Wis. Protesters Share Iraqi Shoe-Thrower Award
 |
The public workers and students in Wisconsin wore out a lot of shoe leather in their months of protest against the conservatives’ attacks on working people. Now they have a bronze shoe to honor their efforts.
They won the first annual Muntadhar award sponsored by Prospero’s Books in Kansas City, Mo. The award, in the form of a bronzed shoe, is named for Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who earned international recognition after throwing his shoes at former President George W. Bush during a press conference in Iraq.
“Americans appreciate the underdog,” said Will Leathem, Prospero’s co-owner.
American underdogs have been taking it on the chin—their jobs shipped overseas and sacrificed to partisan politics, their homes foreclosed on as big banks get tax breaks. And I think it’s high time we celebrated the unrecognized efforts of the little people who, like David, face down the Goliaths of institutional power in our culture.
Christie: I ‘Plead Guilty’ to Strong Support of Bush
In the race for New Jersey governor, Chris Christie is casting himself as a fresh face and a reformer—but the fact is that he’s a longtime crony of former President George W. Bush.
Here’s how Christie, in a 2007 appearance, described his actions on behalf of Bush and his subsequent appointment to a Bush administration political office:
Listen, I plead guilty to having raised money for Governor George W. Bush because I thought he was the best person to be President of the United States. And I did it in a completely appropriate fashion and enthusiastically for the President.
There’s no mystery to the fact that I was appointed to this job because, in part, I had a relationship with the President of the United States. Anybody who receives a political appointment—I am a political appointee—there’s going to be some measure of politics involved with that appointment.
(A hat tip to Daily Kos, where the video was posted this morning.)
Bush Legacy: Topping the Injustice Index
 |
||||
|
||||
In less than a month, George W. Bush’s term as president will end and working people will breathe a massive sigh of relief.
While Bush’s popularity and performance ratings are at rock bottom, he rates high on the Drum Major Institute’s (DMI’s) Injustice Index. Through a stunning series of numbers and dates, DMI paints a picture of increased misery for millions of Americans over the past eight years.
Some of the most onerous of the numbers and dates in the Bush legacy include:
-Since President Bush signed legislation phasing out the federal estate tax in June 2001, the number of U.S. millionaires has risen by 928,000, while the number of Americans living in poverty rose by 4.4 million. All totaled, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy have cost taxpayers $1.3 trillion.
-Some 78,000 children lost health coverage during President Bush’s tenure. Also, 20 percent of Bush’s total vetoes blocked expansion of children’s health insurance. In fact, he cited the superiority of private insurance programs five times in his message explaining the first veto to Congress.
