Progress Report : Broken Promises of George W. Bush

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> Promises of George W. Bush

 

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Center for American Progress - Progress Report

 

 

by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and

Jonathan Baskin

 

 

 

August 9, 2004

CREDIBILITY The Broken Promises of George W. Bush

TERRORISM Destroying a Key Source

ECONOMY Bush in Denial

UNDER THE RADAR

 

You may have received The Progress Report twice today.

This version includes a link to our#160; Rhetoric vs.

Reality#160;document. We#160;apologize for any

inconvenience.

 

CREDIBILITY

The Broken Promises of George W. Bush

 

President Bush is slowly unveiling his agenda, should

he be re-elected, for a second term. Already Bush has

promised to increase high school graduation rates and

expand access to health care. Can the American people

trust that Bush will follow through? A new document by

the American Progress Action Fund reveals that, on a

slew of issues #8211; from education to taxes to the

environment #8211; Bush has broken the explicit

promises he made the American people in the last

Presidential campaign. The document is based, in large

part, on promises made on an archived version of

Bush's official campaign website. Check out the

complete document here.

 

TERRORISM

Destroying a Key Source

 

Last week, U.S. officials revealed their major terror

warning #8211; timed one week after the Democratic

National Convention #8211; was based on old

information. Now, it appears that the Bush

administration was so eager to reap political gain

from the war on terror, it exposed an undercover al

Qaeda mole who was providing authorities with key

leads to nab the terrorist group's top leadership.

According to MSNBC, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, the

suspect whose computer information led to the recent

increased terror warning level, " had been actively

cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch

al-Qaida operatives. " The Bush administration told

reporters Khan was the source of the information that

led to the terror alert level being raised. " By

exposing the only deep mole we've ever had within al

Qaeda, it ruined the chance to capture dozens if not

hundreds more, " said former Justice Department

prosecutor John Loftus. All told, more than a third of

Americans now believe the Bush administration would

use terror warnings for its own political gain.

 

RICE ADMITS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION LEAKED: On CNN's

Late Edition, National Security Adviser Condoleezza

Rice admitted it was the Bush administration #8211;

not career intelligence officers #8211; who opted to

leak Khan's name. Rice tried to defend the White House

by saying they only disclosed the name " on

background. " When Sen. George Allen (R-VA) tried to

spin the leak later in the show, CNN's Wolf Blitzer

reminded him that Rice " confirmed that on background "

the administration " did release the name of this

Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. " See more American Progress

analysis of current Administration terrorism policies

here.

 

DISCLOSURE VIOLATES JUSTICE DEPT'S OWN POSITION: The

Bush administration's deliberate disclosure of Khan's

name directly violated the Justice Department's own

stated position on such matters. In the Supreme Court

case in which the department tried to keep detainee

names secret, its top terrorism prosecutor filed an

affidavit outlining the administration's opposition to

such disclosure. In the affidavit, the administration

said disclosing names of those " who may be revealed to

have knowledge of or a connection to terrorism could

lead to the public identification of individuals

associated with them " and that " divulging the

detainees' identities may deter them from cooperating

with the Department of Justice. " The affidavit also

said such disclosures " could allow terrorist

organizations and others to interfere with the pending

proceedings by creating false or misleading evidence. "

 

KHAN'S OUTING MAY HAVE HAMPERED BRITISH INVESTIGATION:

MSNBC reported that, " In addition to ending the

Pakistani sting, the premature disclosure of Khan's

identity may have affected a major British operation

in which 12 suspects were arrested in raids this

week. " The London Telegraph reported, " British

intelligence officials said American leaks had left

them scrambling to pick up Khan's British-based

contacts. "

 

BRITS AND PAKISTANIS ARE OUTRAGED: The New York Daily

News reports, " British and Pakistani intelligence

officials are furious " with the Bush administration

" for unmasking their super spy - apparently to justify

the orange alert - and for naming the other captured

terrorist suspects. " Pakistani Interior Minister

Faisal Saleh Hayyat " expressed dismay the trap they

had hoped would lead to the capture of other top Al

Qaeda leaders, possibly even Osama Bin Laden, was

sprung too soon. " Pakistan, of course, had been under

intense pressure by the Bush administration to produce

" high value terrorist targets " during the Democratic

convention. Similarly, a British security official

said the disclosure " makes our job harder " as British

Home Secretary David Blunkett lashed out at the

administration for its behavior.

 

INDEPENDENT INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS DISMAYED: Tim Ripley,

security expert for Jane's Defense publications, said,

" The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or

worse. You have to ask: what are they doing

compromising a deep mole within al Qaeda, when it's so

difficult to get these guys in there in the first

place? It goes against all the rules of

counter-espionage [and] counter-terrorism. " Rolf

Tophoven, head of the Institute for Terrorism Research

and Security Policy in Essen, Germany, commented that

allowing Khan's name to become public was " very

unclever " and said " it's another debacle. "

 

ECONOMY

Bush in Denial

 

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered

the bad news: employers added just 32,000 jobs in

July. It was " the fourth consecutive month in which

the pace of job growth has slowed. " Over the last

three months, the economy has added an average of

106,000 jobs, " well below the 150,000 monthly pace

analysts say is needed to keep up with population

growth. " #160;In the context of weakened GDP growth

and declining consumer spending, during the second

quarter, the job numbers signal " the economic recovery

[has] lost steam this summer. " How did President Bush

react to the news? Campaigning in New Hampshire, Bush

insisted, " we have a strong economy and it is getting

stronger. "

 

WORSE 'RECOVERY' SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION: Overall,

the economy has lost 1.2 million jobs since March

2001. It is the " greatest sustained job loss since the

Great Depression. " Had job growth simply met the

average of previous recoveries " today's labor market

would have 6.2 million more jobs. " #160;

 

NEW JOBS PAY LESS: According to economic analysts,

" the evidence increasingly suggests that the current

recovery has indeed been tilted toward lower-paying

jobs. " According to the economic research firm

Economy.com, " industries ranked in the bottom fifth

for wages and salaries have added 477,000 jobs since

January, while industries in the top fifth for wages

had no increase at all. " During the last year, average

hourly wages for all workers have fallen slightly once

adjusted for inflation. But among workers that have

recently been displaced, " 57 percent of those who had

found work were earning less than they did in their

old jobs. "

 

TAX CUTS HAVEN'T DELIVERED AS PROMISED: The

president's Council of Economic Advisers projected

that the administration's latest tax cut package

" would result in the creation of...306,000 new jobs

each month starting in July 2003. " Since the tax cuts

took effect, " there are 2,565,000 fewer jobs than the

administration projected would be created by enactment

of its tax cuts. " Apparently, Bush is unfazed by the

data. At an event on Thursday, he said, " one of the

reasons why our economy is strong and getting stronger

is because of tax relief. "

 

 

 

 

 

MINUMUM WAGE #8211; CALLING ALL NEW YORKERS: On July

21, the New York State Legislature, by bi-partisan

veto-proof majorities in both houses (51-7 in the

Senate and 116-19 in the Assembly), passed a bill to

raise New York's minimum wage. When Gov. George Pataki

promptly vetoed the bill, most New Yorkers expected a

swift override. State Senate Majority Leader Joseph

Bruno (R-Brunswick), however, is dragging his feet,

saying the legislature has better things to do. A

comprehensive analysis published by the Fiscal Policy

Institute, a nonpartisan New York State think tank,

indicates that raising New York's minimum wage would

directly benefit an estimated 700,000 low-wage workers

and their families while " help[ing] improve the

functioning of the New York economy#8230;

encourag[ing] more efficient business practices and

level[ing] the competitive playing field for

businesses already paying better wages. " If you're a

New Yorker, tell Bruno and others in the New York

State Legislature to override Pataki's veto and raise

New York's minimum wage.

 

MEDIA #8211; O'REILLY HURLS RACIAL/RELIGIOUS INSULTS:

In the last few days, it appears Fox News' Bill

O'Reilly has outdone even his own previous efforts to

insult people. On Thursday, O'Reilly denigrated

Muslims, in an effort to attack the new movie

Outfoxed. Debating reporter Alex Ben Block, O'Reilly

equated the term " Muslim " to other denigrating labels,

as if it were an insult: " I could make you, Mr. Block,

look like a communist, a fascist, a Muslim, or a

mud-wrestling woman. " Then in a debate this weekend

with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, O'Reilly

equated a nonprofit organization with a racist

organization for having the nerve to publicize his

most offensive quotes. When Krugman read O'Reilly one

of those quotes, O'Reilly said they were transcribed

by Media Matters, which he said is " like me calling

some Klan operation. " Though O'Reilly did not dispute

that the quote was accurate, he said, " Why don't I

call the Ku Klux Klan? "

 

IRAQ #8211; NEOCON DARLING A WANTED MAN: In seven

short months, Ahmad Chalabi has gone from being

President Bush's special guest at the State of the

Union (seated behind First Lady Laura Bush) to having

an arrest warrant hanging over his head. An Iraqi

judge issued an arrest warrant for the former darling

of the Bush administration for counterfeiting Iraqi

currency and money laundering. (He also has been under

investigation for passing U.S. secrets to Iran.) His

nephew, Salem Chalabi, the chief prosecutor in the

case against Saddam Hussein, has also been charged

with participation in the June murder of an Iraqi

official who had been investigating the Chalabi family

and the Iraqi National Congress for illegally seizing

hundreds of properties after the U.S.-led invasion

last year. The Los Angeles Times reports, " Supporters

like Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz were

not available for comment. "

 

ENVIRO #8211; FOX IN THE (cough cough) HENHOUSE YET

AGAIN: The New York Times examines the Bush

administration's decidedly snug relationship with the

coal industry. The Bush White House has repeatedly

" abandoned a series of Clinton-era safety proposals

favored by coal miners while embracing others favored

by mine owners. " The trick: Employ former coal

industry big shots in the government and let them roll

back safety regulations. Here's an example of how this

works: #160; " In 1997, as a top executive of a Utah

mining company, David Lauriski proposed a measure that

could allow some operators to let coal-dust levels

rise substantially in mines. The plan went nowhere in

the government. Last year, it found enthusiastic

backing from one government official - Mr. Lauriski

himself. Now head of the Mine Safety and Health

Administration, he revived the proposal despite

objections by union officials and health experts that

it could put miners at greater risk of black-lung

disease. "

 

ECONOMY #8211; WAL-MART IS NO BARGAIN: CBS News

reports Americans are paying a stiff price for

bargains at the mega corporation Wal-Mart. According

to a recent University of California, Berkeley study,

Wal-Mart actually takes a lot more from communities

than it gives back#160; in low prices. " Because of the

low wages and because people do not have health

insurance through their employer, people rely on

public support to make ends meet, " says the school's

Ken Jacobs. In California, taxpayers pay an estimated

$82-million a year to take care of health care, food

stamps, and other social services for Wal-Mart

employees.

 

#160;Don't Miss

DAILY TALKING POINTS: White House Leak Compromises

Fight Against Al Qaeda

 

TERRORISM: In the NYT, Center for American Progress

shows how the $144 billion spent in Iraq could have

been used to make us safer.

 

TERRORISM: Foreign Affairs examines why the United

States remains vulnerable #160;to terrorist attack in

" The Neglected Homefront. "

 

PRISON ABUSE: Lawyers in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse

trial want Vice President Cheney to take the stand.

 

Contact The Progress Report.

 

 

 

 

#160;Daily Grill

 

" [Chalabi] is by far the most capable Iraqi... He's

going to have to prove himself in the electoral

process. And I've got a lot of confidence that he will

succeed. "

 

- Richard Perle, 6/1/04

 

VERSUS

 

" Iraq has issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Chalabi, a

former Governing Council member with strong U.S. ties,

on counterfeiting charges. "

 

-#160;Newsday, 8/9/04

 

#160;Daily Outrage

Bill O'Reilly compares media watchdog group

MediaMatters to Ku Klux Klan.

 

#160;Archives

Progress Report

 

#160;Opportunity

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intern applications for the fall semester.