The President's Actions
What GWB has done in his first 6 months
By: Dr. David A. Sprintzen Professor of Philosophy Co-Director,
Institute for Sustainable Development
C.W. Post College,Long Island University
720 Northern Boulevard
Brookville, NY 11548-1300
(516)299-3051 fax: (516) 299-4140 dsprintz@liu.edu
The First Six Months of George W. Bush:
Whatever your beliefs, know what your President is doing.
Here is a list of his work in his first six months:
* Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered
crops.
* Cut federal spending on libraries by $39 million.
* Cut $35 million in funding for doctors to get advanced pediatric
training.
* Cut by 50% funding for research into renewable energy sources.
* Revoked rules that reduced the acceptable levels of arsenic in
drinking water.
* Blocked rules that would require federal agencies to offer
bilingual assistance to non-English speaking persons. This, from a
candidate who would readily fire-up his Spanish-speaking skills in
front of would-be Hispanic voters.
* Proposed to eliminate new marine protections for the Channel
Islands and the coral reefs of northwest Hawaii (San Francisco
Chronicle, April 6, 2001).
* Cut funding by 28% for research into cleaner, more efficient cars
and trucks.
* Suspended rules that would have strengthened the government's
ability to deny contracts to companies that violated workplace
safety, environmental, and other federal laws.
* OK'd Interior Department appointee Gale Norton to send out letters
to state officials soliciting suggestions for opening up national
monuments for oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and foresting.
* Appointed John Negroponte--an unindicted high level Iran Contra
figure--to the post of United Nations ambassador.
* Abandoned a campaign pledge to invest $100 million for rain forest
conservation.
* Reduced by 86% the Community Access Program for public hospitals,
clinics, and providers of care for people without insurance.
* Rescinded a proposal to increase public access to information about
the potential consequences resulting from chemical plant accidents.
* Suspended rules that would require hardrock miners to clean up
sites on Western public lands.
* Cut $60 million from a Boy's and Girl's Clubs of America program
for public housing.
* Proposed to eliminate a federal program designed to help
communities (and successfully used in Seattle) prepare for natural
disasters.
* Pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto Treaty global warming agreement.
* Cut $200 million of work force training for dislocated workers.
* Eliminated funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program, which
encourages farmers to maintain wetlands habitat on their property.
* Cut program to provide childcare to low-income families as they
move from welfare to work.
* Cut a program that provided prescription contraceptive coverage to
federal employees (though it still pays for Viagra).
* Cut $700 million in capital funds for repairs in public housing.
* Appointed Otto Reich--an unindicted high level Iran Contra
figure--to Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.
* Cut Environmental Protection Agency budget by $500 million.
* Proposed to curtail the ability of groups to sue in order to get an
animal placed on the Endangered Species List.
* Rescinded rule that mandated increased energy-saving efficiency
regulations for central air conditioners and heat pumps.
* Repealed work place ergonomic rules designed to improve worker
health and safety.
* Abandoned campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2), the
waste gas that contributes to global warming.
* Banned federal aid to international family planning programs that
offer abortion counseling with other independent funds.
* Closed White House Office for Women's Health Initiatives and
Outreach.
* Nominated David Lauriski--ex-mining company executive--to post of
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.
* O.K.'d Interior Secretary Gale Norton to go forth with a
controversial plan to auction oil and gas development tracts off the
coast east of Florida.
* Announced intention to open up Montana's Lewis and Clark National
Forest to oil and drilling.
* Proposes to re-draw boundaries of nation's monuments, which would
technically allow oil and gas drilling "outside" of national
monuments.
* Gutted White House AIDS Office.
* Renegotiating free trade agreement with Jordan to eliminate
safeguards for the environment and workers' rights.
* Will no longer seek guidance from The American Bar Association in
recommendations for the federal judiciary appointments.
* Appointed recycling foe Lynn Scarlett as Undersecretary of the
Interior.
* Took steps to abolish the White House Council on Environmental
Quality.
* Cut the Community Oriented Policing Services program.
* Allowed Interior Secretary Gale Norton to shelve citizen-led
grizzly bear re-introduction plan scheduled for Idaho and Montana
wilderness.
* Continues to hold up federal funding for stem cell research
projects.
* Makes sure convicted misdemeanor drug users cannot get financial
aid for college, though convicted murderers can.
* Refused to fund continued cleanup of uranium-slag heap in Utah.
* Refused to fund continued litigation of the government's tobacco
company lawsuit.
* Proposed a $2 trillion tax cut, of which 43% will go to the
wealthiest 1% of Americans.
* Signed a bill making it harder for poor and middle-class Americans
to file for bankruptcy, even in the case of daunting medical bills.
* Appointed a Vice President quoted as saying, "If you want to do
something about carbon dioxide emissions, then you ought to build
nuclear power plants" (Vice President Dick Cheney on "Meet the
Press").
* Appointed Diana "There is no gender gap in pay" Roth to the
Council of Economic Advisers (Boston Globe, March 28, 2001).
* Appointed Kay Cole James--an opponent of affirmative action--to
direct the Office of Personnel Management.
* Cut $15.7 million earmarked for states to investigate cases of
child abuse and neglect.
* Helped kill a law designed to make it tougher for teenagers to get
credit cards.
* Proposed elimination of the "Reading Is Fundamental" program
that gives free books to poor children.
* Is pushing for development of small nuclear weapons to attack
deeply buried targets--weapons, which would violate the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
* Proposes to nominate Jeffrey Sutton--attorney responsible for the
recent case weakening the Americans with Disabilities Act--to
federal appeals court judgeship.
* Proposes to reverse regulation protecting 60 million acres of
national forest from logging and road building.
* Eliminated funding for the "We the People" education program
which taught school children about the Constitution, the Bill of
Rights, and citizenship.
* Appointed John Bolton--who opposes nonproliferation treaties and
the U.N.--to Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and
International Security.
* Nominated Linda Fisher--an executive with Monsanto--for the number
two job at the Environmental Protection Agency.
* Nominated Michael McConnell--leading critic of the separation of
church and state--to a federal judgeship.
* Nominated Terrence Boyle--- ardent opponent of civil rights--to a
federal judgeship.
* Canceled 2004 deadline for automakers to develop prototype high
mileage cars.
* Nominated Harvey Pitts--lawyer for teen sex video distributor--to
head SEC.
* Nominated John Walters--strong opponent of prison drug treatment
programs--for Drug Czar (Washington Post, May 16, 2001).
* Nominated J. Steven Giles--an oil and coal lobbyist--for Deputy
Secretary of the Interior.
* Nominated Bennett Raley--who advocates repealing the Endangered
Species Act-for Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.
* Is seeking the dismissal of class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S.
against Japan by Asian women forced to work as sex slaves during
WWII.
* Earmarked $4 million in new federal grant money for HIV and drug
abuse prevention programs to go only to religious groups and not
secular equivalents.
* Reduced by 40% the Low Income Home Assistance Program for
low-income individuals who need assistance paying energy bills.
* Nominated Ted Olson--who has repeatedly lied about his involvement
with the Scaiffe--funded "Arkansas Project" to bring down Bill
Clinton-for Solicitor General.
* Nominated Terrance Boyle--foe of civil rights--to a federal
judgeship.
* Proposes to ease permit process--including environmental
considerations--for refinery, nuclear, and hydroelectric dam
construction (Washington Post, May 18, 2001).
* Proposes to give government the authority to take private property
through eminent domain for power lines.
* Proposes that $1.2 billion in funding for alternative renewable
energy come from selling oil and gas lease tracts in the Alaska
National Wildlife Reserve.
* Plans on serving genetically engineered foods at all official
government functions.
* Forced out Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck and appointed a timber
industry lobbyist
***To me, the brutal, soul-less ASSAULT on Afghanistan tops this list.
Comments from a Canadian:
Everything the USA President does is based on making all things worse for
the population of the United States and the World. The general philosophy is
based on: Divide and Conquer - Confuse and Control! Complete control of the
World is required by the Forces that inspire him. These forces are the 4D
un-enlightened Zetas. In general - his actions make things worse - year by
year, day by day! The goal is to "kill" appoximately 40 to 50 percent of the
world population in as short a time as possible. Especially those who are
awake enough to know what's going on and oppose him. Are you in agreement
with this? Task ---> WAKE UP all those who are asleep!
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