that Iraq is in a “very difficult situation” but that overall things are going well…

If by “going well,” you mean more than 2,300 American troops and upwards of 40,000 Iraqi civilians dying and many more thousands of both being injured and maimed, and the country being lawless and chaotic and without basic human services, then yeah, things are great. Thanks, George, Donnie, and Dicky. Heckuva job!

Getting Smarter on Impeachment

Trish

Much as my fellow Pensito Reviewers will probably disagree with me, I have to pitch in with those who say Democrats are overreaching on this censuring and impeaching stuff. The plain, simple reality is that Republicans control both houses, and cows will climb trees before they go along with such moves.

Our best bet is to retake the Senate and House this year. When we’re in the catbird seat, look out Bush. Until then, we’re just venting, and venting is what the weak and powerless do. Don’t waste energy going after Bush. I’m not saying to give Bush a free pass, but that we should use his every misdeed as evidence to convince our fellow voters to throw the bums out. After we do that, we can have a little talk with the Boy King.

Pre-IED Blast from the Past: What Bush Said as He Sent Us Into Iraq

Trish

It’s hard to read the words our president uttered as he committed us to war in Iraq. It’s hard to remember life before this albatross was tied around our necks, and it’s hard not to wince at the utter pretense and sanctimony of this idiot.

I mean no disrespect to the men and women who accepted this burden…but the Iraq War sucks. Big time.

Here, with a couple of comments from me, is what Bush said three years ago. As you read this, please keep in mind that 2,316 Americans have died as a result of this indulgence, along with 204 “Coalition” members. Between 33,600 and 37,800 Iraqi civilians have been killed. And the numbers of wounded and maimed from all nations involved is inestimable.

I mean no disrespect to the men and women who accepted this burden, and sincerely thank them for being willing to protect me and extend the freedoms America once represented to other people. But the Iraq War sucks. Big time.

In his address at 0315 GMT Thursday, [March 19, 2003] Bush said:

“My fellow citizens, at this hour American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.

More than 35 countries are giving crucial support, from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

[…]