Progress Report: Democracy Hypocrisy, Education.

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Wed, 02 Mar 2005 08:46:35 -0800

 

Progress Report: Democracy Hypocrisy

" American Progress Action Fund "

<progress

 

The Progress Report

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin with Nico Pitney and

Mipe Okunseinde

 

www.progressreport.org

3/2/2005

 

For news and updates throughout the day, check out our new blog at

ThinkProgress.org.

 

FOREIGN POLICY

Democracy Hypocrisy

 

The democratic progress that has taken place in recent weeks in

Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories has been an extremely positive

development for the Middle East and the world. Unfortunately, many

conservatives are using these events as an opportunity to score cheap

political points, claiming they provide (yet another) justification

for the Iraq war. For example, in the New York Times last Saturday,

David Brooks wrote, " people around the Arab world look at voters in

Iraq and ask, Why not here? " The only evidence Brooks provided that

anyone in the Arab world feels this way is a quote by a Lebanese

dissident named Walid Jumblatt. Apparently, Brooks feels comfortable

basing his theory on the opinions of a man who, just two months

earlier, said " we are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed [in

Iraq] week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is

legitimate and obligatory. " Instead of spending time creating another

elaborate justification for losing 1,500 American troops and $200

billion on a war of choice, conservatives should take a hard look at

the Bush administration's actual record on democracy promotion, which

is decidedly mixed. The record shows that " rather than a democratic

idealist, Bush is better described as someone who has co-opted the

language of democracy while pursuing business-as-usual policies. "

 

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: The people who deserve the credit are the

people in the Middle East who have stood up for democracy. In Lebanon,

" opposition leaders say they have consciously imitated the popular

uprising in Ukraine, " not Iraq. Elections in the Palestinian

Territories were triggered by Yassir Arafat's death. But don't take

our word for it. Just listen to White House Press Secretary Scott

McClellan. Yesterday, McClellan said, " The credit belongs to the

people in those countries who aspire for greater freedom. "

 

DWINDLING DOLLARS FOR DEMOCRACY: President Bush has recognized that

repeatedly invoking " democracy " and " freedom " is an effective

rhetorical tool. Democracy promotion, however, has a significantly

less prominent roll in his latest budget. For example, for " his

flagship Middle East Partnership Initiative, which is meant to seed

freedom in the critically important Arab world, Bush requested $30

million less for the coming fiscal year than he sought last year. " The

budget would " would cut both the U.S. Agency for International

Development's global democracy account and the State Department's

global human rights and democracy fund. " Regional democracy funds for

Africa, Asia and the Middle East from the National Endowment for

Democracy would be zeroed out, cutting an additional $32.7 million.

 

DEMOCRACY IS NOT A ONE-DAY EVENT: Funding is critical because

elections are necessary - but not sufficient - to create a viable

democracy. In Afghanistan, for example, presidential elections were

held last October. But it remains a country on the brink of chaos.

Afghanistan's booming opium trade continues to be a destabilizing

influence. A recent U.N. National Human Development report reveals

that Afghanistan ranks 173rd out of 178 countries surveyed. The

average life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.5 years, 20 years lower

than in neighboring countries. Twenty percent of kids die before the

age of 5. The government is having serious problems organizing

parliamentary elections - which are arguably more important. The

government has yet to raise the $130 million needed, draw district

boundaries, print ballots or vet candidates. In short, the success of

democracies depends on the United States making a long-term commitment

to helping to develop stable democratic institutions, a commitment it

has yet to demonstrate in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

 

PANDERING POOTIE-PUT: President Bush missed a key opportunity last

week to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin - who Bush calls

" pootie-put " - on his increasingly autocratic control of Russia. Bush

seemed content that Putin told him the country was not on the way back

to totalitarianism. Meanwhile, Putin has engaged in a systematic

destruction of Russia's fledgling democratic institutions.

Specifically, the Kremlin seized the country's largest private

business, the oil company Yukos. Putin came down on the press with an

iron fist, seriously restricting the independent news media. According

to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Freedom House, the Russian government

has also " marginalized its political opposition and attacked perceived

opponents outside the electoral process selectively using criminal

prosecutions. " The New York Times reports, " future elections have been

diminished by Mr. Putin's move to appoint regional governors rather

than have them stand for a popular vote. "

 

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION - SUPPORTING AUTOCRACY WORLDWIDE: Along with

Putin, Bush praised " Pervez Musharraf as they systematically smothered

the embers of freedom in Russia and Pakistan. " He also " stood shoulder

to shoulder with the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, while

publicly condemning a proposed referendum on independence in

democratic Taiwan. " The Bush administration was " the only government

in the Western Hemisphere to recognize the ill-fated coup attempt

against the democratically elected leader in Venezuela. " The

administration remains " a steadfast supporter of entrenched autocrats

in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Central Asia. "

 

DEMOCRACY STARTS AT HOME: The Bush administration and its conservative

allies have systematically undermined democracy in the United States.

Conservatives routinely call for the suppression of minority voting;

pay journalists to act as administration shills; produce illegal,

government-funded propaganda; ignore ethical standards for their

leaders; regularly subordinate public needs to corporate interests;

and hand out corrupt military contracts to their business friends.

Until these practices are put to an end - and people are held

accountable - claims that the right-wing is the torch bearer for

democracy will ring hollow.

 

BUDGET

Bush Eviscerates Education

 

President Bush heads to Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, MD,

today to play lip service to his record on job training and higher

education. It's true, education is the most sure-fire way for millions

of Americans to lift themselves out of a cycle of poverty and strife.

But President Bush has a dirty secret: to help fund his expensive tax

breaks for the wealthy, in his most recent budget he actually slashed

money from vital job training programs, college loans, vocational

education, adult education and literacy programs. Instead of getting

real education opportunities, under President Bush, millions of

Americans now will lose out. While listening to today's speech in

Maryland, keep in mind the following reality:

 

PITIFUL PELL GRANTS: President Bush is expected to tout his new plan

to increase funding for Pell Grants. It's too little, too late.

Despite soaring tuition costs, over the past three years President

Bush has frozen the Pell Grants at $4,050. His new budget would raise

the grant by only $100 in each of the next five years, well short of

his 2000 campaign pledge to hike the grant to $5,100. On top of that,

President Bush is also supporting a new formula for calculating

student eligibility that " will eliminate federal Pell Grants for up to

80,000 to 90,000 low-income students. " It will also affect funding

levels; about " 1.3 million students will see reductions of $100 to

$300 per year. " The president's proposals are not sufficient to meet

the rising costs of higher education, so now it's up to Congress to

act. Write your representatives today and tell them to increase the

Pell Grant maximum to at least $4,500 this year.

 

FEELING THE PERKINS LOSS: President Bush's 2006 budget will eliminate

the Perkins Loan Program, which gives money to colleges, including

community colleges, to allow them to make low-interest loans available

to needy students. Last year, it helped about 673,000 students from

low- and middle-income families afford college. The Perkins program is

also used for vocational education and job training classes. The

elimination of the Perkins grant is a devastating blow to Maryland

community colleges. Montgomery College, for example, will lose nearly

$500,000 from this cut; the institution uses this money for

wheelchairs for its physical therapy assistant program, equipment for

its nursing program and health information technology software. Howard

Community College, another local school, stands to lose $175,000

annually. In the past, that funding paid for tutoring, disability

support and job programs aimed at low-income students.

 

CUTTING ADULT EDUCATION: Today, " more than 51 million American

out-of-school youth and adults lack a high school diploma or GED, and

29 million are in need of English language services. " President Bush,

however, is proposing cutting funding for these programs almost 75

percent, from $501.1 million to $131.4 million. According to the

Center for Law and Social Policy, that means " nearly half a million

people - at least 470,000 - would be denied literacy, Adult Basic

Education, GED, and English as a Second Language services due to the

President's proposed budget cuts. " For example, President Bush wants

to eliminate Even Start, the national education program that helps

adults learn to read or obtain their GEDs as well providing literacy

classes for low-income children. The president tried to eliminate this

program last year - it was saved after a public outcry. Another

program under the knife: the National Farmworkers Job Program. The $76

million program, which the president has tried to eliminate for the

past three years in a row, helps migrant workers learn English and

obtain high school diplomas. Without it, these workers will lose the

opportunity to qualify for better jobs and rise out of poverty.

 

EVISCERATING JOB TRAINING: President Bush wants to chop half a billion

dollars out of federal job training funding. Federal job training

programs, including dislocated-worker training programs, will be cut

by $200 million. Also, federal aid to states for job training, which

includes funding to help veterans re-enter the workforce, will be cut

by $300 million.

 

CUTTING YOUTH EMPLOYMENT: Instead of working to provide opportunities

to young people in inner cities, President Bush worked to smother a

vital program which provided youth job training. In the 2004 budget he

presented in 2003, President Bush proposed eliminating all funding for

Youth Opportunity Grants, a program that gives job training to young

people. In 2002, that program was funded at $225 million; in 2003,

Bush proposed funding only $45 million ($43.5 million was actually

funded); and in the 2004 budget, he proposed its elimination. Congress

accepted his recommendation and funding has been eliminated.

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

FDA – ANOTHER MISSED CATCH: In spite of the voiced hesitations of a

renowned neurobiologist as well as a leading medical journal, the Food

and Drug Administration gave fast-track approval to the multiple

sclerosis drug Tysabri, which has now been pulled off the market after

a patient's death. Dr. Lawrence Steinman, a professor at Stanford

University and a specialist with the illness, has been cautioning

against drugs like Tysabri for the past two years in journals as well

as speeches, and his fellow researchers echo that Tysabri was not a

good candidate for being rushed to the market. In explaining that the

time it takes for Tysabri's harmful side effects to become apparent is

longer than what is allotted by fast-track approval, another

neurologist responded, " There is a reason why these studies were

designed to take two years. " After these strings of fatal failures,

the FDA and its fast-track approval program is being questioned by

those in the drug industry: " It needs to be looked at…Something about

the process needs to be restructured. "

 

TORTURE – SENATOR SUPPRESSING PROBE OF ABUSE SCANDALS: The chairman of

the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), is

" blocking a request by the panel's top Democrat " to investigate the

numerous accusations of torture, abuse, improper detention and illegal

rendition by CIA officials, the New York Times reports. An aide to

Sen. Roberts said the senator " did not believe that a formal inquiry

was warranted, " in part because the CIA is conducting its own

investigations. During Congressional testimony last month, however,

CIA Director Porter Goss said he did not know when the reviews would

be completed, and it's not certain the Senate panel will actually have

access to the final investigation reports. The Times notes that within

the CIA, " there has been growing concern over the possibility that

career officers could be prosecuted or otherwise punished for their

conduct during interrogations and detentions of terrorism suspects. "

 

HALLIBURTON – YET ANOTHER INVESTIGATION: Halliburton prides itself on

its various community services, but a Justice Department investigation

is soon going to find out just how well Halliburton plays with others.

The DOJ has launched a formal probe into possible conspiratorial

activities by employees of Halliburton, in conjunction with other

companies, with the purpose of coordinated rigging of large overseas

bids. The antitrust inquiry stems from a larger investigation " into

whether a consortium of companies that included Hallliburton bribed

officials in Nigeria to win a lucrative contract to build a liquefied

natural-gas plant there. " This investigation is just one more in a

string of cases being made against Halliburton, including violating

" U.S. sanctions by doing business in Iran " and overcharging " the

[u.S.] military for running dining halls in Iraq. "

 

AID – CHILDREN OF THE CONTAMINATED CORN: The Village Voice reports

that U.S. agencies have been exporting dangerous genetically-altered

corn thought to cause allergy symptoms and asthma as part of aid

shipments to Latin America. The corn crop, called StarLink, " generates

its very own, built-in pesticide, " and was " supposed to be used only

for animal feed and to manufacture ethanol. " Five years ago, U.S.

factories were shut down and several illnesses reported after " more

than 300 different kinds of corn products were found tainted with

StarLink. " A genetic analysis of aid packages found that " 80 percent

of the samples they took from aid packages to six Latin American

countries tested positive for various genetically modified organisms, "

including StarLink.

 

SOCIAL SECURITY – CAN'T BUY OUR LOVE: President Bush is finding out

that $35 million doesn't buy what it used to. Despite every attempt

made by the Bush administration to scare the American people into a

frenzy over Social Security, it seems that nobody is quite ready to

drink the Kool-Aid. Even leading conservatives in both the House and

the Senate are less and less fervently supporting the president's

ill-conceived overhaul, and are already tucking in their tails by

expressing reluctance to bring the issue to the floor before 2006.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) was correct in stating that

" Bush's public campaigning has begun to show results " ; recent polls

show the public is becoming more and more skeptical of his plan. And

while House Majority Leader Tom DeLay states that " opponents of the

President's plans 'are better organized,' " it is actually that they

are just better informed.

 

CONGRESS – BANKRUPTCY BILL BOMBSHELLS: It's hard to believe the

anti-consumer bankruptcy bill currently snaking its way through

Congress could get any worse, but according to the New York Times, it

does. Already, the bill makes it " harder for families struck by

financial misfortune to get back on track, " a malicious goal

especially considering nine out of 10 bankruptcies " are triggered by

the loss of a job, high medical bills or divorce. " Now the Times

reports the legislation also enshrines " an increasingly popular

loophole " that lets the wealthiest Americans protect their assets from

creditors even after filing for bankruptcy. Moreover, yesterday Senate

Republicans " beat back " a Democratic amendment to the bill aimed at

protecting U.S. soldiers from the most harmful effects of the

legislation. Write your senators today and tell them to reject the

legislation in its current form.

 

GOOD NEWS

 

The Supreme Court yesterday abolished the death penalty for juveniles.

The 5-4 majority ruled that since juveniles are less mature than

adults, " it was excessive and cruel to execute a person who was under

18 when the crime was committed. " The ruling will affect the lives of

72 men currently on Death Row.

 

DON'T MISS

 

DAILY TALKING POINTS: Democracy Building: Reality Versus Rhetoric.

 

SUDAN: Nicholas Kristof criticizes U.S. passivity to the crisis in

Sudan, saying, " If American voters cared about Darfur's genocide as

much as about, say, the Michael Jackson trial, then our political

system would respond. "

VALUES: Religious leader Robert Sider says, " In my more cynical

moments, I wonder if he [bush] cares about the poor at all. "

 

PEOPLE: Shaquille O'Neal, U.S. Marshall.

 

CAMPUS PROGRESS: Washington Post showcases the winner of Campus

Progress contest to name Ann Coulter's next book.

BUDGET: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains how Bush

budget caps will devestate domestic programs.

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" I hope the Supreme Court will finally read the Constitution and see

there's no such thing, or no mention, of separation of church and

state in the Constitution. "

 

- Rep. Tom DeLay, 3/2/05

 

VERSUS

 

" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. "

 

- U.S. Constitution, Amendment 1

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

 

Once again, conservatives are ramping up efforts to try to shove

legislation to allow oil drilling in the pristine Arctic National

Wildlife Reserve through the Senate.

 

© Copyright 2005 by American Progress Action Fund. All rights reserved.