George W. Bush in "Are You Smarter Than a (Brain-damaged) 5th Grader?"

[babylonsister]

George W. Bush in "Are You Smarter Than a (Brain-damaged) 5th Grader?"


Go on, go out out on a limb. Take a wild guess.

That's right. After Bush had delivered his weekly radio address, the Democrats felt they could adequately rebut with a 12 year-old child who had sustained brain damage in a car accident three years ago. And, really, they didn't need any more because Bush essentially accused the Democrats of scheming to pass "the biggest tax increase in American history" (dimes on a pack of cigarettes) to pay for the spending in the stopgap bill that would keep his Cabinet funded.

Congress "failed" because Democrats wanted to add $23 billion for domestic spending that Bush considers wasteful. So, because Bush threatened to veto the bill, the Democrats enlisted the aid of one Graeme Frost, age 12, who begged Bush to sign the bill so four million of the nation's nine million uninsured children can benefit from the Schip expansion (which would be paid for by an increase in tobacco taxes).

This seems to be the real reason for his opposition to the whole bill. Bush is foaming at the mouth over this modest increase in spending on domestic programs and even though the Schip expansion will still provide health coverage for less than half of the nation's uninsured children, Bush's own sleazy connection with Big Tobacco seems to be at the black little heart of his righteous indignation. Said Robert Dreyfus in The Nation in October of 1999 (emphasis mine),

Bush's record on tobacco certainly doesn't displease the industry: opposition to the federal lawsuit against Big Tobacco and to increased taxes on cigarettes, plus vigorous support for tort reform that limits consumers' rights to sue makers of dangerous products--like tobacco. In Texas, Bush refused to support a lawsuit against Big Tobacco that eventually won $17 billion for the state's treasury. Taken together, Bush's friendships and his stance on tobacco-related issues are causing cigarette makers to salivate over the possibility of a Bush victory next year. "The prospect of Bill Clinton gone and a George Bush presidency makes the industry almost giddy," said Martin Feldman, a tobacco industry analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, in September.

As far as waste goes, just one mild example that Democrats could've, and have, pointed to regarding Republican waste is this little boondoggle from way back in January.

According to (special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction) Bowen's report, the State Department paid $43.8 million to contractor DynCorp International for the residential camp for police training personnel outside of Baghdad's Adnan Palace grounds that has stood empty for months. About $4.2 million of the money was improperly spent on 20 VIP trailers and an Olympic-size pool, all ordered by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior but never authorized by the U.S.

more...

http://welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com/2007/09/george-w-bush-in-are-you-smarter-than.html

[jojo54]

1. George W. Bush - Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Isn't that why his reading list had advanced to My Pet Goat? :bounce: