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What's being hidden in the Fog of War? Multi-billion-dollar back room deals for Bush administration donors and cronies? Gutting the programs that the poor and the middle class depend on while lavishing still more tax cuts on the ultra-wealthy? A neo-conservative plan to overthrow the entire post-World War II structure of treaties and alliances, including NATO and the United Nations? An ever more secretive, unaccountable, and repressive government trampling on the rights of citizens and non-citizens alike? Yes, all that and more. This page is an effort keep track of what the Republicans and the Bush administration are doing while the nation's attention is being diverted to the battlefields of Iraq. Bookmark it, add to it, and check back often. Because you never know what they'll try to sneak by us next, but it's a pretty sure bet you won't like it. Interview with Hussein Kamel (Partial Transcript) 6/19/2003 | Type: History-Background | Format: Webpage In this partial transcript of the interview (links to a pdf file of the full text) Kamel repeatly states that all weapons were destroyed, under his directions "In the transcript of the interview, Kamel states categorically: "I ordered destruction of all chemical weapons. All weapons - biological, chemical, missile, nuclear were destroyed" (p. 13). Kamel specifically discussed the significance of anthrax, which he portrayed as the "main focus" of the biological programme (pp.7-8). Smidovich asked Kamel: "were weapons and agents destroyed?" Kamel replied: "nothing remained". He confirmed that destruction took place "after visits of inspection teams. You have important role in Iraq with this. You should not underestimate yourself. You are very effective in Iraq." (p.7)" Allies Hushed Up Iraqi Weapons' Destruction 6/19/2003 | Type: History-Background | Format: Webpage Tim Cornwell from the InformationClearinghouse reports on the information left out of the Bush Administration's claims about the information provided by Hussein Kamel, Saddam Hussein's son-in-law. "The highest-ranking defector ever to turn informant on Saddam Hussein’s government told United Nations weapons inspectors in 1995 that Iraq had destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons stocks after the Gulf war. Republicans Want Terror Law Made Permanent 4/9/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "Working with the Bush administration, Congressional Republicans are maneuvering to make permanent the sweeping antiterrorism powers granted to federal law enforcement agents after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, officials said today. With the act's provisions not set to expire for more than two and a half years, officials expected that the debate over its future would be many months away. But political jockeying over separate bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, and Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, appears to have given Senator Hatch the chance to move on the issue much earlier than expected. The Kyl-Schumer measure would eliminate the need for federal agents seeking secret surveillance warrants to show that a suspect is affiliated with a foreign power or agent, like a terrorist group." Workers Who Feel Discarded 4/7/2003 | Type: Commentary | Format: Webpage Writes Bob Herbert in the New York Times: "Among the many things overshadowed by the war is the substantial human toll that is quietly being taken by the faltering U.S. economy. Putting Americans to work is not part of the agenda of the Bush administration, and the fallout from this lack of interest is spreading big time. The U.S. is hemorrhaging jobs. On Friday the government reported that 108,000 more jobs were lost in March. Some 2.4 million jobs have vanished since the nation's payrolls peaked two years ago. ... The White House response to the latest job loss figures is the same response it has had all along to bad economic news: more tax cuts are the cure." An Ominous Attack on Judges 4/7/2003 | Type: Commentary | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "House Republicans, aided by the Bush Justice Department, are trying to severely curtail federal judges' discretion in sentencing. Provisions buried in a popular bill to expand the Amber Alert system for notifying the public about abducted children would drastically narrow judges' flexibility to impose sentences below the range of federal guidelines to avoid an unjust result, not just in child kidnapping cases but across the board. The flexibility of judges to impose harsher sentences would be untouched." Statute Becomes Justice Department's Weapon of Choice 4/6/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage A relatively obscure 1996 law which makes it a crime to offer "material support" to any group designated by the United States as a terrorist organization is becoming one the Justice Department's favorite weapons against terrorism, reports the New York Times: "The statute has become so useful that the Justice Department is exploring ways to cast an even wider legal net, despite objections from civil rights groups. ... Part of the appeal for prosecutors is that they do not have to prove that the defendants actually supported terrorist attacks, only that they helped a group tied to terrorism. ... Civil libertarians and defense lawyers, however, are increasing their criticism of the law and the department's aggressive use of it, saying the prosecutions smack of a McCarthylike notion of guilt by association. Critics say the law is so overly broad that people with no intention of helping terrorists are being prosecuted. Moreover, they accuse authorities of using strong-arm tactics to force pleas. ... In seeking to broaden its use of the ban, the Justice Department is also working on internal changes to increase cooperation between lawyers in Washington and prosecutors in the field, and to facilitate the use of intelligence information in court." Terrorism Task Force Detains an American Without Charges 4/3/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "For the last two weeks, Maher Hawash, a 38-year-old software engineer and American citizen who was from the West Bank and grew up in Kuwait, has been held in a federal prison here, though he has not been charged with a crime or brought before a judge. ... Although at least two American citizens are being held without normal legal rights as "enemy combatants," Mr. Hawash has not been categorized as such. As a material witness, he is being held to compel testimony. But supporters say he has not been told anything about what the government may want from him. ... Civil liberties groups say material witness statutes are being abused by the Bush administration to hold people like Mr. Hawash indefinitely. 'The government doesn't have and should not have the power to arrest and detain someone without charging them,' said Lucas Guttentag, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrants Rights Project. 'If this kind of thing is permitted, then any United States citizen can be swept off the street and locked up without being charged.'" eBay's PayPal Accused of Violating Patriot Act 3/31/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage Didn't they tell us the PATRIOT act would only be used against terrorists? Not according to this Yahoo! News story: "A federal prosecutor has alleged eBay Inc. unit PayPal violated a 2001 anti-terror law aimed at fighting money laundering when it provided payment services to online gambling companies, the Web auctioneer said in its annual report filed on Monday. ... Congress passed the Patriot Act one month after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon (news - web sites). The legislation broadened law enforcement powers, especially to combat money laundering that is believed to help finance terror attacks. ... The prosecutor's letter offered a plan that would enable the company to settle all charges and claims, if PayPal turned over earnings, plus interest, from online gambling companies for the nine-month period ended July 31, 2002, eBay said." Soul Man Edwin Starr Dies 4/2/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage Expect to hear a lot about "War" in the coming days. Edwin Starr, whose gritty, guttural protest anthem still resonates, has died. The soul-belting singer suffered what was believed to be a fatal heart attack Wednesday at his home in Nottingham, England. He was 61. His antiwar classic (with the refrain: "War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing."), a number one hit in 1970 and revived as a Top 10 single in the 1980s by Bruce Springsteen, remains relevant, adopted anew by those opposed to the military action in Iraq. The Budget Fight Is Now 4/3/2003 | Type: Commentary | Format: Webpage Warns the New York Times: "As the country moves deeper into war sacrifice, spiraling deficits and borrowing into the future, the thin G.O.P. line that rebelled and voted last week to halve the president's $726 billion tax cut is about to have its resistance sorely retested. ... With rumors of a $550 billion 'compromise' rife along with fierce White House lobbying, the nation is relying on the resisters to hold their ground. Senators Olympia Snowe of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island should put aside any temptation to hedge and make it clear that they will again join the Democrats and vote down any final resolution with a cut higher than $350 billion. ... Senator John McCain of Arizona has stressed that he is against any tax cut, including the half-measure, until later, when the war's costs are known. But this proven warrior should know the only promising battle in sight is about to be fought. ... The grand principle is fine, but right now the nation needs every principled politician available to rally against this disastrous plan." Amid Balking in Congress, Bush Will Fight for Smaller Tax Cut 4/3/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "[P]rominent Republicans on Capitol Hill said they were now assuming that Congress would end up splitting the difference between the House and Senate versions [of the budget], and that White House officials had told them they were coming to the same conclusion. 'Publicly, they're going to say $726 billion until the bitter end, as they should," said one Republican member of Congress. "But we can provide a significant economic growth package at a $500 to $550 billion level.' Even at $550 billion, the Republican said, the tax package would be large enough to accommodate, with some delays, all the main provisions sought by the administration, including the elimination of the tax on stock dividends. ... Despite the White House public insistence that the Congress pass the entire $726 billion tax cut, Mr. Fleischer also said today that $3 billion proposed by Congressional committees to help the ailing airline industry was 'excessive.'" Economist predicts world recession 4/2/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From Money Magazine/CNNfn: "One of Wall Street's leading economists is predicting a global recession this year, prompted in large part by fears surrounding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the "mystery illness" with cold-like symptoms that is blamed for 78 deaths in 15 countries, CNNfn has learned. Morgan Stanley's chief economist in the United States, Stephen Roach, will formally advise clients Friday that he's forecasting a world recession in 2003. His previous forecast was for an annual growth rate of 2.5 percent. Roach told CNNfn that SARS is "just another nail on the coffin for the world economy." And slower global growth, he said, will impact U.S. exports." Unemployment claims jump 4/3/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From CBS MarketWatch: "The closely watched four-week average of initial jobless claims requests rose 2,500 to 426,250, the Labor Department reported Thursday. For just the week ended March 29, benefits requests soared by 38,000 to 445,000 -- the highest level in more than 11 months. ... 'A level of initial claims above 400,000 is indicative of a contracting labor market. Initial claims have been higher than this benchmark for seven consecutive weeks,' noted Sophia Koropeckyj, economist with Economy.com. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who continue to collect benefits each week surged 107,000 to 3.61 million. That's the highest level since the middle of November. ... 'Workers are also staying out of work longer. In February, 22 percent of unemployed workers had been jobless for more than half a year,' said Koropeckyj. 'Nearly 11 percent have been unemployed more than a year; these people are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits.'" Undercutting the 9/11 Inquiry 3/31/2003 | Type: Commentary | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "It's hard to believe that everything related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will not get the most thorough public scrutiny possible. But the federal investigative committee so reluctantly supported by the White House now seems in danger of being undermined. As the first hearings open in Manhattan today, committee members are chagrined to be going hat in hand to Congress for adequate financing. White House assurances led them to believe needed funds would be included in the supplemental war budget sent to the Capitol last week. But the commission's $11 million request was not there. Reasonable people might wonder if the White House, having failed in its initial attempt to have Henry Kissinger steer the investigation, may be resorting to budgetary starvation as a tactic to hobble any politically fearless inquiry. Tuning in to media ownership - FCC Hearing to ease restrictions 3/28/2003 | Type: Commentary | Format: Webpage From the News-Observer (North Carolina): "If you are unaware that the Federal Communications Commission is considering relaxing restrictions on the size and scope of U.S. media companies, you are joined by almost three-quarters of Americans. ... Many media companies argue that these decades-old regulations are unnecessary in today's multi-channel, digital universe. ... Consumer advocates counter that a shrinking number of "gatekeepers" control vast amounts of the broadcast spectrum, a public resource administered by the FCC. Conglomerates are squelching diverse voices and promoting stale programming, argue the critics, and the FCC would be abdicating its public service mandate by permitting further media consolidation." Sexual Assault Pervasive in Military, Experts Say 3/30/2003 | Type: History-Background | Format: Webpage From Women's Enews: "Victim advocates and military health care leaders say that sexual assault remains a pervasive problem for women serving in all branches of the military, including those deployed overseas. ... 'It's not just the academies. It's not just the Air Force. It's all the services and it's a pervasive part of the culture,' says Christine Hansen, executive director of The Miles Foundation, Inc., a victim service and advocacy agency for victims of sexual and domestic violence in the military. 'Many women tell me that sexual assault is considered a rite of passage in the service, and they're treated like the black sheep of the family when they ask for accountability.' ... A new assessment of risk factors for sexual assault in the military says that 28 percent of female veterans reported sexual assault during their careers, with consistent rates found across eras, according to a report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine." Attack on Colleges' Aid to Minorities Widens 3/30/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "The Center for Equal Opportunity and the American Civil Rights Institute, two groups that oppose affirmative action, have threatened to file federal complaints against about 30 universities... In the weeks since the letters have gone out, at least five universities have agreed to open their programs to white students or possibly cancel them. ... Some colleges contend that their programs are not only consistent with federal law but essential to creating campuses in which minorities are not grossly underrepresented. As federal figures show, more than 28 percent of whites over the age of 25 have completed at least four years of college, while fewer than 17 percent of blacks and 11 percent of Latinos have. Without taking steps to rectify that imbalance, the universities argue, parity may never come. U.S. Warning on Respiratory Disease 3/30/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned yesterday that a mysterious respiratory disease, which has infected hundreds of people worldwide, could be spread very efficiently through close contact and expressed deep concern that it might also be spread through the air or on contaminated objects. "The potential for infecting large numbers of people is very great," said the director, Dr. Julie L. Gerberding. "We may be in the very early stages of a much larger" epidemic of a disease for which there is no specific treatment beyond standard supportive nursing and respiratory care, Dr. Gerberding added. ... Officials continue to monitor developments in Hong Kong, where SARS may have sickened 78 people in one apartment complex over the last three days. The development suggests that the disease may be more easily transmitted than previously believed, Hong Kong officials said. China readies for future U.S. fight 3/25/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage Reports CNN: "The Iraqi war has convinced the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership that some form of confrontation with the U.S. could come earlier than expected. Beijing has also begun to fine-tune its domestic and security policies to counter the perceived threat of U.S. 'neo-imperialism.' ... Until late last year, Beijing believed a confrontation with the U.S. could be delayed -- and China could, through hewing to the late Deng Xiaoping's 'keep a low profile' theory, afford to concentrate almost exclusively on economic development. 'Now, many cadres and think-tank members think Beijing should adopt a more pro-active if not aggressive policy to thwart U.S. aggression,' said a Chinese source close to the diplomatic establishment." Oppose Carolyn Kuhl, Nominee to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals 3/29/2003 | Type: Research | Format: Webpage National Employment Lawyers Association issued a "strongly oppose" recommendation for Bush's nominee to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It provides a brief list of her anti-worker stances, including decisions as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on Kuhl's nomination for Tuesday, April 1, 2003 The Human Costs of Cuts in Major Low-Income Programs 3/27/2003 | Type: Analysis | Format: Webpage This analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides specific examples of the type and magnitude of cuts that would be needed under the House budget resolution to achieve the $165 billion in cuts the resolution makes in programs for the poor; the examples indicate how these cuts affect children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. While the examples are only illustrations of the level of cuts required (the final amounts will be determined in later legislation) they do reflect the overall spending cuts required. The report also includes a one-page fact-sheet in both pdf (Adobe Acrobat) and html format. Scientists Warn on Bush Bioweapons Push 3/28/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From Newsday.com: "A Bush administration program to add at least three bioweapons labs is troubling many scientists and arms control experts, who say it can't be good to train more microbiologists in the black art of bioterror. ... At least six universities and the New York State Department of Health are competing for contracts to build one or two labs, where scientists can infect research monkeys and other animals with such lethal agents as the Ebola, Marburg and Lassa viruses. Those African hemorrhagic diseases are often fatal and always painful, marked by severe bleeding. They'll also likely create new classes of toxins -- including genetically engineered ones -- as part of the process of constructing weapons they want to defeat. Developing antidotes or vaccines for those toxins might take years." U.S. Proposes Wage Rule Changes 3/28/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "The Bush administration proposed new wage and hour regulations yesterday that it said would increase the number of low-wage workers who qualify for overtime pay, but cut the number of higher-paid, white-collar workers who qualify. Labor Department officials estimated that the proposals, which face a 90-day comment and review period, would add 1.3 million low-paid workers to the group that automatically qualifies for overtime pay. The rules, they said, would exempt an additional 640,000 executive, administrative and professional workers from qualifying when they work more than 40 hours a week. ... Union leaders applauded the expanded overtime coverage for low- wage workers, but predicted that the additional white-collar workers exempted from overtime would far exceed the 640,000 predicted by the Labor Department." House Judiciary Committee Approves 'Partial-Birth' Abortion Ban 3/27/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From Kaisernetwork: "The House Judiciary Committee yesterday voted 19-11 along party lines to approve a bill (HR 760) that would ban so-called 'partial-birth' abortion except when necessary to save the life of a woman... If the measure becomes law, doctors who perform the procedure could face fines and prison sentences of up to two years. The measure is similar to legislation passed in the Senate (S 3) earlier this month except that it does not include a 'nonbinding' resolution expressing support for the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion." The committee defeated several Democratic amendments, including one to provide a health exception and one to eliminate the two-year prison sentence for physicians violating the ban. Senate defeats Harkin Medicare amendment 3/26/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the Des Moines Register: "The Senate on Tuesday defeated, 49-49, an amendment by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa that would have added $25 billion to the federal budget to even out geographic disparities in Medicare reimbursements. ... Harkin wanted to take $25 billion from a proposed tax cut and add it to the $400 billion in the Senate's proposed budget to reform Medicare and add a prescription-drug benefit." Senate Panel OKs Owen's Nomination 3/27/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage "Texas judge Priscilla Owen won approval for a federal appeals court seat from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as the panel's new Republican majority overruled Democrats who voted her down last year. ... Democrats contend Owen, nominated by President Bush, is an anti-abortion and pro-business judicial activist whose opinions and rulings have been overly influenced by her personal beliefs. ... 'It continues to be clear that Justice Owen is one of the most frequent dissenters on her court in Texas in cases involving workers, consumers, and victims of discrimination,' Sen. Edward Kennedy, D- Mass., said in a written statement.'" AP/New York Times Panel Finds Manipulation by Energy Companies 3/27/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "California electricity and natural gas prices were driven higher because of widespread manipulation and misconduct by Enron and more than 30 other energy companies during the 2000-2001 energy crisis that threatened the state's solvency, federal energy regulators said today. Despite those findings, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission strongly signaled that it was likely to refuse to overturn any of the more than $40 billion in long-term power contracts that California and others on the West Coast signed at the height of the crisis. The state had agreed to the high-cost contracts as a means of bringing raging power prices under control, but state officials now say that pervasive evidence of price manipulation means the deals should be abrogated." Bush Orders a 3-Year Delay in Opening Secret Documents 3/26/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "President Bush today signed an executive order that will delay the release of millions of government documents and make it easier for presidents and their administrations to keep historical records secret. ... Mr. Bush's order stipulates that all information provided in confidence by a foreign government is presumed classified. It gives the president and the heads of government agencies the power to classify documents, as Mr. Clinton's order did, but for the first time specifically extends that power to classify to the vice president. Vice President Dick Cheney has been the administration's leading advocate of retaining and restoring presidential prerogatives, including keeping private deliberations confidential and barring scrutiny of administration actions by Congress and the news media." As Layoffs Rise, So Do Age-Discrimination Charges 3/26/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage "One thing has gone up since the economy has gone down: charges of age discrimination," writes the New York Times. "Over the last two fiscal years, age-discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have risen more than 24 percent, reaching levels not seen since the early 1990's. The sharp increase, labor experts say, is largely attributable to the convergence of a weak economy and an aging work force — nearly 50 percent of the labor pool is made up of baby boomers, and the percentage of workers over 65 has increased from the last decade. There are now more older workers for employers to discriminate against, and more economic incentives to do so." Home Equity Borrowing Rises to Worrisome Levels 3/26/2003 | Type: Analysis | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "Americans are borrowing against their homes at unprecedented levels, leading some bankruptcy lawyers and consumer advocates to warn that many people could wind up losing their houses. ... [I]n parts of the Midwest and the Southeast where home prices have softened, delinquencies on home equity debt have started to rise, and bankruptcy lawyers are reporting that a growing number of their clients are losing their homes to the banks. ... Bankruptcy lawyers warn that the problem could spread to other parts of the country if home prices soften or if the economy does not improve. ... Lawyers say they are coming across people who have lost their jobs and are using both credit card and home equity debt in an attempt to stay out of bankruptcy. 'They are still winding up in bankruptcy, but a year or two later,' said Norma Hammes, a bankruptcy lawyer in San Jose, Calif. 'They are just delaying the inevitable.'" Medicare Recipients Face 12.4% Rise in Premiums 3/26/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "Medicare beneficiaries face a large increase in premiums next year, and doctors' fees will probably be cut because Medicare spending surged unexpectedly last year, federal officials said today. Richard S. Foster, chief actuary of the Medicare program, estimated that the Medicare premium would rise to $66 a month, an increase of $7.30, or 12.4 percent, the largest increase in 11 years. Medicare officials said they now estimated that the fees paid to doctors for treating Medicare patients would be cut 4.2 percent next year. ... The prospect of a pay cut for doctors creates a political problem for Mr. Bush and Congress. Medicare cut the average doctors' fee 5.4 percent last year, and many doctors say they cannot afford to take new Medicare patients if the government cuts their fees again." Court OKs Beth Steel's benefits cut 3/25/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage Reports the Baltimore Sun: "A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Manhattan approved yesterday Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s plan to terminate health care and life insurance benefits for 95,000 retirees at the end of the month as the company prepares for new ownership. ... At a press briefing at the union hall yesterday, union officials said they had worked for five years -- as the foreign competition became a serious threat to the U.S. steel industry - - to try to avert the loss of retiree health care benefits. 'It is sad that we have to meet here today because around 19,000 of our retirees ... are going to be losing what they thought were guaranteed [health care benefits],' said John Cirri, president of the Steelworkers Local 9477, which represents workers at Sparrows Point. 'Not only are their pensions being cut, but their health care is being stripped.'" Budgetary Shock and Awe 3/25/2003 | Type: Comment-OpEd | Format: Webpage The New York Times pierces the fog of war: "The country is facing plenty of financial problems ... Stunningly, Congress is preparing to make things far, far worse with more than $500 billion in tax cuts for the upper 1 percent of taxpayers [financed by] deep cuts of $475 billion in vital programs for the bottom 99 percent. These direct hits will range from Medicaid to child care, education to food stamps, environmental protection to emergency doles for the poor. ... The gallant troops in Iraq who are being invoked daily in speeches by members of Congress might be interested to know that the array of cuts includes an estimated $14 billion reduction in military veterans' programs." Justice Dept. Lifts FBI Database Limits 3/24/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From Newsday.com: "The Justice Department lifted a requirement Monday that the FBI ensure the accuracy and timeliness of information about criminals and crime victims before adding it to the country's most comprehensive law enforcement database. ... Records are queried increasingly by the nation's law enforcement agencies to help decide whether to monitor, detain or arrest someone. ... Critics urged Congress to review the change, arguing that information in the computer files was especially important because it can affect many aspects of a person's life. 'This is information that has always been stigmatizing, the type of data that can prevent someone from getting a job,' said Marc Rotenberg of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center. 'When you remove the accuracy obligations, you open the door to the use of unreliable information.'" Norwood drug plan seeks Medicare overhaul 3/17/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) has proposed a Medicare reform plan that would eventually end the traditional Medicare fee-for-service plan, The Hill reports. "Claiming the long-term financial viability of Medicare is in jeopardy, Norwood, in a two-page white paper obtained by The Hill, has proposed 'sunsetting' traditional Medicare, which was first enacted in 1965. At some unspecified time in the future, the Norwood plan would force seniors to leave traditional Medicare and enter an “enhanced Medicare” plan. ... Health care experts contend the enhanced option envisioned by Norwood would be composed of private plans and would increase the out-of-pocket expenses most seniors would pay." Bush to Ask Congress for Funds to Fight Iraq War 3/24/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From Reuters via the New York Times: "President Bush plans to ask congressional leaders on Monday for nearly $75 billion in emergency funds to pay for the Iraq war and to help allies Israel, Jordan and Egypt, administration and congressional sources said. Bush is counting on the Republican-led Congress to take swift action on the spending plan, which would cover initial war costs and include funding for homeland security and possibly for cash-strapped U.S. airlines bracing for a drop-off in business during a prolonged conflict. Bush's critics said the war would crowd out domestic priorities like education and health care. ... The Bush administration dismissed suggestions that the federal government, already facing record budget deficits, cannot afford the massive bill of waging war and slashing taxes by $726 billion as Bush has proposed." Revised Estimate Pegs Latest Bush Tax Cut Plan at $2.0 Trillion 3/18/2003 | Type: Analysis | Format: Webpage According to the latest figures from the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, President "Bush’s fiscal 2004 budget includes $1.6 trillion in additional tax cuts over the upcoming decade," reports Citizens for Tax Justice. "Counting the $0.4 trillion in added interest on the national debt that the tax cuts will entail, the total cost over the fiscal 2003-13 period will be almost $2 trillion if the plan is adopted by Congress—$100 billion more than the administration previously estimated. ... 'If the President’s new tax cuts are enacted, it appears that our national debt will approach $10 trillion by the end of 2013, counting the amount owed to the Social Security trust fund,' said Robert S. McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice. 'So much for the President’s worthless promise not to send the bill for his irresponsible tax-cutting program to our children.'" U.S. Wins Appeal on Domestic Spy Powers 3/24/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From Newsday.com: "The Supreme Court refused Monday to be drawn into a dispute over the boundaries of a law giving the government broader surveillance authority after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations wanted the justices to consider when the government should be allowed to monitor someone's telephone conversations and e-mail, then use the information to prosecute them." The decision leaves in place the earlier FISA review court's decision that the government does not have to limit its secret wiretaps to foreign intelligence gathering, and that law enforcement officers can use the secret monitoring in domestic criminal cases to build prosecution cases. U.S. Steps Up Secret Surveillance 3/24/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the Washington Post: "Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Justice Department and FBI have dramatically increased the use of two little-known powers that allow authorities to tap telephones, seize bank and telephone records and obtain other information in counterterrorism investigations with no immediate court oversight, according to officials and newly disclosed documents. ... Government officials describe both measures as crucial tools in the war on terrorism that allow authorities to act rapidly in the pursuit of potential threats without the delays that can result from seeking a judge's signature. Authorities also stress that the tactics are perfectly legal. But some civil liberties and privacy advocates say they are troubled by the increasing use of the tactics, primarily because there is little or no oversight by courts or other outside parties. In both cases, the target of the investigation never has to be informed that the government has obtained his personal records or put him under surveillance." Gorton still hasn't received security clearance 3/12/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage From the Seattle Times: "When Slade Gorton was appointed in December to a special commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, supporters heralded his lengthy résumé and expertise in intelligence matters. But Gorton lacks the one thing he really needs: security clearance to review classified documents. Gorton, a former Republican U.S. senator from Washington, isn't the only commissioner without clearance, so while the FBI completes background checks, the panel is at a standstill." Welcome to the Machine - Glitch Wins by a Landslide 2/20/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage The voting machines for 2004 are ready! They will ensure another "win" for GWB. How sinister can this be? Delaying Talk About the Cost of War 3/22/2003 | Type: Comment-OpEd | Format: Webpage From the New York Times: "On Monday, Mr. Bush is expected to meet with Congressional leaders to begin discussing the war costs and the supplemental spending bill he will submit to cover them through the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30. But the fact that he waited until Congress had largely committed itself to a budget for next year that includes tax cuts close to the scale he is seeking — and until partisan politics had been temporarily muted by wartime unity — left many Democrats between annoyed and fuming. 'It looks awfully suspicious,' said Thomas Kahn, the staff director for Democrats on the House Budget Committee. 'There was a surreal nature to their budget. Bombs are falling over Baghdad, and there's not a penny in their budget for the war.' ... The administration has sidestepped difficult budget trade-offs in the past by making sure that its priorities are not pitted directly against one another. In 2001, the administration delayed telling Congress how much it wanted for the Pentagon in coming years, saying it first needed to complete a lengthy review. The delay allowed Republicans to get Mr. Bush's first big tax cut through Congress before the proposed military spending increases were put on the table." Just the Beginning 4/1/2003 | Type: Analysis | Format: Webpage Robert Dreyfuss, writing in April 1, 2003 edition of The American Prospect, looks at the question of whether the war on Iraq is just "the opening salvo in a war to remake the world." While Americans have heard for months that the United States is going to war against Iraq in order to disarm and remove Saddam Hussein from power, to the Bush administration's hawks see the war as much more than that. "In the Middle East, impending "regime change" in Iraq is just the first step in a wholesale reordering of the entire region, according to neoconservatives - - who've begun almost gleefully referring to themselves as a 'cabal.' Like dominoes, the regimes in the region -- first Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, then Lebanon and the PLO, and finally Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia -- are slated to capitulate, collapse or face U.S. military action. ... And not just in the Middle East. Three-thousand U.S. soldiers are slated to arrive in the Philippines, opening yet another new front in the war on terrorism, and North Korea is finally in the administration's sights. On the horizon could be Latin America, where the Bush administration endorsed a failed regime change in Venezuela last year, and where new left-leaning challenges are emerging in Brazil, Ecuador and elsewhere." Oil, Currency and the War on Iraq 3/23/2003 | Type: History-Background | Format: Webpage Cóilín Nunan of the Irish sustainable development website Feasta examines the economic motivations for the war on Iraq: "The dollar is the de facto world reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two thirds of all official exchange reserves.... The dollars cost the US next to nothing to produce, so the fact that the world uses the currency in this way means that the US is importing vast quantities of goods and services virtually for free." The main threat to this arrangement, writes Nunan, is the possibility that OPEC may decide to accept Euros rather than dollars for its oil. "Oil is not just by far the most important commodity traded internationally, it is the lifeblood of all modern industrialised economies. If you don’t have oil, you have to buy it.... [If] OPEC were to decide to accept euros only for its oil," notes Nunan, "American economic dominance would be over. ... So far only one OPEC country has dared switch to the euro: Iraq. ... One other OPEC country has been talking publicly about possible conversion to the euro since 1999: Iran." Republicans Seek To Slash VA Budget 3/19/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage "The Republican Party is poised to devastate the budget of American veterans," reports Kate McLaughlin of Veterans Against The Iraq War: "The Republican majority of the House Budget Committee is reducing President Bush's proposed budget by about $844 million in health care and an additional $463 million in benefit programs including disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education survivor's benefits, and pension programs from next year's budget. In addition to these cuts, the GOP is planning to cut $15 billion from the veteran programs over the next 10 years. ... According to Congressman Lane Evens (D-IL), the ranking Democratic Member of the House Veteran's Affairs Committee, these cuts are picking up the slack for the controversial tax cuts, he stated. 'These cuts must be made, so that our government can afford to provide a tax cut which will benefit only the wealthiest Americans, many of who never served in the military.'" House Passes Bankruptcy Reform Bill, for 7th Time 3/20/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage The Republican-led House, launching another push for a bankruptcy reform bill that refuses to die, easily approved legislation Wednesday that would crack down on individual debtors and help credit card companies. Advocates said the bill struck a balance between helping responsible debtors ease their financial burdens while forcing irresponsible debtors to stop using the bankruptcy code as a 'financial planning tool.' ... Opponents reiterated -- as they often have in years past -- that the measure would unfairly punish middle-class families that get hit by a sudden medical bill as well as hurt women saddled with the debts of their divorced husbands." Bush Pushes Plan to Curb Medicare Appeals 3/15/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage "The Bush administration says it is planning major changes in the Medicare program that would make it more difficult for beneficiaries to appeal the denial of benefits like home health care and skilled nursing home care." So reports Robert Pear in the New York Times. "In thousands of recent cases, federal judges have ruled that frail elderly people with severe illnesses were improperly denied coverage for such services. ... Under federal law, the judges are independent, impartial adjudicators who hold hearings and make decisions based on the facts. ... President Bush is proposing both legislation and rules that would limit the judges' independence and could replace them in many cases. ... Beneficiaries have a personal stake in the issue. When claims are denied, a beneficiary often must pay tens of thousands of dollars for services already received." Democrats Slam Republicans on War Costs, Budget 3/20/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage Reuters via Lycos: "Democrats on Thursday accused Republicans of cynically trying to ram President Bush's new tax cuts through Congress before the potential cost of the U.S. war with Iraq becomes fully apparent. In the shadow of the unfolding conflict, Senate Democratic leaders bitterly protested a Republican decision to press ahead this week with the 2004 federal budget, which includes Bush's $726 billion tax cut package but no funds to pay for the war. Republicans leaders decided on Thursday to forgo all their allocated time for debating the budget, in effect forcing a final vote by Friday." War Inc. 3/17/2003 | Type: News | Format: Webpage "American corporations with close ties to the White House are poised to cash in on Saddam's defeat," writes Farhad Manjoo in Salon. "[E]ven if there's nothing exactly new about making money from war, this particular conflict, a preemptive war of choice, presents the somewhat novel prospect of the U.S. government deciding how war profits will be distributed even before the first sorties are launched. ... On March 10, for example, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had invited a handful of large engineering firms to bid on a $900 million contract for rebuilding Iraq. The Journal described the agency's efforts as "quiet," but "secret" seems a more apt term. In a procedure designed to respond to "urgent circumstances," the agency decided not to put out a public notice soliciting engineering bids and instead approached select firms "with a proven track record," said Ellen Yount, an agency spokeswoman. All of these firms are American, and many have close ties to present and former government officials." Patriot II's Attack on Citizenship 3/3/2003 | Type: Analysis | Format: Webpage FindLaw columnist and human rights advocate Joanne Mariner examines the citizenship-stripping provision of the proposed followup to the USA Patriot Act, named the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act" in the draft obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. Legally, Mariner says, the provision literally harkens back to the age of McCarthyism. As for the goverment's purpose for including such a provision, Mariner writes: "One can only speculate. But perhaps, by expelling these people from the national community, the government believes that it can exclude them from public concern." Noting that the Bush Administration's detention of American citizens Jose Padilla and Yaser Hamdi has received far more attention and criticism than its treatment of more than 600 foreign citizens similarly detained, Mariner speculates that perhaps Patriot II's citizenship-stripping provision is the Bush Administration's response to such criticism. "The government would no doubt prefer that Padilla and Hamdi had no claim to U.S. citizenship," she adds. "But to give the government the power to pick and choose among its citizens would reflect an unconstitutional - one might even say un-American - understanding of citizenship." Blood Money 2/27/2003 | Type: Commentary | Format: Webpage truthout commentator William Rivers Pitt looks beyond the ideology of empire to the payoff for those who espouse it: "It would be one thing if all of this was based purely on the ideology of our leaders. It is another thing altogether to consider the incredible profit motive behind it all. The President, his father, the Vice President, a whole host of powerful government officials, along with stockholders and executives from Halliburton and Carlyle, stand to make a mint off this war. Long-time corporate sponsors from the defense, construction and petroleum industries will likewise profit enormously. Critics of the Bush administration like to bandy about the word 'fascist' when speaking of George. The image that word conjures is of Nazi stormtroopers marching in unison towards Hitler's Final Solution. This does not at all fit. It is better, in this matter, to view the Bush administration through the eyes of Benito Mussolini. ... 'Fascism,' said Mussolini, 'should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power.'" Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century 3/3/2003 | Type: Research | Format: PDF Document The September 2000 report from the "Project for the New American Century," the foreign policy think tank founded by former Reagan and current Bush administration officials and advisors such as Elliott Abrams, Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. The report calls for an agressive effort to impose a global "Pax Americana" advantageous to American interests. |
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