November 2 2008
The spotlight in the US is on the presidential campaign, but it is not the only election taking place there on Tuesday.
Senators in 33 states are fighting for their jobs, and some Republican candidates are doing all they can to distance themselves from their own party.
Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, some are turning their tails on the party that got them elected.
It seems George W Bush’s legacy is proving poisonous. Across the country from Norm Coleman in Minnesota to Senator Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina, once secure Republican seats are looking vulnerable.
It has got so bad, some Republican politicians are aligning themselves with the Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
In a video obtained by an American political website, the wife of one Republican congressional candidate tells supporters their campaign has taken a dramatic turn.
With Bush’s approval rating in freefall and Obama’s lead over John McCain hitting double figures, it is not easy being a Republican. Dino Rossi, the candidate for governor of Washington, removed the word ‘Republican’ next to his name and put the less well known initials ‘GOP’ instead.
So if the politicians themselves do not want anything to do with the Republican brand, why should the voters when it is time to choose their president?
A short list of a few things Bush will be remembered for.
Great management of taxpayers money will not be one of them.
Bush’s Legacy Of Squandering Taxpayer Money
IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION
–$142 million wasted on reconstruction projects that were either terminated or canceled. [Special Inspector General for Iraq, 7/28/08]
–“Significant” amount of U.S. funds for Iraq funneled to Sunni and Shiite militias. [GAO Comptroller, 3/11/08]
–$180 million payed to construction company Bechtel for projects it never finished. [Federal audit, 7/25/07]
–$5.1 billion in expenses for Iraq reconstruction charged without documentation. [Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction report, 3/19/07]
–$10 billion in spending on Iraq reconstruction was wasteful or poorly tracked. [GAO, 2/15/07]
–Halliburton overcharged the government $100 million for one day’s work in 2004. [Project on Government Oversight, 10/8/04]
KATRINA
–Millions wasted on four no-bid contracts, including paying $20 million for an unusable camp for evacuees. [Homeland Security Department Inspector General, 9/10/08]
–$2.4 billion in contracts doled out by FEMA that guaranteed profits for big companies. [Center for Public Integrity investigation, 6/25/07]
-An estimated $2 billion in fraud and waste — nearly 11 percent of the $19 billion spent by FEMA on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as of mid-June. [New York Times tally, 6/27/06]
–“Widespread” waste and mismanagement on millions for Katrina recovery, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used. [GAO, 3/16/06]
DEFENSE CONTRACTS
–A $50 million Air Force contract awarded to a company with close ties to senior Air Force officers, in a process “fraught with improper influence, irregular procedures, glaring conflicts of interest.” [Project on Government Oversight, 4/18/08]
–$1.7 billion in excessive fees and waste paid by the Pentagon to the Interior Department to manage federal lands. [Defense Department and Interior Department Inspectors General audit, 12/25/06]
–$1 trillion unaccounted for by the Pentagon, including 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units. [GAO, 5/18/03]
Given Bush’s history of gross fiscal mismanagement — including an unprecedented number of no-bid contracts and Bush’s resistance to closing fraud loopholes or increasing oversight of contracts — why should Americans trust another $700 billion to his care? Paul Krugman writes, “Let’s not be railroaded into accepting an enormously expensive plan that doesn’t seem to address the real problem.”
Well the Bailout went through. Many countries around the world have been affected by a Bush and company made problem.
He leaves a Debt of about 11 trillion dollars. My he has done well. Hasn’t he?
That would be the tip of the Bush Legacy Iceburg.
Did You Know 