It took me a while, but I have finally managed to condense the salient  features of David Corn's excellent polemic, The Lies of George W. Bush. He also has a website: www.bushlies.com/blog

Herewith, I give you my breakdown of Corn's breakdown of the Lies of George W. Bush. I have not bothered to distinguish between his lines and mine; suffice to say my own interjections are far fewer in number than Corn's own prose. (Actually, that's not true. I just re-read it and it seems I did a lot of the writing myself, using Corn's data as reference. Don't blame him for the tone. I've also added stuff that's come out since Corn wrote the book.)

This summary is nothing compared to reading the book itself-- Corn has amassed documentation and analysis that will make your head spin. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I posted this a week or so ago on Daily Kos, thought it might be worthwhile here, too. I later got a nice email from David Corn himself, thanking me for the publicity and admonishing me to make sure the link I provided to his website was the one to his Blog. Hence, the link above is the direct one to Corn's Blog.

The Lies of George W. Bush

A Distillation of David Corn's excellent polemic.

         A Dishonest Candidate

A. "I don't run polls to tell me what to think."

Before he kicked off his 2000 bid announcement, his campaign ran focus groups in SC, MI and CA. *Throughout the campaign, he routinely used focus groups to test key phrases on the stump.

B. "I've got a record not of rhetoric, but... of results."

("In my state, I led out state to the 2 biggest tax cuts in the state's history. Our test scores for our students are up." He also claimed Texas air had gotten cleaner on his watch, tat he had passed a patients' bill of rights and that he had expanded a children's health insurance program.) The actual cuts resulted in some lowering of taxes for some, but much of the cuts were largely offset by other tax hikes made necessary by the tax cuts Bush was hailing.

• He also neglected to mention his attempt to boost the sales tax and implement a new business tax.
• Failing to persuade Texas' legislature to pass his proposed tax plan, he settled for a $1 billion reduction in school property taxes, which turned out to be a sham; after they kicked in, school districts statewide had to raise local taxes to pay for the loss of revenue.
• During Bush's time as Governor, the state budget jumped from about $73 billion to $98.1 billion - a 34 percent leap that dwarfed the federal government's 21 percent growth rate.

C. The Patients Bill of Rights:

As everyone ought to know by now, this passed in spite of Bush's opposition to it and did not receive his signature.

D. Childrens Health Insurance Program:

Bush fought against the Democratically controlled House in Texas to limit eligibility to children from homes with incomes below $25K. It would have eliminated 220,000 of the 500,000 uninsured children who would have qualified. (A fraction of Texas's highest-in-the-nation number of per capita uninsured children.)

Bush delayed implementing the program to make possible his tax cuts; a total of 5 years passed, freeing Texas from having to match state grants, leaving enough money for Bush to pass $1 billion in "tax relief."

E. Cleaner Air? "You've got to ask...is the air cleaner since I became Governor? And the answer is yes."

 Actually, the answer was "No." The EPA indicated a 10 percent increase in industrial emissions, and the frequency of smog alerts rose steeply in the Bush years. Texas ranked first among all states in the number of days with health-threatening ozone levels, first in airborne carcinogens and first in toxic air releases.

F. Education Reform:

As everyone ought to know by now, Bush's Texas version of "Leave No Child Behind" was underfunded, its results fraudulently tampered with by his future Secretary of Education, Rod Paige. Dring his primary debates, Bush outright lied, claiming,"...our SAT scores have improved since I've been governor." In fact, tey had risen in only one category - mathematics. And the average verbal/math scores had dipped 3 points during Bush's tenure; over the same period, national scores improved by 9 points.

G. Abortion:

In a 1978 interview with Bush in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, he explained his views to reporter Sylvia Teague: "Bush said he opposes the pro-life amendment favored by his opponent and favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question." Asked in later years, he claimed to have been misinterpreted. Yet another quote in the same article left no doubt as to his meaning: "That does not mean I'm for abortion." In other words, he flip-flopped, and apparently for purely political reasons.

H. Texas Air National Guard:

Leaving aside all other questions as to whether or not GWB actually was AWOL for a period of time, he did, in fact, lie. When he enlisted, he signed a pledge: "I, George Walker Bush, upon successful completion of pilot training plan to return to my unit and fulfill my obligation to the utmost of my ability. I have applied for pilot training with the goal of making flying a lifetime pursuit and I believe I can best accomplish this...by service as a member of the Air National Guard as long as possible."

Bush did not serve "as long as possible." He received pilot training - at the expense of the U.S. government - and then cut out on his unit, heading to Alabama where he did not put his training to any use. He failed to arrange a flight physical - so as to be fully ready to serve - and once back in Texas, flew no more. He then ended his service prematurely to go to business school.

I. Drunk Driving:

Did it, lied about it, covered up lying about it, lied about covering up lying about it. Enough said.

           A Dishonest Campaign

A. "I'm a uniter, not a divider."

Two words: John McCain.

B.  "I believe everybody ought to get a tax cut."

Bush claimed the budget surplus would cover his massive tax cuts. The math was there to be done: Without even factoring in the interest payments on the national debt due over the ten years Bush projected the tax cuts would be covered by the projected surplus, his $1.6 trillion tax cuts would place the budget $300 billion in the red. Factoring in the payments, the projected deficit would be $600 billion.

C. "The vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum."

 According to verifiable reports done by Citizens for Tax Justice, 42.6 percent would go to the top 1 percent (people with incomes over $319K). 50 percent would go to the top 5 percent (130K and above). And the lowest 60 percent would net 12.6 percent of the tax "relief." The average middle income taxpayer would receive $453, the average top 1 percenter, $46,072. CTJ would have to have been off by 1700 to 6000 percent for Bush's "vast majority" remark to come close to being true.

D. Social Security/Health Insurance:

The fuzzy math of which Bush accused Gore was all on his side. Bush concocted fantasy after fantasy that had absolutely no basis in reality. Bush fails to mention the $1 trillion that would be necessary to transition to his proposed (and subsequently fictitious) plans for Social Security privatization.

E. Visits Bob Jones University...

calls for "more civility and respect in politics" - then derides Gore for practicing "politics of the roadblock,""reinventing himself,""running in borrowed clothes" and being a fearmonger. Appropriate term for this kind of lying: Hypocrisy. Also spends the bulk of the 2000 campaign teling outright lies about Gore, Gore's policies and Gore's party.

F.  Promises to "restore honor and integrity to the White House."

Perhaps well-intentioned, but in the wash, a lie.

           Sudden-Death Lies

The Recount:

Bush, through James Baker, claims the votes have been counted, recounted and perhaps recounted again. The Forida vote, in fact, had not been subject to a full recount - this was, in fact, what Bush v. Gore sought to halt. And succeeded in so doing.

           Lying in Office

A. "This is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity."

B. "(I will adopt a foreign policy that shows) purpose without arrogance."

Bush proceeds to nominate John Ashcroft as Attorney General, whose record of die-hard positions extended beyond opposing abortion rights, common forms of contraception, gun control and gay rights. Ashcroft had praised a "neo-confederate magazine (Southern Partisan) that had published an apologia for slavery, celebrated the assassination of Lincoln and hailed KKK leaders. Appearing at Bob Jones University in 1999, Ashcroft proclaimed that America "is unique among the nations" and "the place where mankind has had the gratest of all opportunities to aproach the potential that God has placed within us" because "we have no king but Jesus." Can you say, "Polarizing?"

Bush next removes federal funding from foreign clinics who even mention abortion, thereby denying millions of women access to birth control, leading to an estimated 400,000 more abortions per year. Oddly, after pressure, the Bush Administration reinstates funding to AIDS clinics who fund abortions, neglecting to explain why they will give money to abortion-related groups for the AIDS work but not to abortion-related groups for their family planning work.

No Child Left Behind:

Bush takes his failed Texas education policies nationwide, underfunds them, and proceeds to lie about the even worse nationwide results - right on through the 2004 election cycle.

Clean Water:

Directs Christine Todd Whtman, head of his EPA, to withdraw the new standard for arsenic in drinking water. Whitman then takes a bullet for Bush, claiming it was her idea. After much wasted time and money conducting bogus tests, the standards are adopted - mostly due to public outcry.

           Tax Policy Cheat

A. Bush's use of the word "average" can be summed up thusly:

If Bill Gates moves into a low income community, that community's annual average income makes them all millionaires.

B. "Death Tax:"

Despite all his claims, no one is able to find a single instance of a "family farm" lost to estate taxes.This fact does not deter Bush from ramming through his repeal of the estate tax by lying repeatedly about family farms lost to the "death tax."
C. Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut ignores two key elements in his claim that the surplus will more than cover it: Higher federal interest costs and the cost of fixing a design flaw in the Alternative Minimum Tax, which would have been applied to middle-income taxpayers, bringing in $200 billion in revenues - fictional revenues, once the AMT glitch got fixed.

D. The Surplus:

The projected surplus included in the Congressional Budget Office's calculations various tax increases and program cuts that were highly unlikely to occur - especially if Bush's tax cut program were implemented. The Bush Administration also failed to note the costs for his proposed military spending increases, the $1 trillion in privatization of Social Security costs and the precription drug benefit costs.

E. "Immediate tax relief will provide an important boost at an important time for our economy."

The biggest cuts would not kick in for several years, when the projected surpluses might not be there. Only $20 billion were to go into action in the first year, providing barely a nudge to the $10 trillion economy. The eventual "tax rebates" (#300 for single taxpayers, $600 for couples) would increase consumer spending by a generous estimate of 1 percent.

           High-Octane Lies

A. Enron

B. Halliburton

C. ANWR

D. Cheney's Secret Energy Task Force

E."12 of the Sierra Club'sproposals are, in fact, almost identical to provisions in the Bush plan."

  -- In fact, none of their proposals were remotely similar.

           Hot Air

A. Global Climate Change:

Bush abandons the Kyoto Protocol

B. In spring of 2003, Bush White House edits an EPA report on the state of the environment to eliminate and ilute key sections on global warming.

Example: White House strikes a reference to a 1999 study confirming an increase in global temperatures and replaces it with a study underwritten by the American Petroleum Institute questioning the conclusion. EPA officials decide to drop the entire section rather than accept the White House's changes.

C. Contrary to a campaign promise, Bush actually approves increases in emissions rather than decreases.

 

           Stem Cells and Star Wars

A. Stem Cell Research:

Bush limits federally funded research to "60 existing stem cell lines." It is later revealed that perhaps 12 are actually viable for research - and that Bush knew it.

B. Star Wars:

Despite much evidence that the system was nowhere near viability, the Bush Administration sells the public a $9 billion missile defense program, contrary to the ABM Treaty, by saying, "Today's most urgent threat stems not from thousands of ballistic missiles in Soviet Hands, but from a small amount of missiles in the hands of... states for whom terror and blackmail are a way of life." In 2001, Bush pulls the U.S. out of the ABM Treaty.

           September 11

A. Bush claims "America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world."

He continues to make this claim, despite mountains of evidence, including bin Laden's own words, that the terrorists' rationale for "hating America" is entirely to do with its involvement and policies in the Middle East.

B. "No one could have conceivably imagined suicide bombers burrowing into our society and then emerging all in the same day to fly their aircraft - fly U.S. aircraft into buildings full of innocent people, and show no remorse."

In fact, as has been proven, many people did imagine it. (Parenthetically speaking, there is also some confusion over Bush's statement that his first reaction on hearing about the first plane was, "That's one bad pilot." He also said he "saw" the first plane hit the tower -- no one saw that on videotape, only the second hit was captured on tape.)

C. "We're taking every possible step to protect our country from danger."

• 10 percent of local health departments lack email capability.

• Most are funded only from nine to five on weekdays.

• The Administration fails to embrace the proposals of the Dep. Of Energy for spending $30 billion on programs  "to secure and/or neutralize in the next eight to ten years all nuclear weapons-usable material located in Russia and to prevent the outflow from Russia of scientific expertise that could be used for nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction."

• No new intelligence network changes were implemented.

• No new plans for protection of private infrastructure like chemical plants and skyscrapers; no new funding for Coast Guard and Customs Service.

• No steps taken to increase ability of first responders to communicate.

• No hastening development of port security.

In July 2003, an  independent task force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, chaired by Warren Rudman, ( R), issued a report: "The United States remains dangerously ill-prepared to handle a catastrophic attack on American soil."

D. "It's not time to worry about partisan politics here in America."

Using 9/11 as a Patriotic Club, Bush's Republicans in Congress push through virtually everything he wants. In the 2002 elections, Republicans use dirty tactics (Max Cleland, for example) to imply that the Democrats are against Bush and his Republicans, therefore on the side of the terrorists. In fact, more partisan politics are practiced by the Republicans post-9/11 than can be documented; and the Democrats, forced to acquiesce or be demonized, are crushed.

E. Bush claims credit for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which he previously opposed. Bush and Ashcroft get their Patriot Act.

               Afghanistan

A. Bush waits 2 months, then sends in minimal troops strength to "defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban." Despite the fact that the war in Afghanistan is rough going, Donald Rumsfeld continues to assert that the Americans are having an easy time of it and making great progress.

B. By 2004, the Taliban are re-emerging, the U.S has virtually abandoned the "reconstrunction" promised, and al Qaeda is still going strong - with a whole new breeding ground and recruitment center...

                   White-Collar Lies

A. "I  first got to know Ken [Lay in 1994]."

In 1989, Ken Lay spearheaded a drive to convince Bush I to locate his presidential library in Houston. "That's when I probably spent a little more quality time with George W.," Lay told the Dallas Morning News in the summer of 2001. He also headed the local host committee for the 1992 RNC in Houston, where Bush I was renominated. According to the Houston Chronicle,"Lay worked closely with George W. Bush" at the convention.

B. Enron and the Bush Administration:

Not surprisingly, many Bush Administration actions end up directly helping Enron. Appointments to the FERC, a billion dollar contract dispute in India - and, of course, the Bush energy plan, created with the help of Dick Cheneys Double Secret Energy Task Force.

C. Halliburton:

Enough said.

D. Harken:

Bush is discovered to have sold his stock in a manner, shall we say, less than forthright. That is to say, he had inside information and made a profit on stock he owned (in a company on whose Board of Directors he served) shortly before the Harken stock tanked.

E. Bush calls for "a new era of integrity in corporate America."

...after months of pressure from Republicans and Democrats, not to mention plausibly drawn conclusions by the entire populace as to Bush and Cheney's relations with Enron and Halliburton. None of his proposals, however, actually amount to much more than lip service.

                     Selling A War

A. "Axis of Evil" - AKA, "The president has made no decision about the use of force."

See: Bush At War, Against All Enemies, The Price of Loyalty. Also Fahrenheit 9/11.

B. "The president... and the Secretary of Defense would not assert...that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it."

See: Bush At War, Against All Enemies, The Price of Loyalty. Also Fahrenheit 9/11. Also, The 9/11 Commission Report and The Senate Intelligence Committee Report.

C. "He is a threat because he is dealing with al Qaeda."

Ibid.

D. "I think it is probably not a good thing for the U.N. to be laughed at and sneered at and disobeyed and... to not be significant enough."

Until such time as the United States wishes to go to war without the approval of the United Nations.

              Return of the Tax Policy Cheat

A. Despite growing unemployment (2 millions lost jobs by 2002), a budget deficit nearing $400 million and two wars costing in the billions... George W. Bush continues to assert that taxes should be cut.

B. "This growth and jobs cut will provide an immediate boost to the economy."

Most of the package is slated to kick in after 2003; 13.5 percent would go to reducing taxes in 2003. Bush's own experts, the White House Council on Economic Advisers, indicate in a report that the "main purpose" of the tax proposal is "not to fix the economy's current weakness, but rather to advance a longer term agenda of reducing taxes and increasing future growth."

C. Same claims about the bulk of the cuts going to the bottom 90 percent; same results.

D. "We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to the other Congresses, to other presidents and to other generations."

Two words: Record Deficits.

E. "We didn't squander a surplus. We never had it. It was a forecast. It wasn't real dollars in hand."

True. But that's not what you said when you sold your tax cuts.

                      In Iraq

A. "We'll reveal the truth."

• No WMDs.

• "Mission Accomplished."

• "Handover of sovereignty."

• Abu Ghraib.
• Massive civilian casualties denied, obfuscated and rationalized by Rumsfeld and others.

• "We found the weapons of mass destruction." Oops - never mind.

See: Bush At War, Against All Enemies, The Price of Loyalty. Also Fahrenheit 9/11. Also, The 9/11 Commission Report and The Senate Intelligence Committee Report.

B. "There are some who would like to rewrite history."

• No WMDs? We're really there to liberate Iraq.

• They're "sovereign" now - just ignore our 130K+ troops and Bremer's 100 point plan that cannot be deviated from by the "sovereign" leaders.

C. Reconstruction:

So far, a tiny fraction of the funds allocated have actually been used - and virtually all of the contracts and employment have been handed to American companies, in the form of no-bid contracts. Halliburton.

D. "The reason I don't use the phrase "guerilla war" is because there isn't one."

All evidence on the nightly news since "Mission Accomplished" to the contrary.

E. "We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."

See: your local paper, nightly news and casualty reports.

                How He Gets Away with It (So Far)

"I'm the master of low expectations." Finally, Bush tells the truth.

How does he get away with it all?  His primary conspirators, whether they know it or not (and the case can be made that some do and some don't), are the corporate media. It remains to be seen, in these last three months before the 2004 presidential election, whether the media will hold Bush to a higher standard than they have thus far. There are some indications that they will, but it is incumbent on the people of the United States to demand it.