0.00
(0 votes)
You must login to vote
|
|
|
A Liberal View (3/27)
by Pythagoras
Bush Style Hypocrisy: Last Sunday, Bush guaranteed himself a place in Hell when he said that most of all, the weak need governmental protection. This was quite stunning since as governor of Texas he made it legal for hospitals to pull the plug on patients when their money ran out. He also changed environmental laws so drastically that Texas became one of the most polluted states in the country and a small town outside of Houston took the lead in our nation’s childhood cancer rates. Additionally, his death row was very busy as his proclivity to execute the poor harkened back to France’s Reign of Terror.
Oh….but there’s more, one of his first tasks as President was to abolish Clinton’s ergonomics law. For ten years, Scalia had fought worker’s rights groups as they tried to pass ergonomic laws that would hold companies responsible when their workers developed carpal tunnel syndrome. Clinton was able to sign this into law during his last days in office, but since it was not six months old when Bush took office, he was able to abolish it. Now all those fish plants in New Orleans and the Pepperidge Farm companies can wreck their worker’s elbows, wrists, and shoulders without any fear of repercussions.
And yes, there is still more as Bush has pushed for legislation that would protect asbestos companies, hamburger companies and insurance companies over the rights and needs of the poor and middle class. He has pushed for the family free time plan which would have cheated Americans out of overtime, free time and jobs as workers would have been compensated when they worked overtime with time off at their employer’s discretion. He has cut OSHA's budget so that employers will not have to worry about maintaining safe work environments.
As if all of that wasn't enough, Bush has placed industry lobbyists in charge of the EPA, USDA, and virtually every other government agency so that his supporters will never have to worry about governmental interventions.
And yes, we shouldn’t forget that Bush amassed much of his personal wealth by abusing eminent domain rules to secure land that he would develop and sell for a hefty profit.
So when Bush says that the little people need the most protection, you can assume he’s referring to the presidents on his dollar bills.
Mercury A Plenty: Whenever big stories are breaking, it’s a good habit to watch what Bush tries to sneak by. This week his EPA, which is supposed to stand for the environmental protection agency, issued two new mercury emissions rules. The first abolishes the Clinton EPA rules that require “…maximum achievable control technology” for toxin pollution from power plants within three years. The second pretends to be a pro-environment regulation, but actually enables power plants to pollute uninhibited for over two decades due in large part to its many loopholes and delayed compliance timeframe.
Now, to defend these rules Bush claimed that the cost of stronger safeguards would exceed the public health benefit that the communities would receive. But when the Harvard (peer reviewed) analysis concluded that the health benefits were over 100 times those listed in the EPA report, the university's numbers were eliminated from the EPA document (the Washington Post reported).
Incidentally, this week a study was published that may indicate that mercury causes autism. To re-cap, allowing Terry Schiavo to die is bad, but it is good to allow power plants to pollute our air causing lung disease, birth defects, autism and cancer. Yee—friggen—haw!
Fox Blocker: Former conservative Sam Kimery developed a small metal device that blocks the Fox News channel on your television. Mr. Kimery feels that this channel misrepresents itself when they say they are news. In fact, he says they are mostly “opinion” and he compares it to tabloids. He feels that Fox reports, “Anything to get a rise out of the viewer and to reinforce retrograde notions.”
Fox defends its channel by saying their ratings speak for themselves…which follows the conservative notion that the ends justify the means, and if you’re making a profit while undermining one of our constitutional safeguards so be it.
Personally, I agree with Kimery. I am not opposed to Fox being on the air, I just don’t think they should be allowed to call themselves news….since, they are in fact sensationalistic propaganda.
Bush Could Do Stand up: The following are from http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm:
"I want to appreciate those of you who wear our nation's uniform for your sacrifice." —George W. Bush, Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 14, 2005
"You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." —George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005
"Who could have possibly envisioned an erection — an election in Iraq at this point in history?" —George W. Bush, at the white House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2005
"It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2004
"I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where people stand outside, they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere, and they say, man, you're looking pretty." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2004
"The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off." —George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week — we will have an all-volunteer army!" —George W. Bush, Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004
"I'm not the expert on how the Iraqi people think, because I live in America, where it's nice and safe and secure." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004
"I hope you leave here and walk out and say, 'What did he say?'" —George W. Bush, Beaverton, Oregon, Aug. 13, 2004
------
What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?
|
Liberal View (6/5)
