OK, you miss seeing NOW. It's Their Party, who are they, read on...

---

"He who is welling to gave up “Freedoms” for Safety desires nether freedom nor safety" - Ben Franklin

&

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law
firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

If you watched NOW with Bill Moyer this weekend you'd know or if you go to this website you'll know. It's the site for the Center for Public Integrity.

A Parts of it:

It's Their Party

DNC Demands Boost Cost of Convention, Paid for By Special Interests

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2004 — On the way
to running up an estimated $95 million tab for its 2004 presidential
nominating convention in Boston, the Democratic National Committee
(DNC) requested hundreds of computers, phones and cell phones, dozens
of cars, thousands of parking spaces, and at least $2 million worth of
parties for their state and territorial delegations, according to
documents reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity.

Again the website.

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WHITE HOUSE MISLEADS ON BUSH'S MILITARY RECORDS

---

"He who is welling to gave up “Freedoms” for Safety desires nether freedom nor safety" - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

On February 10, 2004, the White House released
documents related to
President Bush's military service record. At the
time, White House]
spokesman Scott McClellan said those documents
included definitive proof
that Bush was paid during the three-month time
period when Bush's
whereabouts were in question.[1] McClellan said,
"When you serve, you are
paid for that service. And these documents outline
the days on which he was
paid. That means he served." McClellan glossed over
the fact that the
crucial pay records from the third quarter of 1972
were missing.

Now, responding to a Freedom of Information Act
Request by the New York
Times, the Administration says that the payroll
records that could have
finally settled the controversy were "inadvertently
destroyed."[2] According
to the Pentagon, the records were ruined during
1996 or 1997 "during a
project to salvage deteriorating microfilm."
Conveniently, the Pentagon was
unable to locate any paper backups.

Sources:
1. Press Briefing by Scott McClellan,
WhiteHouse.gov, 2/10/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=46335.
2. "Pentagon Says Bush Records of Service Were
Destroyed," New York Times,
7/09/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=46336.

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Green Leaders Endorse Nader/Camejo

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

Latest News from Nader/Camejo 2004

Friday, July 16 2004
Green Leaders Endorse Nader/Camejo

Matt Gonzalez, President of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco and veteran Green Party activist, held a press conference Tuesday with Peter Camejo to endorse the Nader/Camejo Campaign. Gonzalez released a letter of support signed by more than 500 Green Party leaders.


At the press conference, Gonzalez described a unique situation this year. "[Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo] are running for public office in the U.S. because they actually hold views that are different from the two other major party candidates, yet they are being villanized for doing so."

Tonight! San Francisco Rally - Friday, July 16 - 7:00 PM

Ralph and Peter will appear together for the first time since the announcement of the ticket. We're looking forward to a huge west-coast welcome as we kick off our California ballot access drive--the largest so far. Hear firsthand the most exciting presidential ticket of 2004 and sign up to collect signatures!


Mission High School Auditorium
3750 18th Street (corner of Dolores)
San Francisco, CA
7:00 PM Friday, July 16

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NoW with Bill Moyer tonight on your local PBS station

---

"He who is welling to gave up “Freedoms” for Safety desires nether freedom nor safety" - Ben Franklin & "One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

NoW with Bill Moyer tonight on your local PBS station

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NEW EVIDENCE : BUSH MISLEADS ON PRISON Abuse Scandal

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

President Bush has claimed that the prison abuse
scandal in Iraq was just
"conduct by a few American troops."[1] But with
Congress investigating the
scandal,[2] a series of explosive new reports
provides evidence that the
tactics may have been approved at the highest
levels of government. Even
worse, one leading investigative journalist says
the Administration is
holding videotapes of soldiers sodomizing Iraqi
children.

According to a newly released Pentagon memo from
2002, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld personally authorized the use of
controversial interrogation
tactics,[3] including using dogs to intimidate,
stripping prisoners of their
clothes and placing hoods on prisoners so they
cannot see. Rumsfeld also
ordered military officials to hold prisoners
without listing them on
prisoner rolls requested by the International Red
Cross.[4] And according to
Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who was the head
of detention operations
at Abu Ghraib, Rumsfeld "approved tactics at the
prison"[5] directly. As
reported by Newsweek, these memos and orders were
signed off by Rumsfeld,
President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft
and were part of a "secret
system of detention and interrogation that opened
the door to such
methods"[6] of abuse seen in Iraq.

Making matters worse, investigative journalist
Seymour Hersh of the New
Yorker told the American Civil Liberties Union this
week that videotapes
were made of young boys being sodomized at Abu
Ghraib. "The worst is the
soundtrack of the boys shrieking," the reporter
told the group's convention.
Hersh reports there was "a massive amount of
criminal wrongdoing that was
covered up at the highest command out there, and
higher." See the video of
Hersh's ACLU speech[7] - the information about the
prison comes at about 1
hour and 30 minutes in.

Sources:

1. "Bush Seeks to Reassure Nation on Iraq ,"
Washington Post, 5/25/04,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52711-2004May24.html.
2. "House Panel Reviews Iraq Prison Reports,"
Washington Post, 7/15/04,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50297-2004Jul14.html.
3. "Report: Former head of Iraqi prisons says
Rumsfeld OK'd coercive
tactics," San Francisco Chronicle, 7/02/04,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/07/02/state2053EDT0174.DTL.
4. "The Reach of War: Prison Abuse; Rumsfeld Issued
an Order to Hide
Detainee in Iraq," New York Times, 6/17/04,
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30917FC3D5D0C748DDDAF0894DC404482.
5. "Report: Former head of Iraqi prisons says
Rumsfeld OK'd coercive
tactics," San Francisco Chronicle, 7/02/04,
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/07/02/state2053EDT0174.DTL.
6. "The Roots of Torture," Newsweek, 5/24/04,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4989422/site/newsweek/.
7. "America at a Crossroads," 2004 ACLU Members

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Bush Rejection of Roadless Forest Policy a Bonanza for Timber Industry

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

The Bush administration's announcement this week that it plans to open nearly 60 million acres of pristine, roadless National Forests to logging, mining, oil and gas drilling and road building may be one of the largest environmental rollbacks of the modern era. It also dramatizes the urgent need for genuine campaign finance reform.


Industries that opposed protections for roadless areas on National Forests have given nearly $25 million in campaign donations to President Bush and the Republican Party, according to the Heritage Forests Campaign. [1] These same industries have contributed close to $5 million to Democrats. President Bush alone has received nearly $5 million in campaign contributions from industries that oppose environmental preservation.


Shortly after President Bush took office, the selection of Mark Rey as under secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- which oversees the U.S. Forest Service -- signaled that conservation policies were in jeopardy.


Mr. Rey came to the White House after a long career as a leading timber industry lobbyist, including stints as vice president of Forest Resources for the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), the leading national voice for more logging in national forests; executive director of the American Forest Resource Alliance, a coalition of 350 timber corporations formed by the National Forest Products Association; and vice president of Public Forestry Programs for the National Forest Products Association.


While the decision this week to open huge swaths of roadless forests to more clear-cutting and old-growth logging will have dire consequences for clean water, wildlife habitat, fisheries and forest ecology, America's taxpayers will also have to pony up.


Under the Forest Service's antiquated road building policies -- which the Bush ruling put back into play with its rejection of the Clinton-era roadless rule -- taxpayers pay the entire cost of building new roads into forests in order to provide logging trucks and drilling rigs access to the public's resources.


Currently, the USFS has a $10 billion maintenance backlog for the already existing network of roads in National Forests, many of which primarily benefit private industry. [2] The public will pay the tab.


The Bush proposal is open to public comment for the next 60 days. During two public comment periods, one under President Clinton and one under President Bush, nearly 95% of the 2.5 million comments supported the roadless policy. [3]



###

TAKE ACTION
Email your comments to the Bush Administration today.

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TRUTH EMERGES ABOUT BUSH MISLEADING ON MEDICARE

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

In pushing Congress to pass its controversial
Medicare bill, President Bush
promised that "corporations have no intention to
what they call 'dump
retirees'"[1] from their existing prescription drug
coverage. But according
to a new report, Bush's own health officials
estimate that millions will be
cut off from their existing drug coverage because
of the new Medicare law.

According to government documents obtained by the
New York Times, the Bush
Administration now estimates "that employers will
reduce or eliminate
prescription drug benefits for 3.8 million retirees
when Medicare offers
such coverage in 2006." That represents one-third
of all the retirees with
employer-sponsored drug coverage. Medicare's new
benefits are often less
comprehensive than those offered by employers.[2]

As reported in an earlier Daily Mislead,[3] even
while Bush was reassuring
the nation about the Medicare bill, he was actually
working to create an
incentive for employers to cut off seniors from
existing coverage. According
to the Wall Street Journal, the Administration
quietly added "a
little-noticed provision" to the bill that allows
companies to severely
reduce - or almost completely terminate - their
retirees' drug coverage
"without losing out on the new subsidy." In other
words, the President did
not just break his promise to sign a bill that
prevents seniors from losing
their existing drug coverage. He actually acted to
reward companies who cut
off their retirees with a lavish new tax break. The
companies that lobbied
for the provision donated almost $140,000 in hard
money and $2.5 million in
soft money to Bush and his party since 2000.[4]

Sources:

1. Presidential Remarks, WhiteHouse.gov, 10/29/03,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45854.
2. "Medicare Law Is Seen Leading to Cuts in Drug
Benefits for Retirees," New
York Times, 7/14/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45855.
3. "Bush Acts to Reward Companies Who Cut off
Seniors' Drug Coverage,"
Misleader.org, 1/08/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45856.
4. Ibid,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45856.

MY ADVICE endeavors at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT, I use Yahoo's IM as the_web_ster. View me in the Friends & Family part of webcamnow.com, just click on "view cams", then in the Java window click on WebcamNow Communities drop down arrow & select Friends & Family. Under the live webcams look for & click on me "the_webster".

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400K! Can we reach 500,000 today?

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

Over the last two days, more than 400,000 people have signed our petition calling on Congress to take a stand against President Bush's politics of division. It's an incredible, overwhelming response.

But supporters of the amendment have also flooded Capitol Hill with petitions, and we only have a few more hours to show Congress that the American people don't want the Consitution to be used as a partisan political weapon.

Please sign the petition at.:

http://www.moveon.org/unitednotdivided/

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The MMOB (Mainstreet Moms Oppose Bush)

---

"He who is welling to gave up “Freedoms” for Safety desires nether freedom nor safety" - Ben Franklin & "One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

Their Site

The MMOB (Mainstreet Moms Oppose Bush) is a grassroots get-out-the-vote (GOTV) initiative supporting record-breaking voter turnout against Bush/Cheney, especially among women, and particularly in the battleground states. While started by mothers, the MMOB has grown to include absolutely everybody who wants to "do something!" about the 2004 election. The MMOB is registered with the Federal Elections Commission as a Political Action Committee (section 527).The primary organizing tool for the MMOB is The Countdown, a news and action letter aiming to inform, connect and mobilize women for the 2004 election who might not otherwise consider themselves politically active.

Advisory Council
Reed Hundt, FCC Chairman under Pres. Clinton
Annie Lamott, author
Arthur Okamura, artist and professor


Director
Megan Matson

Coordinators
Caroline Quine, Arlene Allsman, Lauren Pollak, Candace Kuss, Joan Ditges, Steve Matson, Leo Kostelnik, Lisa Herbert, Don Abrams, Diane Dvorin, Bobbie Steinhart

More about MMOB

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BUSH APPOINTED PARTISANS AND CRONIES IN IRAQ

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

The Bush Administration publicly claims that it is
pursuing "independent and
objective oversight"[1] of taxpayer money in Iraq.
Yet even as Halliburton
overcharges for services in Iraq, its top auditor
last week refused to
admonish the company, instead offering a
justification for further taxpayer
rip offs.[2] But according to a new report, this
should be no surprise: the
President specifically appointed auditors,
investigators and budget
officials based on their partisan and corporate
ties -- instead of their
political independence and experience.

As documented in a new American Prospect
article,[3] the President appointed
a Pentagon Inspector General and a Coalition
Provisional Authority Inspector
General with deep Republican Party ties -- despite
those offices requiring
nonpartisan leadership to oversee taxpayer dollars.
Similarly, the Bush
Administration appointed a Bush campaign donor
whose law firm represented
construction contractors to run the budget office
that oversees Iraqi
reconstruction.

See the full article with other examples at the
American Prospect's website
at
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44900.

Sources:

1. CPA-IG.org, July, 2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44901.
2. "Mr. Glickman goes back to Washington," Houston
Chronicle, 7/01/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44902.
3. "These Dogs Don't Hunt," The American Prospect,
7/09/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44900.

MY ADVICE endeavors at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT, I use Yahoo's IM as the_web_ster. View me in the Friends & Family part of webcamnow.com, just click on "view cams", then in the Java window click on WebcamNow Communities drop down arrow & select Friends & Family. Under the live webcams look for & click on me "the_webster".

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BUSH COORDINATING WAR ON TERROR WITH ELECTION

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

In the months after the tragic attacks of 9/11,
President Bush told the
American people that he had "no ambition whatsoever
to use [the War on
Terror] as a political issue."[1] But according to
a new report, the Bush
Administration is now demanding that international
allies coordinate the
arrest of al Qaeda terrorists to coincide with key
U.S. political events, so
as to maximize political benefits for the
President.

According to the New Republic, top Pakistani
intelligence officials have
confirmed that the Bush Administration is demanding
the Pakistani government
find as many "high value" terrorist targets
specifically before Americans go
to the polls in November. By contrast, no similar
urgent push or "timetable"
was discussed in 2002 or 2003. Even more troubling,
Pakistani sources admit
White House aides told the Pakistani Director of
Intelligence that "it would
be best if the arrest or killing of [any high value
terrorist target] were
announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or
twenty-eight July" - the first
three days of the Democratic National Convention in
Boston.[2]

The report calls into question whether key military
decisions were affected
by similar political motivations during the last
three years. For instance,
during 2002 and 2003 when al Qaeda was regrouping
along the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Bush
administration refused calls to
seriously increase operations there. Only in March
of 2004 - once the
Presidential election campaign had begun -- did the
President finally
announce "stepped up efforts" in Afghanistan to
find bin Laden.[3]

Sources:

1. "Republicans, Democrats seek political returns
on 9/11, terror war,"
TwinCities.com, 4/01/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44445.
2. "Pakistan for Bush. July Surprise?," New
Republic, 7/07/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44446.
3. "U.S. military announces new operation in
Afghanistan," USA Today,
3/13/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=44447.

MY ADVICE endeavors at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT, I use Yahoo's IM as the_web_ster. View me in the Friends & Family part of webcamnow.com, just click on "view cams", then in the Java window click on WebcamNow Communities drop down arrow & select Friends & Family. Under the live webcams look for & click on me "the_webster".

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Bush Chemical Treaty Bill Favors Industry Over Public Health

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

Tomorrow, a House subcommittee will take up a Bush administration bill that environmentalists believe would harmfully limit how the U.S. participates in an international treaty to ban or strictly regulate the world's most toxic chemicals.


Congress must pass legislation in order for the U.S. to ratify the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), a treaty that currently covers the world's 12 most dangerous chemicals and pesticides and allows for adding additional pollutants in the future. Because the U.S. has already banned the so-called "dirty dozen" currently covered by POPs, it is the "adding mechanism" portion of the treaty that is at issue.


But a draft of the administration bill being circulated in the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials is "fatally flawed and should be rejected" because it places the interests of the chemical industry over the health protection of the American public, according to a summary prepared by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for International and Environmental Law (CIEL). [1]


For example, the legislation fails to require EPA to take any action whatsoever should a new chemical be added to the Convention -- even if the U.S. supports the decision to add the chemical to the list. The bill includes no timeline for EPA to accept or reject regulation of the new chemical and no process by which the public can challenge EPA's decision. The Bush administration has vehemently argued over the past several years that Congress cannot pass laws that require EPA to take any action based upon decisions in international treaties.


Ironically, in direct contrast to this philosophy, the legislation also includes language that would allow Congress to force the President to take action under this treaty. The bill would require the President to select an "opt in" version of ratification, meaning that if new chemicals were added to the Convention, the U.S. would not be required to regulate or ban those chemicals unless it actively "opted" to do so -- even if the U.S. delegation voted to support the addition of that chemical to the list.


Such a clause would blatantly interfere with the President's international negotiating abilities, according to CIEL. "We suspect this power grab is directed not at the current administration, but at future Presidents who may be more inclined to cooperate in international negotiations and implement them in a way that meaningfully protects human health and the global environment," the summary states.


"I suspect it was written as a safeguard, in case Bush isn't President next year," Glenn Wiser, a senior attorney for CIEL, told BushGreenwatch. "I can't think of any other reason for doing it."


Should the U.S. decide to "opt in" to a ban on additional chemicals, those regulations would be further delayed by a requirement in the bill that would force EPA to conduct analyses to determine the chemical's suitability for listing, even though such scientific investigations would already have been conducted by the U.S. as a party to the Convention.


This legislation, said Wiser, is just one more example of the Bush administration parlaying favor with the chemical industry by placing its financial interests over the public's health and well-being.


"The last thing industry wants is for an international treaty to rock their boat," said Wiser. "But they want the U.S. to sign on to the POPs Convention, because they want to be sure the U.S. government will protect their interests in any future Convention decisions."



###

SOURCES:
[1] "Environmental and Health Organizations Reject Proposed TSCA Amendment to Implement the Stockholm Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Convention," July 1, 2004.

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Bush Administration Steps Up Pressure on EU to Weaken Proposed Chemical Laws

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

In its aggressive campaign to water down proposed new toxic chemical regulations in Europe, the Bush administration is now making vague accusations that the European initiative violates World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements governing how nations do business with one another.


At a July 1 meeting of the WTO's Technical Barriers to Trade Committee meeting, the administration submitted general comments that parroted the U.S. chemical industry's objections to the proposed regulations, known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals). However, U.S. officials failed to spell out how REACH would conflict with current WTO agreements -- despite recent demands from two U.S. senators that they do so. [1]


Prior to the July 1 meeting, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Jim Jeffords (I-VT) wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, asking that he cite the specific WTO provisions that REACH would allegedly violate.


"We are troubled by reports that the position of this administration on REACH may reflect the interests of a narrow segment of U.S. industry without consideration of the broader ramifications for the U.S. economy, national interest, public health, and the environment," the letter stated. [2]


The REACH initiative -- the most sweeping change in European chemical policy in decades -- would require chemical manufacturers to provide the public with information about the potential harmfulness of their products before placing them on the market. It would also provide stricter regulations for thousands of chemicals already on the market.. Although the proposal would only govern countries in the European Union, U.S. chemical manufacturers would have to comply with the new rules in order to export their products to Europe.


The Bush administration, which has consistently favored policies beneficial to the U.S. chemical industry, has teamed up with American chemical companies to lobby against REACH and has already succeeded in weakening some of the proposed rules. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell himself stepped up pressure on the EU when he cabled U.S. diplomats with a list of talking points, urging them to voice these objections to European officials. [3]


In its latest attack, the Bush administration is working to rally support among allies outside of Europe, to show that REACH would create barriers to trade among nations. The administration's argument "reflects a lot of industry arguments, such as the new regulations being too 'costly' or 'burdensome,'" Mary Bottari, an analyst for Public Citizen, told BushGreenwatch.


"Once again, we have the U.S. position equals the chemical industry position," agreed Joe DiGangi, a scientist with the Environmental Health Fund.


Supporters of REACH say sweeping changes in chemical regulations are urgently needed, both here and abroad. Currently, little is known about the safety of chemicals manufactured in the U.S. or Europe. Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. does not require companies to test chemicals for human exposure risks before placing them on the market.



###

SOURCES:
[1] US comments submitted to WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Committee, July 1, 2004; Letter to US Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick from Sens. Lautenberg and Jeffords, Jun. 22, 2004.
[2] Ibid.
[3] BushGreenwatch, Apr. 9, 2004.

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ADMINISTRATION IGNORED IRAQ/AL-QAEDA INTELLIGENCE

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

The Senate Intelligence Committee released a report
on Friday that does its
best to whitewash the Administration's role in
hyping intelligence by
pinning the blame on the CIA.[1] The report
distorts the truth by failing to
meaningfully investigate "the ways intelligence was
used, misused,
misinterpreted or ignored by Administration
policymakers... in making the
case to the American people that war with Iraq was
necessary."[2] Those
issues, conveniently, will be addressed in a
separate report scheduled to be
released sometime after the November elections.

Despite its inadequacies, the Intelligence
Committee's report illustrates
how - in the few cases the intelligence community
did get it right - top
Administration officials ignored them anyway.

For example, the CIA reported to the Administration
that Iraq and al-Qaeda
did not have "an established formal
relationship."[3] In fact, the Iraqi
government actively sought "to prevent Iraq youth
from joining Al Qaeda."
Yet, Vice President Dick Cheney continues to tell
the American people that
Saddam Hussein had "an established relationship
with al Qaeda."[4]

Also, according to the Intelligence Committee
report, George Tenet directly
contacted National Security Advisor Condoleezza
Rice and her deputy Stephen
Hadley in October 2002 to tell them the President
should not say that Iraq
had sought uranium from Africa because "the
evidence was weak." In a fax
sent to the White House, the CIA explained that
"this is one of the two
issues where we differed with the British."
Nevertheless, just two months
later, the President publicly declared "[t]he
British government has learned
that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant
quantities of uranium from
Africa."[5]

Sources:

1. "Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's
Prewar Intelligence
Assessments on Iraq," Senate Intelligence
Committee, 7/07/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45170.
2. "Holes in America's Defense," Washington Post,
7/09/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45171.
3. "C.I.A. Warned White House That Links Between
Iraq and Qaeda Were
'Murky'," New York Times, 7/10/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45172.
4. "Interview With Dick Cheney," Fox News, 6/28/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45173.
5. 2003 State of the Union, WhiteHouse.gov,
1/28/03,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=45174.

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Bush Seeks to Set Back Public Transportation

---

"He who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
&
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

---

It took environmentalists years to break open the Highway Trust Fund to include some federal funds for public transportation projects. But now, according to a new report from the Sierra Club, the Bush administration wants to return to the bad old days, when asphalt -- and only asphalt -- got all the dollars.


The federal-state funding match for public transit and highway construction is currently 80:20. But under a new proposal from the Bush Administration, states would be required to pay half the cost of public transportation projects. The 80:20 ratio for new highways, however, would stay unchanged.


This tilt in the funding match would inevitably push local governments to build more highways at the expense of public transit. The Sierra Club report, Missing the Train, details why supporting public transportation makes so much more sense.


First of all, building public transportation creates more jobs than highway construction. A study this year by the Surface Transportation Policy Project found that for every $1.25 billion spent on new public transportation projects, nearly 51,300 people are employed. By contrast, only 43,200 are employed per every $1.25 billion spent on new roads and bridges. [1] That's an important reason why labor leaders around the country now support public transportation.


Public transit boosts local economies as well. The Sierra Club report cites examples from around the country -- including Washington, D.C., Dallas/Ft. Worth, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay -- where public transportation projects have revitalized neighborhoods and invigorated business districts. In many areas, business and labor leaders have teamed up to push for new projects.


Moreover, commuting by car is stressful: businesses suffer when workers are burned out before they even arrive. HR Magazine quotes Steve Stephenson, a senior manager at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company in Greenbank, Washington. He notes that "people come to work jangled," and that "a 15-second episode can cause hormonal changes that last for six hours. That infects the whole day." [2]


Building new roads isn't the answer, the report argues, since new roads only generate more sprawl development and more traffic. In fact, only three years after new roadways open, traffic fills road capacity between 50 and 100 percent. [3]


The Bush Administration's new funding proposal for transportation projects is a gift to the highway lobby. It will create more sprawl, more air pollution, more accidents, and more stress. Commuters deserve better.

###

SOURCES:
[1] STTP Decoder.
[2] "What Sets Us Off," HR Magazine, Society for Human Resource Management, May 2003.
[3] American Public Transportation Association.

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