Sunday, April 18, 2004
Reporter's Question: "After 9/11, what would your biggest mistake be, would you say?"
President Bush: "You know, I just...I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet." (Presidential News Conference to the Nation, April 13, 2004)
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In truth, 49% of Americans received less than $100 from the Bush tax cut, while the wealthiest Americans got an average cut of over $28,000. In addition, there are a handful of people who have reaped a personal windfall, especially top Bush-Cheney contributors according to a new Public Campaign report. For example, William MaGuire, CEO of United Health Group, who gave more than $100,000, received at least $329,000 in new tax breaks.
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According to a new poll by Money Magazine, "60% of Americans said the Bush tax cut did not personally help them." Meanwhile, almost half of all Americans say that their taxes have risen under Bush. The president is playing a deceitful shell game. In order to pay for his tax cut, Bush had to slash funding for federal social programs and hike other taxes. For example, Bush has refused to extend the full child tax credit to 16 million children, including 250,000 children of military families. Also, the president's 2004 budget proposed to increase almost $6billion in new federal taxes and fees. Furthermore, the record-deficit created, in part, by his tax cut forced states to raise their taxes by billions. And to top it off, he has increased IRS audits of ordinary Americans while cutting IRS audits of large profitable corporations whose tax rates have plummeted.
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President Bush denied he received warnings prior to September 11 that a terrorist incident was imminent.
He answered that even asking such a question was "an absurd insinuation." And, Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who said in May of 2002 that "[no one predicted] that they would try to use a hijacked airplane as a missile. However, ABC News reported in May of 2002, "White House officials acknowledge that U.S. intelligence officials informed President Bush weeks before September 11 that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network might try to hijack American planes.” No warning was issued for the general public, but Attorney General Ashcroft was flying exclusively by leased jet instead of his usual practice of using commercial airlines because of an official "threat assessment by the FBI."
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As a presidential candidate in 2000, George Bush pledged to use his "political capital" to influence OPEC when gas prices soared. But, now with record high gas prices, newspapers report that the president refuses to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders”. Because of his lack of action, OPEC opted to cut oil supplies to further inflate prices and bilk American consumers. And, in spite of the Saudi ambassador’s claim that his country opposed higher oil prices, their government gave a pass to support the OPEC production cut since the president refused to use his close relationship with the Saudis.
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Combat veterans wounded in Iraq were left waiting weeks and even months for proper medical attention at military bases. According to an officer, their living conditions were so unacceptable for injured soldiers he said they "were being treated like dogs." Then the Pentagon underreported the number wounded.
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Bush allows gays to be fired for being gay.
According to the Federal Times, the president's appointee at the Office of Special Counsel ruled that federal employees will now "have no recourse if they are fired or demoted simply for being gay." The Bush Administration says they have the legal right to fire or demote someone based on their sexual orientation. To carry out the directive, the White House has begun removing information from government websites about sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace.
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One year after Baghdad fell to victorious U.S. troops, the Americans had to conquer the country all over again. The great rebellion of April 2004 expelled the U.S. from much of the capital, humiliated coalition allies, cut supply and communications lines to the south, and revealed a reservoir of popular hatred for the U.S. among both some Sunni Arabs in Fallujah and some Shiites in their cities. But perhaps the most ominous development for the U.S. was that the events tied together two occupations and two intifadas, or popular uprisings -- Iraq and Palestine.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
President Bush: "You know, I just...I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet." (Presidential News Conference to the Nation, April 13, 2004)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
In truth, 49% of Americans received less than $100 from the Bush tax cut, while the wealthiest Americans got an average cut of over $28,000. In addition, there are a handful of people who have reaped a personal windfall, especially top Bush-Cheney contributors according to a new Public Campaign report. For example, William MaGuire, CEO of United Health Group, who gave more than $100,000, received at least $329,000 in new tax breaks.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
According to a new poll by Money Magazine, "60% of Americans said the Bush tax cut did not personally help them." Meanwhile, almost half of all Americans say that their taxes have risen under Bush. The president is playing a deceitful shell game. In order to pay for his tax cut, Bush had to slash funding for federal social programs and hike other taxes. For example, Bush has refused to extend the full child tax credit to 16 million children, including 250,000 children of military families. Also, the president's 2004 budget proposed to increase almost $6billion in new federal taxes and fees. Furthermore, the record-deficit created, in part, by his tax cut forced states to raise their taxes by billions. And to top it off, he has increased IRS audits of ordinary Americans while cutting IRS audits of large profitable corporations whose tax rates have plummeted.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
President Bush denied he received warnings prior to September 11 that a terrorist incident was imminent.
He answered that even asking such a question was "an absurd insinuation." And, Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who said in May of 2002 that "[no one predicted] that they would try to use a hijacked airplane as a missile. However, ABC News reported in May of 2002, "White House officials acknowledge that U.S. intelligence officials informed President Bush weeks before September 11 that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network might try to hijack American planes.” No warning was issued for the general public, but Attorney General Ashcroft was flying exclusively by leased jet instead of his usual practice of using commercial airlines because of an official "threat assessment by the FBI."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
As a presidential candidate in 2000, George Bush pledged to use his "political capital" to influence OPEC when gas prices soared. But, now with record high gas prices, newspapers report that the president refuses to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders”. Because of his lack of action, OPEC opted to cut oil supplies to further inflate prices and bilk American consumers. And, in spite of the Saudi ambassador’s claim that his country opposed higher oil prices, their government gave a pass to support the OPEC production cut since the president refused to use his close relationship with the Saudis.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Combat veterans wounded in Iraq were left waiting weeks and even months for proper medical attention at military bases. According to an officer, their living conditions were so unacceptable for injured soldiers he said they "were being treated like dogs." Then the Pentagon underreported the number wounded.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Bush allows gays to be fired for being gay.
According to the Federal Times, the president's appointee at the Office of Special Counsel ruled that federal employees will now "have no recourse if they are fired or demoted simply for being gay." The Bush Administration says they have the legal right to fire or demote someone based on their sexual orientation. To carry out the directive, the White House has begun removing information from government websites about sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
One year after Baghdad fell to victorious U.S. troops, the Americans had to conquer the country all over again. The great rebellion of April 2004 expelled the U.S. from much of the capital, humiliated coalition allies, cut supply and communications lines to the south, and revealed a reservoir of popular hatred for the U.S. among both some Sunni Arabs in Fallujah and some Shiites in their cities. But perhaps the most ominous development for the U.S. was that the events tied together two occupations and two intifadas, or popular uprisings -- Iraq and Palestine.
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