George W. Bush's first year
in office
from http:/hNww.redpepper.org.uk
1. Significantly eased field-testing controls
of genetically engineered crops.
2. Cut federal spending on libraries by
$39 million.
3. Cut $35 million in funding for doctors
to get advanced pediatric training.
4. Cut funding for research into renewable
energy sources by 50%.
5. Revoked rules that reduced the acceptable
levels of arsenic in drinking water.
6. Blocked rules that would require federal
agencies to offer bilingual assistance to non-English speaking
persons. This, from a candidate who would readily fire-up his
Spanish-speaking skills in front of would-be Hispanic voters.
7. Proposed to eliminate new marine protections
for the Channel Islands and the coral reefs of northwest Hawaii
(please see San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 2001).
8. Cut funding for research into cleaner,
more efficient cars and trucks by 28%
9. Suspended rules that would have strengthened
the government's ability to deny contracts to companies that violated
workplace safety, environmental and other federal laws.
10. Approved the sending of letters by
Interior Department appointee Gale Norton to state officials soliciting
suggestions for opening up national monuments for oil and gas
drilling, coal mining, and foresting.
11. Appointed John Negroponte -- an unindicted
high-level Iran Contra figure to the post of United Nations Ambassador.
12. Abandoned a campaign pledge to invest
$100 million for rainforest conservation.
13. Reduced by 86% the Community Access
Program for public hospitals, clinics and providers of
care for people without insurance.
14. Rescinded a proposal to increase public
access to information about the potential consequences resulting
from chemical plant accidents.
15. Suspended rules that would require
hardrock miners to clean up sites on public lands.
16. Cut $60 million from a Boy's and Girl's
Clubs of America program for public housing.
17. Proposed to eliminate a federal program,
designed and successfully used in Seattle, to help communities
prepare for natural disasters.
18. Pulled out of the 1997 Kyoto Treaty
global warming agreement.
19. Cut $200 million of work force training
for dislocated workers.
20. Eliminated funding for the Wetlands
Reserve Program, which encourages farmers to maintain wetlands
habitat on their property.
21. Cut program to provide childcare to
low-income families as they move from welfare to work.
22. Cut a program that provided prescription
contraceptive coverage to federal employees (though it still pays
for Viagra).
23. Cut $700 million in capital funds
for repairs in public housing.
24. Appointed Otto Reich -- an un-indicted
high-level Iran Contra figure -- to Assistant Secretary of State
for Inter-American Affairs.
25. Cut the budget of the Environmental
Protection Agency by $500 million.
26. Proposed to curtail the ability of
groups to sue in order to get an animal placed on the Endangered
Species List.
27. Rescinded the rule that mandated increased
energy-saving efficiency regulations for central air conditioners
and heat pumps.
28. Repealed workplace ergonomic rules
designed to improve worker health and safety.
29. Abandoned campaign pledge to regulate
carbon dioxide, the waste gas that contributes to global warming.
30. Banned federal aid to international
family planning programs that offer abortion counseling with other
independent funds.
31. Closed the White House Office for
Women's Health Initiatives and Outreach.
32. Nominated David Lauriski -- an ex-mining
company executive --- to post of Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Mine Safety and Health.
33. Approved a controversial plan by Interior
Secretary Gale Norton to auction oil and gas development tracts
off the coast of eastern Florida.
34. Announced intention to open up Montana's
Lewis and Clark National Forest to oil and drilling.
35. Proposes to re-draw boundaries of
nation's monuments, which would technically allow oil and gas
drilling outside of national monuments.
36. Gutted the White House AIDS Office.
37. Renegotiated a free trade agreement
with Jordan to eliminate workers' rights and safeguards for the
environment.
38. Will no longer seek guidance from
The American Bar Association in recommendations for the federal
judiciary appointments.
39. Appointed recycling foe Lynn Scarlett
as Undersecretary of the Interior..
40. Took steps to abolish the White House
Council on Environmental Quality.
41. Cut the Community Oriented Policing
Services program.
42. Allowed Interior Secretary Gale Norton
to shelve citizen-led grizzly bear re-introduction plan scheduled
for Idaho and Montana wilderness.
43. Continues to hold up federal funding
for stem cell research projects.
44. Makes sure convicted misdemeanor drug
users cannot get financial aid for college, though convicted murderers
can.
45. Refused to fund continued cleanup
of uranium-slag heap in Utah.
46. Refused to fund continued litigation
of the government's tobacco company lawsuit.
47. Proposed a $2 trillion tax cut, 43%
of which will go to the wealthiest 1 % of Americans.
48. Signed a bill making it harder for
poor and middle-class Americans to file for bankruptcy, even in
the case of daunting medical bills.
49. Appointed a Vice President quoted
as saying, lf you want to do something about carbon dioxide emissions,
then you ought to build nuclear power plants (Meet the Press)
50. Appointed Diana Roth to the Council
of Economic Advisers. (There is no gender gap in pay, Boston Globe,
March 28, 2001.)
51. Appointed Kay Cole James, an opponent
of affirmative action, to direct the Office of Personnel Management.
52. Cut $15.7 million earmarked for states
to investigate cases of child abuse and neglect.
53. Helped kill a law designed to make
it tougher for teenagers to get credit cards.
54. Proposed elimination of the Reading
is Fundamental program that gives free books to poor children.
55.1s pushing for development of small
nuclear arms to attack deeply buried targets and weapons. This
would violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
56. Proposes to nominate Jeffrey Sutton,
the attorney responsible for a recent case weakening the Americans
with Disabilities Act, to federal appeals court judgeship.
57. Proposes to reverse regulation protecting
60 million acres of national forest from logging and road building.
58. Eliminated funding for the We the
People education program which taught school children about the
Constitution, the Bill of Rights and citizenship.
59. Appointed John Bolton, who opposes
nonproliferation treaties and the UN, to Undersecretary of State
for Arms Control and International Security.
60. Nominated Linda Fisher, an executive
with Monsanto, for the number-two job at the Environmental Protection
Agency.
61. Nominated Michael McConnell, leading
critic of the separation of church and state, to a federal judgeship.
62. Nominated Terrence Boyle, an ardent
opponent of civil rights, to a federal judgeship.
63. Canceled 2004 deadline for automakers
to develop prototype high mileage cars.
64. Nominated Harvey Pitts, a lawyer for
a teen sex video distributor, to head SEC.
65. Nominated John Walters, a strong opponent
of prison drug treatment programs, to be Drug Tsar. (Washington
Post, May 16, 2001.)
66. Nominated J. Steven Giles, an oil
and coal lobbyist, for Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
67. Nominated Bennett Raley, who advocates
repealing the Endangered Species Act, for Assistant Secretary
for Water and Science
68. Is seeking the dismissal of class-action
lawsuit filed in the US against Japan by Asian women forced to
work as sex slaves during WWII.
69. Earmarked $4 million in new federal
grant money for HIV and drug abuse prevention programs to go only
to religious groups and not secular equivalents.
70. Reduced the Low Income Home Assistance
Program by 40%; it aided low-income individuals who need assistance
paying energy bills.
71. Nominated Ted Olson, who has repeatedly
lied about his involvement with the Scaiffe-funded Arkansas Project
to bring down Bill Clinton, for Solicitor General.
72. Nominated Terrance Boyle, a foe of
civil rights, to a federal judgeship..
73. Proposes to ease permit process, including
environmental considerations, for refinery, nuclear and hydroelectric
dam construction. (Washington Post, May 18, 2001.)
74. Proposes to give government the authority
to take private property through eminent domain for power lines.
75. Proposes that $1.2 billion in funding
for alternative renewable energy come from selling oil and gas
lease tracts in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve.
76. Plans on serving genetically engineered
foods at all official government functions.
77. Forced out Forest Service chief Mike
Dombeck and appointed a timber industry lobbyist.
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