White Lies and Murky Skies
thedailyenron.com
After enjoying nearly two years of free passes granted by the media, the Bush administration has
suddenly found itself in the midst of a slew of tough questions and sinking approval ratings. And
they don't quite know what to do about it. Vice President Cheney popped up just long enough to
issue more misleading statements, and President Bush is mixing his economic and
environmental messages, while Attorney General John Ashcroft viciously lashed out at the real
enemy - librarians.
While 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since Bush took office, special interests like
Halliburton have turned handsome profits thanks to sweetheart deals and government contracts.
Recently Vice President Dick Cheney has been on the defensive about his current role with his
former company.
On Sunday's "Meet the Press," he asserted, "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any
kind and haven't had now for over three years."
This statement appears to be dubious at best. For starters, the vice president currently holds
433,333 in unexercised Halliburton stock options.
Secondly, Cheney received $205,298 in deferred salary payments from the company in 2001,
and $162,393 last year. He will receive similar payments each of the next three years.
The Cheney camp has argued that the payments are for services Cheney has already rendered
as CEO, and that the stock options have been placed in a blind trust that the vice president has
no control over, but if salary payments and stock options of any sort don't amount to a "financial
interest," then what could possibly fit that description?
As Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) noted, "In 2001 and 2002, Vice President Cheney was paid
almost as much in salary from Halliburton as he made as vice president." Read more here.
Halliburton has been granted billions of dollars in government contracts (some of which were
awarded without any competition), while the Bush administration has underfunded its own
education plan by $9 billion and presided over pay cuts for soldiers and veterans - quite an odd
set of priorities for having no "financial interest."
American Family Voices has released an ad on this very topic that debuts today on television in
Washington, D.C., New Hampshire, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
AFV President Mike Lux took the administration to task for its conduct: "It is unforgivable that the
government is more focused on making no bid, sweetheart deals with big businesses such as
Halliburton that are cronies of this administration than they are on funding education and health
care or providing benefits to our troops."
Meanwhile, President Bush's "Clear Skies" initiative has stalled like a late-day thunderstorm over
Miami, but he has refused to concede defeat. Instead he has unveiled a new line of defense for
his toothless program - not only will it prevent pollution, it will help the economy too!
This has the sound of a late-night infomercial, and Bush's product is guaranteed to be just as
ineffective. The "Clear Skies" plan would allow companies a more lax timetable for enacting
pollution reduction measures than the current Clean Air Act. Bush's proposal also does nothing to
regulate carbon dioxide emissions, a gas linked to global warming.
"Even though it would be a reduction, it is significantly less than the Clean Air Act would require
over time," said Bob Perciasepe of the National Audubon Society.
No matter, says Bush, at least the plan is economically sound. "One way to make sure that the
job supply is steady and growing in the long term is to have a realistic energy policy, coupled with
realistic environmental policy," argued Bush, who nevertheless has not used realism when
concocting tax cut policy or foreign policy.
What is real about Bush's energy proposal is that it allows power plants to upgrade their facilities
without adopting new pollution regulations, allowing them to increase profits without shouldering
any environmental responsibilities. Read more here and here.
On Sunday, Bush toured the Detroit Edison power plant, one of the nation's largest, to highlight
his energy package. The president donned a hard hat for the occasion, but wisely left his flight
suit and "Mission Accomplished" banner at home.
"It makes sense to change these regulations. It makes sense for the workplace environment. It
makes sense for the protection of the air," Bush said at the plant.
But Bush's "Clear Skies" initiative allows the Detroit Edison plant to increase its emissions by
30,000 tons a year and does nothing to lower emission levels of sulfur dioxide, which causes
soot. The plant belched out 102,700 tons of sulfur dioxide in 2001.
But government officials were quick to denounce opposition to Bush's plan.
"They're wrong," said James Connaughton, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality in a
well-reasoned and highly-thought-out rebuttal. (Note, someone in the White House should take
note of this and print Press Secretary Scott McClellan a t-shirt with these words on it - it would
save him lots of hassles.) Read more here.
President Bush is obviously feeling the heat of the economy as a looming issue for his upcoming
reelection bid. A recent poll in the Washington Post revealed that just 42% of Americans approve
of Bush's handling of the economy, compared to 45% from the month before (perhaps that
many people fell out of the millionaires' tax bracket).
A memo from House GOP Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce (OH) shows just how concerned
Republicans are - not with creating jobs, but maintaining their hold on the executive and
legislative branch.
"The issue of the economy is more important than ever, and because voters tend to define the
economy in the context of jobs, our central message must remain focused on jobs. It is not
possible for you to talk about jobs too much!" she wrote in her message.
But two years of merely talking about jobs has not prevented more than three million Americans
from losing theirs under the Bush administration.
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) noted his disapproval of the situation, stating, "What am I going to
tell people about jobs? People are hurting and people don't see any leadership or direction."
Jones is painfully aware of what President Bush has yet to realize: "Never mind the tax cuts, my
environmental plan will create jobs" is a poor substitute for an economic rallying cry. Read more
here.
AND FINALLY…Attorney General John Ashcroft continued his impassioned defense of the Patriot
Act by targeting an insurgent rebel group that opposes the act - the American Librarian
Association (ALA).
Ashcroft accused the association of creating "baseless hysteria" over provisions in the act that
allow the government to document the reading habits of private citizens. He derisively claimed
that it's silly to think that the FBI is searching for "how far you have gotten on the latest Tom
Clancy novel."
Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo issued a curious defense of the statement, saying
that it wasn't meant to attack librarians, but instead was targeted for groups like the American
Civil Liberties Union and politicians who oppose the act and have suckered librarians into
following their lead.
In other words, the sheep at the ALA were too simple-minded to merit Ashcroft's vitriol.
Perhaps Justice Department officials should be advised to simply buy the latest Tom Clancy
novel, or whatever else they desire reading - they could be in for a frosty reception at their local
libraries. Read more here. |
