The Bush Record: Top 5 Scandals

[hang a left]

Even though we wait with baited breath for anything to become of these scandals, and many others. Here is a short list of scandals, that democrats. org find at the top.


The Bush Record: Top 5 Scandals

Scandal #1: Misleading the Nation Into War
In his public speeches leading up the war with Iraq, President Bush insisted that Iraq was developing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction that included biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. No evidence of such programs has been found. According to chief weapons inspector David Kay, "we were almost all wrong," about the Iraqi weapons threat.1



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Scandal #2: Lying to the Nation During the State of the Union
During his 2003 State of the Union address, Bush claimed, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." In March 2002, both the CIA and State Department learned that evidence linking Iraq to the African nation of Niger was unfounded. In October 2002, CIA Director Tenet personally intervened with Condoleezza Rice's deputy National Security Advisor to have the charge removed from Bush's speech to the nation. Rice herself was sent a memo debunking the claim. In January 2003, just days before Bush uttered the false charge in his State of the Union, CIA officials again tried to remove the language, but the White House insisted it remain -- with officials arguing that they had received the information from British sources.2



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Scandal #3: Exposing a Covert CIA Agent for Revenge
Ambassador Joseph Wilson publicly disclosed in July 2003 that he had investigated and debunked intelligence linking Iraqi nuclear ambitions to the African nation of Niger. Wilson's investigation concluded in March 2002, nearly a year before Bush made the assertion in his State of the Union address that Iraq sought uranium in Africa. Days after Wilson went public, columnist Robert Novak revealed that his wife was a CIA operative.



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Scandal #4: Halliburton and Dick Cheney
As the Iraq war began in March 2003, the Pentagon awarded Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), the construction wing of Halliburton, a no-bid contract to help rebuild Iraqi oil fields and conduct "operation of facilities and distribution of products." The initial deal was thought to be worth as much as $7 billion. In postwar Iraq, Halliburton is the largest private contractor, with potential deals totaling over $11 billion.4



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Scandal #5: Lying About Medicare Costs and Threatening Whistleblowers
The Bush Administration relied upon the Medicare drug plan's alleged $400 billion pricetag to win over skeptical conservatives in Congress. Within weeks of the bills passage, however, the White House admitted it had underestimated the cost by $135 billion (35 percent). Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster was threatened with losing his job if he told Congress the true cost. "We can't let that out," Foster recalls Medicare chief Tom Scully telling him. Scully was quoted in June 2003 as saying that he would only release the analysis "if I feel like it."8



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http://democrats.org/specialreports/top5_scandals/

[grasswire]

1. I'd have to put the COUP in the top five

That's the start of our troubles.

[grytpype]

2. What about Abu Ghraib?

It's hard to pick just five, isn't it?

[kaitykaity]

3. Energy Task Force. Helping Enron screw California.

Top 25 scandals more like it.

DeLay using the Homeland Security dept to hunt down
Democrats who had fled Texas.

[Disturbed]

4. Diversion of Funds

Diverting funds from Afghanistan mission to pre-war plans of Iraq.

Secret Prisons and prisoners. A violation of the Geneva Convention.

[yardwork]

5. Justice Department scandals

Ashcroft lying to the 9/11 Commission. Various other JD coverups.

In fact, the entire 9/11 debacle - from missing the opportunity to stop it, to doing everything possible to thwart investigation into it, to its use as an excuse to invade Iraq, to its use as an excuse to jam the Patriot Act and Homeland Security down our throats, to the ongoing lack of oversight and funding that would actually do something to protect our borders.....

All by itself, 9/11 yields at least five top scandals.

Plus the Justice Department.

The shrub administration can't be described with only five scandals. Can't be done!

[unblock]

6. so many scandals to chose from

[Octafish]

7. 9-11 Dots Left Unconnected

DCI Tenet's hair on fire regarding "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the United States."

There are more, starting with:

Spiking FBI terror financing investigation.
Ignoring FBI reports about terrorists at flight school.
Firing the INS official who reported Saudi visa irregularities.

[phaseolus]

8. scrapping the Clinton-era rule that prohibited...

...felonious corporations from getting certain government contracts. (this was early in 2001 -- think maybe they were planning something???)

And a fairly minor one, but still nasty -- letting fatcat Republican donors take a joyride on a submarine, leading to the deaths of innocent Japanese fishermen who got in the way & ending the career of a good sub captain.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. Another One, Now No Longer Mentioned

Two months after Bush came into office, he dropped the 97 count indictment of Koch Industries and reduced the $352 million fine leveled against them by Clinton to only $20 million and a slap on the wrist. Koch Executives were facing a potential of over 100 years of prison time and Bush's Department of Justice allowed them to plead to one felony and get NO PRISON TIME at all.

Koch Industries, said to be the largest privately-owned energy company in the U.S. is a long-time Bush and GOP supporter and has supported heavily to Bush's campaign. When Ari Fleischer was asked at a press conference whether George Bush would return any of the campaign money he received from a convicted felon, he quickly and very artfully dodged the subject.

By the way, Koch was charged by Clinton with felonies for violating federal clear air and hazardous waste laws. I guess the fact that environmental-related scandals drop completely off the radar and are forgotten just emphasizes how serious the other scandals have been.