The major problem in the Bush’s administration is what Timothy Shire, Publisher of Ensign, has stated "the basic rules of inquiry have been suspended." However, I must add that this suspension of inquiry is really just the culmination of the philosophy of looking after number one, that is this social striving to become smart-asses rather than responsible individuals.

On Thursday, December 16, the conference on the economy ended at the White House and President Bush along with all his advisors behaved just like smart-asses rather than competent and conscientious leaders.

In concluding the conference, smart Bush spoke against frivolous lawsuits:

"according to a recent study, frivolous litigation has helped drive the total cost of America's tort system to more than $230 billion a year."[2]

But the truth is that frivolous litigation involves mostly businesses and the protection of their claimed patents or copyrights.[3]

Recently, I came across the news "Novell Settles One Antitrust Claim with Microsoft for $536 Million, Plans to File Suit on Second Claim."[4]

Further, the Public Citizen has found that "Businesses file about four times as many lawsuits as individuals represented by trial Lawyers... Businesses are far more likely than individual tort plaintiffs to be sanctioned for frivolous litigation."[5]

It is strange, corporations have become now the owners of this society and as such, their litigations are part of doing business as usual. But it is not strange that in pursuing his "ownership society," smart Bush has been reiterating that "the [social security] crisis is now." Again, the truth is that the United States Social Security crisis has been manufactured[6] by the financial gambling gurus on Wall Street; and in fact, economist Mark Weisbrot has stated "Social Security is in better financial shape that it has been for most of its 69-year history."[7]

George Bush is a smart-ass, and instead to pursue his ownership society through the smarts of tort reform, the privatization of Social Security, tax cuts and more money for wars, he should pay competent and conscientious attention to the governmental deficit, the trade deficit, the fall of the dollar and a way out of Iraq.

References

1. Williams, Jeffrey J. Here's the Problem With Being So 'Smart' The Chronicle Review Volume 51, Issue 17, Page B16, Issue dated December 17, 2004 http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=vxlx9ewq3a9r7940jh6noemlujoyz7ht

2. The White House President Bush Closes the White House Economic Conference December 16, 2004 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/12/20041216-8.html

3. Public Citizen Frequent Filers: Corporate Hypocrisy in Accessing the Courts October 2004 http://www.citizen.org/documents/Frequent_Filers_FINAL.pdf

4. Novell Novell Settles One Antitrust Claim with Microsoft for $536 Million, Plans to File Suit on Second Claim November 8, 2004 Press Release http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2004/11/pr04076.html

5. Public Citizen Frequent Filers: Corporate Hypocrisy in Accessing the Courts October 2004 http://www.citizen.org/documents/Frequent_Filers_FINAL.pdf

6. CNN Money Social Security: Crisis? What crisis? Some experts say the urgency to reform Social Security is manufactured -- and very troubling (pdf). December 17, 2004 http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/15/retirement/what_crisis/?cnn=yes

7. Weisbrot, Mark Who Wants to Cut Social Security Benefits? December 12, 2004 Center for Economic and Policy Research http://www.cepr.net/columns/weisbrot/mark_weisbrot_12_03_04.htm