F Y I - WHAT'S HAPPENING?
A Changed Government –
Lost Opportunities
President Bush has changed the purpose and the operation of the federal government in basic ways – upsetting checks and balances by expanding the power of the Executive, favoring business and the privileged over the common good, and abandoning traditional US commitment to international law and cooperation in dealing with other countries.
1. Upset of Checks and Balances
 | Our president does not feel bound by any law he would find it inconvenient to follow – even a law he has signed himself. He justifies acting above the law by reminding us that he is Commander in Chief. But he is Commander in Chief of the Military - not of the Country – and he began violating laws passed by Congress even before 9/11. Early in his first term he violated the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which prohibits a President from sealing his papers. He sealed his own papers and his father’s – and Reagan’s for good measure. |
| Many hundreds of times he has signed a law and then added a signing statement saying in effect that he’ll use his own judgment about following it. The most egregious example was in the case of the McCain anti-torture bill. He tried to prevent its passage, but when both houses of Congress passed it with huge margins, he signed it and then added a nullifying statement. |
Under the Constitution a president may sign a law, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. Bush used his first – and only so far – veto in July, 2006.
Most people are unaware of these signing statements – believing, for example, that he eventually accepted McCain’s anti-torture bill.
| When the government’s widespread eavesdropping came to light, the President accused the messenger – the New York Times – of endangering national security by exposing the program. But he defended its legality and said it would continue. The NSA Statute, however, explicitly forbids spying on Americans without a warrant. The only exception to the mandated warrant is be during the first 15 days of a war. |
| Perhaps the most dangerous example of Executive over-reaching is the Faith-Based Initiative, |
which was created by Executive Order. Not only has this program skewed the
requirement for a separation of Church and State, but it has
authorized the use of tax money - $2 billion dollars worth.
This money has been used for programs
in churches, even church building, and for a sex education program
that promotes only abstinence. Discriminatory
hiring is permitted, and there is no accountability or tracking of
outcomes under this program. There
is no participation or oversight by Congress, which is supposed to have
the power of the purse.
| The Constitution gives all prisoners the right to habeas corpus - a fair and timely trial. |
Yet since 9/11
the President has ordered hundreds of detainees held with
no charges or trials and under harrowing conditions. “Severe
interrogation measures” mask the use of torture and have led to several deaths.
Detainees
are also being flown to other countries where torture is known to
occur.
Two courts have told him that the war does not give a president a blank check, that these detainees must have fair trials, and that military tribunals do not qualify as “fair trials.”
In 2006, he personally twisted enough arms to get Congress to pass the Military Commissions Act. Though he did not succeed in getting them to rewrite the Geneva Conventions, he did get a draconian bill that continues to deny these detainees habeas corpus and admits evidence gained through coercive measures such as those that led to Abu Ghraib. Under this law, anyone except a native-born citizen may be designated as an enemy combatant and held indefinitely with no right to appeal his detention or the conditions of his imprison- ment, and the Courts are prohibited from interfering. Native-born citizens may appeal and may get a hearing before a tribunal - no a regular court.
This law is undoubtedly
unconstitutional and eventually will be overturned. In the
meantime, much injustice is being done and the lives of
2. A Changed Concept of
the US Government
| In the 1960s the federal government took a strong role in ending segregation and giving new rights to African Americans. Afterwards, southern Democrats-turned-Republicans became champions of as small a federal government as possible, except for a strong military. The present Administration has favored cutbacks in government “people” programs such as the New Deal programs of Medicare and Social Security, and has privatized many government services. |
The assumption has been that govern- ment-run programs will be inefficient and more expensive though Medicare has been run efficiently, with only a 4% overhead expense. Even so, Medicare has been weakened and there have been attempts to weaken Social Security through private accounts.
The prescription drug program was given to private insurance companies to manage, with no negotiation over prices. It has been a nightmare for elderly and disabled citizens and more expensive for the government through subsidies to the insurance companies than a drug program under Medicare would have been. Though misnamed the Medicare D Program, it is not administered under Medicare.
When government programs are privatized, Civil Service protections and accountability to the public are lost, and the “bottom line” of profit may become a more important motivator than service.
| The present Administration no longer operates the government as a “social contract” for the benefit of all the people but as a power to benefit business, industry, and the wealthy. Tax cuts primarily for the wealthy and policies that have decreased earnings for middle and lower-class workers have led to holes in the “safety net” and have greatly increased the discrepancies between the very rich and the poor – a dangerous time bomb for the society. |
| Secrecy and deceit have replaced the openness and honesty needed in a democracy. Government agencies have been encouraged not to make available agency statistics and policies that were available in the past and to be more sparing in their responses to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act. |
| The Patriot Act has curtailed important civil rights, leading to secret surveillance of citizens without warrants or “probable cause.” Dissent and criticism are seen as unpatriotic, as “aiding the terrorists.” Whistle-blowers have been fired or demoted. Peaceful protestors have been arrested. Fear has constantly been encouraged. |
3. Blindness to Environmental and Ecosystem Needs
| With
the priority always on economic growth, environmental protections have
been gutted by regulatory agencies in which qualified members have
been replaced by representatives of industry.
In some cases, new rules have been written by representatives
of the industries involved. |
| Private
exploitation of public lands and natural resources has been encouraged
by this Administration. Safeguards,
such as the roadless rule in natural forests or protection from mining
or drilling in fragile areas, have been threatened or lost. |
| Worsening global warming has been ignored or denied. The President withdrew from the Kyoto Treaty. Politically inconvenient scientific reports have been changed and those who reported them have been silenced or fired. Reputable scientists have resigned in protest following such incidents. |
4. The US Stance in the World
| Treaties
signed by the US are part of US law.
Yet the President simply abrogated the Antiballistic Missile
Treaty and began an aggressive, expensive Missile Defense program
despite the failure, so far, of efforts to establish its workability.
There is talk of the US militarization of space. |
| In
declaring certain countries to be “evil,” the US has shown
arrogance, unilateralism, and total lack of respect for other
countries and peoples or understanding of their needs. No response to
9/11 other than force and more violence was considered.
The wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq continue as quagmires,
with no end in sight. |
| Control
of Iraq was known to be a goal of the Administration long before 9/11.
Only an excuse was needed for a US invasion, and 9/11 provided
that, though Iraq had nothing to do with the attack on our Trade
Towers. “Weapons of
mass destruction” in Iraq were the reason given for the US invasion,
though by the time of the attack, it was known that they did not
exist. |
| In 2002, the US declared a new National Security Strategy, extending its imperial ambitions. The US goal is now declared to be control everywhere in the world, to be achieved and maintained by any means, including preemptive attack and the use of nuclear weapons. In the past, our leaders have regarded our nuclear arsenal as a deterrent. They have recognized that any major use of nuclear weapons would be suicidal. The present leaders have lost this wisdom. |
How far we have come
from the democracy envisioned by the framers of our Constitution!
And how far we must go now to become again a cooperative member of
world society, trusting others and being trusted!
