Scorecard of Evil (dumbass alert)

Two years into President Bush's term, the damage he has done to the nation and the world is incalculable. On issue after issue, Bush does what's good for big corporations and right-wing extremists at the expense of the public. The Wage Slave Journal offers this scorecard to help you keep track of all of the evil deeds Bush commits and, more important, to provide a record for your perusal when November 2004 rolls around. Be sure to bookmark this page; Bush keeps it full. And if you find some dastardly deed that you think belongs here, email us to tell us what we overlooked. Be sure to include a link to a news story.

Bush relaxes clean air rules. We have to be honest with you: we thought this was a done deal back in November 2002. (See 11-22-2002 below.) But apparently the EPA is now getting around to implementing the rules that will gut the Clean Air Act. Under the new Bush rules, older power plants will be able to expand their operations without installing new anti-pollution technology. But why should Bush care? Prevailing wind patterns push all that pollution toward the northeast, and those states didn't vote for him anyway. 8-22-2003

Bush lies about air quality after September 11 attacks. There's nothing funny about this at all. After the September 11 attacks, the EPA told New Yorkers it was safe to live and work near Ground Zero. It turns out that under White House pressure, the EPA lied about the data it had and omitted important information about the quality of the air and what New Yorkers needed to do to stay healthy. It may take years to see the effects -- possibly birth defects or increased cancer rates -- of what may be Bush's worst lie yet. 8-18-2003

Bush defunds Teach for America. If you run a nonprofit organization, beware the photo-op with George W. Bush. It's like the kiss of death: it may seem friendly at the time, but you'll learn to regret it later. While those who run Teach for America were optimistic after meeting Bush the presidential candidate, they found their funding taken away under Bush the president. Now the program, which gives top students money for college for teaching in underprivileged communities, has to eliminate scholarships. 8-17-2003

Bush blocks plan to upgrade nation's power grid. You would think that in the wake of an enormous power outage that paralyzed much of the northeast United States and southeast Canada, it wouldn't be difficult to unite behind a plan to upgrade the power grid. But President Bush opposes his own handpicked chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and sides with (surprise, surprise) the energy industry to oppose the plan. Instead, the administration thinks that more deregulation is the solution, even though deregulation is largely the problem in the first place. A deregulated power industry has no financial incentive to pay the costs of upgrading the grid. Apparently, Bush hasn't quite learned the lessons from Enron that he needs to learn yet. 8-14-2003

Bush cuts pay for soldiers in Iraq. "And tonight, I have a special word ... for all the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States: America is grateful for a job well done," said President Bush as he declared an end to fighting "major" combat operations in Iraq. Bush has a funny way of showing he's grateful. Under Bush, the Pentagon cuts imminent danger pay as soldiers die every day in Iraq and family separation pay as soldiers are separated from their families for months. 8-12-2003

Bush uses the IRS and federal funds to send out a campaign letter -- again. Just as with his enormous tax cut in 2001 (see 6-22-2001 below), President Bush is spending millions of taxpayer dollars to send a letter to folks letting them know about the rebate checks they'll receive in the mail. The purpose of the letter is nothing more than to associate Bush's name with the checks, providing a little campaign boost for the president's reelection. 8-11-2003

Bush pushes plan to make it easier for timber companies to plunder national forests. Just as President Bush fights the freedom-hating terrorists by taking away our freedoms, so he fights tree-burning forest fires by selling off the trees. (See 8-21-2002 below.) On a break from his annual month-long vacation, Bush takes the opportunity to promote his tree-destroying program and pretend to be an environmentalist. 8-9-2003

Bush proposes eliminating protections for historical sites from highway projects. Another no-brainer that's no-brained by the Bush administration. Of course protecting historical sites should be of vital importance when you're deciding where to put a major interstate. And those protections are written into federal law. But if the Bush administration has its way, they'll be taken out, opening all kinds of historical sites to desecration and even destruction. 8-7-2003

Bush gives oil companies in Iraq blanket immunity from lawsuits. Whether you think Iraq's oil was a small factor in the decision to go to war or the main reason, you cannot deny the potential that some of the companies given contracts to deal with the oil in post-Saddam Iraq may abuse their new privileges. After all, any company can abuse any contract. But Bush ensures that oil companies can engage in all the abuse they want with an executive order that gives them blanket immunity from lawsuits. 8-7-2003

Bush seeks retribution for judges who use their discretion in sentencing. Laws that restrict the ability of judges to use their discretion when sentencing criminals can be the source of grave miscarriages of justice. Attorney General John Ashcroft wants to make sure those miscarriages happens as often as possible, so he has asked federal prosecutors to report any instances of judges imposing more lenient sentences than the law allows. The law is a blunt instrument, and discretion in sentencing allows judges to take appropriate action based on mitigating circumstances. Is it any surprise that Ashcroft doesn't approve? 8-6-2003

Bush proposes cuts to Medicare funding for cancer drugs. Cutting government healthcare costs is a good goal. When it involves cutting services for cancer patients, you'd hope the compassionate would rule out the conservative. But not for the Bush administration, as the Department of Health and Human Services proposes cutting the amount of money the government spends on cancer drugs. The administration says we overpay, but patient advocates say "instead of expanding access to lifesaving drugs, [the cuts] would limit access to cancer treatments for some of the most seriously ill Medicare beneficiaries." 7-31-2003

Bush promotes a federal ban on gay marriage. Conservatives believe that gay people getting married somehow threatens heterosexual marriages. (They never seem particularly clear on how that works.) President Bush believes that an unsatisfied conservative base somehow threatens his reelection chances. (It's pretty clear how that works.) The solution is clear. Bush attacks gay marriage, suggesting that his administration is working on a way to make it illegal everywhere in the country. His attack comes at the expense of equality and dignity for homosexuals, values that Bush has never seemed to hold in high regard. 7-31-2003

Bush shuts down nuclear weapons advisory panel. President Bush has been pushing for new kinds of nuclear weapons (see 7-6-2003 below), and there's nothing more inconvenient for that kind of goal than independent oversight. So the Bush administration eliminates the independent advisory board to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Members of the committee had criticized Bush's plans for new nukes, and the administration hadn't called the committee together in the year before it was disbanded. 7-29-2003

Bush creates a system where people can invest in the possibility of terror attacks and international upheaval. This one didn't last long, and it showed just how important it is to have open government. From the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the same folks who brought us "Total Information Awareness" (and, years ago, the Internet), comes a project that would encourage investors to risk real money against the possibility of future events, like the overthrow of Jordan's king, or terrorist attacks. The idea would be to see whether such a system would have a predictive effect that would help us see world events before they happen. But the obvious ethical problems of essentially betting on chaos, death, and destruction forces the Pentagon to shut down the sickening project the day it becomes public. 7-22-2003

Bush threatens veto if Congress overturns new FCC rules. When President Bush eased media ownership rules (see 6-3-2003 below), he never expected trouble from the Republican-controlled Congress. But an unprecedented public outcry against the new rules has put pressure on Congress to overturn the FCC's decision. But Bush isn't one to let something like "the will of the people" get in the way of his pro-corporate agenda. So he lets Congress know that if it overturns the new rules, he'll exercise his first veto. How appropriate that it will go to protect the profits of megacorporations! 7-16-2003

Bush exposes an undercover CIA agent in an act of petty vengeance. Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson recently went public to say that he had investigated President Bush's State of the Union claim that Iraq tried to purchase uranium from Africa and had found the story not credible nearly a year before Bush's speech. Given the Bush administration's record, you'd expect some kind of retaliation or attempt to discredit Wilson from the White House or its surrogates. But Bush hits a new low when "senior administration officials" expose Wilson's wife as an undercover CIA agent to reporter Robert Novak, ruining her career and possibly endangering her life. Wilson calls it "a shot across the bow" to others who would speak out against the Bush administration. Seems like a pretty direct hit to me. 7-9-2003

Bush obstructs September 11 investigation. Remember when President Bush's complaint with the weapons inspectors was that all their interviews were conducted in front of Iraqi government "minders"? Apparently he objected to the instance but likes the principle. When the independent commission (long opposed by Bush) investigating the attacks of September 11 interviews intelligence personnel, the Justice Department insists on having a "minder" in the room, chilling testimony before the commission. And that's just the tip of the Bush administration obstructionism iceberg. The commission complains of interference and noncooperation from all over the administration, noting that "problems that have arisen so far with the Department of Defense are becoming particularly serious." 7-8-2003

Bush proposes weakening Head Start. Head Start is that rarest of gems: an effective and universally lauded educational program. So why mess with success, right? But instead of expanding this preschool program that has been proven to give children a jump on learning, President Bush proposes changing the specific federal outlays to block grants that will give states more "flexibility" to spend the money. Given that states are in their worst fiscal crises since World War II, it's likely that they'll stretch the money and direct as much as possible away from Head Start. 7-6-2003

Bush continues to push for new nuclear weapons. Radical conservative activists like the current President Bush a lot more than they did his father, and here's one reason why. Where Bush 41 put a moratorium on U.S. nuclear weapons tests in 1992, Bush 43 not only wants to resume tests, but wants to create entirely new kinds of nuclear weapons. Continuing with earlier efforts (see 2-20-2003 below), the Bush administration argues for smaller nukes that are much more likely to be used in combat.

Evil scale Evil Very evil Very, very evil Very, very, very evil Very, very, very, very evil

All contents of the Wage Slave Journal are copyright Jesse Berney except for comments posted by readers and where otherwise noted.

Check out the link. A friend wanted me to see this and ask if I had any rebuttals. I made it about half way down before I got sick and tired of the usual lies and distortions this 'scorecard' had on it.

Comments and further rebuttals to each point are appreciated.

Comments and further rebuttals to each point are appreciated.

"You are absolutely correct. Bush is poisoning our air and water, starving the workers, and handing out guns to your children. If you want to survive, RUN LIKE HELL to Patagonia."

This reminds me of the thousandreasons web site -- a thousand reasons why Bush should not be relected.

In reality, half are lies, and the other half are reasons why you should vote for him.

Swell, more blah blah blah blah from some leftist weasal. After further review, I will vote for Bush anyway.

5 posted on 09/04/2003 9:15:44 AM PDT by kb2614 (".....We've done nothing and were all out of ideas!!")

The cuts to military pay was rebutted by the Pentagon I believe.

6 posted on 09/04/2003 10:05:37 AM PDT by sauropod ("How do you know Sheila Jackson Lee's a queen?" "Because she doesn't sit with the little people")

Something actually exists called "Wage Slave Journal"!!!???? I'm completely incredulous. Is this written by a homeless heroine addict? Whoever writes this stuff really needs to get a real job.

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