OK. I need to preface this list. I got this from the Rock Against Bush album released pre-2004 elections, so there's a time frame for you. SOME of these reasons are hyperboles, or not technically Bush's fault, and this has ALREADY been pointed out to me. I will post some corrections after I post the main article. I recognize that this is a radical list, made by radical "Bush-haters" and yet, still, has some relevance to why we don't like him so much. SO before you go all "Number __ is not true, it's been fixed/it's an exaggeration/it's not Bush's fault" let me tell you that I already know, but for posterity's sake, I leave the list unaltered. Remember it was made in 2004, so some of the reasons are outdated.
60 REASONS TO HATE GEORGE W. BUSH
1. National debt under Bush Jr. has increased so drastically that the average American's estimated share of the national debt will be an astronomical $24,00 compared to $500 when Dubya first took office.
2. Under Bush Jr. there are now 43 million Americans with no health insurance.
3. Responsible for and unemployment rate of 6%. There are now 9 million people out of work in America-3.3 million more than when Bush took office.
4. He cut health care benefits for veterans.
5. Bush Jr. Deserted his unit during Vietnam and was reportedly AWOL for over a year from his assigned unit: The Texas Air National Guard, or as it’s referred to by other military outfits, "The Champagne Division".
6. Despite a 13% unemployment rate among those aged 16-24, Bush Jr. Proposed to eliminate youth opportunity grants-A program provides job training to the nation’s youth. A $225M program in 2002 is now being done away with so Bush can have more money for Iraq.
7. He cut funding for 375,000 low income college students and reduced Pell Grant amounts to such a severe degree that it effectively caused 84,000 students to no longer be eligible for Pell Grants. Pell amounts have been overall reduced for 1.5 million students... its safe to say that the Bush daughters aren't eligible for financial aid, so this won't affect the opulent lives of anyone Bush Jr. may know.
8. Withdrew from the international criminal court.
9. First president in U.S history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the US 2002 elections)
10. All-time U.S. (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
11. The Bush administration had twice as many FBI agents fighting the drug war than fighting terrorism prior to 9/11. Even after 9/11 more than 2000 agents are wasting their valuable time assigned to the war on drugs.
12. His proposed "free trade" agreements would result in the loss of U.S. jobs to foreign markets and the exploitation of third world workers.
13. John Ashcroft
14. He has taken 11 official executive actions to undermine reproductive rights...how long will it be before a woman is stripped of her right to choose?
15. Failed to fulfill his pledge to get Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive".
16. Wasted federal resources on a PR trip to Baghdad where he staged a Thanksgiving meal at 6am with troops that were screened based on their political affiliation. And the Turkey? It was a prop.
17. His refusal to fire-or even reprimand-Lt. General Jerry "our God is bigger than their God" Boykin. Perhaps it's because Boykin said of the president, "George Bush was not elected by a majority of voters in the United States. He was appointed by God. He's in the white house because God put him there."
18. After sending troops off to fight in an unjust unprovoked war, he still has yet to attend any soldiers' funerals.
19. His shameless nepotism for the rich and powerful. Elizabeth Cheney (daughter of ol' Dick) got hooked up with a cool gig at the state department where she was in charge of the $129 million Middle East partnership initiative and then was moved to daddy and uncle Dubya's campaign payroll.
20. He dropped his dog on its head.
21. Bush Jr. is the first president in US History to enter office with a criminal record.
22. Bush Jr. has set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest a leader (10 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
23. He slashed funding to the Violence Against Women Act.
24. He has invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of one billion dollars a week.
25. He appointed Charles Pickering, a notorious segregationist from Mississippi, as a federal judge and suspiciously did so on Martin Luther King Day.
26. Bush has spent over $100 billion on Iraq, leaving states to face the largest budget crisis in decades and forced to cut off public services; now with the federal deficit at a new high, Bush Jr. wants to award more tax breaks to the wealthy.
27. Under new Bush legislation (The Clear Skies Initiative), power plants are allowed to emit triple the amount of highly-toxic mercury into the environment.
28. Bush Jr. failed to protect 3 million acres of the Tongass National Forest from logging. The Tongass has the highest concentration of bald eagles on earth and has already lost 700 square miles to logging with 33 more logging permits pending. Not event the sanctity of our endangered national bird can compete with Bush campaign contributions provided by the forest industry.
29. He is on pace to have taken more vacation than any president in history - including a 28-day vacation right before 9/11. Bush Jr. has taken 6 months of vacation in total. Do you know anyone that gets 6 months of vacation?
30. He pulled out of the Kyoto Agreement on Global Warming, which had been agreed upon by 178 other countries.
31. Bush Jr. is endorsed by fundamentalist Pat Robertson who claims that God told him Bush will win re-election and that "It doesn't make a difference what Bush does because God is blessing him". Bush keeps some great company, but keep in mind Robertson was also the nitwit that blamed the 9/11 attacks on gays and suggested that we "nuke" the US State Department.
32. He set the record for the most executions by any governor in American History. 152 in total; some of whom were mentally disabled.
33. Has repeatedly stonewalled the public investigation into 9/11.
34. Bush Jr. declined to fully fund the AIDS initiative after promising to do so. The final cuts that resulted were over $2 billion.
35. He still suggests that Homosexuals are "sinners" and is pushing legislation that would forbid gay partnerships and deny fundamental civil rights on a national and local level.
36. Choked on a pretzel and nearly lost his life while seated in front of a TV.
37. Bush Jr. has gone to great lengths to prevent investigations of his friends at Enron and Halliburton. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip offs in history.
38. Bush Jr. has set the record for the fewest amount of press conferences by a president since the advent of television.
39. Responsible for a $521 billion budget deficit - less than 4 years after inheriting a $200 billion surplus.
40. He has made repeated attempts to legalize oil drilling in the National Wildlife Refuge.
41. He refused to buy adequate body armor for our troops in Iraq. A study done by a defense consultant reveals that approximately 25% of casualties could have been prevented with better armor.
42. Responsible for the highest U.S. trade deficit EVER: $43.1 billion dollars.
43. Bush Jr. gave his campaign contributors and strongest supporters $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. Corporations like Halliburton, Bechtel, Kellogg, Brown and Root, etc. Numerous scandals have been uncovered regarding these friendly contractors who are ripping off US tax-payers by overcharging for their services.
44. Bush campaign shirts were made in Burma under sweatshop conditions. Interestingly enough, in 2003 Bush Jr. signed legislation banning products from Burma effective September 1st 2003.
45. He approved the sale of $20 million dollars worth of shackles, electro-shock technology, and other torture devices to countries that have been condemned for torture.
46. College tuition has increased 28% during the bush Jr. administration.
47. The Bush Jr. Administration was told by over 60 influential scientists, including 20 Nobel Prize winners, that they are deliberately and systematically distorting scientific facts---in the service of policy goals on the environment, health, biomedical research, and nuclear weaponry at home and abroad.
48. He proposed a budget that would slash 40% of the funding for after-school programs. No child left behind? This decrease would cut off about 475,000 children.
49. Bush Jr. authorized the use of cluster bombs and Daisy Cutters (the world’s biggest non-nuclear bomb) in populated areas of Iraq. These have contributed to the deaths of over 10,00 innocent civilians, more than three times the number of casualties suffered in the tragic 9/11 attacks. Note: NO Iraqis were involved in the 9/11 attacks.
50. Richard Clarke (Chief Anti-Terrorism Advisor) and Paul O’Neill (US Treasury Secretary) both testified that Bush Jr. was intent on invading Iraq within the first few days of his Presidency. Clarke claims that Bush Jr. ignored his warnings about an imminent al Qaeda attack. On September 12th, Bush Jr. being discovered (and against the CIA’s recommendation), he still chose to invade Iraq. Note: This has been confirmed by The 9/11 Commission.
51. Although he still claims that fighting terrorism is his main priority, Bush Jr. slashed the FBI’s requested counter terrorism budget by two-thirds.
52. Bush Jr. has made it clear that in his next tern he plans to appoint Supreme Court Judges who are against a woman’s right to choose, and would effectively outlaw abortion on a national level.
53. Bush Jr. still has yet to attend a soldiers' funeral and continues to steer the American public away from knowing about the casualties. He has done even less to acknowledge the over 18,000 troops that have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
54. His administration illegally produced fake pro-bush news spots for the Dept. of Health and Human Services. They went as far as to include phony journalists who praise Dubya’s controversial Medicare Bill and they added a fake crowd to cheer the whole thing on
55. In an effort to give the appearance that Bush Jr. was creating more jobs, his administration tried to reclassify fast food employment as manufacturing jobs. These minimum wage jobs are nothing like real manufacturing jobs that provide benefits and pay $15/hour.
56. His administration proposed the highest penalties in the world for indecency violations on our public airwaves. Up to $500,000 for saying something the FCC deems offensive.
57. He is religious fanatic that believes in the apocalypse and that ONLY Evangelical Christians are eligible for the afterlife. Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and everyone that isn’t in bush’s flock are all doomed to Hell. To see that full extent of his extremist views, watch the PBS documentary The Jesus Factor. See it here
link
58. The Treasury Department under Bush Jr. assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as they did to track the financial resources of both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
59. Right before Christmas Bush Jr. cut overtime pay for over 644,000 employees who work over 40 hours a week.
60. Against Colin Powell’s advice, Bush Jr. chose not to recognize Afghanistan’s statehood, therefore making its people not protected by International Law and vulnerable could boast a proud history of upholding the humane law of the Geneva Convention.
