---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 13:59:09 -0600 Subject: The Nation: 'The Rich Have Reason to Rejoice'
>Subject: 'The Rich Have Reason to Rejoice' from The Nation >Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 12:08:03 -0500 > >blaise thought you'd be interested in this article from The Nation. > >If you like this article, please consider subscribing to The Nation at special >discounted rates. You can order online https://ssl.thenation.com or call our >toll-free number at 1-800-333-8536. > > > > The Rich Have Reason to Rejoice > by Kelly Candaele & Peter Dreier > > > In Dickens's "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer Scrooge was forced to view > his own death in order to gain some self-awareness of his life as the > epitome of cruelty and selfishness. This Christmas it is unlikely > that George W. Bush, Scrooge on the Potomac, will be transformed by > any ghostly visits. Indeed, since the November 5 election (in which > the Republicans' narrow majorities in the Senate and House were > mirrored by a slim majority of the popular vote), Bush and his > cronies seem to believe they have a mandate to outdo themselves in > rewarding the corporate class that helped bring them to power. > > Yes, this holiday season--even as Bush prepares the nation for > war--selfishness is back in style for those at the top of the > economic pyramid. Sacrifice and "compassionate conservatism" are out. > > It almost calls for resurrecting the phrase "ruling class," a notion > once popular in left-wing circles that claims that the primary > function of the highest levels of government is to protect the > interests of the very rich. According to this view, big business and > the ultra rich influence government at various levels through > campaign contributions, personal relationships and ideological > affinity. Policy-making becomes not a "mediation" of competing > interests but a not so subtle capturing of policy-making institutions > by the rich and powerful. > > While the Bush Administration is doing all it can to focus our > attention on the threat of Iraq and Al Qaeda to the "American way of > life," a close look at the current Republican domestic agenda makes > you wonder whether this crude radical theory warrants a closer look. > Ironically, while the GOP and much of the media apply the term "class > warfare" any time the Democrats and their allies in the labor and > environmental movements push for even the most timid reform, it is > the Bush Administration that perfected the most blatant version of > ruling-class politics. > > 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 percent 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. President Bush has > packaged some tidy Christmas gifts this year for his allies and > friends, but the vast majority of Americans will receive a lump of > coal in their stockings from this Administration. Among them: > > § Cut $300 million from the $1.7 billion federal program > that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes > during the winter--a move that leaves 438,000 families in the cold. > > § Added special-interest legislation to the Homeland > Security bill that protects Eli Lilly, the giant pharmaceutical firm, > from lawsuits over a preservative (thimerosal) in vaccines--which > could result in the dismissal of thousands of suits filed by parents > who claim that mercury in thimerosal has poisoned their children, > causing autism and other neurological problems. John Ashcroft's > Justice Department also asked a federal claims court to seal > documents relating to hundreds of claims that thimerosal had caused > these problems in children. (George W.'s dad sat on Lilly's board in > the 1970s; White House budget director Mitchell Daniels Jr. is a > former Lilly executive; and Bush appointed current Lilly CEO Sidney > Taurel to sit on the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council). > > § Tucked an additional rider into the Homeland Security > bill that will allow American companies to win government contracts > even if they have moved offshore to evade corporate taxes, while > giving the new department a free hand to bypass civil service rules > in promoting and firing workers and allowing the President to exempt > unionized workers from collective bargaining agreements in the name > of "national security." > > § Gave annual bonuses as large as $25,000 to top political > appointees (who typically already earn $115,000 to $140,000), while > cutting a pay raise, already passed by both houses of Congress, for > 1.8 million federal employees. Bush said it would "interfere with our > nation's ability to pursue the war on terrorism." > > § Called for as many as 850,000 government jobs--nearly > half the federal civilian work force--to be outsourced to private > contractors--a move designed to reduce their pay and benefits and > eliminate union protections, prompting Bobby Harnage Sr., president > of the American Federation of Government Employees, to say that Bush > had "declared all-out war on federal employees." > > § Refused to support an extension of unemployment benefits > to about 750,000 American families whose benefits would run out three > days after Christmas, until pressured by Congressional Democrats a > week after front-page headlines announced that the nation's > unemployment rate had reached 6 percent (an eight-year high) and that > each week an additional 95,000 workers will lose their benefits. Bush > changed his position in mid-December, but did not indicate whether he > would advocate the twenty-six-week extension supported by Democrats > or whether he would support extending benefits to jobless workers > whose original round of benefits will soon run out. > > § Proposed changes in rules covering employee pensions > that will save companies money but threaten the retirement funds of > older workers. > > § Repealed a Clinton-era Labor Department rule that allows > states to use unemployment insurance money to help people who take a > leave from work to have babies or adopt children--a rule that the US > Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers > (NAM) opposed, claiming it was essentially a tax on employers. > > § Proposed additional tax cuts--including making last > year's "temporary" ten-year cut a permanent one--that would primarily > benefit the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. > > § Pushed to privatize Social Security by diverting > trillions of dollars to stockbrokers, putting the retirement cushion > for millions of Americans at risk. > > § Lowered product-labeling standards, allowing food makers > to list health claims on labels before they have been scientifically > proven. Bush's new Food and Drug Administration chief Mark McClellan > announced in mid-December that the FDA will no longer require claims > to be based on "significant scientific agreement," but instead on the > "weight of scientific evidence"--a change that the National Food > Processors Association, the trade association of the $500 billion > food processing industry, had lobbied for. Bruce Silverglade of the > Center for Science in the Public Interest told the Los Angeles Times > that the ruling would lead to a "marketplace free-for-all of false > and misleading claims." > > § Loosened EPA air pollution standards for oil refineries > and manufacturing plants, which allows them to modernize their > facilities without installing pollution-control equipment--a rule > change that could actually increase the level of dangerous pollutants > emitted into the air. A spokesman for the NAM, which fought for the > change, called the new rules "a refreshingly flexible approach to > regulation." > > § Moved to renew thirty-six oil company leases of land off > Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties for possible > future development, arguing that the California Coastal Commission > had no authority to restrict oil drilling in coastal waters. Bush's > move was blocked by a three-judge panel, which ruled in early > December that the state has the authority to review potential effects > of oil drilling along its coast--a ruling the Bush Administration is > likely to appeal. > > § Allowed logging companies to cut down old-growth trees > in our nation's forests under the guise of reducing the risk of > forest fires. > > § Rolled back safeguards, opposed by the American Forest > and Paper Association, that protect fish and wildlife from logging in > 155 national forests with 192 million acres of public land in > forty-four states. It removed a Clinton-era regulation requiring > comprehensive environmental impact statements whenever the Forest > Service revises its forest management plans. The Bush plan, instead, > will give each forest manager discretion in deciding whether and how > to assess environmental impacts; a move that the environmental group > Defenders of Wildlife said would allow "reckless logging by > timber-industry profiteers and the destruction of habitat for many > species of wildlife." > > § Reversed a Clinton Administration rule banning > snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. > > § Approved the drilling of two new natural gas wells in > Texas's Padre Island National Park adjacent to the Gulf of > Mexico--which lies along the nation's longest stretch of undeveloped > beach and which is home to eleven endangered species--by BNP > Petroleum, a private firm based in Corpus Christi. This is one part > of the Bush Administration's plan to promote drilling at more than > fifty new sites on federal land in the lower forty-eight states as > well as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Opined the > New York Times: "Such is this Administration's appetite for > extractable resources that no area seems safe." > > § Approved construction by Calpine, a private utility > company that contributed to the Bush campaign, of a > forty-eight-megawatt geothermal power plant in the Modoc National > Forest in California that had been blocked by the Clinton > Administration because of concerns by environmental groups and by > Indian tribes that consider part of the area sacred. In approving the > project, the Bush Administration rejected a recommendation by the > Advisory Council on Historical Preservation, a federal agency. > > § Replaced three ruling-class members of his economic team > (SEC chairman Harvey Pitt, a lawyer for the major accounting firms; > Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, former CEO of Alcoa; and chief > economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, former Federal Reserve Board > governor) with three other ruling-class members (John Snow, chief > executive of CSX Corporation and former head of the powerful Business > Roundtable, to the Treasury post; investment banker William Donaldson > to the SEC job; and Stephen Friedman, former chairman of investment > banking firm Goldman Sachs and current director of unionbuster > Wal-Mart, as chief economic adviser). > > § Picked war criminal and liar Henry Kissinger to chair a > task force investigating the 9/11 events without requiring him to > disclose his consulting firm's business clients, which include some > of the most powerful multinational corporations (reportedly among > them Exxon Mobil, ARCO and American Express), which, as the New York > Times noted, "depend on maintaining cordial ties with foreign > governments and Washington officials"--an obvious conflict of > interest. (Under public pressure to choose between making money and > public service, Kissinger quickly resigned from the task force.) > > § Went to court to stop Congressional watchdogs (along with > the Sierra Club) from forcing Vice President Dick Cheney--former CEO > of the scandal-plagued energy services company Halliburton--to turn > over documents detailing meetings between oil and gas industry > lobbyists and executives (including representatives of Enron) and > Cheney's energy policy task force, which called for expanded oil and > gas drilling on public lands and an easing of regulations on the > building of nuclear power plants. Helping craft the Bush legal > strategy was White House counsel Alberto Gonzales (a possible Bush > nominee for the Supreme Court), who, when he served as a justice on > the Texas Supreme Court, received more than $100,000 in political > contributions from the energy industry (including Enron and Enron's > law firm, where he once worked). > > Having Bush in the White House and Republicans in control of both > houses of Congress makes it difficult to open the paper every > morning. But rather than contribute to a sense of resignation and > despair, the outrages of the Bush Administration should, like Thomas > Paine's list of grievances against our eighteenth-century colonial > masters, rouse us to revolt. Pass this list to your friends, > activists and colleagues and let's get started. > > Peter Dreier invites readers' comments, via e-mail. > > >This article can be found on the web at: > >http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030106&s=dreier > > > >Visit The Nation >http://www.thenation.com/ > >Subscribe to The Nation: >https://ssl.thenation.com/
