Maray
DIS Veteran (B.C. Survivor-17yrs.Now!)
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 205
I found this interesting- just wanted to share
Hope its okay
State of the Union Viewers' Guide
During the State of the Union, Americans expect the President to address the most pressing concerns facing the country. The Center for American Progress gives you a brief checklist to see whether President Bush does just that:
YES NO
Did he explain why he has not fixed the unemployment crisis?
Since March of 2001, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs. While the President has said that the economy looks "good," unemployment is still at 5.7%. Because the job situation was so bleak last month, 255,000 jobless Americans simply stopped looking for work.
YES NO
Did he provide any evidence that his tax cuts helped anyone other than the wealthy?
In 2005, the President's most recent tax bill gives people who make over $1 million an average tax cut of more than $22,000. At the same time, it gives people making $35,000 per year a tax cut of $35 all while middle-class wages stagnate and health care costs skyrocket.
YES NO
Did he explain how we can afford $1 trillion in new tax cuts at a time of budget deficits?
The budget deficit stands at $500 billion the largest in American history. At the same time, the President is pushing a $1 trillion plan to make his tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. While the White House says it has a proposal to cut the deficit in half, the fine print of the proposal shows that it purposely omits huge inevitable expenditures. For instance, the proposal omits all costs of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan after 2004.
YES NO
Did he explain why he is underfunding his own education bill?
While the No Child Left Behind Act promised historic funding increases for education, the last two budgets the President authored have fallen at least $7 billion short of those promises. As a result, hundreds of thousands of children are being cut from education programs, and tens of thousands of teachers are not receiving the training they are required to have.
YES NO
Did he offer a plan to provide health care to over 40 million uninsured Americans?
President Bush proposed billions for a Mars mission, and universal health care to all Iraqis within a year. Yet, his top health care official says providing health insurance to all Americans by 2010 is "not realistic." While Bush is expected to propose "block grants," this plan does not definitively guarantee health care for all citizens.
YES NO
Did he promise that his Medicare bill will provide the same drug benefit to every senior?
Despite promises to the contrary, the Medicare bill provides no standards for which prescription drugs will be covered, how much beneficiaries will have to pay, or what they will have to pay all while sending billions to HMOs and drug companies.
YES NO
Did he explain how he will safeguard the environment after unraveling regulations?
Rhetoric about clear skies and healthy forests aside, this administration has weakened clean air/clean water laws, cut funding for toxic cleanups and opened up protected forests for logging.
YES NO
Did he say why bin Laden is at large & why Iraq was more important than his capture?
Two years after the September 11th attacks, Osama bin Laden is still at large and issuing threats to the United States. Instead of putting more resources into "hunting him down," Bush put resources into a war in Iraq a war a recent U.S. Army report said "was not integral to the global war on terrorism, but rather a detour from it."
YES NO
Did he explain why no WMD have been found after he said Iraq's WMD justified war?
Despite having 10 months and unlimited access to the country, no WMD have been found in Iraq.
YES NO
Did he explain why he falsely claimed Saddam obtained nuclear material?
One year ago, the President said, "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." When this was proven to be false, the Administration blamed the CIA. But the CIA noted it had told the White House to exclude that claim from the speech. The Administration has yet to explain why the President made the claim when he knew it was false.
YES NO
Did he explain why he wants to cut benefits for the military during a time of war?
At the same time he deployed over 100,000 soldiers into combat in Iraq, the President proposed to cut $1.5 billion out of military family housing, ban Guard and Reserves from access to the Pentagon's health care system and reduce soldiers' pay all while denying one million children of military families from receiving the child tax credit.
YES NO
Did he explain why he has not cooperated with the commission investigating 9/11?
First the White House opposed the creation of the bipartisan 9/11 commission. Recently, it refused to give over documents to the commission. Now it is trying to move the release of the commission's report until after the election.
YES NO
Did he explain why his staff has not turned in the person who leaked classified info?
After a White House official leaked the name of a CIA official to the news media in retaliation, President Bush said he wanted the leak found. But he has yet to formally demand his staff to turn in the leaker.
Hope its okay
State of the Union Viewers' Guide
During the State of the Union, Americans expect the President to address the most pressing concerns facing the country. The Center for American Progress gives you a brief checklist to see whether President Bush does just that:
YES NO
Did he explain why he has not fixed the unemployment crisis?
Since March of 2001, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs. While the President has said that the economy looks "good," unemployment is still at 5.7%. Because the job situation was so bleak last month, 255,000 jobless Americans simply stopped looking for work.
YES NO
Did he provide any evidence that his tax cuts helped anyone other than the wealthy?
In 2005, the President's most recent tax bill gives people who make over $1 million an average tax cut of more than $22,000. At the same time, it gives people making $35,000 per year a tax cut of $35 all while middle-class wages stagnate and health care costs skyrocket.
YES NO
Did he explain how we can afford $1 trillion in new tax cuts at a time of budget deficits?
The budget deficit stands at $500 billion the largest in American history. At the same time, the President is pushing a $1 trillion plan to make his tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. While the White House says it has a proposal to cut the deficit in half, the fine print of the proposal shows that it purposely omits huge inevitable expenditures. For instance, the proposal omits all costs of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan after 2004.
YES NO
Did he explain why he is underfunding his own education bill?
While the No Child Left Behind Act promised historic funding increases for education, the last two budgets the President authored have fallen at least $7 billion short of those promises. As a result, hundreds of thousands of children are being cut from education programs, and tens of thousands of teachers are not receiving the training they are required to have.
YES NO
Did he offer a plan to provide health care to over 40 million uninsured Americans?
President Bush proposed billions for a Mars mission, and universal health care to all Iraqis within a year. Yet, his top health care official says providing health insurance to all Americans by 2010 is "not realistic." While Bush is expected to propose "block grants," this plan does not definitively guarantee health care for all citizens.
YES NO
Did he promise that his Medicare bill will provide the same drug benefit to every senior?
Despite promises to the contrary, the Medicare bill provides no standards for which prescription drugs will be covered, how much beneficiaries will have to pay, or what they will have to pay all while sending billions to HMOs and drug companies.
YES NO
Did he explain how he will safeguard the environment after unraveling regulations?
Rhetoric about clear skies and healthy forests aside, this administration has weakened clean air/clean water laws, cut funding for toxic cleanups and opened up protected forests for logging.
YES NO
Did he say why bin Laden is at large & why Iraq was more important than his capture?
Two years after the September 11th attacks, Osama bin Laden is still at large and issuing threats to the United States. Instead of putting more resources into "hunting him down," Bush put resources into a war in Iraq a war a recent U.S. Army report said "was not integral to the global war on terrorism, but rather a detour from it."
YES NO
Did he explain why no WMD have been found after he said Iraq's WMD justified war?
Despite having 10 months and unlimited access to the country, no WMD have been found in Iraq.
YES NO
Did he explain why he falsely claimed Saddam obtained nuclear material?
One year ago, the President said, "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." When this was proven to be false, the Administration blamed the CIA. But the CIA noted it had told the White House to exclude that claim from the speech. The Administration has yet to explain why the President made the claim when he knew it was false.
YES NO
Did he explain why he wants to cut benefits for the military during a time of war?
At the same time he deployed over 100,000 soldiers into combat in Iraq, the President proposed to cut $1.5 billion out of military family housing, ban Guard and Reserves from access to the Pentagon's health care system and reduce soldiers' pay all while denying one million children of military families from receiving the child tax credit.
YES NO
Did he explain why he has not cooperated with the commission investigating 9/11?
First the White House opposed the creation of the bipartisan 9/11 commission. Recently, it refused to give over documents to the commission. Now it is trying to move the release of the commission's report until after the election.
YES NO
Did he explain why his staff has not turned in the person who leaked classified info?
After a White House official leaked the name of a CIA official to the news media in retaliation, President Bush said he wanted the leak found. But he has yet to formally demand his staff to turn in the leaker.
Missed ya!!!!!!
