By: William Rivers Pitt  

George W. Bush has tapped John J. Snow to replace blabbermouth former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill. Snow rises to his post from a corporate executive background, having served as the CEO of railroad giant CSX. It seems no one in the administration read the fine print, or if they did, decided said fine print does not matter. Mr. Snow ran a company whose 2001 annual report claimed this as its company motto: "CSX will pursue all available opportunities to pay the lowest federal, state, and foreign taxes."

They succeeded admirably in this. CSX has not paid taxes in three of the last four years. In fact, CSX supplemented its $934 million in pretax U.S. profits over those four years with a total of $164 million in tax rebates from the federal government. You and I paid for that, in case you might have been wondering. Enron still haunts the halls of our national economy; recall, if you will, that Kenny-Boy's Bush-beloved corporation did not pay any taxes for four of the five years that passed before it exploded like the Hindenburg before our very eyes. Curious that the administration would nominate someone with such a similar background.

It is hard to decide if this is merely singularly stupid, or is in fact trans-stupid...

By: Michael Hayduke  

What we are witnessing is a backroom deal between the United States government and industry, the military-industrial complex writ large, if you will, a cushy "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deal, to once and for all consolidate corporate imperialist control of the world oil economy in the hands of trans-national energy corporations, military arms manufacturers, and global communications networks. The United States government has been transformed from the protector of the rights of the people of the United States, to the chief promoter and defender of international capitalism, private profit, and imperialist expansion.

There is a word for this, a word that is unfashionable these days, but nonetheless appropriate and descriptive of the present situation. The word is fascism.

The democratic ideals of the United States of America have been sold to the highest bidder. The United States government has been reduced to the cheerleading team for international capital, its military issued with dark suits and white ties with spaghetti stains, the protection racket for the imperialist family oil cartel...

"We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11^th. What did this administration know and when did it know it, about the events of September 11^th? Who else knew, and why did they not warn the innocent people of New York who were needlessly murdered? What do they have to hide?"

- Cynthia McKinney

By: Mike Schiller  

Like Father, Like Son...

It had to happen. Some thought it wouldn't. Oh, but it was prophesized. It runs in the family... lying, cheating, and yes - reversing pledges not to raise taxes. A Bush tax hike (on the backs of the poor) sounds so retro-1992, doesn't it? Bush's "new and improved" economic team is about as improved as a prescription pain reliever that causes excruciating backaches and promotes swelling throughout the entire body. (Scott McClellan's FDA should be prepared to unveil one soon, no doubt accompanied by a report which claims hydrochloric acid makes a great salad dressing). As I write this article, Bush's illiterate policy writers are sifting through Webster's dictionary for words that can be used to say "raise taxes on the poor" without actually using the words "raise", "taxes", or "poor". The minute they finish looking those up, along with all the other words that comprise those long, boring paragraphs known as "definitions" they will unveil Bush's economic agenda for 2003.

Editorial from:  

Last week, regulators announced an agreement with Wall Street's 10 largest investment firms that requires them to pay $1.4 billion to settle conflict-of-interest charges and a promise to mend their ways.

But the settlement is barely a slap on the wrist.

When expressed in the aggregate, billion-dollar fines always sound impressive. But the amounts to the individual firms aren't that great.

Citigroup got slapped with the biggest fine, $300 million. Credit Suisse First Boston got hit for $150 million. The other firms will pay $50 million each.

Editorial from:  

The United States, home of the Hummer, the Navigator, and the Expedition, today imports 60% of its oil. Roughly a quarter of that comes from the Persian Gulf, primarily from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Yes, Iraq. Compare that with 1973, when only 33% of daily oil consumption was imported, and still the Arab embargo sent the economy into a tailspin.

Reliance on Middle East oil is a front-and-center issue, so a bit of the federal tax code that gives special deductions for the very biggest SUV's deserves inspection.

Businesspeople who buy the least efficient mass-market car, a Hummer H2 (average miles per gallon: 11) can reap $13,476 in tax breaks one year after purchase. By contrast, those who buy or lease one of the most efficient cars, the Toyota Prius (average miles per gallon: 48), get only $3,729.

Editorial from:  

President Bush punched a dangerous hole in the wall between church and state earlier this month by signing an executive order that eases the way for religious groups to receive federal funds to run social services programs. The President's unilateral order, which wrongly cut Congress out of the loop, lets faith-based organizations use tax dollars to win converts and gives them a green light to discriminate in employment. It should be struck down by the courts.

The Bush administration's faith-based initiative has long been high on the wish list of religious conservatives. It allows churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious entities to qualify for tax dollars to finance programs for the poor and emergency relief, and it lets them provide those services in an expressly, even coercively, religious setting. While the initiative in theory bars federal subsidies for religious activities themselves, it clearly permits praying, proselytizing, religious counseling, and other sectarian activities to be part of a program receiving federal funds.

Editorial from:  

The initial deadline for registration - for those from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Sudan - was Dec. 16. Hundreds of people who showed up to comply, many of them in Southern California, were handcuffed and detained on minor immigration charges. Some of these people seem to have had merely technical problems and had already submitted paperwork to fix them. Somehow, a program intended to keep track of who was in the United States turned into another dragnet for trivial immigration matters unrelated to terrorism.

The bait and switch, which punishes and humiliates those who tried to follow the rules, can only undermine the purpose of the registration program. It's hard to imagine that this action will not discourage those with technical visa problems from showing up on Jan. 10, the registration deadline for people from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. If the government plays "gotcha" with the immigration laws, it might score a few deportations, but it risks guaranteeing that the database it is assembling remains woefully incomplete. That's a bad trade.

"It's time for us, without regard to party, to say what every American knows: Washington is not doing enough to make America safe. If the administration continues to do too little, it will be too late again."

- Senator John Edwards of North Carolina

By: Norm Walker  

You have to ask yourself: "What do the conservatives want?" Here is what I think. It's obvious, from my point of view, that they want to discredit the service side of government, deregulate industry, undermine trade unions, erode liberties and democratic values, and trash long-standing principles of foreign policy A lot of people think all the Democrat vs. Republican difference is about taxes, or social programs, or such things as prescription drugs. No, No, No, my friends this is an attempt to take over the hearts and minds of the American people. This is a desire to instill in all Americans values that are an anathema to liberty. These values are antidemocratic. They are the values of the corporatist.

The administration's desire to instill fear in the individual citizen is paramount for it's success. An unafraid populous will not surrender their constitutional rights to the satisfaction of the moral absolutist. Defiance toward the intrusions upon our liberty will be considered unlawful and grounds for punishment, if they have their way. The imposition of their values, whatever they be, is their true mission. Think and behave as they say, not as they do, is the prime mission of conservatives.

By: Ralph Martire  

Well, it's almost a new year, a time when most folks reflect on the big events of the last 12 months and consider their implications for the future. It strikes me that the one recent event that will most influence our future is the Republicans taking control of all major branches of the federal government. Now that a clear path has been laid for the President's agenda, what can we expect?

For one thing, President Bush claims he wants to stimulate the economy and help working families. Sounds good - but the reality doesn't match his rhetoric. That's because he insists on pursuing a tax policy agenda that would neither stimulate the economy nor help working families.

By: Kelly Candaele & Peter Dreier  

During its first two years in office - from its $1.35 trillion tax cut (including elimination of the inheritance tax), which primarily benefits the wealthiest 2% of the population, to its repeal of Clinton-era "ergonomics" standards, affecting more than 100 million workers, that would have forced companies to alter their work stations, redesign their facilities, or change their tools and equipment if employees suffered serious work-related injuries from repetitive motions - the Bushies have acted without shame to serve the interests of their friends in corporate board rooms and the very rich.

But ever since November 5, W. and his cronies have been even more blatant. Virtually every week since the election, the Administration and Republicans in Congress have made or proposed changes in our laws designed to help the rich and powerful while harming the most vulnerable people in society. It is easy to read the newspaper and be appalled by the crude class warfare being waged by the President and his Congressional allies. But the list of daily horrors can be so numbing that one can lose sight of the cumulative impact of the Bush/GOP agenda.

Taken together, it adds up to the most direct assault on working people, the environment, and the poor that the country has seen since the presidency of William McKinley a century ago...

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