Op-Ed Columnist: Looting the Future By PAUL KRUGMAN, NYTimes

The prevailing theory among grown-up Republicans — yes, they still exist — seems to be that Mr. Bush is simply doing whatever it takes to win the next election. After that, he’ll put the political operatives in their place, bring in the policy experts and finally get down to the business of running the country.

But I think they’re in denial. Everything we know suggests that Mr. Bush’s people have given as little thought to running America after the election as they gave to running Iraq after the fall of Baghdad. And they will have no idea what to do when things fall apart.

IS DEMOCRACY PORK? By William F. Buckley Jr., Yahoo! News

The Republican Party’s spokesmen don’t much bother to defend their votes. We have a Republican president who pledged to reduce public spending, and we have a Republican-dominated Congress with appropriations committee heads also pledged to reduce discretionary spending. They will tell you, on the hustings, that the spending increases are owing to the defense against terrorism. And they are right, in part — military spending is up 34 percent in the last two fiscal years. Yet as a share of the economy, defense spending remains well below its highs of the 1980s. Then, the military took 6 percent of the GDP; now, only 3.8 percent. …

There is demoralization in the scene. Never mind that George W. promised to reduce federal spending: The fact of the matter is that he has not done so. What he has reduced is the use of the veto, reduced it to zero, the veto being the presidential instrument usable for good causes and bad, but indispensable to curb capricious exploitation of the public purse. …

But there is something else to look out for, which is the credibility of democratic practice. If everybody preaches A while condoning B, you get not only inflated costs, but deflated confidence in democratic government.

Note well that if Bush wins in 2004 and the Republicans maintain congressional control, the hard right will push harder for their goal: starve the beast (kill most federal spending except for the military). mjh

U.S. Proposes Easing Rules on Emissions of Mercury By JENNIFER 8. LEE, NYTimes

The Bush administration is proposing that mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants should not be regulated in the same way as some of the most toxic air pollutants, reversing a stance on air pollution control taken by the Clinton administration in 2000. …

The agency is suggesting that mercury emissions be removed from the most stringent regulations of the Clean Air Act that have been used to limit the most toxic air pollutants. Among those are asbestos, chromium and lead, which have been known to cause cancers and neurological disorders. …

Environmental groups criticize the market-based proposal, saying it would allow hot spots of mercury contamination to build up. Mercury, a known neurotoxin, accumulates in the environment and builds up in the tissue of fish and the species, including humans, that eat them. It is considered particularly hazardous for pregnant women because of the developmental effects on fetuses.

“Mercury is a serious public health threat,” said Carol M. Browner, who served as E.P.A. administrator under President Bill Clinton. …

This is the administration’s second major policy shift on power plant regulations in the last month, both of which have come after extensive industry lobbying. In November, E.P.A.’s chief of enforcement, J. P. Suarez, told his staff that the agency would stop pursuing Clean Air Act enforcement cases against coal-burning power plants.

Pentagon Allows Lawyer for U.S.-Born Taliban Suspect Reuters

The Pentagon said on Tuesday it will allow an American-born man captured in Afghanistan two years ago and held at a U.S. Navy jail as ”an enemy combatant” to have access to a lawyer.

Yaser Esam Hamdi, 22, who is held in Charleston, South Carolina , and has not been charged, will be given access to a lawyer “as a matter of discretion and military policy” because interrogators have finished collecting intelligence in questioning him, the Defense Department said.

Notice that after violating this American’s constitutional rights for two full years, the Pentagon still says they don’t have to ‘give’ any of these rights to one of our citizens. This is exactly why the Constitution exists — to prevent abuses of authority. mjh

See also If you read this, does that make you an Enemy Combatant?

[From Judge Diana Gribbon Motz’s dissent:] As the Framers well understood, the Executive branch must be subjected to checks on its power if individual liberties are to be preserved….

The Executive’s treatment of Hamdi threatens the freedoms we all cherish….

Baghdad visit gives big boost to Bush By Stephen Dinan, The Washington Times

A new poll shows President Bush has received a ”substantial immediate” boost in popularity and approval ratings after his surprise visit with the troops in Iraq on Thanksgiving.

The National Annenberg Election Survey compared polling from the four days before Thanksgiving with the four days following the holiday and found significant changes on everything from Mr. Bush’s personal likability to his job performance to the country’s direction.

Well, I had my own ”daily outrages” before I ran across Matt Bivens’. I recommend you check out his blog (Thanks, Jas!) mjh

the daily outrage by Matt Bivens, The Nation

Welcome to ”The Daily Outrage,” your last best hope to keep up with the blizzard of Bush-era bad news. Whether they’re cutting down your forests, raiding your retirement funds, reading your email or shrinking your constitutional rights, the Republican (sometimes it’s bipartisan) assault advances by the hour. The outrages come so fast that it’s hard for even well-read citizens to stay abreast. So this column will provide you with a regular update on their doings. Pass it on.

Bush Baghdad trip distracts media from black sheep brother By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles for independent.co.uk news

[T]he sight of the President serving Thanksgiving turkey to the troops has also served to overshadow – at least for the moment – a catalogue of potential political embarrassments created by his younger brother. Neil Bush caused trouble for their father, President Bush the first, more than a decade ago because of his role in the collapse of a savings and loan company that ended up costing American taxpayers $1.3bn (£750m). Now he is in trouble again, largely as a result of the startling revelations from a highly acrimonious divorce. …

Potentially more damaging revelations – certainly for the Oval Office – concern business rather than pleasure, and the strong impression that Neil might have taken brazen advantage of his membership of America’s most powerful political family to make a killing on business deals. …

Whether any of this might damage the President or not, it adds to a conviction that the Bush family has been trading off its political connections for years.

So, Duhbya’s little brother cheats on his wife, sleeps with numerous prostitutes, takes large sums from others for nothing more than access. Where is the moral outrage of the holier-than-thou Right? Or are they too busy planning to run Neil after Jeb’s 8 years in the White House? mjh
(Thanks to Jas. for the news)

Newsday.com – President’s Brother Has $2m Contract In China By Warren Vieth and Lianne Hart, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Neil Bush, a younger brother of President George W. Bush, has a $400,000-a-year contract to provide business advice to a Chinese computer chip manufacturer, according to court documents. …

“There’s certainly the appearance of influence being sought,” said Charles W. McMillion, a Washington business consultant who advised a congressional commission on U.S.-China policy. “If nothing else, it doesn’t look good.” …

[T]he president’s brother acknowledged that he knew little about the industry he had just joined.

A Bush in Bed With Beijing? from The Daily Outrage, by Matt Bivens, The Nation

Now consider the case of Neil Bush — the former president’s son, current president’s brother — whose frank admissions in court testimony to screwing around in Thailand and Hong Kong, and taking huge sums of money from Chinese political players for murky services, are somehow barely even news — much less front-page, what-the-heck, what-does-Congress-think news.