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Dr. Charles Mercieca ~ STWR Member President of International Association of Educators for World Peace NGO,
United Nations (ECOSOC), UNDPI, UNICEF, UNCED & UNESCO
Professor Emeritus of Alabama A&M University Vulnerability of Republicans in America For the past two to three decades, Republicans have proved themselves to be remarkably shrewd and effective in their political planning. They usually get what they ultimately want by any device conceivable. The Machiavelli dictum: The end justifies the means, has certainly become their characteristic banner. To this end, they adopt subtle lies through distortions and exaggerations. Also, they demonstrate phenomenal ability to turn the strength of the Democratic Party into apparent weakness that makes it look like obvious. Promotion of Deceitful Phraseology The Democratic Party must handle the Republican elaborate manipulation of people by using the same strategic plan in reverse. This problem may not be so easy to solve since several Democrats talk and act like Republicans in many ways. Republicans developed a habit to control the nation’s people through well chosen phraseology, like the most classic one: national defense and security. Hence, they continue to spend countless billions of dollars to build more devastating weapons and wage more atrocious wars, either directly or indirectly. Republicans claim that they can keep this nation fully safe and secure through the allotment of more billions of dollars on the development of more sophisticated weapons and the build up of more US military bases around the world. Under the administration of George W. Bush, Republicans have revived the Star Wars concept of President Ronald Reagan. This consists of numerous weapons orbiting the world to be used, as they want everyone to believe, to shoot enemy weapons down before reaching the country! Moreover, they want to militarize the space because, they say, they could control terrorism better from there! If the U.S. government officials cannot detect suicide bombers from a few yards away, how can they detect them from several hundreds of miles away up in the air? One has to be a dead brain person or a moron to even suspect that there may be a shadow of reality in this argument. The Republican concept of national defense and security reveals the Achilles’ heal of the Republican Party. Just as in wrestling, the wrestler constantly concentrates on attacking the weaker arm or leg of his opponent, the Democratic Party should constantly concentrate on attacking the weakest element of the Republican Party. Of course, the Republican Party has many weaknesses that would include their virtual indifference toward providing a good health care plan for all Americans without exception and their determination never to provide free education from the cradle to the grave for its citizens. Infliction of Crucial Pain Needless to say, the weaknesses of the Republican Party that are inflicting crucial pain to countless millions of people are too long to enumerate properly. Besides, the sole purpose of this presentation was for us to concentrate on the real terminal cancer that is being inflicted ruthlessly everywhere and that is affecting the lives of hundreds of millions every year. This enormous suffering that the entire world is experiencing unnecessarily originates mostly from the U.S. Republican Party’s policy that is commonly known as national defense and security. This policy has evolved into being so sacred that it succeeded to hypnotize several leading Democratic Party members in the US Congress. Anyone that criticizes this Republicans’ concept of national defense and security is immediately labeled by Republicans as being dangerous and unpatriotic. To turn insult into injury, those that have the courage to demonstrate against the continued manufacture of weapons of destruction and the waging of needless and unnecessary wars are viewed as insurgents who are likely to encourage terrorism. In fact, many have been arrested that included Catholic priests and nuns and even prominent figures like John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the former Democratic US Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy who was once the U.S. Senator from New York. During the first term administration of George W. Bush, the Republican Secretary of Education warned American teachers, who periodically were outspoken against the continued manufacture of weapons of destruction and the waging of wars, saying: In the United States all teachers who speak of peace and conduct peace demonstrations are terrorists! Teachers were infuriated to the extent that they asked this U.S. government official to apologize and to resign. He did neither. So the question that has been raised is this: “What is secretly going on behind this Republican agenda of national defense and security?” We are all familiar of the fact that in the United States people tend to vote for name recognition, which comes from plenty of advertisements in the press, radio and television. This would amount very often to millions of dollars. So the big corporations, headed by the weapons industry, step in to bribe virtually all those running on the Republican ticket and most of those running on the Democratic ticket. Republicans, who are top notch experts in the manipulation not only of people but also of the English vocabulary and phraseology, refer to this kind of bribe as political contribution! Bribes as Political Contributions Needless to say, leading Democrats who became victims of several big corporations headed by the weapons industry also refer to their bribe as political contribution! This explains why in political elections both Republicans and Democrats feel obligated toward the promotion of the products of their major contributors most of whom are linked deeply with the weapons industry. That is why they advocate the putting of more and more billions of dollars on the further manufacture of weapons of mass destruction and on the continued growth of the military. This emphasis on national defense and security is nothing but an elaborate organized scam by US government officials to continue to pump money into this satanic agency of death. For anyone to realize that this is not a matter of opinion but a matter of tangible evidence, one has to read literature provided by the Center for Defense Information in Washington, DC and watch most of the excellent videotapes it produced to this end. The Center is composed of retired U.S. top military commanders and Pentagon officials who happen to be a very good Christians in the sense that they view their Master Teacher the way He chose to proclaim Himself: Ego sum veritas – I am the truth. In fact, you may hear on videotape Rear Admiral Gene R. La Rocque and others stating categorically that the weapons industry is not interested in the security of the American nation, nor of any nation as a matter of fact, but only in profit. It also explains why former US President Dwight Eisenhower warned the American Congress saying: Remember that all people of all countries want peace; only their government wants war. A recorded history of 6,000 years of civilization has taught us constantly that violence breeds more violence. What difference does it make for innocent and good people to be murdered brutally by unknown assailants or by a military force sanctioned by the government? If the Democratic Party were to be really serious in assuming the reign of government in all the branches of the U.S. government, it must take drastic steps to distance itself from the belligerent policies of the Republican Party. It must expose properly and effectively the hypocrisy and evil intent of the so called national defense and security agenda as presented by the Republicans who have become helpless hostages of the brutal and ruthless weapons industry. Many journalists around the world believe that John Kerry might have lost the election because he tried to present himself as a Republican when it came to the Iraqi war. Dire Need for Distinct Agendas With leading Democrats demonstrating that same belief of national defense and security as advocated by the Republicans, the American people do not seem to have any more choice in politics. Let the Republican Party continue to protect the business interests of the weapons industry by instigating more wars so as to justify the pouring of billions of dollars on the continued manufacture and sales of weapons. On the other hand, let the Democratic Party continue to protect the human rights of the American citizens to receive free medication and free education while, at the same time, bring into focus the criminal aspect of the weapons industry on a constant daily basis all the year round. This way, Democrats could shift the billions of dollars that are going needlessly and wastefully on weapons of mass destruction to the vital and basic needs of the people everywhere, not only in the United States but across every continent. At this stage of history, Republicans in America are in control of all the branches of the American government. The harm that they are doing both in the United States and overseas cannot be detected easily, since they are in full control of the news media: radio, press and television. Everything is heavily censured. If American reporters were to present objective news so that the viewers could know exactly what is going on, their employer would immediately warn them to stay away from details, otherwise they would be fired. Recently, the whole world was witnessing the devastation that Tsunami left in several regions of South Asia: houses destroyed, electricity gone, and countless thousands of people lost their lives that created many orphans. Many women lost their husbands and many men lost their wives. This was a tragedy that turned these regions virtually into a cemetery. People could witness this because there was no censorship since this was not the fault of any government but the natural behavior of Mother Nature. We need to invite historians from all over the world to make a comparison between the devastation caused by Tsunami on people in southern Asia and the devastation caused by American bombs in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The scenery is identically the same. Hundreds of thousands died brutally in both Iraq and Afghanistan by American bombs in no lesser way than people in Asia died because of Tsunami. American weapons have destroyed the infrastructure of both these two nations same way as Tsunami destroyed the infrastructure of the regions that were hit like Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives. Reckless Expenditure on Weapons In their effort to regain the reigns of government, the Democratic Party must not only emphasize the need for Americans to have free health care and education, they need to become highly critical of the Republican reckless expenditure on weapons. They must show that this expenditure is meant merely to boost the product of those big corporations, headed by the weapons industry that contributed money to their political campaign. Democrats must make it very clear on a constant basis that when Republicans speak of national defense and security, they do not have in mind the welfare of the American people, but the profit that comes from the lethal product of their vicious benefactors. In fact, we need to create a legislative committee that would demand all members of Congress that made money out of the manufacture and sales of weapons to return all of that money to a general fund. Such money, which would certainly amount in tens of millions, if not billions, could be used then to provide shelter to the homeless, food to the hungry and medical attention to the sick across every continent. The American people must learn to what extent they were deceived by politically motivated well chosen vocabulary and phraseology, so that they could dehypnotize themselves from their false political beliefs. In conclusion, all those who would like to see how American instigated wars and weapons have created numerous Tsunamis all over the world may write to secure a catalogue of videotapes available from: (A) Maryknoll World Productions, P.O. Box 308, Maryknoll, New York 10545-0308, USA. Phone: 800-227-8523, Fax: 914-945-0670. One may request copies especially of (1) School of Assassins, and (2) Arms for the Poor. (B) Center for Defense Information, 1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Ste. 615, Washington, DC 20036-2109, USA, Phone: 202-332-0600, Fax: 202-462-2559. One may request copies especially of (1) War as a Business Enterprise, and (2) The Legacy of Hiroshima. |
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Christopher Brauchli The American Jobs Creation Act "When there is an income tax the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income"
Plato, The Republic Again we are reminded. There is nothing government does that the private sector can’t do better. What “Plastics” was to Dustin Hoffman’s “Graduate”, “privatization” is to George W. Bush. At first it was just social security and it would be hard to find a financial firm that is not eagerly awaiting its privatization and the billions of dollars that will soon flow into the stock market-their journey interrupted only ever so briefly by the pockets of the financial firms through which they must flow-firms that have generously contributed to the election of George W. Bush. The commissions will flow as soon as the program is implemented and unlike the poor, whose treasure will be given them in heaven, the financial institutions and employees will receive their treasure as soon as the legislation is passed. Now, thanks to H.R. 2896 known as The American Jobs Creation Act, another part of the highly touted and much loved (by George W. Bush) private sector will be rewarded with earnings beyond its fondest dreams thanks to a bill dealing with problems that the IRS is having with collecting taxes. The IRS’ greatest area of expertise, as all taxpayers know, lies in printing long complicated forms that taxpayers have to complete. Two of the things with which the Internal Revenue Service has always had difficulty is applying the forms to real life situations and when the forms are filed, collecting the money supposed to be generated by the completed forms. Its difficulty with interpreting the forms explains why every year at tax time a creative taxpayer will invent a question to ask the Internal Revenue Service and will call the IRS 20 or 30 times and repeat the question to each IRS agent who answers the phone. The enterprising taxpayer will then let it be known that he or she got as many answers as he or she made calls. Invariably (and undoubtedly in an attempt to embarrass the IRS) the question is always framed so that depending on the answer, the taxpayer is entitled to a humongous refund or owes a humongous amount of money. Either way, the IRS is held up to public ridicule which is just about the last thing it needs during tax season. Whereas the neither Jobs Creation Act nor anything else Congress could conjure up would help the IRS answer questions correctly or consistently when asked about filling out the forms it has invented, Congress has decided it can do something about the fact that the IRS is unable to collect the taxes the taxpayers owe. And the solution is every bit as creative as the social security reform to which we all look forward. It is privatization. And eagerness to privatize and collect lots of money explains the surprise provisions in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2003. Although most of my readers think of that act as an international tax reform bill that eliminates the extraterritorial income exclusion that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization, about which I will say nothing since my readers are almost certainly more informed about it than I, there is a little noticed even more interesting provision found in its interstices that my erudite readers probably overlooked in their zeal to understand the tax implications of the act. The overlooked section says the IRS may outsource debt collection to private debt collectors. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, outsourcing IRS collection procedures will generate about $1.4 billion between 2006-2014, money that, apparently, would not otherwise have been collected by the IRS. Everyone knows that the IRS does not normally get to keep what it collects. Were it otherwise the IRS would be the biggest agency in the federal government and there would be no others. This bill turns that idea on its head. The IRS will be permitted to keep and spend 25% of what the private collection agencies (PCA) collect. Although not clear from what I’ve read, presumably the 25% it gets to spend it would give to the PCAs who collected the money. Thus, if the PCAs collect $1.4 billion, they will get to keep $3.5 million for their efforts. The PCAs will be very excited about the prospect of this new program. It’s not as exciting as being a stock broker and investing people’s retirement monies but, on the other hand, debt collectors are not in the same silk stocking league as stock brokers and should be grateful for whatever crumbs the Bush administration sends their way. It’s a lot better than the kick in the pants the IRS debtors will certainly receive from the PCAs.
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Don Monkerud ~ STWR Member Senior columnist for WhatTheyThink.com Religion in Government, Part I:
Bush Pushes Religion in Government-Sponsored Social Services Although the so-called "morality vote" of the 2004 election disappeared under scrutiny, the religious right is making inroads in government at a record pace. Media reports have only brushed the surface of this unprecedented breakdown of barriers between church and state. While government partnership with religious groups has a long history in the U.S., the process accelerated in the 1970s and 1980s when neo-cons became alarmed about a "social and moral crisis" and pledged to strengthen families and neighborhoods. Neo-cons claim that social problems lie beyond the scope of government and can be addressed more properly by faith-based groups, which will also lead to a reduction in government spending. Clinton's 1996 welfare reform package adopted some of the neo-cons' concerns by enlisting greater participation of religious groups in government-funded social services. In 1999, Al Gore went farther, promising to make faith-based programs an "integral" part of his administration, if he were elected. Nine days after his inauguration in 2000, President Bush released executive orders creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) and establishing Faith-Based Centers in five federal agencies. The plan immediately ran into difficulties. The head of the OFBCI, John DiIulio Jr., a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, resigned in August 2001. He told Esquire magazine, "There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is everything, and I mean everything, being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis." "Mayberry Machiavellis" was DiIulio's term for political staff, particularly Karl Rove, whom he describes as "the single most powerful person in the modern, post-Hoover era ever to occupy a political-adviser post near the Oval Office." Although it went unheeded, DiIulio's warning proves prophetic. When Congress refused to pass additional Faith-Based initiatives in December 2002, Bush issued a set of executives orders, increasing funding, weakening traditional barriers between government and religious activities, and building a huge network of religious groups across the country. Since then, federal agencies finalized new regulations, including providing legal, logistical and technical assistance to religious groups seeking grants. The Bush Administration sponsored 13 regional conferences and additional meetings across the country to lobby religious organizations to apply for $50 billion in federal grants. Such organizing produced an email list of 13,000 faith-based groups, which would prove useful during the 2004 election. In 2002, faith-based officials appeared at Republican sponsored events in six states. They held an event in South Carolina for 300 Black ministers and OFBCI Director Jim Towey made a 20-city tour, promoting the faith-based initiative. During the 2004 campaign, The New York Times reported that the Bush-Cheney campaign conducted "a brisk schedule for legions of Christian supporters," asking "conservative churches and churchgoers to do everything they can to turn their churches into bases of support" for Bush's election. Bush officials countered criticism by saying their campaign workers were warned not to support candidates and violate their tax-exempt status. When Bush visited the Vatican in June, he called on Catholic officials to push American bishops to speak out on political issues that would support him in the election. And a group of a dozen religious conservative lobbying groups are rallying support for changing the law to allow churches to campaign for political candidates. Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., introduced the Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act, co-sponsored by 108 Republicans, including Tom DeLay and Dick Armey, both of Texas, plus four Democrats. In August, the Rockefeller Institute of Government and the Pew Charitable Trust shed light on Bush's activities, The Expanding Administrative Presidency: George W. Bush and the Faith-Based Initiative, detailing inroads made by religion into government. The report concluded that Bush "weakened longstanding walls banning religious groups from mixing spiritual activities with their secular services" that "mark a major shift in the constitutional separation of church and state." The most disturbing of these findings detail how federally-funded religious groups are now allowed: to consider religion when hiring staff; to convert government-forfeited property to religious purposes; to use government funds to build and renovate structures used for both religious and social services; to provide religious training for those with job-training vouchers who seek church jobs; and religious groups no longer need to certify that their programs exert "no religious influence." After these changes in 2003, the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development reported that faith-based organizations increased their grants by 41 percent. Five federal agencies granted $1.17 billion to faith-based groups. Bush is moving aggressively by Presidential fiat to change regulations, fund political appointees, and conduct public outreach to install religious groups in government social service programs. Despite Bush's claims of improving results, there is no research whatsoever to show that religious groups are better at administering social services than secular groups. Considering Bush's use of churches in the past election, breaking down the barrier between church and state is a blatant ploy to gain votes and push a political agenda in churches that risks their tax-exempt status.
Copyright 2004 |
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Don Monkerud ~ STWR Member Senior columnist for WhatTheyThink.com Bush Announces Iraq Veterans Retirement Program Washington, DC - President Bush, along with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, unveiled a new retirement plan for Iraq veterans who will be released from duty sometime within the next 20 years. The program-the Veterans Homeless Shelter Benefit Plan-will open every homeless shelter in the U.S. to veterans of the Iraq occupation. "This may not be the army you want but it's the army you got: veterans have to sleep where they fall," said Rumsfeld. "I'm awful old and it's past my bedtime but our troops knew what they were signing up for. They'll be thankful for a place to sleep when they return home." After making the announcement to a group of Christian radio and TV stations, the Bush/Rumsfeld duo, recently dubbed the "Bad News Bears," performed a short comedy routine, poking fun at soldiers afraid to travel in unarmored convoys in Iraq. The audience of military contractors from Halliburton and retired generals and admirals who work in private industry cheered them on. "If I had volunteered to be a soldier instead of staying home like I did during the Vietnam War, I'd ask the secretary of defense when I could retire," Bush said, after singing and dancing for the assembled crowd. "You wouldn't want to get blowed up, because that might hurt so we are giving soldiers something to look forward to when they are released. Now watch my two-step." According to Pentagon representative Don Jawbone, the homeless shelter program is part of a broader plan to make soldiers pay their own way. Jawbone cited, as an example, troops who have lost arms and legs in Iraq who are required to pay their own transportation cost from the battlefield to the hospital. Some are even billed for medical treatment. Because they may never be able to pay these bills, their retirement opportunities appear bleak. With few alternatives available, they are signing up for additional tours of duty in Iraq. As an incentive for continuing their service, Rumsfeld is providing a discount for soldiers to buy their own Lincoln Navigator or Ford Expedition so they can patrol the streets of Baghdad "in style." The Pentagon is considering a NASCAR model, The Hillbilly Wagon, customized with white crosses and confederate flags. Financing will be provided by shifting Social Security funds to a new agency headed by former Enron CEO, Ken Lay. "These baby's come complete with tinted glass, CD players and air-conditioning," Jawbone said. "We are stretched a little thin just now because of tax cuts for our rich friends, so we are seeking donations from Support Our Troops groups, the American Rifle Association and Anti-tax organizations." Faced with sleeping in homeless shelters when they retire, many veterans are opting to re-enlist, but this doesn't work for everyone. Some soldiers have had their duties extended long past their retirement age. "I'll be 83 next week and I'm just too old to keep slogging through sand," said Bob Beergut, clerk first class. The Pentagon acknowledges retirement problems for soldiers, but Rumsfeld said changes have been made and now everything is perfect. Critics wonder. With 300,000 homeless veterans already crowding available homeless shelters, veteran's organizations worry about finding additional room for Iraq veterans. Mental illness is a major issue because soldiers are suffering from severe depression after hearing Rumsfeld's announcement. "There are some things that we don't know and some things that are not known," Rumsfeld said, while explaining his latest plan for winning the war in Iraq. "For the things known, they are known sometimes but not known other times, so we just don't know about the unknown knowns or the known unknowns." With President Bush asking for another $100 billion in tax cuts, $200 billion more for the occupation of Iraq and $3 trillion to begin phasing out Social Security, there's little money left over for any domestic programs, including veterans' retirement. One suggested alternative involves permanent deployment of troops who would sleep on the sand inside the new $40 billion U.S. Embassy/Private Business complex in Baghdad. White House budget spokesman Scotty Whitewash told reporters that the longer soldiers remain in Iraq, the fewer of them the government will have to support. "The longer we wait, the better," said Whitewash. "In America there's always someone with their hand out and now that Americans are safer by electing President Bush, we can open a few homeless shelters and relax. Republicans have a majority in Congress, which gives us four more years before we have to worry about anything except new tax breaks." Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz weighed in on the issue by suggesting that Iraq oil revenues be used to pay for the retirement of U.S. veterans. "Iraq can finance its own destruction," Wolfowitz said. "Why should the American taxpayer have to foot the bill for saving their country for capitalism?"
Copyright 2004 |
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Christopher Brauchli The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.
Havelock Ellis, The Dance of life. The question on everyone’s lips is what is he smoking? And the follow up question is where did he get it? And among those who like him, enjoy hallucinating, a second follow up question is (although at press conferences he only allows one) can we get some too? The questions were prompted by Mr. Bush’s comments to reporters On December 1 when he was meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.. One of the reporters asked about the possibility of postponing the Iraqi elections. That question was posed more than a year after the president dressed up to look like a fighter pilot, stood under a banner on a troop ship proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" and bragged about its success. In the months following that bit of Presidential Theater more than 11, 000 service personnel lost sight, hearing, arms, legs and lives. It was not a great year for those folks. But back to the questions. We know that Mr. Bush has no need for medical marijuana and it’s not legal where he lives. Furthermore, his administration is intent on making sure that those who actually have need of medical marijuana and whose states permit its use, don’t have access to it. That was why Paul D. Clement, the Acting Solicitor General, argued before the United States Supreme Court on November 29 that letting someone grow marijuana in her own backyard in California for her own medicinal use as authorized by California law, should be prohibited because of its adverse effect on interstate commerce. It affects interstate commerce, so the argument goes, since if she grows all she needs for medicinal purposes in her own back yard she won’t buy it on the open market. That will have an adverse effect on people who make their living growing marijuana in other states who intend to sell it to people living in California. The government, is, as the arguments showed, zealous about protecting the rights of drug suppliers to ply their trade and protecting the profits the drug dealers get from interstate commerce. The reason for wondering what he smokes, of course, is Mr. Bush’s sunny, if smirksome expression, whenever anyone asks him about how things are going in Iraq. It’s as if someone asked him if the cantaloupe were tasty when standing in the heart of cantaloupe country in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in August. His facial expression suggests that that is about the dumbest question anyone could possibly ask. And so it was that on December 2, he responded to a question about possibly postponing the election in Iraq by saying: "The elections should not be postponed. It’s time for the Iraqi citizens to go to the polls. And that’s why we are very firm on the January 30th date. . . . It’s one of those moments in history where a lot of people will be amazed that a society has been transformed so quickly from one of tyranny and torture and mass graves to one in which people are actually allowed to express themselves at the ballot box." That was the same day people were amazed to hear that a U.S. soldier on patrol in Mosul was killed, the decapitated body of an Iraqi police offer was discovered and 10 more unidentified bodies were found. It was one day before 14 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Baghdad near a Shi’ite mosque, 12 police officers were killed when their police station in the West of the city was attacked and 27 Iraq civilians and dozens of insurgents were killed in Mosul. Mr. Bush couldn’t comment on those incidents since whatever Mr. Bush is smoking doesn’t enable him to see into the future. Mr. Bush thinks he’s done everything just right in the past and as soon as Iraqis express themselves at the ballot box they’ll quit expressing themselves with explosives. Richard Armitage outgoing Deputy Secretary of State was interviewed in Australia on December 4. Speaking of Iraq he said: "Well, it’s a bit messy right now. . . . We’re continuing to lose soldiers and Iraqi policemen and National Guard figures are continuing to die as well. . . . [T]raditionally, I think Americans support hope and enthusiasm and opportunity, but after 9-11 it was anger and our fear that we exported.." Chuck Hagel, a Republican Senator from Nebraska visited with top American commanders in Iraq and said: "I did not find one commander who said to me, ‘We’re winning.’ They’re doing everything they can. But we have constantly underestimated the insurgency force and the vitality of the insurgency." Both Mr. Hagel and Mr. Armitage see what is happening. Mr. Bush can’t or won’t. He just keeps on smoking.
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Christopher Brauchli A man is known by the company he keeps
~ A Saying They're just a bunch of nails and nails, as is well known, do Hammer's bidding. And that explains why during the week of November 14, there were two things that happened that were wonderful for Mr. DeLay and only one bad thing. That made it a really good week.
The first good thing was that his trucklers in the House of Representatives inoculated him against any bad results were he to face criminal charges in the future. (Three of his close Texas associates have been indicted on charges ranging from money-laundering to soliciting and receiving illegal corporate contributions. The district attorney who brought the indictments is continuing his investigation and it is not yet known whether the trail of criminal conduct will eventually lead to Mr. DeLay.)
In order to avoid any adverse political effect on Mr. DeLay were he to be indicted, those who serve him in the House voted to get rid of the House Rule that demanded that members holding leadership be purer than Caesar's wife. The revoked rule provided that a member of the leadership who was indicted had to temporarily step aside. Under the new rule an indicted leader may continue to serve and a party steering committee then decides if the criminal charges are of sufficient gravity to warrant the indicted leader's removal from his leadership post. As Representative Henry Bonilla, one of Mr. DeLay's sycophants put it:"Attorneys tell me you can be indicted for just about anything in this country, in any county or community. Sometimes district attorneys . . . could make a name for themselves by indicting a member of the leadership, regardless of who it may be, and therefore determine their future. And that's not right."
Being vaccinated against the untoward effects of suggestions he might face criminal charges was not Mr. DeLay's only bit of good news. Equally serendipitous was the House Ethics Panel's rebuke of Representative Chris Bell. It was Mr. Bell's complaint against Mr. DeLay that prompted the Ethics Panel to admonish Mr. DeLay in September and October. Having acknowledged the validity of some of Mr. Bell's complaints, the committee nonetheless found that making his complaint, Mr. Bell had engaged in exaggeration and innuendo. Ignoring the reproofs he had received, Mr. DeLay said that his accuser was nothing more than a "partisan stalker" and took the committee's rebuke of Mr. Bell as vindication. Only one bad thing happened that week and it didn't affect Mr. DeLay-it simply reflected on him. In the middle of the week it was disclosed that another of his close aides may be a crook of some distinction. During that week Michael Scanlon, while testifying before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, took the fifth amendment seven times.
Mr. Scanlon served as Mr. DeLay's chief of staff and press spokesman from approximately 1997 until 2000 when he struck out on his own to make money as a publicist and, perhaps, a crook. What is alleged is that he and Jack Abramoff, a major contributor to the Bush Cheney campaign and Tom DeLay paid Ralph Reed, leader of the Christian Coalition, $4.2 million between 2001 and 2003 for him to build religious sentiment against Indian casinos operated in competition with Indian casinos represented by the two men. Speaking Rock Casino operated by the Tigua Tribe in Texas was one of the rivals. In an e mail to Mr. Abramoff Mr. Reed said he had been successful in getting "our pastors" mobilized against the Tigua's casino. In 2002 it was shut down. Thereafter Messrs. Abramoff and Scanlon were paid $4.2 million by the Tigua tribe to correct what Abramoff told them was the "gross indignity perpetuated by the Texas state authorities." According to testimony before the Senate committee, the two men promised the tribe that they could get language inserted into a pending Congressional bill that would allow the casino to reopen. It never happened.
Mr. Scanlon was last in the news while serving on Mr. DeLay's staff. Commenting on the upcoming impeachment trial of President Clinton, Mr. Scanlon and another staffer exchanged e mails. One of the e mails, reportedly written by Mr. Scanlon said: "This whole thing about not kicking someone when they are down is BS. Not only do you kick him-you kick him until he passes out-then beat him over the head with a baseball bat-then roll him up in an old rug-and throw him off a cliff into the pounding surf below." It is not unlikely that having heard Mr. Scanlon take the 5th after bilking them of millions, there are a lot of Indians who hope that the justice system does just that to Mr. DeLay's former aide. Who can blame them?
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Don Monkerud ~ STWR Member Senior columnist for WhatTheyThink.com Dealing in Death: Bush's FDA
After years of protecting the pubic from dangerous food and drugs, the FDA has embarked on a new path to protect corporate profits at all costs. Even death is no obstacle.
The stakes for no industry oversight jumped in November when a leading FDA scientist, Dr. David Graham, acknowledged that Merck's drug Vioxx caused as many as 139,000 heart attacks, strokes and deaths.
Testifying before the Senate, Graham charged that Vioxx had killed between 28,000 to 55,000 people since the FDA placed it on a fast track for approval in 1999. The FDA approval came despite reports that Vioxx carried a high risk for heart attack and stroke. Internal Merck documents reveal that the company has known about the dangers of Vioxx for several years but suppressed the data and marketed it aggressively.
The FDA jumped to Merck's defense and denounced Graham as "irresponsible" and his opinions as "junk science." Previously, Graham said the agency suppressed his findings of increased risks after he reviewed 1.4 million patient records from Kaiser Permanente health care systems, showing that heart attack rates were five times higher with Vioxx, when compared to another drug.
On November 25, Graham announced that he was facing pressure from FDA officials to move out of drug safety into an administrative role, which would sidetrack him from criticizing FDA enforcement procedures. Graham warned that the FDA has abandoned its watchdog role in favor of a cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry and that the public can no longer expect government protection from deadly medications.
The Senate hearings came on the coattails of the influenza vaccine disaster in October, when half the nation's supply of flu vaccine was found to be contaminated. Some 48 million doses of vaccine from Chiron were taken off the market, leaving the nation far short of the 100 million doses needed for at-risk patients. With flu deaths of approximately 55,000 a year, some predict that tens of thousands will die as a result.
After finding bacterial contamination at Chiron's vaccine plant in England, the FDA inspected the plant several times and then relied on telephone conference calls, letters and emails for "reinspection." In October, the British government shut down the plant for drug contamination, to the shock of the FDA.
Public reassurances over the flu vaccine and the FDA's response to the dangers of Vioxx are in stark contrast to the recent warnings about the abortion drug RU-486. The FDA issued detailed warnings after one death, reinforcing public perception of the FDA being used for ideological purposes that have little to do with public health.
The RU-486 warnings come as a surprise from an agency that's increasingly siding with the pharmaceutical industry. OMB Watch, a nonprofit government watchdog group found, "This administration has abandoned work on scores of long-identified public health, safety, and environmental problems. The FDA and EPA alone have withdrawn 60 percent and 52 percent, respectively, of the agenda items carried over from previous administrations."
In 2004, the FDA failed to meet 70 percent of their own benchmarks for proposed rulemaking, final deadlines and reaching decisions on petitions with deadly consequences. For example, in October 2003, the FDA announced they would issue warnings about the risks and fatal side effects of a toxic heart drug, Cordarone. After 1,000 deaths and thousands of severe medical complications, the FDA has yet to act. The FDA asked the drugs manufacturer, Wyeth, to write their own regulations, which they have failed to complete.
According to OMB Watch, the FDA has withdrawn 48 identified food and drug safety priorities, almost half of all items on their agenda in May 2002. It's no wonder.
Responsible for changing the FDA is Bush appointee for legal affairs, Daniel Troy. Former clerk for Robert Bork, litigant for the anti-regulatory Washington Legal Foundation, and tobacco lawyer, Troy last represented drug maker Pfizer, collecting up to $415,000 a year in fees.
Unlike his predecessor who held one meeting with industry lobbyists, Troy has held over 129 meetings in his three years in office. But Troy's boldest move has been helping drug companies defeat lawsuits. In four separate cases since 2002, the government has asked judges to dismiss potentially costly claims against drug makers.
The lack of FDA enforcement is consistent with Bush's policy of allowing corporations to regulate themselves, akin, critics claim, to "allowing the fox to guard the henhouse." If there's a theme to Bush's oversight of public health and welfare, it's that corporate profits trump public safety and public interest.
Unfortunately, FDA regulations are not like the long term health effects of allowing air pollution, contaminated drinking water or clear cutting. FDA oversight is a life and death issue for the American public. A slight majority put Bush in the White House in 2004, but they evidently overlooked the dire consequences of their choice.
How many people have to die before the Bush Administration steps in with government regulators to oversee illegal and unhealthy industry practices?
Copyright 2004 |
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