Jeb Bush (Anti-Environment, Anti Public Health)

FACT: Jeb pushed hard for a controversial bill which would allow untreated water containing human and animal feces to be injected into underground water zones, or aquifers, which are near wells where drinking water is stored. Apparently the untreated water is supposed to stay separate from the aquifer's drinking water supplies. And as we all know, things like this never go wrong. The Environmental Prevarication Agency has indicated that the bill is "not inconsistent" with Safe Drinking Water Act standards. 

Bush (Prescription Drugs, Aristocracy, Lies, Enron, Tax Cut) 06/2002

FACT: In Bush's prescription drug plan, you don't get any prescription drug help if you're a senior citizen who lives on more than $17,000 a year. 

COMMENT: From Paul Begala, "So that in George Bush's America, if you're an old couple, retired, living on $17,000 a year, you're so rich you can't get prescription drug help. But if you're an Enron executive living on $17 million a year, you're so poor that you get a tax cut and a bailout." Thanks Paul.

Bush (Corporate Interests, Anti-Environment, Anti-Public Health) 

FACT: The Bush administration rescinds a regulation to update the arsenic standard from 50 ppb to 10 ppb. 

Tommy Thompson (Lies, Stem Cell Research) 2001

FACT: Bush announced that more than 60 existing stem cell lines would receive federal research funding. But according to the New York Times, scientists were somewhat baffled by this news: "most of the existing lines are not ready for the kind of research that scientists believe may lead to treatments for a variety of diseases." After Bush's announcement, Health Secretary Tommy Thompson tried to prop up the idea, declaring that "the more than 60 stem cell lines are diverse, robust and viable for research." But just recently Thompson was forced to backpedal when it was discovered that his claims were, in fact, lies. In reality, only 24 or 25 of the lines are of any use to anybody. 

COMMENT: Just like all meaningful programs that don’t necessarily provide immediate pocket lining to republicans or instant comfort to flat-world radicals, the stem-cell research will be asphyxiated with unrealistic and ultimately lethal constraints. When these constraints disallow the research from making the hoped for progress, republicans will use that failure as “proof” that the stem cell research isn’t all that it was promised to be. They will then call for further funding cutbacks or even the complete termination of the project. Another obvious example of this strangle-condemn-underfund-terminate strategy is the public school system. Republican constantly focus on the systems failures which they use as “proof” that the system doesn’t work so they present school vouchers which, by design, suck even more funds out of the public school system.