Journal asv108's Journal: Bush is really starting to piss me off 7
The stem cell decision in August 01 was very disappointing but frankly with Sush being an evangelical Christian, I thought it could of been a lot worse. I was expecting some type of ban on privately funded research but I still don't understand the argument against government funded research? Maybe one of the
Bushes reaction to 9-11 was very disturbing for me in many ways, the whole "US vs. Them" talk and the religious references "axis of evil," "evildooers" left a bad taste in my mouth. I completely supported the war in Afghanistan, which was not fully committed to by Bush for two reasons.
- To demonstrate the effectiveness of Donald Rumsfield's transformation strategy
- To have enough manpower to go in to Iraq
The fact is that post-war aid to Afghanistan is completely underfunded. It would have been nice to us succeed in nation building on a much smaller scale before attempting it twice in a little over a year.
When bush started mentioning Iraq, it just made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. WMD? Most of the countries in the world have WMD. I couldn't understand why if Saddman had WMD, that would be a justification to go to war, regardless of whatever UN resolution he was violating. Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11 and was not an Islamic extremist, in fact he wasn't very religious at all. He was a terrible power hungry dictator, but he wasn't interested in attacking the US. The bottom line is Saddam wanted power + money and attacking the US would provide neither, only certain doom.
The way the war was dealt with by the Bush administration portrays how they deal with anything that may be perceived as a threat or weakness. Any time a situation arises that exposes a weakness in either their mantra or actions, the party line is to deny that such a weakness exists. It is clearly evident in the way the administration acted when the war turned sour. Its also the way it acted when the economy was/is having problems.
Now the legacy of denial has gone even further with these "Swift boat" ads that are designed to do one thing, distract the American people from George Bush Jr's record. This is the same thing GW B pulled when McCain started winning primaries. Question the patriotism and performance of a decorated veteran with a smear campaign designed to distract voters from the real issues, Why? Because on the issues, GWB doesn't stand a chance, the only way he makes gains is by emotional appeal and diversion.
What really set me off today, was the new overtime rules that went in to effect. The legislation drafted by the business lobby and supported by the Bush administration, makes millions of people ineligible for overtime! Oh but of course, they act like its a good plan for labor.
- Workers earning $23,660 annually or less are eligible for overtime pay for working more than 40 hours a week. The department says about 1.3 million workers will be newly eligible.
- White-collar workers earning $100,000 or more a year are newly exempt from overtime pay.
- Changes to duties that determine whether an employee is professional, executive or administrative and exempt from overtime will result in "very few, if any" workers losing overtime, the Labor Department says. Critics say 6 million could lose overtime.
- Union workers covered by contracts will not be affected by the change. Critics say changes will hurt future contract negotiations.
- Police officers, firefighters and other public safety officers are not affected, nor are blue-collar workers.
- People identified as generally exempt from overtime pay include pharmacists, funeral directors, embalmers, journalists, financial services industry workers, insurance claims adjusters, human resource managers, management consultants, executive and administrative assistants, purchasing agents, registered or certified medical technologists, dental hygienists, physician assistants, accountants, chefs, athletic trainers with degrees or specialized training, computer system analysts, programmers and software engineers.
Labor laws such as overtime and the move towards a 40 hour work week were put in place beginning in the 19th century as a reponse to great injustice being done to workers of that period. Business owners were taking advantage of labor, forcing many to work 60-80 hr work weeks without overtime, without benefits, and in many cases without pay. Miners for example would generally rent from the mine owner and earn credits to spend in a general store also owned by, the mine owner.
The relationship between employer and employee is naturally imbalanced in favor of the employer. Overtime and other labor legislation were put in place to try and balance that relationship. The growing economic disparity between classes, coupled with the demise of unions, the death of US manufacturing jobs, and a reduced regulatory environmental will become a toxic mix.
I do not care for unions, and I believe in many ways the whole labor movement is a relic of the past. I simply cannot stand socialism and especially class warfare. However, if lawmakers keep reducing labor laws as directed to by big business, and the economy keeps dropping good jobs for unskilled workers in favor of low-paying service jobs, there will eventually be a state of general unrest.
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Grammar Nazi (Score:2)
"Fool me once, shame on- shame on you. Fool me twice... ... you can't get fooled again." -- The Grate Communicator
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Re:Kerry Versus Bush` (Score:2)
President Bush, who has refused for weeks to condemn a veterans' group's television commercials attacking John Kerry's military service in Vietnam, today said the group and others running independent advertisements should stop running them.
But Mr. Bush, speaking at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., stopped short of directl
Iraqi Soccer Team... (Score:2)
Mind you, this is the same leader that took over their stadiums and forced them to play their 'home' games in another country. Now, he wants to be at the gold medal soccer game if they are in it.
The arrogance of this guy is just mind blowing...