posted April 18, 2004 09:28 PM              

Name ONE good thing GWB has done.

More specifically, name one good thing that has NOT directly benefited only 1% of the world's population....just in case someone says "tax cuts."

posted April 18, 2004 09:45 PM              

about gwb favoring the rich. this is obvious, but why he is dismantling our constitution and our freedoms one by one? i mean, don't his own daughters have to live in this environment he is creating, with the pollution and all?

posted April 19, 2004 07:39 AM              

like on the anniversary of 9/11, it was something like "mourners grieve; bush eyes 9/11" in the new york papers

they are run by those who have money--and who has enough to snap a finger and raise whatever is necessary to be able to continue to feed massive greed and pollute without consequence?

posted April 23, 2004 05:25 PM            

jwhop, pidaua,
I would like to know what your feelings on the specific actions taken by Bush which I have posted, if you don't mind. None of them seem very "compassionate" if you ask me.

posted April 23, 2004 05:53 PM            

Fact Sheets
Wednesday, December 03, 2003

The Bipartisan Medicare Agreement: More Choices - Better Benefits - Savings for Seniors.

The Bipartisan Medicare Agreement represents a significant achievement in our Nation`s efforts to provide affordable prescription drug coverage for seniors and an improved Medicare system. We must make these improvements this year, during this session of Congress. It is time for Congress to finish the job and pass this legislation so that seniors can get the help they need and the choices and benefits they deserve.

Prescription Drug Savings for Seniors

For the first time in Medicare`s history, a prescription drug benefit will be offered to all40 million seniors and disabled Americans in Medicare to help them afford the cost of their medicines.

Beginning next year, seniors would save 10-25 percent off the cost of most medicines through a Medicare-approved drug discount card. Seniors would be able to take the card to their local pharmacy and receive the discount. Since the typical senior spends $1,285 annually on his or her medicines, the card could save a senior who lacks drug coverage as much as $300 annually.

The card would provide savings until the full drug benefit goes into effect. Beginning in 2006, seniors without coverage would be able to join a Medicare-approved plan that would cut their yearly drug costs roughly in half, in exchange for a $35 monthly premium. In many cases, the savings will be even greater.

Seniors with no drug coverage and monthly drug costs of $200 would save more than $1,700 on drug costs each year. Seniors with no drug coverage and monthly drug costs of $800 would save nearly $5,900 on drug costs each year. Seniors would be protected againt high out-of-pocket costs with Medicare covering 95% of drug costs over $3,600 per year.

Low-income seniors will receive additional help paying for their medicines.
A $600 annual subsidy would be added to their drug discount card.
There would be no additional premiums, no deductible and low co-payments ($2 for generic or $5 for brand-name drugs) for seniors with limited savings and incomes at or below 135% of poverty (individuals with yearly incomes under $12,123 and senior couples under $16,362).
There would be reduced premium, a $50 deductible, and 15% co-insurance (85% of their drug costs would be covered) for seniors with limited savings and incomes between 135% and 150% of the federal poverty level (individuals with yearly incomes under $13,470 and senior couples under $18,180).

All seniors will save from steps to bring safe, lower cost generic drugs to market sooner. The President took steps earlier this year to bring generic versions of drugs to market sooner, and this legislation will strengthen those efforts that are estimated to save American consumers about $35 billion over the next 10 years.

More Choices-Better Benefits-And the Choice to Stay with the Coverage You Have Today

Seniors will have more choices in health care-including the same kinds of choices that members of Congress and other Federal employees enjoy today. Seniors will be able to choose the healthcare plan that best fits their needs-instead of having that choice made by the government.
Seniors can choose to stay in traditional Medicare and still get prescription drug coverage. Or, they can choose a new Medicare-approved private plan where the drug benefit is integrated into broader medical coverage, including disease management programs and protections against high out-of-pocket medical spending. Or, seniors who like the lower cost sharing and extra benefits often available in managed care plans would be able to make that choice as well.

Under a modernized Medicare, there will be better coverage for preventive care (e.g., a "welcome to Medicare" physical that would include screening for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, as well as immunizations against pneumonia and the flu).

All Americans can benefit from provisions in the bill that will remove excessive restrictions on health savings accounts, which will give individuals more control over the costs of their health care.

Reforms to Strengthen and Modernize Medicare

Private health plans will compete for seniors` business by providing better coverage at affordable prices-helping to control the costs of Medicare by using market-place competition, not government price-setting.
Private sector competition will result in more innovation and flexibility in coverage. This will be a significant improvement over the way benefits are provided in Medicare today -where politicians and bureaucrats, rather than healthcare markets, dictate what is covered and what is paid.

Private employers will receive incentives to continue to provide drug coverage to their retirees.
New accounting safeguards will put the program on a stronger financial foundation by alerting future congresses and Presidents when the program`s costs are rising faster than expected so they can address the problem.

posted April 23, 2004 06:05 PM            

Figures released by the Treasury Department demonstrate the real benefits of the President's tax relief for all Americans.

As a result of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, Treasury expects a record number of taxpayers to receive refunds this year.

Due to the tax relief, the average refund so far this year has been almost $2,100.

The Treasury Department estimates that these higher refunds and lower tax payments mean taxpayers will retain an extra $50 billion when they file their taxes for 2003.

Background - The President's Tax Relief is Benefiting Millions of American Families

As a result of the President's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and Jobs & Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, every taxpayer who paid income taxes will get tax relief this year.

109 million American taxpayers will see their taxes decline by an average of $1,544.

A family of four earning $40,000 will receive tax relief of $1,933.

Nearly 5 million individuals and families will see their income tax liabilities completely eliminated.

42 million families with children will receive an average tax cut of $2,067.

13 million elderly individuals will receive an average tax cut of $1,795.

25 million small business owners will save an average of $2,853.

26 million investors will save an average of $798 from lower rates on dividends and capital gains, including 7 million seniors who will save an average of $1,088.
Low-income families will also benefit from provisions that make the child credit refundable for more families and reduce marriage penalties.

President Bush has called on Congress to act now to prevent tax increases. If Congress does not act, failure to extend these tax cuts permanently would raise taxes on American taxpayers in future years:
In 2005, 94 million taxpayers would face, on average, a tax increase of $538.
In 2005, the increased child credit, additional marriage penalty relief, and expanded 10-percent bracket will shrink, increasing the tax burden on a family of four earning $40,000 by $915;

In 2006, the small business expensing limit will shrink from $100,000 to just $25,000, increasing the cost of capital investments for America's small businesses;
In 2009, the top tax rate on dividends will increase from 15 to 35 percent, while the tax on capital gains will climb from 15 to 20 percent, raising the tax burden on retirees and families investing for their future; and
In 2011, the tax rate relief, new 10-percent tax bracket, death tax repeal, marriage penalty relief, small business expensing, and all the remaining tax relief enacted over the past three years will sunset, resulting in tax increases for every individual American man or woman who pays income taxes.

The tax relief proposed and signed into law by President Bush was the right action at the right time for our economy.

Without the President's tax relief, by the end of last year real GDP would have been more than 3 percent lower and the unemployment rate would have been more than 1 percentage point higher, with more than 2 million fewer Americans working.

Real after-tax incomes are up 10% since December 2000, substantially higher than after the last recession. The President's tax relief is an important component of that increase.

The impact of the President's economic program, including the tax relief, can be seen throughout the economy.
Job creation is accelerating, with more than 750,000 jobs created in the last seven months.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remains below its average for the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Economic growth in the second half of 2003 was near a 20-year high.

Buoyed by the return of the stock market and strong home values, household wealth is at a record high.

Retail sales excluding motor vehicles are currently growing at the fastest quarterly rate in over 20 years.

Homeownership is at an all-time high - 68.6 percent - with substantial gains among minority homeowners.

America has a choice: It can continue to grow the economy and create new jobs as the President's polices are doing; or it can raise taxes on American families and small businesses, hurting economic recovery and future job creation.

posted April 23, 2004 06:19 PM            

Today's Action

Today, President Bush met with first-time homebuyers in New Mexico and Arizona to discuss real results in efforts to dismantle the barriers to homeownership.

The strong housing market is beneficial for families across America. New home sales for the month of February, released by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday, indicate a 24.4% increase from February 2003 - the third-highest level for new home sales ever.

Regionally, new home sales in the West increased by 39.3% from February 2003. Sales of existing homes rose 5.7% from February 2003, according to a report issued yesterday by the National Association of Realtors.

The overall U.S. homeownership rate was at a record high of 68.6% in the fourth quarter-its highest level ever.

The President, in June 2002, announced the goal of increasing the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million families before the end of the decade. Only 18 months later, the Census estimates an increase of 1.53 million minority homeowners.

In the fourth quarter of 2003 - for the first time ever - the majority of minority households are now homeowners. The minority homeownership rate set a new quarterly record of 50.6%, up 1.3 percentage points from the third quarter.

As a result of President Bush's pro-growth policies, America's economy is strong and getting stronger. Increased housing prices and new home construction have added nearly $4 trillion to homeowner wealth since the start of 2001. Cash-out refinancing added more than $130 billion to household budgets in the last three years.

Background on The President's Homeownership Initiative

President Bush is making a difference in the lives of American home buyers. The President's aggressive housing agenda includes providing down payment assistance through the American Dream Downpayment Initiative; increasing the supply of affordable homes through the Single-Family Affordable Housing Tax Credit; making a difference in the lives of low-income homebuyers with the Zero-Downpayment Initiative; and increasing home-buying education and counseling.

President Bush also issued America's Homeownership Challenge to the real estate and mortgage finance industries to encourage them to join the effort to close the gap that exists between the homeownership rates of minorities and non-minorities.

President Bush's FY 2005 budget supports dismantling the barriers to homeownership by:

Requesting $200 million for the American Dream Downpayment Initiative - making a difference in the lives of low-income homebuyers.

Providing $2.5 billion over five years to enact a permanent single-family housing tax credit to increase the supply of affordable single-family homes.

Providing $45 million for housing counseling to support agencies counseling families on home-buying - more than double the amount since 2001.

Supporting rural homeownership through the Department of Agriculture with $2.7 billion in home loan guarantees for low- to moderate-income rural residents and $1.1 billion in direct loans for very low to low-income borrowers who are unable to secure a mortgage through a conventional lender. These loans are expected to provide 42,800 homeownership opportunities to rural families across America.

posted April 23, 2004 06:41 PM            

Today's Action

President Bush visited El Dorado, Arkansas today to meet with students, workers, business leaders, and educators. He announced a new plan to strengthen math and science education to ensure that young Americans are graduating with the skills they need to succeed in college and to compete for the high-demand jobs of the 21st Century.

The President's plan strengthens and modernizes vocational and technical education, expands math and science education for all students, enables more low-income students to pursue degrees in math and science, and enables educators to determine whether high schools are graduating students with the skills they need to succeed.

Background: Helping Young Americans to Get the Skills They Need to Succeed

Many of the fastest-growing occupations require strong math and science preparation, and training beyond the high school level. Unfortunately, not enough high school students are receiving the skills they need to compete in these fields and in higher education.

Only 24 states require at least three years of math, and only 21 states require at least three years of science.
Because their math and science education is lacking, young Americans stand to miss out on job opportunities, will lack the necessary skills for post-secondary study, or will not complete post-secondary study in a timely manner.

Students who fall behind in reading have a greater chance of dropping out of high school altogether. Nationally, of one-hundred ninth-graders, only 67 will graduate from high school on time, only 38 will directly enter college, only 26 are still enrolled their sophomore year, and only 18 will end up graduating from college.

U.S. 12th graders performed among the lowest of the 21 countries assessed in both math and science on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.

The President's Solution:

Elementary students: To help the youngest Americans receive a quality education and learn the basic skills they will need to succeed in the future, President Bush proposed and signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act.

All skills begin with the basics of reading and math, which should be learned in the early grades in our schools. Yet for too long, for too many children, those skills were never mastered. With the bipartisan No Child Left Behind Act, we are making progress toward educational excellence for every child.

Requiring states to set clear standards for what every child should learn - and taking steps to help each child learn.

Holding schools accountable for student progress by regularly testing in the fundamental subjects of reading and math.

Reporting results to parents and ensuring they have better options when schools are not performing.

Providing more funding - a 49% increase in Federal support for elementary and secondary education since 2001.

High school students:

President Bush also wants to help students in high school who had already completed their elementary education before the No Child Left Behind Act became law.

The President's Jobs for the 21st Century initiative includes: Creation of a Striving Readers Initiative to provide extra help to middle and high school students who fall behind in reading.

The President's FY 2005 budget provides $100 million for the Striving Readers Initiative.

Increased funding for the Mathematics and Science Partnership Program to provide extra help to middle and high school students who fall behind in math.

The President's FY 2005 budget provides an additional $120 million for the Program.

Expansion of Advanced Placement (AP) programs in low-income schools. The President's FY 2005 budget provides an increase of $28 million for the expansion of AP programs.

Incentives to invite math and science professionals from the private sector to teach part-time in our high schools.

The President's FY 2005 budget also includes $227 million in loan forgiveness for math, science and special education teachers in low-income schools.

Funding to make the State Scholars program, which requires 4 years of English, 3 years of math and science, and 3½ years of social studies, available nationwide. State Scholars encourages high school students to take more rigorous courses to prepare them for college and the workplace.

Larger Pell Grants, up to an additional $1,000 per year for the first two years, for students who prepare for college with demanding courses in high school - the State Scholars curriculum.

The President's FY 2005 budget also requests $12.9 billion (up from $8.7 billion in 2001) for Pell Grants to low-income students pursuing a degree or certificate which can be used for attending technical schools, community colleges or four-year colleges. Since 2001, the President's budgets have increased the number of Pell Grant recipients by one million and have increased the maximum award per low-income student.

President Bush today announced that he will build on these existing initiatives with the following important steps:

Strengthening and Modernizing Support for Vocational Education:

The major federal program for vocational education, the Perkins Vocational Education program, has remained fundamentally unchanged since its founding in 1917; President Bush proposes to modernize this pre-World War I program to better serve the needs of the 21st century worker.

The President's proposal redirects $1 billion in annual funding from the Perkins Vocational Education program into a new Secondary and Technical Education program (Sec Tech) and requires that schools participating in the program offer 4 years of English, 3 years of math and science, and 3½ years of social studies as part of their vocational education curriculum.

Presidential Math and Science Scholars Fund:

To ensure that America remains the world leader in the innovation economy - and to ensure that America's graduates have the training they need to compete for the best jobs of the 21st century - President Bush wants to expand opportunities for math and science education in colleges and universities. The President proposes establishing a new public-private partnership to provide $100 million in grants to low-income students who study math or science.

Under this plan, approximately 20,000 low-income students would receive up to $5000 each to study math or science. Students would have to be eligible for Pell Grants to receive this additional $5,000, although this new fund would be run separately from the Pell Grant program.

The cost of this new initiative would be offset by an important reform to the Pell Grant program. Currently, there is no limit on the number of years an individual can receive a Pell Grant to help pay for an undergraduate degree. The Administration proposes an 8-year equivalent time limit for a 4-year equivalent degree and a 4-year equivalent time limit for a 2-year equivalent degree. This reform would encourage students to finish sooner and eliminate abuse of the program where students extend their studies excessively.

Assessing Whether High Schools Are Producing Educated Graduates:

To ensure that students graduating from high school have the skills they need to succeed in post-secondary education or careers, the President's plan would include 12th graders in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Currently, states are required to participate in the NAEP in 4th and 8th grades in reading and math every two years. Extending this requirement to 12th grade will enable educators to assess whether high schools are meeting the needs of students so they can learn the skills they will need to succeed.

It will also help to identify areas where they are not meeting the needs of students and to strengthen curricula to ensure improvement. The President's initiatives would result in more students graduating from high schools and colleges with the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the 21st century. With a better trained and better educated workforce, America will continue to be the best place in the world to do business.

posted April 24, 2004 12:10 AM            

See, that is why I love them Leo's...well most of them anyway - there are a few that I wouldn't miss ever...but jwhop...you never did say..where did you go?

posted April 24, 2004 01:05 AM            

Let's just say I was seeing some things here that raised my blood pressure, but I'm a lot better now

posted May 07, 2004 03:20 PM            

Oh, thank you for bringing this post back up...LOL..I wanted to respond back to it but couldn't seem to find it again..hee hee..

June sounds lovely..well, I am glad you're back. I too had to take a break from all the weirdness...

posted May 08, 2004 12:57 AM            

Why is it that everything that's happened negative is directly Bush's fault, even if it is a holdover from the Clinton admin, but everything good he does is fantastically held to have been a holdover from Clinton. I guess everything is all about perception, and if you lie to yourself long enough, you begin to believe it...

posted May 08, 2004 02:57 AM            

Like the term for example: "Weapons of Mass Destruction"! And didn't he constantly repeat to the American people about all that,before 9/11 happened and how many Republicans said that he was cool for it,back then?

Isn't it interesting,that those that hate Clinton or anybody else in that matter(that's on his side),seem to have a much inspirational impact from that person onto themselves? To me, that's a clear cut case of true respect of an opposition and my realization onto why I still think that Clinton was an a$$ kickin' president(a sign of the true leader)!

Bush couldn't hold a candle to Clinton, even if he tried! The ONLY reason why I think Bush does try to act like Clinton,because everybody else knows for certain that Clinton can speak,READ between the lines,listen,retain,grasp onto versatile tasks as well as the questions of those who really question him and execute his projections within proper order and efficiency!

Those 8 years were not only the best that America has seen since FDR,but for the world as well!

Who can beat that?

...and THAT'S a Leo I'm talking about,you know(LION)?

posted May 08, 2004 07:58 AM            

If one percent of what you "know" was actually true, you'd rule the world.