A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Eddy W. Collins

In his 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush pledged to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Once in office, he reversed course, with encouragement from well-placed contributors, industries, and lobbyists (including now-Governor Hailey Barbour of Mississippi).

We can't trust W to keep his promises.

As president, Bill Clinton expanded the coastal wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico that protect the mainland and lower storm surges. Bush reversed those actions, allowing high-rolling developers and contributors to develop those wetlands, reducing the protections those wetlands provided.

We can't trust W to protect our environment.

Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq, ties between Saddam Hussein and the dastardly September 11, 2001 attacks, and ties between Saddam and al Qaeda. As a result, nearly 2,000 of our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers have died along with tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and thousands of physically and/or emotionally wounded. All for the establishment of an anti-woman, Islamic theocracy?

We can't trust W with our military.

As president, Bush protected his "leave no millionaire behind" tax cuts and instead cut funds from New Orleans levee improvements to help pay for his war of choice in Iraq.

We can't trust W to put the lives of everyday Americans first.

On Inauguration Day, 2001, Bush received the largest gift a new president ever received: a federal budget in surplus. Though he'd promised to continue paying down the remaining deficit, he and his Republican-led Congresses have instead generated the largest budget deficits in history, with no end in sight and no hint of a change in course.

We can't trust W with our money.

George Bush stocked his administration, and FEMA in particular, with political cronies often lacking even basic skills of the agencies they ran. Charged with dealing with the worst natural or human-made disasters, Michael "Brownie" Brown brought his knowledge of Arabian horse shows to bear. Now hundreds of Americans (at least) have paid with their lives.

We can't trust W to keep us safe.

And now, tonight, W gives us a public relations ‘rah-rah' speech with no accountability for HIS mis-administration's cuts in levee improvements, HIS continuing a FIVE-WEEK vacation while Americans died from neglect, or HIS support of "Brownie" ("you're doing a great job") for days until Brown resigned (but wasn't FIRED).

Bush promises to unload billions of dollars on the Gulf Coast and Halliburton, Bechtel, and other Republican-connected firms are ready to work the cost-plus, no-bid contracts. He's already put, not a massive-rebuilding project professional, but his POLITICAL guru Karl Rove in charge -- with a $200 BILLION credit card and the American Taxpayer as the billing address.

We can't trust W not to spend OUR tax dollars on enriching HIS well-connected friends and contributors.

This president CLAIMS to want to know "what went right and what went wrong", but his Republican-ruled Congress opposed an independent commission to investigate the response to Hurricane Katrina and instead is providing a Republican-dominated commission, where Democrats will be powerless to subpoena and thus effectively shut out. What do the Republicans have to hide?

We can't trust W to investigate himself.

In signing an executive order to revoke the decades-old Davis-Bacon provisions, Bush has ensured that his well-connected, contract-receiving contributors will have lower labor costs and even higher profits, while the workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast have received a large wage cut.

We can't trust W to stand with working families.

Enough is enough. We can't trust W.