Progress Report: Ideology Over People

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Thu, 15 Sep 2005 09:45:51 -0700

Progress Report: Ideology Over People

" American Progress Action Fund "

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The Progress Report

 

AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND

The Progress Report

by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, and Christy Harvey

www.progressreport.org

9/15/2005

 

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

ThinkProgress.org.

 

SPECIAL KATRINA COVERAGE: President Bush is giving a prime time speech

on Katrina tonight at 9 pm ET. Don't forget to log on to

ThinkProgress.org for real-time research-intensive rapid response.

Also, at 4 pm ET, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Pulitzer Prize-winning

reporter John McQuaid will take your questions in a live chat

moderated by the Progress Report's Nico Pitney. McQuaid eerily

predicted much of what unfolded in the wake of Katrina in his 2002

series " Washing Away. "

 

KATRINA

Ideology Over People

 

The Bush administration turned Iraq into an ideological playground for

right-wing economic policies. The results were disastrous. Now, as the

people of the Gulf Coast face their own critical reconstruction needs,

the White House plans more of the same. The Wall Street Journal

reports the administration and its allies are plotting to use " relief

measures for the hurricane-ravaged Gulf coast to achieve a broad range

of conservative economic and social policies, both in the storm zone

and beyond. " Rep. Rahm Emanuel summed it up nicely: " They're going

back to the playbook on issues like tort reform, school vouchers and

freeing business from environmental rules to achieve ideological

objectives they haven't been able to get in the normal legislative

process. " President Bush will present this misguided vision to the

American people tonight at 9 p.m. The victims of Hurricane Katrina

deserve better.

 

" SEPARATE BUT EQUAL " EDUCATION: The Wall Street Journal reports that

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will ask Congress to waive a

federal law that bans educational segregation for homeless children.

The Bush administration is arguing, along with states like Utah and

Texas, that providing schooling for evacuees – who, in this case, are

likened to homeless children – will be disruptive to public school

systems, so they want to have sound legal backing for creating

separate educational facilities for the 372,000 schoolchildren

displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The State of Mississippi is opposed to

waiving the Act because it argues the law helps evacuees enroll in

schools without red tape.

 

LOWER WAGES FOR HURRICANE RECOVERY CONSTRUCTION WORKERS: On Sept. 8,

2005, President Bush suspended application of the Davis-Bacon Act, a

federal law governing workers' pay on federal contracts in the

Hurricane Katrina-damaged areas. According to the Washington Post, the

Act " sets a minimum pay scale for workers on federal contracts by

requiring contractors to pay the prevailing or average pay in the

region. Suspension of the act will allow contractors to pay lower

wages. " Congressman George Miller (D-CA) said, " In effect, President

Bush is saying that people should be paid less than $9 an hour to

rebuild their communities. "

 

LOWER WAGES FOR HURRICANE RECOVERY SERVICE WORKERS: The Washington

Post reports, " the White House was working yesterday to suspend wage

supports for service workers in the hurricane zone as it did for

construction workers on federal contracts last week. " The article

notes that anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist " is among those lobbying

the White House to suspend wage supports for service workers in the

hurricane zone. "

 

LIMITING ELIGIBILITY FOR HEALTH CARE: Medicaid, " the federal-state

health program for the poor[,] has emerged as the main way to provide

medical coverage for many evacuees. " But the Journal reports that the

" White House appears cool to any expansion " of Medicaid for Katrina

survivors, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was " not convinced "

it was needed. " To me, each day that passes without us knowing …

exactly what the Medicaid relief package is going to include is

adversely affecting not only our state … but other states who are

getting our evacuees, " said J. Ruth Kennedy, deputy director of

Louisiana's Medicaid program, which provided health care to

one-quarter of the state's population before the hurricane.

 

THE GHETTOIZATION OF KATRINA VICTIMS: There are hundreds of thousands

of people who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and need

housing. The victims of Hurricane Katrina could be given housing

vouchers so they could rent apartments and integrate with the rest of

society. But Section 8 housing vouchers, a program that was started by

Richard Nixon, doesn't fit in with the Bush administration's

ideological agenda. Instead, the Bush administration is planning to

build giant trailer parks. The Washington Post reports, " Mobile-home

manufacturers, responding to pleas from FEMA, are adding shifts for

workers to supply tens of thousands of travel trailers and mobile

homes. " The administration is also " considering converting many of the

nation's retired steel shipping containers into temporary mini-housing

units. "

 

THERE IS A BETTER WAY: The reconstruction and recovery of the Gulf

Coast should be guided by commonsense policies that benefit people,

not just political movements. American Progress has some ideas: 1)

Guarantee adequate health care to all of Katrina's victims by

expanding the Disaster Relief Medicaid program; 2) Integrate the

Gulf's poor—residentially, economically, and otherwise by expanding

Section 8 housing and improving mass transit; 3) Maximize employment

of Katrina victims in reconstruction projects and provide training;

and 4) Stop disaster profiteering through independent oversight and

vigorous enforcement of laws against price gouging by oil companies,

gas stations, and financial institutions.

 

UNITED NATIONS

America Weakened

 

Yesterday, a keynote address by President Bush launched the " biggest

gathering of leaders in history " -- a major United Nations summit in

New York that attracted some 170 presidents and prime ministers. Once

upon a time, diplomats had hoped for " the most sweeping changes at the

United Nations in its 60-year history " -- an independent, legitimate

Human Rights Council; a new Peace Building Commission to help

stabilize and rebuild conflict-ridden countries; a far-reaching

convention on terrorism; and serious, comprehensive U.N. management

reform to prevent further episodes of corruption. In the end, thanks

in large part to the efforts of John Bolton, virtually none of this

was accomplished. At a time when our nation's most pressing security

concerns are global in scope and require significant multilateral

cooperation, the failure of the administration to take advantage of

this opportunity represents a serious blow to our national security.

But this was not entirely unexpected. Before John Bolton was installed

as United Nations ambassador, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) warned that his

recess appointment " would weaken not only Mr. Bolton but also the

United States. " Roberts has already been proven right.

 

HISTORIC FAILURE OF DIPLOMACY: Most in attendance " could not disguise

widespread disappointment at the weakening of the 35-page document, "

virtually every section of which " underwent severe cutbacks. "

Diplomats hoped the new Human Rights Commission would include

provisions to deny membership to notorious human rights abusers, but

the final document diluted that crucial provision " to the point of

meaninglessness. " Likewise, the Peace Building Commission was agreed

to in principle but lacked any substantive details. " We are left

clawing our way back to commitments made three years ago, " Oxfam's Max

Lawson said of the summit. " When we start defining success as simply

standing still, that's a terrible situation to be in. "

 

EMBARRASSING HYPOCRISY: While poor and developing nations " from

Bangladesh to Indonesia, Brazil to Mongolia " are on track to meet the

Millennium Development Goals, the Bush administration can barely bring

itself to talk about them. John Bolton had " initially proposed

expunging any reference to specific goals for reducing poverty, hunger

and child mortality and combating pandemics of AIDS, tuberculosis and

malaria. " Only after weeks of strenuous lobbying and numerous

concessions did he agree to include references to the Millennium

Development Goals in the final document. Yet President Bush had the

gall yesterday to declare in his keynote address, " the United States

is determined to help nations that are struggling with poverty. We are

committed to the Millennium Development goals. "

 

BOLTON WEAKENS SECURITY PROVISIONS: Incredibly, the final reform

document includes no section on disarmament and proliferation. This is

largely because Ambassador Bolton strenuously objected to any language

suggesting that nuclear states had a responsibility to take concrete

steps towards disarmament. Bolton actually successfully lobbied to

have the following section stripped from the final document: " We

believe that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and

their means of delivery, and the possibility that terrorists might

acquire such weapons, remain [amongst] the greatest threats to

international peace and security. " President Bush has used virtually

identical language in the past: " The biggest threat facing this

country is weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist

network. "

 

THE SILVER LINING: Despite the best efforts of the U.S. delegation,

the final reform document did include some important, positive

elements. Perhaps the most important success was the unanimous

acceptance by all U.N. of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine,

which establishes a collective international responsibility to protect

populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes

against humanity -- even though the U.S. was able to weaken its

provisions. Attendants also agreed to an additional $50 billion a year

for fighting poverty by 2010.

 

 

 

UNDER THE RADAR

 

SOCIAL SECURITY -- CONSERVATIVES USE KATRINA TO PROVIDE EXIT STRATEGY

FROM POLITICALLY UNPOPULAR PROPOSAL: Bloomberg reports that " prospects

that the U.S. Congress will pass an overhaul of Social Security this

year have vanished. " That has left congressional conservatives

plotting a strategy for how best to " walk away from the centerpiece of

President George W. Bush's second-term domestic agenda " without anyone

noticing. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) said of the Social Security

legislation, " I don't think there's any chance at all it's going to

move this year. " And Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) added, " It certainly

doesn't appear to me it's going to happen. " Because polls have

demonstrated that almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Bush's

Social Security privatization scheme, Stephen Wayne, a government

professor at Georgetown University in Washington, believes Katrina

handed conservatives the " exit strategy " from the proposal that they

were looking for.

 

KATRINA -- SENATE REJECTS INDEPENDENT KATRINA COMMISSION: Senate

conservatives defeated a proposal by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to

create an independent, bipartisan panel, similar to the 9/11

Commission, to look into the government's response to Katrina and

offer improvements for future disasters. A CNN/USA Today Gallup poll,

taken Sept. 8-10, showed that 70 percent of the public supports an

independent commission. A NYT/CBS News poll indicates Americans are

concerned about the federal government's response; 56 percent of

Americans are now less confident about the government's ability to

respond to a natural disaster. But conservative in Congress have put

self-interest above public interest. They will now try to form a

review panel that reflects " their dominance in Congress. "

 

IRAQ -- " LAST THROES " OF VIOLENCE ESCALATES: On the heels of

Baghdad's " bloodiest day of the war, " suicide car bombs continued to

rip through Iraq's capital Thursday. A pair of car bombs detonated

within minutes of each other in South Baghdad, with one of the bombers

reportedly luring his victims with the promise of a job. Six more

attacks targeted U.S. forces, with 10 soldiers injured and none

reported dead. No one has yet taken credit for Thursday's attacks, but

an al-Zarqawi tape released yesterday indicated he is attempting to

create discord between Shiites and Sunnis and scare Iraqis away from

voting in the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum. Col. Dan Grymes of

the 3rd Infantry Division said the insurgents " are under pressure,

that's why you are seeing them do stuff like this. "

 

CIVIL MARRIAGE -- MASSACHUSETTS EXPANDS MARRIAGE RIGHTS: The

Massachusetts legislature voted 157-39 yesterday against a state

constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Massachusetts will

remain the only state in the union to allow gay marriages. Yesterday's

vote represented a significant change in opinion from state lawmakers.

More than a year ago, before the state's Supreme Court decision to

legalize same-sex marriages took effect, the legislature passed a

similar amendment 105-92. State Senator Brian P. Lees, one of 55

lawmakers to change their vote, explained his decision: " I do think

that a lot of people have been thinking over the last year. " Added

state Sen. Brian Lees, " Gay marriage has begun, and life has not

changed for the citizens of the commonwealth, with the exception of

those who can now marry. "

 

ETHICS -- CONGRESS REFUSES TO HOLD ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTABLE FOR CIA

LEAK: Two congressional committees yesterday rejected proposals to

compel the administration to hand over all files related to the outing

of CIA operative Valerie Plame. President Bush has said that he will

fire whomever in his administration revealed Plame's identity, but

some members of Congress seem unwilling to help the president fulfill

his promise. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is currently

conducting a federal investigation into the Plame leak and Karl Rove

has become a target of interest. Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) believes

that Congress rejected the proposals to the administration as " a

political decision because there is potential embarrassment to the

administration. "

 

 

 

GOOD NEWS

 

" The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday unexpectedly backed a

measure to expand federal hate crime protection to gay people, a

measure that House conservatives had blocked for years. "

 

DON'T MISS

 

TALKING POINTS: Right-Wing Plots Further Destruction Post-Katrina

 

NATURAL DISASTER: Experts concerned that federal government is not

prepared for a disaster that could be worse than Katrina

 

POLL: Yet another poll showing Bush at the lowest approval levels of

his presidency

 

CULTURE: The New York Times profiles U2 lead singer Bono

 

DAILY GRILL

 

O'REILLY: " How do you assess President Bush's falling poll numbers?

He's at the lowest level of his presidency now. Why do you think

that's happening? "

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: " Well, Bill, I'm not one who can assess poll numbers

in American politics. "

-- The O'Reilly Factor, 9/14/05

 

VERSUS

 

" Look, the president -- first of all, I think one has to look at

polls. And he was at astronomically high levels. But see, when you go

out there and you talk to Americans, they trust this president. They

know that this president is doing everything that he can on the war on

terror. "

-- Condoleezza Rice on The O'Reilly Factor, 9/24/03

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

 

Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) received a National Guard escort to

retrieve personal items from his flooded home " while military

helicopters and emergency workers raced to save thousands of victims. "