Slogans:

A number of bloggers have embraced the charge that Bush is not part of the reality based community (Yglesias, TPM, Atrios, TAPPED). We agree that much of what Bush does is not reality based, but saying so does not give the listener an idea of what Bush is for. A better charge, in our view, is calling the president 19th Century Bush. It's a snappy phrase (matches the well known "20th Century Fox") and it discribes where Bush is heading this country. Bush is trying to dismantle many of the developments that made the last hundred years The American Century.

We make our case below:

Nineteenth Century Bush - President Bush and his party wants to take America back to the nineteenth century by undoing the following achievements of the Twentieth Century:

• Anti-trust action: Applied with vigor by Teddy Roosevelt during his administration (1901-1909)

Roosevelt emerged spectacularly as a "trust buster" by forcing the dissolution of a great railroad combination in the Northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed.

Opposed by

Bush supporter and Club for Growth president Stephen Moore

2004: Now is the time for the Bush administration to lighten the enforcement burden of antitrust law and for Congress to do what it should have done long ago: repeal the Sherman antitrust laws.

• Progressive income tax: Following the ratification of the 16th amendment (in 1913), the income tax was progressive from the beginning.

In 1913 the tax rate was 1 percent on taxable net income above $3,000 ($4,000 for married couples), less deductions and exemptions. It rose to a rate of 7 percent on incomes above $500,000.

Opposed by

President Bush

2004: President Bush reasserted his call Sunday for a simpler tax system, and aides said he is considering pushing for a flat tax, which would set the same income-tax rate for most taxpayers, as a major priority if he were to win a second term.

• Direct election of senators: 17th amendment - ratified in 1913

Opposed by

Supreme Court Justice, and George Bush fave Anton Scalia	2004: While Scalia’s prepared speech—which lasted less than half an hour—was narrowly focused, his remarks in the 20-minute question-and-answer question spanned a broad range of topics. In one of the more bizarre moments of the evening, Scalia mentioned—in passing—that he thought the 17th Amendment was “a bad idea.”
GOP-approved senate candidate Alan Keyes	2004: "The balance is utterly destroyed when the senators are directly elected, because the state government as such no longer plays any role in the deliberations at the federal level," Keyes said at a taping of WBBM Newsradio's "At Issue" program.
GOP-approved convention speaker Zell Miller	Senator Miller ... introduced his own amendment to repeal the Seventeenth, contends that the direct election of senators “was the death of the careful balance between state and federal governments.”

• Estate tax: Established in 1916 with the enthusiastic support of Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft

Roosevelt said in 1907 that an inheritance tax on "such enormous fortunes as have been accumulated in America would be one of the methods by which we should try to preserve a measurable equality of opportunity..."

Also: The Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives explained that a new type of tax was needed, because the "consumption taxes" in effect at that time bore most heavily upon those least able to pay them.

Opposed by

President Bush

2002: "One of the worst taxes that we have on the books that we're trying to get rid of, and won't get rid of unless we have a senator and senators who vote to make it permanent, is the death tax. "

• Regulation of energy: Began in 1920 as the Federal Power Commission (FPC), expanded to current scope in 1935 and 1938, reorganized in 1977 as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Not used to enforce its mandate to "ensure just and reasonable rates" by

President Bush	2001: California's electricity shortages should be solved "in California by Californians"
Vice-president Cheney	2001: "They've got a whole complex of problems that are caused by relying only on conservation ..."

• Regulation of the public airwaves: Began with the creation in 1934 of the Federal Communications Commission

Not used to enforce its mandate to make sure the "public interest" is served by broadcasters by

Republican stalwart and current FCC chair Michael Powell

When asked in 2001 what he thought the term public interest meant in the FCC's mission, the current FCC chairman responded, "I have no idea...

• Regulation of securities market: Federal role established with the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1934.

Not used to crack down on Wall Street by

Bush appointmed SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt

2001: ... he pledged to make the SEC “a kinder, gentler place for everyone”.

• Social Security: Legislation signed in 1935.

Current program opposed by

President Bush

2003/4: Wants to "overhaul" the program, privatize it

• Bipartisan foreign policy: Firmly established by Truman and Vandenberg in 1947, leading to the success of the Cold War

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs (1947–49), Vandenberg was the leading proponent of bipartisan support for President Truman's foreign policy. He was instrumental in securing Senate approval of the Marshall Plan and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Dismissed by

President Bush

2002: "... the [Democratic controlled] Senate is more interested in special interests in Washington and not interested in the security of the American people."

• Separation of Church and State: One significant ruling in this matter was the Supreme Court's decision on school prayer in 1962.

Opposed by

President Bush	2001: Established White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
House Minority Leader Tom DeLay	2004: ... Tom DeLay has announced plans to remove the federal courts' jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

• Right to privacy: Significant development in this area established in Griswold vs Connecticut (1965)

Opposed by

President Bush's nominee to the court: Bill Pryor

2003: Pryor believes no right to privacy exists in the Constitution

• Abortion rights: From the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973.

Opposed by

President Bush

1994: "I will do everything in my power to restrict abortions."

• Operate within multi-national framework: Promoted by Woodrow Wilson, fully adopted by Franklin Roosevelt (1945) and subsequent administrations.

Opposed by

President Bush: Withdrew from the ABM Treaty (established in 1972)	2001: "America is withdrawing from this almost 30-year-old treaty ..."
President Bush: Opposed the Kyoto Protocol (established in 1997)	2001: "I oppose the Kyoto Protocol"
President Bush: Refuses to participate in the Internation Criminal Court (established in 1998)	2004: "I made a decision not to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague"

posted by Quiddity at 10/20/2004 01:31:00 AM