Tag: Worst President Ever

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.”

The Perils of Cronyism

Buck Banks

The following is a statement from one of my favorite wingnuts, Richard A. Viguerie, posted on ConservativeHQ Alert:

“Fortunately for the Bush family, Ronald Reagan put a premium on loyalty to Republican principles, not to himself personally. Otherwise, Reagan would not have selected George H.W. Bush as his vice president, and the first President Bush could never have made it to the White House on his own.”
— Richard Viguerie

It’s good news that Andy Card has resigned as President Bush’s Chief of Staff.

The bad news is that President Bush’s DNA apparently won’t allow him to associate with anyone who is not a longtime Bush family loyalist – thus Josh Bolten’s appointment as Card’s replacement.

Fortunately for the Bush family, Ronald Reagan put a premium on loyalty to Republican principles, not to himself personally. Otherwise, Reagan would not have selected George H.W. Bush as his vice president, and the first President Bush could never have made it to the White House on his own.

America has been poorly served because both President Bushes apparently are comfortable only with those who have pledged lifetime loyalty to the Bush family.

“Personnel is policy.” Non-conservative personnel results in non-conservative policies. President Bush has not governed as a conservative and will not govern in the future as a conservative as long as he insists on surrounding himself with moderate to liberal big-business, big-government Republicans.

And, conservatives will only support President Bush if he actually governs as a conservative.

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.

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.

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I Owe $30,000 — And So Do You

Trish

I just found out I’m deeper in the red than I thought. But at least I’m not alone. Every single American is right there with me, thanks to a Senate vote today to increase the national debt to $9 trillion. We’re all paying the price for Bush’s bad decisions, like tax breaks for the rich, pre-emptively going to war in Iraq and a delayed response to Hurricane Katrina.

It’s the fourth such move increasing the debt limit by a total of $3 trillion since Bush took office five years ago.

The measure allows the government to pay for the war in Iraq and finance Medicare and other big federal programs without raising taxes. It passed hours before the House was expected to approve another $91 billion to fund the war in Iraq and provide more aid to hurricane victims.

The partisan vote also came as the Senate continued debate on a $2.8 trillion budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year that would produce a $359 billion deficit for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

…It’s the fourth such move increasing the debt limit by a total of $3 trillion since Bush took office five years ago.

So how much is $9 trillion? Well, it’s got 12 zeros, but…

“It’s hard to understand what a trillion is. I don’t know what it is,” confessed Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, this week when debating the government’s staggering fiscal obligations.

This is so going to screw up my credit rating…
Comment by: mikefromtexas

It doesn’t help that the standard hand-held calculator comes nowhere close to computing numbers in the trillions. About the best it can do is 99,999,999.

John Nolan, a mathematics professor at American University in Washington, said… “But in terms of practical numbers it’s just overwhelming.”

So he conjured up a spending spree, something Americans might be able to relate to. “If you spent a million dollars a day for a million days (2,739 years),” you’d hit $1 trillion, Nolan observed…

The federal government has been on a spending binge. Just since 2002, the Republican-controlled Congress has had to hike the Treasury Department’s credit card limit four times, for a total of more than $3 trillion.

Allowing Bush’s tax cuts in the first place was idiotic but continuing to squander America’s former wealth this way is criminal. The worst part is we’re all going along with it. Is it O.K. if I post-date my check?

Bush Team Can’t Even Make an Ironclad Case Stick: Moussaoui to Avoid Death Due to Govt Bungling

Trish

Let’s face it. Even if Bush Co. found bin Laden, they’d probably still blow it, just as they are with Zacarias Moussaoui.

“In all the years I’ve been on the bench, I’ve never seen such an egregious violation of the court’s rule on witnesses,” U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said…

Brinkema said a lawyer for the Federal Aviation Administration had violated the rule by reading the transcript of the first day of the trial and discussing the case with several potential witnesses who were due to be called by both the prosecution and the defense…

The defense already had requested a mistrial following an error by the government during the questioning of an FBI witness.

“This is the second significant error by the government affecting the constitutional rights of this defendant,” Brinkema said. “More importantly, it affects the integrity of the criminal justice system of the United States.”

Bush’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor Resigns to Spend More Time With His Family — Scamming Target

Trish

If, unlike my friend Cathy, you haven’t been involved with exposing abstinence education for the evil, judgmental, pregnancy- and STD-producing sham that it is, the name Claude Allen might not mean that much to you.

On the other hand, it should.

Claude, also hailed as the New Clarence Thomas, was until recently George Bush’s chief domestic policy advisor. Shortly after Democrats blocked Allen’s nomination for an appeals court judgeship, Bush appointed him to his staff. Bill Berkowitz summed Allen up nicely.

“The man was then seen selecting merchandise throughout the store and placing items in the Target bag…The man then went to guest services where he produced a receipt and received a refund for the items he had just selected from the store shelves.

Careerwise, Claude Allen has come a long way from honing his political chops as the first African American aide to Jesse Helms, North Carolina’s long-time rabid right wing Senator. But he hasn’t moved very far from the politics or ideology of his former boss…Now, after nearly four years serving as Tommy Thompson’s Deputy Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, Allen has been promoted…

In a recent piece for the LA Weekly, veteran journalist Doug Ireland described Allen as “a notorious homophobe, a ferocious enemy of abortion and an opponent of safe-sex education who for years has been one of the AIDS community’s principal enemies.” Allen is also an outspoken opponent of abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, and a champion of abstinence-only sex education programs.

When Allen announced his resignation last month — citing the old chestnut about spending more time with his family — speculation was far and wide but not even Wonkette could anticipate the ridiculous reality.

It’s possible Allen left on his own accord, but the abruptness makes it rather unlikely. We have no clue, actually, why the hell he’d be forced out, especially now, when one might think Bush would want to refocus on “morality” in preparation for a midterm election which has thus far looked pretty lousy for the party…

But hell. He’s a morality-issues Christian-right Republican. So he’s probably a drug-addicted gambling gay adulterer with illegitimate children. But if anyone has proof (or a different theory, or idle speculation), we’re dying to hear it.

Oh, so close! But truth is stranger than fiction, Wonkette.

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