What is happening to our country?

It is time for Americans to start asking ourselves, “what is happening to our country?” As I look around, there are so many signs that President Bush, his administration and the Republican leadership are systematically destroying the values and well-being of our nation through their arrogance, greed and incompetence.

Facing a cost of $200 billion for reconstruction in the aftermath of Katrina, Bush refuses to reconsider his ideological obsession with tax cuts for the wealthy. Don’t be fooled – “no tax increases” doesn’t just mean no new taxes, it means sticking with his plan to make earlier rounds of tax cuts permanent. Burdening future generations with the cost of his largess to the wealthy, through record-breaking deficits, doesn’t seem to concern him. How can we trust a political party where 222 of its congressmen and 46 of its senators have categorically refused to raise taxes (by signing Grover Norquist’s tax pledge)? How is that a sign of fiscal responsibility?

At the core of some of our most challenging security and economic issues is our lack of energy independence. But Bush has shown zero leadership on energy – his is a policy of avoidance – looking for a few barrels of oil in Alaska and relaxing environmental standards. Instead of sending people to Mars (as NASA wants to do), our national quest should be a radical reduction in our dependence on oil, using economic incentives – including a national gas tax – to fund research and encourage conservation.

I am concerned with more than just economic security. Bush policies have deeply damaged the credibility of the United States as a protector of human rights. The very values we are fighting for in the war on terror are being systematically violated. Widespread abuse and torture of prisoners is met with indifference and no accountability, even as it turns those who might be sympathetic to the U.S. away from us. Wholesale disregard for due process (we have held prisoners in Guantanamo for more than three years without bringing charges) is acceptable, because President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld have decided they are guilty. Through “extraordinary rendition”, we secretly send suspects, including our own citizens, for interrogation to countries, including Syria, that we know engage in torture.

We agonize about how we are going to protect ourselves against terrorist attacks on our soil, yet the Republicans whom we have put in charge of our executive and legislative, and soon perhaps, judicial, branches of government are beholden to the National Rifle Association, which stymies every reasonable way to restrict access by criminals (including terrorists) to firearms. That’s an organization which invites speakers who profess, “I want burglars dead…no court case. No parole. No early release. I want ‘em dead. Get a gun, and when they attack you shoot ‘em.” (as quoted in The New Yorker, 8/1/05). It is disgraceful that our president, and the majority of our national leaders (Democrats included), take their direction from an organization with so little respect for our values.

If you are disturbed by where our country is heading, I urge you to speak out.

Katrina getting in the way of tax cuts, no way!

President Bush stated that the federal government will do its share to help the victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. But, he also spoke of the importance of having the American people do their share by contributing privately.

While I support charitable contributions, and have myself contributed to the relief effort, perhaps the need for private support would not be so great if President Bush had not given billions of dollars of tax breaks to the very wealthiest Americans, gutting federal resources. As if a deficit exceeding $400 billion (one of the highest on record) is not enough of a wake up call for more prudent fiscal management, the administration and Republican leadership is still pushing for a permanent repeal of the estate tax, an additional $745 billion gift over ten years to the richest Americans.

The next time Bush calls for private support, perhaps he should address just the recipients of his largess, since for the vast majority of Americans, household incomes have failed to increase over the past five years, as reported by the Census Bureau. That’s a new record, neatly coinciding with the term of the Bush presidency.