Dubya's big day

Bush was busy today. First he vetoed a bill to halt a massive cut to Medicare, calling it “objectionable”. Despite an aging population that is counting on Medicare – something they have already paid for – Bush still wants to gut it, probably because his cronies don’t profit from it, and won't unless it is privatized. Senate Republicans who are not up for re-election, following the party line, tried to prevent the bill from being discussed or voted on. Fortunately, not only were there enough votes to break the filibuster, but there are also enough votes to override Bush. That’s because enough Senate Republicans are up for re-election that they must listen to the will of the people, and therefore must break with their party’s mandate.

Then there’s the issue of offshore and Arctic oil drilling. Bush just issued an executive order to allow the drilling, and blames Democrats for blocking the drilling. The problem is that it was HIS FATHER that signed the executive order blocking the drilling, to avoid the disaster of widespread environmental damage from the inevitable oil spills. But now that he has overruled George HW Bush, he is claiming that Congressional inaction has been the problem with gas prices all along. Um, dubya, who was in charge of Congress from your inauguration until 2007? How come your party refused to allow this drilling for six years when you had carte blanche to pass any law you wanted, but now you’re blaming Democrats for it? Could it possibly be that you all knew that drilling is not a solution to our short-term or long-term energy problems – but now that you need a scapegoat you’re saying that it is? Here’s a novel thought – how about working for the good of THE PEOPLE OF THE US, instead of always just focusing on political agendas and profits for your friends.