sophiaserpentia | Ten reasons to vote against Bush: Part One (Reply)

neven made a call in his journal today for people to make arguments criticizing President Bush. He asked for 20, but I assembled 10 out of the many possible criticisms, to offer a detailed microcosm of reasoning against voting for Bush. I could, if I had more time and resources, assemble 20 or 30 more. But this makes a good start.

1. Irresponsible fiscal policy. President Bush pushed through a massive tax cut thinking that this would force Congress to spend less. The problem is, whenever the conservatives have been challenged to find ways to cut governmental costs without cutting services, they have been unable to offer feasible alternatives. Privatizing these services or pushing them off on the states have both led to a series of debacles and embarrassments, *and* costs have gone up, too. (For an example, see what has become of Edison Schools, a company that was formed to prove that private enterprise could run education better than the public sphere.)

So, the net result has been an unprecedented spiral of borrow-and-spend policy. This is worse, IMO, than tax-and-spend, because at least when you tax and spend, you already have on hand the money you are spending. Current administration policy is like charging $1 trillion in government expenses on a big credit card that our children are going to have to pay off.

The strain is already starting to show. Earlier this week the government risked its AAA credit rating to call over $4B worth of bonds five years early.

Now, bear in mind that treasury bonds are what make deficit spending possible. If the government starts defaulting on its bonds like this, who is going to want to buy bonds?

Also, consider that some future administration will be tempted (or find it necessary) to pay off the deficit by printing more money, reducing the "absolute value" of the balance owed. You don't have to be an economic genius to know what this will cause -- inflation and higher interest rates.

2. Horrendous Labor Policy. The promised benefits of this fiscal irresponsibility have not come for the average American. There is still a net loss of 3 million jobs over the past three years. These jobs are gone and are never coming back; they have been outsourced overseas. Even white collar jobs like programming and engineering are going overseas to China and India.

One way to stem this tide is to push for international labor standards in trade agreements with other countries. But the administration is loathe to improve labor conditions *here*, much less overseas. What has resulted is a bonanza for multinational corporations -- the only people doing very well right now are CEOs and top corporate executives.

Bush's big idea for improving things for people who do have jobs: CUT the overtime pay received by 8 million workers.

3. The USA PATRIOT Act and PATRIOT II. I know you've seen liberals demonize this, but maybe you're not sure why.

Do you recall reading about the Alien and Sedition acts in US History class? USA PATRIOT revived them, and more. It allows the FBI, and the CIA, to spy on any American without court supervision. The FBI can now enter your home without your knowing and take your stuff. They can monitor your phone and computer without a court order. It's definition of "suspected terrorist" is vague enough to include feasibly anyone. It turns librarians and booksellers into unwilling spies.

PATRIOT II authorizes the establishment of a massive DNA database. It frees law enforcement from legal liability if they damage your property. It weakens the Freedom of Information Act, which allows us to ensure that the government is working in the best interests of its people. It allows the government to treat American citizens suspected of terorrism (which is defined so loosely it could include reckless driving) to be treated as non-citizens.

4. The prosecution of Jose Padilla. Jose Padilla is an American citizen who is being denied his right to due process, plain and simple. He is not an "enemy combatant," yet he is being held by the military and has been denied his rights of habeas corpus, lawyer visitation, family visitation, has never been officially charged with a crime, and has no way of reviewing or challenging the evidence against him. The Justice Department has considered spiriting him away to Guantanamo Bay so that he will be out of the reach of US courts.

If this can happen to one US citizen, it could happen to any US citizen.

5. Treatment of Prisoners by Coalition Partners. The US has deliberately turned a blind eye to the use of torture by Coalition partners such as Uzbekistan, which has one of the worst civil rights records in the world. The world's remaining superpower should be leading the world in the improvement of civil rights worldwide, not looking away with a knowing wink when civil rights erode around the world. Dozens of countries have used the "war on terror" as an excuse to crack down on political dissidents in the harshest way, with the Bush Administration's blessing.