Bush policies threaten our rights
LEVAR MICHAEL
Sunday, July 6, 2003
A wise man once said, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” And fooling is just what the Bush administration has been trying to do to us for the last few years.
It’s time for people to come down off of their patriotic high and start paying attention to what’s been happening here at home. The administration would have us believe that our patriotic duties require us, as good Americans, to fall in line and support the president in a time of crisis, no matter what the situation. And that’s just what many of us have done. We’ve silenced ourselves; we’ve blinded ourselves; and we’ve muted our ears to the more vague, destructive and reprehensible nature of this administration. For all of you who still choose to defend this corrupted, misguided group of swindlers that call themselves an administration, here are some facts that might change your mind.
First, let’s talk about the environment. Have you noticed anything strange about our weather patterns lately? Well, the Environmental Protection Agency has. It has just issued a scientific study about global warming and its effect on weather patterns. You might be interested to know that the Bush administration admitted to purposely changing wording in the report to water down the EPA’s findings. I guess the fact that it rained nine times more this month in D.C. than it did in Seattle wasn’t enough to convince the president that something might be wrong. Bush also recently supported a bill allowing major logging of up to 20 million acres of federal land. This bill also eliminates environmental oversight of the land before the logging begins. And things here at home haven’t been peaches and cream either.
On the economic side of things, the administration has just passed its huge tax cut for the rich by which the top 1 percent of the country will receive more than half of the tax cut itself. And one little fact the president leaves out of his speeches made to the Armed Services is that those in the military who received “tax free combat pay” will not benefit from the Child Tax Credit because they didn’t make enough money. Did I also mention we’re giving away billions of dollars to people who don’t need it; our national debt continues to grow at the fastest rate ever recorded in the history of this country. On top of this, there are still 9 million Americans who are unemployed each day.
With all of this the administration is now supporting the Family Time Flexibility Act. This bill would literally give employers the right to offer time off instead of cash overtime payment. In other words, this bill would give employers the right not to pay their workers a cash overtime payment for time worked more than 40 hours a week.
As if this were not enough, the administration also continues to impede the rights of the American people by openly violating the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh amendments of the Constitution with unlawful legislation like the Patriot Act. And now with the deregulation of the airways, the FCC has made it possible for a handful of corporations to own all of what Americans see, hear and read. It would allow one company in a specific market to own all the media outlets in that sector.
This is wrong and it must be stopped. When will we as a people begin to open our hearts, minds and eyes to the deceptions that are taking place in our country each and every day? When will we begin to understand that this president and his administration have embraced policies that have not only been destructive but have crippled the minds and will of the masses?
We as Americans must never become complacent. We must always seek out new information; we must broaden our horizons and educate ourselves on topics that have the ability to change our lives. We must never give up the fight for peace, social justice and our God-given constitutional right to speak our minds. Take the time to write or call your local representatives and let them know that you don’t support these radical right-wing policies. Let them know that we refuse to stand on the sidelines and watch as this administration destroys this country. Never give up!
LEVAR MICHAEL
Sunday, July 6, 2003
A wise man once said, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” And fooling is just what the Bush administration has been trying to do to us for the last few years.
It’s time for people to come down off of their patriotic high and start paying attention to what’s been happening here at home. The administration would have us believe that our patriotic duties require us, as good Americans, to fall in line and support the president in a time of crisis, no matter what the situation. And that’s just what many of us have done. We’ve silenced ourselves; we’ve blinded ourselves; and we’ve muted our ears to the more vague, destructive and reprehensible nature of this administration. For all of you who still choose to defend this corrupted, misguided group of swindlers that call themselves an administration, here are some facts that might change your mind.
First, let’s talk about the environment. Have you noticed anything strange about our weather patterns lately? Well, the Environmental Protection Agency has. It has just issued a scientific study about global warming and its effect on weather patterns. You might be interested to know that the Bush administration admitted to purposely changing wording in the report to water down the EPA’s findings. I guess the fact that it rained nine times more this month in D.C. than it did in Seattle wasn’t enough to convince the president that something might be wrong. Bush also recently supported a bill allowing major logging of up to 20 million acres of federal land. This bill also eliminates environmental oversight of the land before the logging begins. And things here at home haven’t been peaches and cream either.
On the economic side of things, the administration has just passed its huge tax cut for the rich by which the top 1 percent of the country will receive more than half of the tax cut itself. And one little fact the president leaves out of his speeches made to the Armed Services is that those in the military who received “tax free combat pay” will not benefit from the Child Tax Credit because they didn’t make enough money. Did I also mention we’re giving away billions of dollars to people who don’t need it; our national debt continues to grow at the fastest rate ever recorded in the history of this country. On top of this, there are still 9 million Americans who are unemployed each day.
With all of this the administration is now supporting the Family Time Flexibility Act. This bill would literally give employers the right to offer time off instead of cash overtime payment. In other words, this bill would give employers the right not to pay their workers a cash overtime payment for time worked more than 40 hours a week.
As if this were not enough, the administration also continues to impede the rights of the American people by openly violating the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh amendments of the Constitution with unlawful legislation like the Patriot Act. And now with the deregulation of the airways, the FCC has made it possible for a handful of corporations to own all of what Americans see, hear and read. It would allow one company in a specific market to own all the media outlets in that sector.
This is wrong and it must be stopped. When will we as a people begin to open our hearts, minds and eyes to the deceptions that are taking place in our country each and every day? When will we begin to understand that this president and his administration have embraced policies that have not only been destructive but have crippled the minds and will of the masses?
We as Americans must never become complacent. We must always seek out new information; we must broaden our horizons and educate ourselves on topics that have the ability to change our lives. We must never give up the fight for peace, social justice and our God-given constitutional right to speak our minds. Take the time to write or call your local representatives and let them know that you don’t support these radical right-wing policies. Let them know that we refuse to stand on the sidelines and watch as this administration destroys this country. Never give up!
