The Progress Report, OCTOBER 14, 2004

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Thu, 14 Oct 2004 08:35:10 -0700

Progress Report: President Makes Promises He's Already Broken

 

" American Progress Action Fund "

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The Progress Report

 

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin

OCTOBER 14, 2004

 

 

IRAQ Nuclear Looting

DEBATE President Makes Promises He's Already Broken

UNDER THE RADAR Go Beyond The Headlines

 

 

 

IRAQ

Nuclear Looting

 

International U.N. weapons inspectors found this week that sensitive

material and equipment have been looted from nuclear facilities in

Iraq. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported to the U.N.

Security Council yesterday that " equipment and materials that could be

used to make nuclear weapons are disappearing from Iraq but neither

Baghdad nor Washington appears to have noticed. " (In some cases, said

IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei, " satellite images show entire

buildings have been dismantled without any record being made. " )

According to the Duelfer report and the IAEA, the material was not

part of a weapons program; the equipment and low-grade uranium were

for nuclear energy, not bombs. Despite White House claims, Iraq had no

weapons of mass destruction, nor a program to create nuclear weapons.

The material, however, is still highly sensitive and could be abused

if it falls into the wrong hands.

 

IAEA WAS ON TOP OF IT: The IAEA strictly – and successfully –

monitored nuclear plant at Tuwaitha before the war. They were forced

to leave in March of 2003, however, when the United States said it

could not ensure their safety during the invasion. The U.S. government

then " prevented U.N. weapons inspectors from returning to Iraq –

thereby blocking the IAEA from monitoring the high-tech equipment and

materials – after the U.S.-led war was launched in March 2003. "

 

WHO? WHERE? WHEN? HUH?: Melissa Fleming of the IAEA " said the agency

was concerned that sensitive technology might have fallen into the

hands of those involved in the black market in nuclear weapons. " It

seems scrap metal from Iraqi nuclear sites – some of which was

radioactive – has been turning up abroad. State Department spokesman

Richard Boucher admitted that due to the " extensive and widespread

looting after the war " there indeed had been " removal and exports of

material from Iraq. " When asked by reporters exactly what materials

had been removed and exported from Iraq's nuclear facility in

Tuwaitha, Boucher was at a loss: " I just don't know. How much material

there was, what kinds of equipment it was and where it got to, I think

we know some of that, we don't know all of that. "

 

NUCLEAR NEGLECT: Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was

outraged that the looting took place under the U.S.'s watch: " It was

sitting there controlled when the inspections were there. But when the

occupation comes in, it disappears…All these things were tagged and

they were visited by the inspectors and in comes the United States

with 200,000 people on board and occupies the country in order,

ostensibly, to take care of weapons of mass destruction, and they lose

control and the instruments and equipment that could be helpful in

nuclear production disappears. " Former weapons inspector David Kay

agreed: " Losing control of it really is inexcusable. "

 

INADEQUATE TROOP LEVELS BLAMED: Former weapons inspector David Kay

blamed the looting on inadequate American troop levels after the

invasion, saying when he was in Tuwaitha in May, " there were not

enough U.S. troops to even attempt to bring it under control. " This is

a familiar sentiment; recently, the former head of the Coalition

Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer, charged inadequate military

presence after the invasion allowed rampant looting in Iraq and said

the U.S. " paid a big price " for not sending enough troops to secure

the peace.

 

HEY, MAN, NOT OUR PROBLEM: The administration has said fear that

Saddam might help terrorists obtain weapons of mass destruction was a

reason for invading Iraq. Now that the IAEA found that under the watch

of the United States, nuclear materials and equipment in fact have

disappeared and were exported out of Iraq, what's the administration's

response? Not our problem. Boucher said stopping the loss of the

nuclear material is the responsibility of Iraqis. " We work with them

on export control, we work with them on border control….but they have

the lead on this one. "

 

DEBATE

President Makes Promises He's Already Broken

 

To those listening closely last night, President Bush's rhetoric

during the third and final presidential debate on domestic issues may

have sounded eerily familiar. Indeed, the president trotted out many

of the exact same promises and pledges he campaigned on four years

ago. In 2000, Bush promised to pay down the deficit, provide tax

relief for the middle class, make health insurance more affordable and

practice fiscal responsibility. Since then, he has compiled a vast

record of failure in each of those areas. Even more troubling than

President Bush's misstatement about Osama bin Laden, his refusal to

address the minimum wage and his obfuscations on the assault weapons

ban was the portrait of a president making exactly the same promises

he made to the American people four years ago – promises he's already

broken.

 

BUSH PROMISE: MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE AFFORDABLE: In 2000, President

Bush campaigned on the promise he would insure more Americans by

" making health insurance affordable for hard-working, low-income

families. " Last night, he blamed " defensive medicine, " " lawsuits " and

" information technology " for his inability to deliver on that pledge

and put forward some already discredited ideas to " control the costs

in health care. " But the president's record speaks for itself: since

Bush took office, health insurance premiums have risen by an average

rate of 12.5 percent per year and the " ranks of the uninsured " have

swelled for three straight years. As for Bush's favorite scapegoats,

the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that even aggressive

malpractice reform " would lower health care costs by only about 0.4

percent to 0.5 percent. " The CBO " also says there is no way to gauge

the cost of 'defensive medicine,' but that evidence it's a major

factor in rising costs is 'weak or inconclusive.' "

 

BUSH PROMISE: FISCAL SANITY: In 2000, the Bush-Cheney campaign website

said that to " restore confidence in government, " President Bush would

" attack pork-barrel spending. " Last night, the president promised he

would enforce " fiscal sanity in the halls of Congress. " But that

pledge is " hard to take " from a president who has failed to veto a

single spending bill during his time in office and now seems ready to

sign the " bloated corporate tax bill just passed by Congress. " The new

bill includes pork for " just about every special interest that retains

a lobbyist in Washington. "

 

BUSH PROMISE: TAX CUTS FOR MIDDLE CLASS: In 2000, President Bush said

the " vast majority " of his tax cuts would " go to the bottom end of the

[income] spectrum. " Last night, Bush said, " Most of the tax cuts went

to low- and middle-income Americans. " In between those two statements,

the president has passed a series of tax cuts overwhelmingly skewed

towards the upper class. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

figures show " The top 20 percent of earners received 69.8 percent of

President Bush's tax cuts " and about one–third of the Bush tax cuts

have gone to the top one percent of households. In addition, " the

richest 1 percent are paying a lower share of federal taxes in 2004

than in 2000, while those in the middle are paying a greater share. "

 

BUSH PROMISE: PAY DOWN DEFICIT: In 2000, President Bush boasted he

would " pay the debt down to a historically low level. " Last night, he

promised to " reduce the deficit in half by five years. " In between

these two statements, President Bush has transformed a $5.6 trillion

projected surplus into a $5.2 trillion projected deficit in just three

years – the worst fiscal deterioration in at least the last half

century. Total national debt now stands at $7,419,244,676,835.15. The

president blames 9/11 and Iraq for the downturn, but the CBO estimates

that Bush's fiscal policies, rather than external factors, " account

for much of the reduction. "

 

BUSH PROMISE: INCREASE PELL GRANTS: In 2000, President Bush campaigned

on the promise he would " Fully fund the Pell grant program for

first-year students by increasing the maximum grant amount…to $5,100. "

Last night the president said he would " continue to increase Pell

grants. " But budgets speak louder than words, and unfortunately,

Bush's 2005 budget reneges on the promise he made in 2000, capping the

maximum Pell Grant award at $4,050 for the third year in a row. The

American Association of Community Colleges characterizes the Pell

grant freeze as " 'a severe blow' to students from low-income families

at a time of declining state and local support for public higher

education. "

 

 

Under the Radar

 

WOMEN'S RIGHTS – BUSH DECIDES TO SIT THIS ONE OUT: AP reports, " The

United States has refused to join 85 heads of state and government in

signing a statement that endorsed a 10-year-old U.N. plan to ensure

every woman's right to education, healthcare and choice about having

children. " Which right for women made the president balk? The White

House claims it withheld its signature " because the statement included

a reference to 'sexual rights.' "

 

RIGHT-WING – O'REILLY'S ALLEGED FALAFEL FANTASY: The Los Angeles Times

reports that " Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, the nation's top-rated

cable news host and an insistent advocate for personal responsibility

and self-control, was accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed

Wednesday. " The lawsuit, filed by one of his show's producers, accuses

O'Reilly of repeatedly pressuring her to engage in phone sex and

frightening her with lewd " monologues. " The complaint " quotes O'Reilly

as speaking to her in highly explicit terms about vibrators, oral sex,

masturbation and a fantasy involving a Caribbean hotel room shower. "

(Read the full complaint). In other news, O'Reilly has recently

released a children's book, the O'Reilly Factor for Kids.

 

CORRUPTION – TSA SPENDS $500 ON CHEESE DISPLAYS: AP reports the

Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the government agency in

charge of airport security, " spent nearly a half-million dollars on an

awards ceremony at a high-price hotel, including $81,000 for plaques

and $500 for cheese displays. " The ceremony included a " lifetime

achievement award " for one worker, even though the agency is only two

years old. The TSA also " gave its senior executives bonuses averaging

$16,000, higher than at any other federal government agency. "

 

HALLIBURTON – MORE ADMINISTRATION FAVORITISM: The LA Times reports,

" over the last four years, the Bush administration and Vice President

Dick Cheney's office have backed a series of measures favoring a

drilling technique developed by Halliburton Co., Cheney's former

employer. " The administration has pushed an extraction technique

called hydraulic fracturing which " generates $1.5 billion a year for

the company. " For example, " the administration has taken steps to keep

the practice [hydraulic fracturing] being regulated under the Safe

Drinking Water Act. " Since becoming Vice President " Cheney has

received $398,548 in deferred compensation [from Halliburton], and he

will continue to receive annual payments through 2005. He also has

433,333 options to purchase Halliburton stock, according to financial

disclosure records filed in May 2004. "

 

TERRORISM – THE SMUGGLING PROBLEM: The 9/11 Commission concluded on

page 380 of its report that terrorists acquiring weapons of mass

destruction pose " the greatest danger of another catastrophic attack

in the United States. " A new federal investigation by the Homeland

Security inspector general's office, however, shows " serious questions

still remain regarding the prevention of nuclear materials from

entering " the United States. At issue: The ABC News organization

secretly conducted tests of American port security over the past two

years, successfully smuggling 15 pounds of " harmless, depleted "

uranium into the country both years in a row. The test shipments

" originated in Jakarta, Indonesia, an area of known al Qaeda

activity. " The report concludes, " Improvements are needed in the

inspection process to ensure that weapons of mass destruction or other

implements of terror do not gain access to the U.S. through oceangoing

cargo containers. "