January 29, 2007

IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

CHENEY AND THE PLAME OUTING

As the trial of I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby proceeds, it's becoming more and more apparent that Dick Cheney was heavily involved in outing CIA operative Valerie Plame as an act of political revenge against her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson. Wilson made facts known that revealed the administration was lying about Saddam Hussein trying to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger. Cheney's case for his beloved war was going poof! This article by John Prados is at www.tompaine.com:

There can be no question that Cheney was the puppeteer in this entire production. This is not the same role as previous vice presidents, even activist ones like Al Gore or Walter Mondale—indeed Mondale said recently that had he taken such liberties, President Jimmy Carter would have made him resign. At a minimum it is clear Cheney believes he can substitute his judgment for the president’s. Cheney not only reinforces Bush’s worst traits, he sandbags the president into even more extreme positions. Where this will lead when it comes to Iran or North Korea should send shudders up the spine.

Cheney has gone out of his way to make sure no one got to the bottom of this affair. Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W. Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, related new key details of this in an interview with McClatchy newspapers last week. During the previous Congress, the committee attempted to conduct a “Phase II” investigation of how the Iraq intelligence was manipulated to bring on the war, but was stymied at every turn by obstacles thrown up by the Republican majority, led by then-chairman Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. Rockefeller told reporters that Cheney’s interference with committee business “was just constant” and that it was “not hearsay” that Cheney had induced Roberts to drag out the inquiry.

Cheney himself continues to push the line that “obviously” only flawed intelligence was at issue on Iraq, and as he told Newsweek last week , “we should not let the fact of past problems in that area lead us to ignore the threat we face today.” Cheney is himself to testify at the Libby trial. It is a good bet that he hopes questioning will stay away from these areas.

BUSH: PRO BUSINESS, ANTI-PEOPLE

George W. Bush has signed an executive order that gives the White House more control over federal agencies. The order allows Bush to plant a political appointee in each agency to make sure the agency follows the Bush line. It's illustrative that the agencies most targeted are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. It's no accident that agencies charged with protecting the environment and insuring employee rights and safety would get targeted by Bush. This article is from www.rawstory.com:

This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.

The White House said the executive order was not meant to rein in any one agency. But business executives and consumer advocates said the administration was particularly concerned about rules and guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

...

Business groups welcomed the executive order, saying it had the potential to reduce what they saw as the burden of federal regulations. This burden is of great concern to many groups, including small businesses, that have given strong political and financial backing to Bush.

Consumer, labor and environmental groups denounced the executive order, saying it gave too much control to the White House and would hinder agencies' efforts to protect the public.