Posted on 03/27/2002 9:22:46 AM PST by Miss Marple
WHAT PRESIDENT BUSH HAS BEEN DOING
1. Appointed a diverse and highly qualified Cabinet and staff, despite the truncated transition time. African-Americans: Colin Powell (Secretary of State), Rod Paige (Secretary of Education), Condoleezza Rice (National Security Advisor) Hispanics: Mel Martinez (Housing and Urban Development), Alberto Gonzales (President's Counsel) Asian-Americans: Elaine Chao (Secretary of Labor), the Democrat (Transportation) Arab-American: Spencer Abrahams (Secretary of Energy) Lots of women, including Gale Norton at Interior and Christie Whitman at E.P.A. and Ann Veneman at Agriculture and Karen Hughes as Counselor to the President.
Recently, appointed an Algerian immigrant to head NIH and an Hispanic as Surgeon General, both of who are exceptionally well qualified.
2. Brought honor and integrity back to the White House and steam cleaned the Oval Office.
3. First bill introduced, as promised, was the education bill and it has passed by good margins in both the House and Senate, but Senators Kennedy and Clinton held it up in the Conference committee due to pressure from teacher's unions after Jeffords' defection, making compromise necessary. Still, there is yearly testing, and there is some accountability, in the form of vouchers for tutoring and parental choice to transfer to another public school if their child is in a failing school. The camel's nose is under the tent. It is a landmark change in the direction of the public schools.
4. The second bill he introduced, as promised, was his "immediate helping hands" measure for quick help to low income seniors with prescription drug costs. It went nowhere. Tommy Thompson (HEW Secretary) is now bringing the Medicare reform fight to the forefront now that CFR is on its way to the Supreme Court.
5. PASSED a TAX CUT. Tax rebate checks have been mailed or will be mailed by end of September to every income tax payer who filed a return last year. These checks helped to keep consumer confidence up and slow the economic downturn. o. Increasing cuts in the amount of money withheld from paychecks will occur over the next several years and help stimulate the economy.
6. We have an Energy Policy, 80% of which has been started by executive order and the rest of which in a bill before Congress has passed the House of Representatives, including the measure to drill in ANWR. The energy plan also has eleven of twelve suggestions that the Sierra Club proposed. The Teamster Union has come out in favor of drilling in ANWR due to the 700,000 jobs nationwide that would be created or saved.
7. Signed into law an emergency spending measure giving a pay raise to our armed service personnel. And more help is on the way with increased benefits money in this year's budget pending before Congress.
8. ABM is on the way, too. Got good tests of an ABM and also an anti-cruise missile missile, granted they're still in early stage development. Land is already cleared in Alaska ready to install this year after the ice breaks the first stages of the detection equipment that would work with the ABM. This is possible because Bush withdrew us from the ABM treaty. Now we can begin to deal with the nuclear blackmail we have been paying North Korea.
9. Got the EP-3 crew back and the plane (in pieces) without having to start a nuclear war with China during his first two months in office.
10. Got around six American residents taken political prisoners by China released. I would appreciate update information on this.
11. Nixed the Kyoto Treaty to the relief of many Americans and the dismay of the Greens in Europe where only Romania had signed the thing.
12. Let stand a lot of last minute executive orders signed by X42 that the former president didn't have to guts to take the heat over while he was in office. Stuff most people haven't heard about, like diesel fuel clean up and GE having to clean up PCB's out of the silt in the Hudson River, tougher lead standards, etc. Took a lot of heat over postponing the arsenic levels decision so Whitman would have time to check the science. In the end he let the new levels go through, and will need to address the economic hardship this will cause towns in the West when they go into effect in around three years from now.
13. A Patient Bill of Rights that President Bush would sign has passed the House. The Senate version is still being worked on because Bush would veto it. Both bills will raise the cost of premiums for HMO health insurance, but the Senate version would raise costs considerably more. Bush is still fighting for a better bill than what would have passed already if Gore had been President.
14. Signed four executive orders based on the principles of fair and open competition, neutrality in government contracting, effective and efficient use of tax dollars and the legal right of workers to be notified of how their dues may be used. In other words, stopped favoring union shops in government contracting. Backed limited protectionist tariffs to allow the steel industry as chance to reorganize itself and save a vital industry necessary for our national security.
15. EO establishing Office of Faith Based Services, and has been fighting mightily for backing of the Faith Based Initiative to allow faith based charities to provide services in areas in which they have been shown to be superior to existing services, like drug rehabilitation.
16. Signed an EO disallowing government funding for foreign women to have abortions overseas.
17. Law Enforcement is starting to work again. Prior to 9/11, FBI outed an agent working as a Russian spy and an FBI agent that was working for the mob and started doing lie detector tests on its people. Mexico cooperated in taking down a huge cocaine drug ring operating in the Southwest. FBI came clean on withholding information on the McVeigh case, no cover-up under Bush. There have been major shake-ups in FBI switching it back to defending our country from foreign enemies, and major drug busts.
18. The continuing auditing of all the government agencies, finding out where the money went or what is unaccounted for, in effect, rooting out the graft and corruption. Recently an executive order establishing a chief operations officer at each government agency charged with increasing cost efficiency and increasing satisfaction by the public with the service they receive from the agency.
19. Decided not to allowing taxpayer money to fund killing human embryos for medical experimentation. Decided to allow medical experimentation on existing stem cell lines where the embryo has already been killed.
20. Signed into law emergency spending for Agriculture after getting 2 billion in pork cut from the bill.
21. Spent a lot of time on the phone and attending a couple of international conferences before 9/11 establishing good rapport with many foreign leaders that stood him in good stead after 9/11.
22. I don't even want to think about how Gore would have been as CIC. There's a good chance a significant section of our military officer corps would have resigned if Gore had managed to steal the election. Don't want to think about what shape we would have been in if Bush hadn't been our Commander-in-Chief and not picked Rumsfeld to lead the refurbishment of our armed services, which was underway on 9/11.
23. Focused on two things mainly now, first and foremost, preventing Washington, D.C., from being nuked, and getting us majority control in the Senate. All else is very important, but gives way if there is a conflict.
And, folks, this bill HAS to go to the Supreme Court NOW while we still have enough Justices on it who value the Constitution, and settle this issue for the future.
Bush had to make a decision to keep himself in a position where he could fight for a majority Senate for the second half of his term, a position that will allow him to appoint the appellate judges and Supreme Court Justices that will better be able to defend the Constitution from all sorts of assaults.
If we don't get a majority Senate, the Democrats will block all his best appointments.
Like the Vietnam War, this was a damned if you do, damned if you don't decision in terms of consequences. The President make a tough call, one a lot of people aren't happy with, and time will tell if the strategery will work the way he is praying.
oldcats, thanks for not TOTALLY jumping ship!!!!!
Still ... to have a President, again, about whom we can strive to have honest and reasoned debates ... a President whose policies are open for discussion ... and we do not have to wade through the muck to even find them ... whose policies are not dictated by his own personal, private and perverted flaws ...
There is not a single member of our Armed Forces in dangers' way this minute because our President could not control himself in matters personal ...
There's one.
I like that he suspended a batch of 11th hour orders by his predecessor the very first day he took office. On that same day, he proclaimed a "National Day of Prayers and Thanksgiving" ... and I felt clean, again.
Only a month later he signed a series of orders reversing wjc's pro-union policies ... scantly noticed ... but very important ... I liked that ...
Then, of course, he added a baseball diamond for weekend T-Ball games for children in March of last year ... simple ... but so poignant ... and cleansing ...
And, in April ... which seems a lifetime ago ... he made an announcement in the WH briefing room to confirm that "plans are under way to bring home our 24 American service men and women from Hainan Island." Remember that?!
I mention these actions ... because I have not seem them noted yet ... of course, there is much I have applauded ... though not this one.
I believe we are seeing wjc's true legacy ... there is now confusion surrounding how we disagree with the man we voted for President ... coming out of those 8 long and treasonous years ... we all are nearly rabid in our search for the perfect fix ...
Well, I am after ramblin ... back to my opening comment.
Thank you for this, Miss Marple ...
.............I'm proud that he's my President. End of story.I'm proud he's your President, too! And I'm proud he's mine as well! :O)
Now, I will add a few things I like, that I may have missed reading:
Hired an elegant speech writer, who is able to incorporate memorable phrases (We shall not tire, we hall not falter, we shall not fail).
Uses vernacular English to great effect. (show me the money, wanted dead or alive, Not going to fire a ten-million dollar missile to hit a camel in the butt)
Appears ON TIME, which is considerate for all those waiting to see him and also for his security people.
Redecorated the Oval Office with TASTE.
Owns and operates a chain saw. :-)
Loves his land.
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