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Articles from the Democratic National Committee


President Bush's War on Iraq continually results in the loss of lives and limbs of our young men and women.

Here is a current update on those statistics.

 

 

 

 

 



















Special Interests Getting Their Way On Environment

Washington, D.C. -- For all of his talk of economic and energy crises, the only real 'crisis' George W. Bush seems to want to address is the crisis of environmental regulations standing in the way of his big corporate supporters. But in the process of making life easier for his major donors, he is erasing regulations meant to ensure the health and safety of the American people.

"Special interests have special access in the Bush White House, plain and simple," said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe. "He flip-flopped on regulating greenhouse gasses, he rolled back rules that would have lowered arsenic levels in water and he overturned rules that would have helped hold mining companies accountable for their pollution. Why? Because those rules would have cost his biggest supporters money. Bush needs to spend less time servicing his donors and more time fighting for the American people."

Bush's moves have even longtime members of his Party fuming. According to a report on CNN's Inside Politics, Edith Williams, Teddy Roosevelt's granddaughter, is "so appalled" by Bush's war on the environment that, "she no longer considers herself a Republican, but rather, a progressive Independent." [Inside Politics, 3/28/01]

In fact, Bush's reversal of the arsenic standards was legally questionable. When Congress mandated reevaluation of the standard last year, they ordered the EPA to have the standards in place by June 22. The Clinton regulations would have taken effect March 23. After overturning the Clinton rules, does Bush plan on ignoring the congressionally mandated deadline?

Bush is now in a full scramble to hide the fact that his environmental actions were nothing more than craven offerings to his supporters. Rather than acknowledge the truth on his carbon dioxide flip-flop, for example, he said in his news conference today that we did not face an energy crisis when he first made the proposal during the campaign as he claims we do now. But he said repeatedly during the campaign that we do face such a crisis. In his letter to the Senate explaining his reversal, he had a different excuse: that he had accidentally considered carbon dioxide to be a pollutant when he first made the pledge.

"The real reason for George W. Bush's environmental assault is that his biggest corporate donors - to whom he owes a lot - asked him to do it," McAuliffe continued. "He can make any excuse he wants, but the result is the same: a dirty, spoiled environment for our children."

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Women and Children First... For Bush's Unfair Cuts

Washington, D.C. -- George W. Bush has quietly closed the White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach, the Boston Globe reported today. Like the Administration's earlier decisions to close White House Race Initiative and AIDS Policy offices, Bush's decision slams the door in the face of women and illustrates his lack of concern for policies that affect them. The closure comes on the heels of Bush's decision last week to cut child care and child abuse prevention programs.

"Bush's motto is 'women and children first' when it comes to cutting programs and initiatives designed to focus attention on women and families," Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe said. "Bush's decision sends a signal to over half of the people in America: You don't count."

The White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach "served as a liaison to outside organizations with ideas and questions about pending policies affecting women," according to the Globe. Without the office, women's advocates lose a crucial voice on behalf of women's issues within the White House.

Other early signals of the Bush Administration's lack of respect toward women include Bush's decision to reinstate the global gag rule on family planning organizations, his selection of anti-choice cabinet members, and his appointment of high-level aides with controversial views toward women. One appointee, Office of Personnel Management director Kay Cole James, a former official at Pat Robertson's Regent University, wrote once that "women must be responsible for their own behavior, and our legal system must be careful to define rape within reasonable limits." [Boston Globe, 3/28/01]

"The new administration did not announce Bush's decision to close the women's office and refuses to explain his reasons for the closure," McAuliffe said. "It sounds to me like Bush is embarrassed. Well, he should be," McAuliffe concluded.

the same: a dirty, spoiled environment for our children."

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White House Plans To "Severely Scale Back" Major Crime Fighting Program

Washington, D.C. -- With the $2 trillion cost of his tax cut hanging over his head, George W. Bush is scrambling to find places to save money in his budget. His new target? The COPS program, which has put tens of thousands of new community police officers on the street.

"If George W. Bush were thinking of the priorities of the American people, he would not put their safety at risk by taking police officers off the street like this," said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe. "But he knows that he has to pay back the special interests who put him in the White House. As a result, we have a massive tax cut for the rich and fewer police officers for everyone else. That is not the kind of leadership Americans want or need."

According to an article in today's Los Angeles Times, "The decision, due to be unveiled next month, would mark a major departure from a federal law enforcement policy that some criminologists say helped spur a marked nationwide decline in crime in the 1990s. .one White House official involved in the administration's discussions of the program said the upcoming budget proposal likely would provide less than a quarter of the $228 million funded in the current budget for hiring municipal police officers." [Los Angeles Times, 3/30/01]

"A massive tax cut is simply not worth taking a single police officer off the street," McAuliffe continued. "Between his rollback of major environmental regulations, his funding cuts for major child care programs and now this, he seems bent on undoing all of the great successes of the past eight years. While the special interests may fare well with him in the White House, working Americans will be paying the price for years to come."

the same: a dirty, spoiled environment for our children."

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May 15,2004
Karl Rove: the undisputed heavyweight champion of playing politics with Iraq

Today, Karl Rove spoke to the Republican State Party in Illinois.
DNC Communications Director Debra DeShong said: "Karl Rove hasn't met an issue he didn't politicize. Time and again he has shown a willingness to turn the service of our military into a political tool. The worst thing about it is that he does it with the President's blessing. John Kerry risked his life to save others in Vietnam and understands the meaning of service."

Secret Rove computer disk told Republican politicians to "focus on war"
"In June [2002], a floppy disk was found near the White House. On the recording was Karl Rove, a political strategist for President Bush, giving a presentation about how the White House could 'maintain a positive issue environment' during mid-term elections. Focus on war, was the message. This followed remarks by Rove last January that the war on terrorism was a good campaign issue." [Des Moines Register, 9/24/02]

Rove keeps political documents in the White House on Kerry's Iraq position
"Rove got out his two-inch-thick, loose-leaf binder titled 'Bring It On.' It consisted of research into Kerry's 19-year record in the Senate. Most relevant were pages 9 to 20 of the section on Iraq." [Washington Post, Woodward, 4/18/04]

Rove admits White House playing campaign politics with war on terror
"The strategy to beat Mr. Kerry is relatively straightforward, Mr. Rove said. 'You make it about big issues,' he said. 'The president is right on the war on terror; Kerry is fundamentally wrong.'" [Washington Times, 5/10/04]

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June 1, 2004
DNC to Cheney: "Does it depend on what your definition of operational is?"

In light of TIME story, Cheney's office today qualified whether Vice President was involved in awarding of Halliburton contracts in Iraq

Washington, DC - In light of TIME Magazine recently reporting that "action" on a multi-billion dollar Halliburton contract was "coordinated" with the Vice President Dick Cheney's office, Mary Matalin, an advisor to Cheney, appeared on the Today Show this morning. Asked about the coordination and unable to answer the question directly, Matalin shifted from the unequivocal denials Cheney and his surrogates have used in the past to more nuanced, legal language, saying "the Vice President of the United States… had no 'operational' involvement with letting of any contracts."

"The Vice President appears to be changing his story," said DNC National Spokesman Jano Cabrera. "It seems his defense now rests on what his definition of 'operational' is."

For those members of the press who missed Matalin's Today Show appearance, the DNC Research operation provides the following transcript:

Katie Couric: We'll talk about the Patriot Act in just a moment but let me ask you first about this recent Halliburton flap — the company that the Vice President ran from 1995-2000 when it came to awarding contracts for rebuilding Iraq. Mr. Cheney told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that "as Vice President I have absolutely no influence or involvement or knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts." But this week Mary as I'm sure you know, Time magazine published an internal Pentagon e-mail that said action on a multi-billion dollar Halliburton contract was quote "coordinated with the vice president's office." Can you explain this discrepancy?

Mary Matalin: The vice president's office nor did the civilian leaders at the DOD have anything to do with the letting of any contracts. Not Halliburton's, not Brown and Root's not anybody's. That is the Army Corps of civil engineers.

KC: What did this email mean in your view?

MM: Katie I have no idea. I can tell you that the vice president of the United States in that office or when he was Secretary of Defense had no operational involvement with letting of any contracts. This is the politicizing of Halliburton which is a shame.

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Sep 26, 2004
Progress in Iraq: Bush's Fantasy; Powell's Reality

BUSH'S FANTASY
It's very important for the people of the world really to know that we are winning, we are making progress in Iraq.
[Bush Remarks, 9/21/04]

POWELL'S REALITY
Stephanopoulos: Is it getting worse?

Powell: Yes, its getting worse and the reason it is getting worse is that they are determined to disrupt the election. They do not want the Iraqi people to vote for their own leaders in a free, democratic election. And because it's getting worse, we will have to increase our efforts to defeat it, not walk away and pray and hope for something else to happen.
[ABC "This Week", 9/26/04]

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Sep 28, 2004,
Blair Acknowledges Reality, When Will Bush?

In Sharp Contrast to Bush, Blair Apologizes, Acknowledges Mistakes

Washington, D.C. - According to news reports today, British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered an apology for his mistaken judgments about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. The Democratic National Committee noted the Prime Minister's leadership in acknowledging the reality of the mess in Iraq and the false premises used to go to war and questioned whether George W. Bush will show the same amount of leadership this week in Miami.

Will George Bush Acknowledge This Reality?
"The evidence about Saddam having actual biological and chemical weapons as opposed to the capability to develop them has turned out to be wrong," Tony Blair [New York Times 9/28/04]

Will George Bush Acknowledge This Reality?
"In a contrite tone, Mr. Blair said he was as "fallible" as "any other human being" in his mistaken judgments on the war" [New York Times 9/28/04]

Will George Bush Acknowledge This Reality?
"Military action will be futile unless we address the conditions in which this terrorism breeds and the causes it preys on." Tony Blair [New York Times 9/28/04]

Will George Bush Acknowledge This Reality?
"I know this issue has divided the country," Tony Blair [New York Times 9/28/04]

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GOP Moves Away From Bush's Iraq Strategy

August 29, 2006

An E.J. Dionne column in today's Washington Post notes that as American support for President Bush's failed "stay the course" strategy in Iraq dwindles, many Republicans are distancing themselves from President Bush and are more closely echoing Democrats' criticism of the war. The fractured support for the war among Republicans will make it an even trickier campaign issue for the GOP this fall. Congressional Republicans must now defend their rubber stamping of President Bush's failed policies while clarifying their own position on the war. This Republican political maneuver is complicated by recent polls that show that a majority of Americans believe the war was a mistake and no longer think that there was a link between the war in Iraq and the broader war on terror. ( NY Times /CBS, 8/23/06) Democrats want a new direction in Iraq with a phased redeployment of troops so we can fight and win the war on terror at home and around the world.

 

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Dean responds to President Bush

July 12, 2007
Governor Howard Dean responded to President Bush's remarks today by saying that it is wrong to keep our troops in the middle of a civil war in Iraq just to learn what we already know--that the escalation is not working.
“The choice is clear between the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Every single one of the Republicans – except for one who is a libertarian – has made it clear that they stand by the President's stay the course strategy in Iraq. Every single one of the Democratic candidates has made it clear they will get us out of Iraq responsibly.

“I want to talk about Iraq for a moment, and respond to what the President said earlier today about the interim report on the surge – a report Democrats forced him to have to make public.

“He refused once again to acknowledge the truth that is staring all of us in the face, stubbornly picking only the facts he wants to see and to hear. It seems he would rather keep our already overextended troops in the middle of a civil war instead of acknowledging what a majority of Americans already know: the surge is not working. Even senior military leaders have acknowledged the need for a political solution in Iraq.

“It's time for President Bush to recognize that this is not about saving political face and he cannot continue to ignore the will of the American people. This is about keeping America safe, saving American lives, and responsibly bringing our troops home. It's also about refocusing our efforts on fighting the war on terror, fighting the terrorists where they are – now resurging on the Afghan-Pakistani border.

“Here's what the President didn't tell you: Six months into the Republican surge, nearly 600 brave Americans have been killed and we have spent $60 billion in Iraq. Despite these extraordinary costs, Iraqis have met none of their political and economic benchmarks they set for themselves, the surge has failed to make Iraq more secure, and the war will continue to cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. The disastrous failures of the Republican Iraq policy have given Al Qaeda time to reorganize and rebuild. And six years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose.

“We do not need to wait until September to acknowledge the truth that there has been no progress on the most critical benchmarks and that we need to transition the mission and get our troops out of Iraq in a thoughtful way.

“Our brave troops cannot solve Iraq's political problems. It is past time for the change of course in Iraq that Democrats have been pushing for and a Democratic president will bring - which includes a far more robust diplomatic effort to address the political problems as the Iraq Study Group recommended.

“The parallels between the mistakes being made today in Iraq and the behavior of our government during Vietnam are striking. Troops are sent abroad to fight by an Administration that refused to listen to the advice of military leaders. The Administration decides it is ok to conceal information from the Congress and the American people. Promises like 'stay the course' 'Peace is at Hand' or 'the insurgency is in its last throes' are made by an increasingly desperate Administration.

“A majority of the American people don't believe the President is telling the truth, while the Administration and its supporters question the patriotism and courage of those who disagree with them. And the victims continue to be brave American troops who are the targets of an insurgency because of failed political leadership and a lack of foresight and planning.

“The Democrats are standing up to President Bush on Iraq, and now even some Republicans in Congress are starting to change their rhetoric. But today when the House votes and next week when the Senate votes -- what really matters is not what they say, but whether or not Congressional Republicans will have the backbone, spine and courage – which they so far have failed to – and join Democrats and vote to bring our troops home.

“So far too few Republicans have joined us. Republicans will pay a price in 2008 for continuing to obstruct the will of the American people. The majority of the American people overwhelmingly want to end the war in Iraq. A majority of Americans believe that Democrats will end the war in Iraq, and they are right.

“In 2008, the best way to ensure that we end the war in Iraq will be to elect a Democratic president. We are going to do everything we can to do that.”

 

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Bush Aide Resigns for Alleged Misuse of Grant Money

March 28, 2008 Associated Press

Felipe Sixto was promoted on March 1 as a special assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and stepped forward on March 20 to reveal his alleged wrongdoing and to resign, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said on Friday. He said Sixto took that step after learning that his former employer, the Center for a Free Cuba, was prepared to initiate legal action against him.

The alleged wrongdoing occurred when Sixto was chief of staff at the center, where he worked for more than three years before moving to the White House.

The matter has been turned over to the Justice Department for investigation, Stanzel said. He said Bush was briefed on the case and felt that the appropriate action was being taken.

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March 31, 2008
Earlier this month, two Democratic senators, Patty Murray of Washington and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to request Mr. Jackson's resignation, arguing that accusations of wrongdoing had made him ineffective.

 

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