Ciao Baby!

I will be taking a break from this blog for a while while Beth and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Italy. Toward the end of October we will be in Nevada helping to send George Bush back to Crawford. But for the moment reflect on the patterns evident in the Bush Administration.

The tax cuts were billed as a job creation program. But the job market has not responded as promised. In fact there are one million fewer jobs than when Bush took office and 4 million additional Americans have sunk into poverty. On the other hand, Bush has turned a $236 Billion annual surplus into a $520 billion deficit and created the largest national debt in history. Heed Pete Peterson's warning that Bush has not cut taxes but rather transferred them to our children and grandchildren.

The war in Iraq was billed as a necessary step in the war on terror. But Iraq posed no gathering threat, had no ties to Al Qaeda and had no weapons of mass destruction - zero. On the other hand, Osama Bin Laden got away, Saddam's torturers at Abu Gareb were replaced by American torturers, Iraq has become an increasingly dangerous quagmire and $151 billion has been diverted away from real programs to help secure the world from terrorists and away from pressing needs at home. To be fair, The Office of Homeland Security did nab Cat Stevens.

The President's health plan was billed as a way to help all Americans "have access to affordable, high-quality health care." But there are 6.3 million fewer Americans insured now than when Bush took office and drug prices have risen 3 times faster than inflation. On the other hand, Bush did pass a law prohibiting Medicare from negotiating lower prices with drug companies and prohibiting Americans from purchasing lower priced drugs in Canada.

Is there a pattern here or not?