Oh, What a Night!

.... and it's a great day to be an American!

Now the really hard stuff begins. The November 4th editorial in the New York Times, "So Little Time, So Much Damage," says it all -- we still have 76 days to go with Bush in office. The editorial lists all of the important areas where the Bush administration could still make last minute policy changes that would potentially wreck havoc on us for years to come. Here's a list of the areas and their major points of vulnerability:

Civil Liberties:

Mukasy put through new guidelines last month that give FBI agents the authority to investigate without any probable cause, lie, and intimidate. In an even more upsetting decision, The Homeland Security Department's Office of Legal Counsel used the most convoluted, misuse of logical thinking to justify ignoring the law that requires the department's privacy officer to account annually for any activity that could affect our privacy. The Times classic comment on this one was, "Orwell couldn't have done better."

The Environment:

We have seen most of these changes in the news, but not widely disputed. The administration is busy weakening regulations on clean air and clean water and endangered species protection.

Abortion Rights:

Leavitt, secretary of health and human services, is expected to announce very soon some rule changes that further limit access to abortion, contraceptives and even to information about reproductive health care options. Unbelievable!! Furthermore, they want to extend the existing law, the so-called right to refuse, that allows medical personnel to refuse to participate in an abortion, to a very wide-range of health care areas: abortion referrals, unbiased counseling, birth control pills, emergency contraception, etc. 

IRS:

In September the IRS restored tax breaks for banks that take big losses on bad loans inherited through acquisitions. The Times learned that some banks are planning to use their bailout funds for mergers and acquisitions that will take advantage of the new tax subsidy. So not only do they benefit from bailout funds, but they compound their good fortune with a major tax subsidy!!!

The problem is that some of these last minute, in-your-face, Bush administration "got cha's" will take years to dismantle and a constant diversion of resources to uncover. 

So don't fall for the "nice words" uttered by Bush this AM and assume that he is now "just a lame duck" -- he and his administration will continue for the next 76 days to be a plague upon us.