Eleven Reasons Not To Vote For Bush

1. The war in Iraq. The President misled the entire nation, indeed the entire world by suggesting that Saddam and Iraq had something to do with 9/11. He also tried to justify the illegal invasion by saying that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction. Both of these reasons were false, so the President and his cronies have continued to shop the notion that "mass graves" were reason enough. Unfortunately it's mass graves consisting of our nation's soldiers that are punctuating this illegal war. Cheney's leaning on the intelligence provided by Ahmed Chalabi just goes to show that foreign influences have too much control over this administration. Ahmed Chalabi, it was just learned, that he stole US secrets and sold them to Iran. Yet despite the overall zealous use of Chalabi and Iraqi National Congress "intelligence", Bush and Cheney were somehow able to pin the entire blame on the CIA and George Tenet. Bush's lack of concern about the ultimate worst outcome of war-death to our soldiers-is demonstrated by his skipping of funerals to go to political fundraisers-fundraisers that find him championing his so-called successes in the war on terror. The General Accounting Office recently reported that Iraq is worse off than before the war in such areas as electricity, security, and their judicial system. The fact that sovereignty was turned over to an Iraqi interim government handpicked by the Bush administration is just more irony in the making. Iraq does not control its own air space, its ports, and prior to leaving, Paul Bremer announced a variety of statutes and laws that could not be overturned or reversed including a law that states that all drivers are required to use two hands on the steering wheel and cannot use their horn unless it's an emergency.

2. The destruction of our civil liberties. After 9/11, the Republicans led by George Bush pushed through legislation that they had been waiting for such an event to pass. It was called the USA Patriot Act. Typical of most legislation passed by Republicans, the name is ironic as it systematically destroyed our civil liberties such as the right to go to a library without the federal government knowing what book you've been reading. By exploiting the tragedy of 9/11 both to use as grounds to justify an illegal war with Iraq, as a fundraiser, and to push through radical legislation, the Bush administration shows that they're ruthless cowards whose despicable arrogance is without measure. Those members of the international press that dared to question US intentions in Iraq such as Al Jazeera were met with severe repercussions; Al Jazeera's headquarters and hotel rooms were shot and bombed in Iraq in an attempt to quiet dissent. The Bush administration put out talking points that said that critics of the war in Iraq were political opportunists and questioned their patriotism.

3. The prevalence of corporate corruption. Vice President Dick Cheney's "former" company Halliburton has ripped off the US taxpayer countless times by overcharging for goods and services (some that aren't even completed!). Halliburton was able to win no-bid contracts said to be worth in the neighborhood of $2 billion because of the influence of Dick Cheney. Enron, led by Kenneth Lay, ripped off thousands of investors by lying about corporate profits. They also helped engineer the California rolling brown outs by manipulating the energy market. Enron and Kenneth Lay were and are massive supporters of Bush's Presidential campaign. If he wins a second term there will be no doubt that near the end of the term he will pardon Kenneth Lay and all his corporate buddies from any prosecution.

4. His foreign policy results in anti-Americanism. Due to both the war in Iraq and to a lesser degree the war in Afghanistan, the entire globe has been wrought in anti-Americanism. This affects travelers as well as legitimate international business as many people and companies look down on America because of the support we still give our President. Bush chooses to be a bully rather than a player in the International realm. Instead of using the United Nations to his advantage, he played hard-ball and destroyed years of goodwill towards America. In addition, Bush opposed the International Criminal Court so that the US military would never be subject to any scrutiny or prosecution. This coincided with a variety of memos and internal documents that revealed that Bush and his legal advisors felt that the Geneva Convention didn't apply to "enemy combatants", a term that his legal team made up which has no real basis or prior establishment. This paved the way for the horrendous treatment and torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib Prison. By saying that you're either "with us or against us", Bush mocks dissent and creates a massive political divide between our allies.

5. The further escalation of class warfare. Through his tax cuts for the extremely wealthy, Bush has tried to push the divide between the very rich and the poor even more so. His policies on social programs have been consistent with the notion that no one, no matter how harsh their living situation is, should be given a helping hand by the Federal government. Like a true follower of double-speak, Bush and the Republicans counter any disagreement over tax cuts for the wealthy by saying that their opponents are engaging in class warfare. Also the Bush administration joined the lawsuit against affirmative action at the University of Michigan claiming it was a quota system, the case, which was eventually ruled in the favor of the school, heightened conservative fervor on the subject of race. This follows a 2000 Presidential Election that found thousands of black voters eliminated from the rolls claiming that they were felons, disenfranchising a mass of them. That this happened in Bush's own brother's state with their Secretary of State Katherine Harris whose partisan work has included the Bush campaign. And to make matters worse, Bush appointed hard right conservatives to key positions in the civil rights including the voting rights section of the Justice Department.

6. Gay's and women's rights. Bush discriminates against gays and lesbian and pushed hard for the ridiculous Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment. Fellow Republicans like Senator Rick Santorum liken gays to bestiality and incestuous relationships simply because they are bigots. The Civil Rights Movement was obviously just the beginning and there needs to be a Gay Rights Movement to establish equal rights in sexual preference. The anti-choice movement of Bush and his fellow conservatives was stepped up to include revoking federal funding from groups in developing nations that provided birth control or other reproductive rights. He has consistently tried to stack the federal court system with anti-choice judges, leading many to speculate who "activist" judges really are. His actions of budget cutting organizations that prosecute and help prevent discrimination also should not go unnoticed. Bush and the Republicans with their emphasis on (straight) marriage advocate that welfare should encourage recipients to get married while also using the ridiculous claim that gay's marrying somehow is an attack on society. This is not true and is not even a veiled attempt at discriminating. If Bush wins a second term, it's extremely likely he will be able to appoint at least one Supreme Court Justice, which will evoke an effort to try to overturn Roe v. Wade. He campaigned at the segregated, highly religious, Bob Jones University-a college that isn't even certified-named after Bob Jones, a known racist, homophobe, and of course the person who claims that the Pope is the Antichrist.

7. Destruction of the environment. Bush pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty, which was an initial step in the right direction of fixing global warming. He allowed the level of arsenic in our drinking water to be raised. His "Clear Skies Initiative" achieved exactly the opposite while his behavior towards all environmental problems has been to allow corporations more rights to pollute. In addition, he has started a program that actually cleared down forests claiming that would prevent forest fires. Congress lifted a decade old band on R&D for tactical nukes at Bush's urging that will allow development and research into bombs up to a third of the size of the one used at Hiroshima.

8. Choking health care. Bush helped get a "prescription drug benefit" law passed that made it illegal for the government to renegotiate for lower prescription drugs. What that means is if you have Medicare the Federal government is actually spending more money for the same thing that they could easily negotiate to get lowered. That means more waste, which Bush and the Republicans obviously favor, as it helps out their friends in Big Pharmaceutical. The Bush administration also decided to relax rules that require hospital to treat people who need emergency medical care regardless of their health coverage or ability to pay.

9. Ruining the economy and losing jobs. Bush's tax cuts did nothing to help out the middle class or the poor. In fact the tax cuts and his war in Iraq have hurt the economy even more so. His administration also pushed for more companies to engage in outsourcing, a practice that has already cost this nation thousands of jobs. He also wants to make it easier for illegal immigrants to establish themselves in America because their wages are typically much lower than an American worker would accept. Bush is still pushing to privatize Social Security to help further enrich the companies that support his Presidency-of course the stock market has not proved to be a very stable market during his entire term but that doesn't matter to him and his rich friends. Those same rich friends, consisting of the top 1% of America, by 2010, stand to see a total tax reduction of 2.7% while all but the top 5% will see their federal taxes go up. Median family income only has risen 0.5% per year while hours worked steadily increases.

10. Risking our national security. By having our military stretched to their very limits in two different theatres, Bush has in fact weakened our military. When he touts his support of the military in front of the cameras, behind the scenes he's helping close down Veteran's hospitals, take away benefits, and decrease military pay; and of course the Pentagon under his leadership have called up fifty-year-old men and women to fight in Iraq as if keeping National Guard troops over there longer than told isn't bad enough. While some voters this November think that national security is Bush's strongest asset, in reality it's one of his weakest. His foreign policies have alienated the United States from much of the world and have created rifts in NATO. By allowing more technology transfer and outsourcing to China, he's helped boost a nation that has often been one of biggest threats. In fact, the world's two populist nations, India and China, have even performed war games together, all with no intervention or protest from Bush. His paltry attempt at shoring up the Israeli-Palestinian relations has helped foster even more terrorism and innocent deaths at the Israeli war machine. He even fought to keep money from injured Gulf War veterans and POWs by fighting the lawsuit that they filed against Iraq. Those that have been honorably discharged have even been urged back into service-some 5,600 soldiers-to Iraq and Afghanistan at the request of the Pentagon and Donald Rumsfeld.

11. Mixing religion with government. Bush sees no clear distinction between his religious convictions and his responsibilities as the leader of the "free" world. He opts to have federal funding given to religious charities-primarily Christian institutions-seemingly claiming that the sponsorship of religion by the government isn't that big of deal. He wants to give more school vouchers to parents who want to send their children to religious schools. Bush has even gone so far to claim that God meant for him to be President. His use of the word "crusade" has made many think that that's what his "war on terrorism" actually is-a Christian crusade against Muslims. His rhetoric of "evil-doer" evokes a good-vs-evil mission that reeks of religious overtones; several of his political speeches are wrought with reinterpretations and direct quotes from the Bible.

For more reasons to vote against Bush, go to http://www.thousandreasons.org.