For My Friends Who Voted for Bush

In exchange for leading you to believe he is a Christian and cares about the things you care about, in exchange for his packing the courts with far right wing judges, here is what Bush is giving you:

"Passed: A tort reform bill that makes it harder for ordinary citizens to sue corporations who harm them.

"Coming soon: A bankruptcy bill that will make it harder for distressed workers to declare bankruptcy and will increase credit card company profits by an estimated $1 billion.

"Coming soon: A transportation bill that adds two unpaid hours onto the work days of short-haul and long-haul truckers.

"In progress: Changes to Social Security that will almost certainly include benefit cuts for current workers.

"In progress: Making permanent a set of tax cuts that primarily helps the upper class.

"And it's only the middle of March. Can anyone name even one thing the Bush administration has done this year -- or is proposing to do -- that would benefit ordinary workers? Do they even pretend to care any more?"

-From Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly

Is this what you thought you were voting for?

"With legislative maneuvering designed to punish and deprive the least fortunate among us -- working people at the lower end of the American economy and their children -- the Republicans don't seem to be upholding the caring Christian ideals often proclaimed by the President. They're pushing down wages, snatching away tax credits and food stamps, slashing Medicaid and children's health insurance, and removing bankruptcy protections from families that suffer medical catastrophes. But they're extending tax cuts on dividends and capital gains, and making sure that those bankruptcy laws still protect the richest deadbeats.

"In short, they are stealing bread from the mouths of the poor and stuffing cake into the maws of the wealthy.

"The bankruptcy 'reform' currently pending in the Senate, for instance, would compound the misery of Americans already ruined by enormous medical expenses, which is what drives most filers to seek legal protection. The sponsors of this punitive act, which will further inflate the profits of credit-card companies, rejected every amendment to discourage deceptive and extortionate lending practices, as well as every amendment to soften the impact on destitute veterans and others whose misfortune might ordinarily stir feelings of compassion."

-From Joe Conason in Salon

Does the man you voted for have one ounce of concern for you? Well, if you're a well connected multi-millionaire, a large financial concern, an oil company, a polluter, or the credit card companies, then yes.