I have been saying for sometime that president Bush is a laugh, but as long as he is supported by a large segment of the voting electorate then he is not anymore a laugh but an extremely dangerous man for Americans and for any inhabitants of this planet.

Let me not indulge on the shouting speeches expressed by patriotic politicians at the Republican convention in New York[2][3] Let me just think on the so called "ownership society" envisioned by president Bush[4]. The president is envisioning

• tax-free savings that can be used to purchase health insurance in the free market
• privatization of social security
• tax reform
• furthering the "no child left behind" legislation in education
• making his tax cuts permanent.

American health care costs are the highest in the world at some 15% of Gross Domestic Product, health insurance companies have dramatic administrative costs, 45 million Americans have no health insurance, seniors’ Medicare premiums just went up by 17.5%, the government debt is sky high, household debt is sky high, foreign debt is sky high, consumers’ savings are nil[5], and I ask "who can afford to purchase private health insurance with tax-free savings?" My answer is that this fake health care ownership would escalate the gap between the rich and poor.

Social Security is presently a generational transfer of income from workers to retirees[6]. I ask "who can better invest privatized social security money in the stock market and offset the related slumps?" My answer is that the privatization of Social Security would again escalate the gap between the rich and the poor.

Bush’s tax reform reflect his flat and regressive mentality to shift to higher taxes on consumption and limit his so called frivolous lawsuits against medical and business wrongdoing. I ask "who would be able to save more from higher taxes on consumption? and who would benefit from limits on medical and business wrongdoing?" My answer is that these tort reform would escalate the gap between the rich and the poor.

Bush’s "no child left behind" legislation has been totally regressive and unfunded. One centerpiece of the bill is the requirement that states should test children annually in grades 3 through 8, in reading and math, to measure their progress[7]. Educator Deborah Meier rebuts Bush’s emphasis on tests and says

"The special American genius was our inventiveness. That spirit of inventiveness is what schools don't currently reward. It's not what you're supposed to be thinking of when you're taking tests; you're supposed to be thinking of the rules of the game, not how to break the rules or how to invent new rules[8]."

As far as I am concerned, I must state that this emphasis on testing, is another regressive educational approach to penalize different but intelligent children, the ones who have the inventiveness to break the rules of the game and invent new rules.

Finally, making the tax cuts permanent would swell the deficit and could destabilize the world economy. It would cost $2.2 trillion over the next ten years, forcing Americans to give up important domestic programs or add to the $374 billion annual deficit[9].

Bush’s vision is a sequence of W (dubya), that's the Wrong choice; that's the Wrong direction; and that's the Wrong leadership for America[10].

References

Pertinent articles published in Ensign

1. Weisberg, Jacob The Complete Bushisms Slate Magazine http://slate.msn.com/id/76886/

2. Lakoff, George Nailing the frames of the Republican National Convention September 2, 2004 http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/09/02_lakoff_gop3.shtml

3. Carter, Jimmy Letter to Zell Miller: 'You Have Betrayed our Trust' September 8, 2004 Atlanta Journal Constitution http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0908-10.htm

4. CNN President Bush addressed the Republican Party faithful on their convention's final night. This is a transcript of his remarks (pdf) September 3, 2004 http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/02/gop.bush.transcript/

5. Baker, Dean Dangerous Trends: The Growth of Debt in the U.S. Economy September 7, 2004 cepr, http://www.cepr.net/publications/debt_trends.htm

6. Meyerson, Harold Bush's Game of Risk (pdf) September 8, 2004 Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3910-2004Sep7.html

7. PBS The New Rule: An overview of the testing and accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/nochild/nclb.html

8. Molloy, Janice From Students to Citizens and Workers: An Interview with Deborah Meier Leverage Points Issue 53 http://www.pegasuscom.com/levpoints/meierint.html

9. Sirota, David and Christy Harvey and Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin The Progress report September 3, 2004 American Progress http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=181463

10. U.S. Newswire Remarks of Senator John Kerry (pdf) September 8, 2004 http://releases.usnewswire.com/printing.asp?id=35801