Progress Report: Happy Meals

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Tue, 22 Feb 2005 09:15:47 -0800

Progress Report: Happy Meals

" American Progress Action Fund "

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The Progress Report

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin

with Nico Pitney and Mipe Okunseinde

..February 22, 2005

 

 

EUROPE Happy Meals

SOCIAL SECURITY Swift Boat Redux

UNDER THE RADAR Go Beyond The Headlines

 

 

 

ThinkProgress.orgFor news and updates throughout the day, check out

our new blog at ThinkProgress.org.

 

EUROPE

Happy Meals

 

President Bush has had several " warm " dinners with foreign leaders

this week in Europe, but administration policies continue to leave a

bad aftertaste on the continent. Though Bush has sought a more

conciliatory tone this time around, there has been " little indication

of any U.S. movement on the policies that soured relations between the

longtime allies " during Bush's first term. Indeed, the trip has been

marked by small concessions – during his dinner with French President

Jacques Chirac, Bush " pointedly " announced a plate of Belgian " frites "

to be " French fries " – but substantive issues such as Iran and Kyoto

are still on the table. Last month, British Prime Minister Tony Blair

said that if the U.S. expected cooperation on its foreign policy

agenda, it needed to " be part of [Europe's] agenda too. " Rather than

heeding Blair's words and signaling real policy change to better

protect the country, the Bush administration appears content to wait

for its allies to be " won over to their view. " Read American

Progress's memo on President Bush's trip to Europe, for more on

policies the president should be pursuing.

 

PLAYING DUMB ON IRAN: Last week, President Bush said it was important

that America " work with friends like we're doing with

France...Germany, and Great Britain " to disarm Iran. In fact, the

administration has been doing just the opposite, choosing isolation

over engagement. " Britain, France and Germany have been working on a

diplomatic solution to end Iran's nuclear program, " but on Monday, a

senior administration official said the U.S. " had no intention of

directly joining " those talks, even though " many European officials "

have expressed concern the talks will fail without U.S. involvement.

On Monday, Chirac once again " made clear " to Bush " that the dialogue

with Iran needed full international support, including that of the

United States. " The White House has given no indication it will enter

the talks.

 

CLIMATE OF NEGLIGENCE: In his speech last month, British Prime

Minister Tony Blair catapulted climate change to the top of the G-8

industrialized nations' and EU's agendas. President Bush has offered

nothing besides empty rhetoric on the issue. On Monday, he promised to

meet the " serious long-term challenge of global climate change, " but

the U.S. failed to sign on to the Kyoto Protocol, which mandates

reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in 35 industrialized countries

and went into effect with 140 signatories last week. In addition, the

EU has established an Emissions Trading Scheme that began operating a

carbon market earlier this month. Despite the fact that the U.S.

produces about one-quarter of the greenhouse gasses that cause global

warming, Bush opposes similar limits – reversing an explicit 2000

campaign pledge – including a bipartisan cap-and-trade bill introduced

by Senators Lieberman (D-CT) and McCain (R-AZ).

 

PRESSURING PUTIN: In the past, President Bush has been content to look

past " trustworthy friend " Vladimir Putin's infringements on democracy

in Russia. But on Monday, Bush " issued a blunt warning to Russia,

saying that it 'must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of

law' if it is to join the European and transatlantic communities. " The

" change from past practice " came as U.S. lawmakers and public

officials have pressured Bush to adopt a tougher stance toward the

Kremlin because of. Putin's " increasingly authoritarian grip on the

country's political and economic sectors. " Russia was recently

downgraded from a " Partly Free " society to " Not Free " by the human

rights organization Freedom House. It remains to be seen whether the

president will follow his own advice when he meets with Putin on

Thursday in Bratislava, Slovakia.

 

EUROPE RESPONDS: European newspapers have been skeptical of the

president's rhetoric so far. Several papers suggest Bush " adopted a

conciliatory tone but offered little substance when he addressed Nato

and EU leaders in Brussels on Monday. " The German paper, Frankfurter

Rundschau, " says the president 'flattered' the Europeans but did not

address their concerns over US policies on Iran, climate change or

terrorism. " Switzerland's La Tribune said Mr. Bush had " definitely

changed his style, " but said the shift was " simply a matter of

realpolitik " designed to get help in Iraq. Germany's Die Welt

complained that despite Bush's " new tone...when push comes to shove, "

Europe and America are still " not prepared to meet each other

half-way. " For more, check out American Progress's Why Europe Matters.

 

SOCIAL SECURITY

Swift Boat Redux

 

President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security by transferring

risk onto the nation's elderly is proving a hard sell. Even

administration officials and Republican congressional leaders

" acknowledge that Bush's plan has yet to gain traction. " A recent

CNN/Gallup/USA Today survey of Americans showed 55 percent think the

president's plan is a bad idea. And a recent poll by the Washington

Post shows barely one in four Americans believe the president's claim

that there's a crisis. Without public support, conservatives have

turned to dirty tricks to try to sway public opinion. But no amount of

deceptive advertising can mask the fact that Americans don't want this

risky plan.

 

DIRTY TRICKSTERS BACK IN ACTION: The Swift Boat Veterans – who wreaked

havoc on John Kerry's presidential campaign with untruths, innuendo

and ugly rumors – are back and ready to focus their tricks on the

Social Security fight. The New York Times reports the right-wing

lobbying group USA Next is planning to sink $10 million in commercials

and other back-room tactics to hit the AARP. ( " They are the boulder in

the middle of the highway to personal savings accounts, " said Charlie

Jarvis, the group's president. " We will be the dynamite that removes

them. " ) In an attempt to manipulate public opinion, USA Next is

rounding up all the usual suspects from the Swift Boat campaign.

They've hired Chris LaCivita, the former marine paid $30,000 during

the campaign to advise the Swift Boat campaign on Kerry attacks.

They're looking to hire Rick Reed, a partner at the firm that put

together attack ads for the Swift Boat group. Also back: Creative

Response Concepts, the PR firm that backed the Swift Boat group, and

Regenery Publishing, the group that published " Unfit for Command, " the

screed against Kerry's military service put out by one of the primary

leaders of the Swift Boat vets. And Josh Marshall's Talking Points

Memo uncovered a link between USA Next and the United Seniors

Association, a " soft-money slush fund for a single GOP-friendly

industry: pharmaceuticals. "

 

ATTACKING THE AARP: The Swift Boat vet group is already starting the

attack. The AARP, a group that looks out for the best interests of

seniors, has come out against the Bush plan. A new ad posted on the

American Spectator purports to show the " real " AARP agenda. The weird

ad shows a photo of soldiers in Iraq – with a big " X " through it –

next to one of two men kissing – with a big green check. The group

doesn't even pretend to provide the rationale behind the ad; clicking

on the " click here for details " merely brings you to USA Next's home

page, with nothing about either troops or gay marriage. Thus the ad

exists just to spread the implication that AARP hates U.S. troops but

loves gay marriage. (Thanks to DailyKos for finding the ad.)

 

" POOREST FACE MOST RISK ON SOCIAL SECURITY " : The Washington Post

exposes the truth behind the Bush Social Security plan: " no group of

Americans would be affected more...than those earning the least. "

Today, Social Security is the largest – or only – source of retirement

income for low-income workers. The program makes up more than half of

retirement benefits for almost two-thirds of the nation's seniors.

Further, " it is the only source of income for 20 percent of retirees. "

The Bush plan, which would transfer risk onto the individuals while

cutting benefits, would be devastating to these seniors. E.J. Dionne

points out the real agenda behind the Bush plan: " The real 'crisis' we

face is created not by Social Security but by the administration's

unrelenting effort to lighten the tax burden on the wealthy, which, in

turn, creates a fiscal mess that forces cuts in programs – for poor

kids and needy seniors alike. "

 

LOOK TO THE STATES: Employees in seven different states were offered

the opportunity for private accounts similar to the ones President

Bush is touting. In many cases, these accounts proved to be both

unpopular and unsuccessful. President Bush's plan assumes two-thirds

of American workers will jump to set up private plans: in most of the

states offering private plans, only about 5 percent of workers

actually signed up. Much of the hesitancy was due to the risk

involved. Take Nebraska, for example. State and local workers who used

the do-it-yourself accounts made so many errors in investing that they

" ended up making less than colleagues with fixed-benefit pensions –

and less than what analysts have said is needed for old age. " The

Nebraska legislature got rid of the accounts two years ago. West

Virginia switched teachers' retirement plans to private accounts over

a decade ago. Today the state is looking into switching back, after

finding the change " did nothing to solve the funding shortage and

ultimately cost more money. " As with Nebraska, West Virginia found

teachers with private accounts had lower benefits than they would have

with the traditional system. Want to weigh in on this? Visit

ThinkProgress and tell us your thoughts.

 

 

Under the Radar

 

IMMIGRATION – THE MILITIAS ARE COMING: With immigration reforms held

up by a bitterly divided Republican Party, residents in Arizona have

crafted a novel alternative approach – organize a militia! ABC News

reports that some 500 militiamen " plan to patrol a 40-mile stretch of

the southeast Arizona border " in what they refer to as the Minuteman

Project. Immigration officials are deeply skeptical of the plan,

fearing the mostly untrained " Minuteman " patrollers risk injuring

undocumented immigrants as well as American border patrol agents. In a

surefire understatement, ABC claims " at least some of the volunteers

plan to arm themselves " ; a previous investigation of volunteer border

patrols in Arizona turned up AR-15 rifles and various other assault

weapons.

 

AFGHANISTAN – A FRAGILE NATION ON THE BRINK: In its most recent Human

Development report, the United Nations ranked Afghanistan 173rd out of

178 countries surveyed, citing " poverty, poor health and insecurity "

as issues that must improve if the world hopes for the country not to

" revert to anarchy. " Though the report does mention the progress that

has been made for democracy and the Afghan economy, the living

standards – from the rampant spread of the opium trade to a virtually

nonexistent education system – are so dire that a ranking official

with the United Nations Development program admitted that " the country

has a long way to go just to get back to where it was 20 years ago. "

And three years after the United States attempted to lead the

eradication of the Taliban, women still remain " among the worst

victims, mostly condemned to lives of malnutrition, exclusion from

public life, rape, violence and forced marriage. " Recently elected

Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared that the report " painted a

gloomy picture. "

 

IRAN – FOR TALKS TO WORK, U.S. MUST JOIN: European negotiations with

Iran over nuclear weapons will only succeed if " the United States

joins in and throws its weight behind it, " Mohamed ElBaradei has said.

ElBaradei, the U.N.'s chief nuclear watchdog, said Germany, France,

and Great Britain could not by themselves offer Iran sufficient

" economic and security guarantees " to pressure the country into a

comprehensive nuclear agreement, the Financial Times reports.

Moreover, Bush administration saber-rattling toward Iran " only makes

the country more determined to acquire a nuclear deterrent, " ElBaradei

said. The U.S. has thus far rejected participation in the talks,

despite President Bush's frequent misleading claims that " we are

working with European allies " on the issue.

 

HOMELAND SECURITY – SPENDING FREELY BUT NOT WISELY: President Bush

made a promise to spend taxpayers' dollars wisely or not at all, but

when it comes to port security, he is doing neither of those two

things. The conclusion of an audit conducted by the inspector general

of the Department of Homeland Security has found that the agency " has

allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to protect ports since Sept.

11 without sufficiently focusing on those that are most vulnerable. "

For example, there were cases in which grants were questionably

allocated to " small projects in resort areas, " which the audit found

lacked merit or failed to meet requirements, rather than to " larger

projects at ports that are more vital to the national economy. " This

strategy of spending without any strategy threatens to " compromise the

nation's ability to better defend against terrorist attacks. " The

audit ultimately found that " the program has not yet achieved its

intended results in the form of actual improvement in port security, "

a declaration that counters every claim President Bush has made about

how much money has been spent on port security.

 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT – FOR THEIR EYES ONLY: Ahmed Abu Ali, an American

citizen who has been held in Saudi Arabia for the past 20 months

without ever being charged, has been released to American custody per

the demands of the Justice Department. It is far from a happy

homecoming. The parents of Ali are embroiled in a lawsuit against the

United States government in which they assert that their son's arrest

in Saudi Arabia had been under the direction of U.S. authorities and

that he continues to be held on false pretenses. Making their case has

been difficult since not only is the Justice Department yet to reveal

its evidence – let alone the charges – against Ali, but now the

administration's attorneys are trying to dismiss the lawsuit based on

secret legal arguments: " The government contends that the legal theory

by which it would defend its behavior should be immune from debate in

court. " It is saddening that the department that bears the name of

justice continues to try and undermine it.