The White House and their deep-pocketed allies have launched a $35 million public relations effort
to spread misinformation about President Bush’s Social Security privatization scheme. This fact sheet will arm you with all the facts you’ll need to take them on.
Fiscal Outlook
Claim: “By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt.” [President Bush, 2/2/05]
Fact: In 2042, enough new money will be coming in to pay between 73-80 percent of promised benefits. Even (...)
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How to Talk to a Conservative About Social Security
16 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
1 comment -
Democrats Want More Accountability for Iraq Spending- Propose War Funding Accountability Act
16 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
2 commentsPresident Bush’s request to Congress for $82 billion dollars in additional funding for military and reconstruction needs in Iraq and Afghanistan is receiving scrutiny on Capitol Hill. This comes amid growing concern among lawmakers about examples of waste, fraud and abuse in how funds were spent in Iraq.
There is little if any disagreement between Democrats and Republicans about the need for the extra money needed to support U.S. troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Republicans in (...) -
Bush’s Budget: Cut education, services for needy, add new tax cuts for the wealthy
13 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
1 commentAT THE Detroit Economic Club last week, President Bush boasted that his latest budget is "the most disciplined proposal since Ronald Reagan." And, yes, his proposed cuts — in food stamps, Medicaid, housing and child care — are stunning, mainly for their targeting of low-income workers and families.
But even President Reagan never displayed such a taste for tax cuts, though he tried at first. Faced with mounting deficits, Mr. Reagan reversed himself, raising taxes. Mr. Bush’s father did (...) -
Billions $ for WAR, Cuts for the POOR
10 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
2 commentsGEORGE W. BUSH’S budget proposal will impose deep cuts in domestic spending, while showering money on the military and homeland security.
Bush claimed that his principle in deciding on the cuts was that “a taxpayer dollar must be spent wisely, or not at all.” To judge from a budget that will reduce or eliminate funding for some 150 government programs, the administration must think that it’s “unwise” to spend anything on helping the poor or vulnerable in U.S. society.
“A cut of this (...) -
Forget The UN. The US Occupation Regime Helped Itself To $8.8b Of Mostly Iraqi Money In Just 14 Mnts
10 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
1 commentFraud And Corruption: Forget The UN. The US Occupation Regime Helped Itself To $8.8b Of Mostly Iraqi Money In Just 14 Months George Monbiot Tuesday February 8, 2005
The Republican senators who have devoted their careers to mauling the United Nations are seldom accused of shyness. But they went strangely quiet on Thursday. Henry Hyde became Henry Jekyll. Norm Coleman’s mustard turned to honey. Convinced that the UN is a conspiracy against the sovereignty of the United States, they had (...) -
Bush Pays Halliburton For Services Never Rendered- Shouldn’t congress hold them accountable?
8 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
1 commentAs of June 2004, the Government Accounting Office estimated that more than $1 billion in taxpayer money had been wasted due to illegal overcharges by contractors in Iraq, since the onset of the war. Furthermore, experts say that once the total is calculated correctly, the losses could very well add up to billions more.
According to GAO Comptroller General, David Walker, the $1 billion represents about 2% of the $60 billion spent in Iraq between March 2003 and June 2004. To no one’s (...) -
Where The Missing $9 Billion Went
3 February 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
Where The Missing $9 Billion Went Emad Mekay February 02, 2005 WASHINGTON - The US-run administration in Baghdad failed to keep track of nearly US$9 billion of money it transferred to various Iraqi ministries, according to an official audit released Sunday.
The report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says that the now defunct US-lead Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) did not exercise adequate managerial control over funds paid to Iraqi government (...) -
$9B Missing in Iraq includes funds to pay "ghost" employees
31 January 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
From Reuters "The report said the CPA failed to ensure funds were not used to pay "ghost" employees and cited one example where CPA officials authorized payment for about 74,000 guards but only a fraction of these could later be validated."
From AP story below:
"Some of the transferred funds may have paid "ghost" employees, the inspector general found.
CPA staff learned that 8,206 guards were on the payroll at one ministry, but only 602 could be accounted for, the report said. At (...) -
Congress should reject request for $80 billion-No More Funds For Failed Iraq Policy
25 January 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
2 commentsWASHINGTON — January 25 — Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), a leader in the House of Representatives against the war in Iraq, released the following statement in response to news reports that the Administration will request an additional $80 billion dollars for the war in Iraq:
"Congress should reject the Administration’s request for an additional $80 billion in funds for the war in Iraq. The Administration’s entire case for the war has now been debunked, Iraq is on the verge of a (...) -
Coronation of Corruption : celebration of Exploitation
20 January 2005 par (Open-Publishing)
4 commentsBy Manuel Valenzuela
At the apex of the highest mountain stand the facilitators of human corruption, in proud self-adulation, glorification and ego-driven debasement readying themselves with a forty million dollar celebration of pomp and circumstance, enjoying the comforts of luxury and unfettered power spun by the web of exploitation, for victorious do they see each other, this power-addicted and profit-hungry cabal of corporatist and elitist vermin, extolling both the virtues of (...)