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Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
L.A. Counts SOB's Endorse Chemtrails (AGAIN)
http://scvnews.com/2015/10/16/supes-to-authorize-550k-annually-for-cloud-seeding/
 Staff recommendation before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015:
This action is to adopt the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration for the County of Los Angeles Weather Modification Project and to award a service contract for As-Needed Weather Modification (Cloud Seeding) Services to augment the amount of rainfall within select watersheds of the San Gabriel Mountains.
IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE BOARD:
1. Consider the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration to augment the amount of rainfall within select watersheds of the San Gabriel Mountains; find that the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration reflects the independent judgment and analysis of the Board; adopt the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; find that the Mitigation Monitoring Reporting Program is adequately designed to ensure compliance with the mitigation measures during project implementation; find on the basis of the whole record before the Board that there is no substantial evidence that the project will have a significant effect on the environment; and adopt the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration.
2. Approve the County of Los Angeles Weather Modification Project and award a service contract for As-Needed Weather Modification (Cloud Seeding) Services to North American Weather Consultants, Inc. This contract will be for a term of 1 year commencing upon execution of the Contract by both parties in an annual amount not to exceed $550,000 with four 1-year renewal options and a month-to-month extension up to 6 months for a maximum potential contract term of 66 months and a potential maximum contract sum of $3,025,000.
3. Authorize the Director of Public Works or her designee to annually increase the contract amount up to an additional 10 percent of the annual contract sum for unforeseen, additional work within the scope of the contract, if required, and to adjust the annual contract sum for each option year over the term of the contract to allow for an annual cost-of-living adjustment in accordance with County policy and the terms of the contract.
4. Authorize the Director of Public Works or her designee to execute the contract; to renew the contract for each additional renewal option and extension period if in the opinion of the Director of Public Works or her designee, North American Weather Consultants, Inc., has successfully performed during the previous contract period and the services are still required; to approve and execute amendments to incorporate necessary changes within the scope of work; and to suspend work if, in the opinion of the Director of Public Works or her designee, it is in the best interest of the County to do so.
PURPOSE/JUSTIFICATION OF RECOMMENDED ACTION
California is currently in its fourth consecutive year of drought and is experiencing serious shortfalls in available water resources. Weather modification programs have been historically implemented in Los Angeles County and many other areas to successfully increase the amount of rainfall over targeted areas. The program proposes to increase rain fall in Los Angeles County by seeding clouds with a condensation agent from land based generators. Additional rain fall will be captured in dams and spreading grounds throughout the Pacoima, Big Tujunga, and San Gabriel watersheds. A Board Motion on January 7, 2014, directed Public Works to report back on enhancing local water supplies, including cloud seeding. The proposed reactivation of the cloud seeding program is a result of that report.
The purpose of the recommended action is to adopt the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), (Enclosure A), and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP), (Enclosure D), for the County of Los Angeles Weather Modification Project, and to award a service contract for As-Needed Weather Modification (Cloud Seeding) Services to augment the amount of rainfall within select watersheds of the San Gabriel Mountains. Public Works has intermittently contracted this service since 1962.
Implementation of Strategic Plan Goals
The Countywide Strategic Plan directs the provisions of Operational Effectiveness/Fiscal Sustainability (Goal 1), Community Support and Responsiveness (Goal 2), and Integrated Services Delivery (Goal 3). The contractor has the specialized expertise to provide this service accurately, efficiently, timely, and in a responsive manner to support Public Works in meeting these goals.
FISCAL IMPACT/FINANCING
There will be no impact to the County General Fund.
The annual contract amount is $550,000 plus 10 percent for additional work within the scope of the contract and cost-of-living adjustments in accordance with this contract with a maximum potential contract sum of $3,025,000. This amount is based on the annual price quoted by the contractor and Public Works estimated annual utilization of the contractor’s services.
Funding for this service is included in the Internal Service Fund Fiscal Year 2015-16 Budget, which will be reimbursed by the Flood Control District Fund. Funds to finance the contract’s optional years and 10 percent additional funding for contingencies will be requested through the annual budget process.
FACTS AND PROVISIONS/LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
The recommended contractor is North American Weather Consultants, Inc., located in Sandy, Utah.
This contract will commence upon the Board’s approval or execution by both parties, whichever occurs last, for a period of 1 year. With the Board’s delegated authority, the Director of Public Works or her designee may renew the contract for four 1-year renewal options and a month-to-month extension up to 6 months for a maximum potential total contract term of 66 months.
The contract will be in the form substantially similar to the form previously reviewed and approved by County Counsel (Enclosure B). Prior to the Director or her designee executing this contract, the contractor will sign and County Counsel will review it as to form. The recommended contract with North American Weather Consultants, Inc., was solicited on an open-competitive basis and is in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and County requirements. The contractor is in compliance with the requirements of the Interim Chief Executive Officer and the Board.
The award of the contract will not result in unauthorized disclosure of confidential information and will be in full compliance with Federal, State, and County regulations. The contract contains terms and conditions supporting the Board’s ordinances, policies, and programs including, but not limited to:
the County’s Greater Avenues for Independence and General Relief Opportunities for Work Programs (GAIN and GROW), Board Policy No. 5.050; Contract Language to Assist in Placement of Displaced County Workers, Board Policy No. 5.110; Reporting of Improper Solicitations, Board Policy No. 5.060; Notice to Contract Employees of Newborn Abandonment Law (Safely Surrendered Baby Law), Board Policy No. 5.135; Contractor Employee Jury Service Program, Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.203; Notice to Employees Regarding the Federal Earned Income Credit (Federal Income Tax Law, Internal Revenue Service Notice 1015); Contractor Responsibility and Debarment, Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.202; the Los Angeles County’s Child Support Compliance Program, Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.200; Defaulted Property Tax Reduction Program Ordinance, Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.206; and the standard Board-directed clauses that provide for contract termination or renegotiation.
Data regarding the proposers’ minority participation is on file with Public Works. The contractor was selected upon final analysis and consideration without regard to race, creed, gender, or color.
Proof of the required Comprehensive General and Automobile Liability insurance policies, naming the County as additional insured, and evidence of Workers’ Compensation insurance will be obtained from the contractor before any work is assigned.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) for this contracted service was not submitted to any union for review since no classifications were impacted.
Public Works has evaluated and determined that the Living Wage Program (Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.201) does not apply to this recommended contract, which is for services required on an as-needed and intermittent basis; hence, this contract is not a Proposition A contract (Los Angeles County Code, Chapter 2.121).
The contract includes a cost-of-living adjustment provision, which is in accordance with the Board’s policy approved January 29, 2002.
ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTATION
An initial study was prepared for the County of Los Angeles Weather Modification Project to augment the amount of rainfall within select watersheds of the San Gabriel Mountains, in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The initial study identified potentially significant effects of the project, but prior to the release of the proposed MND and initial study for public review, revisions to the project were made or agreed to which would avoid the significant effects or mitigate the effects to a point where clearly no significant effects would occur, as described below:
Biological Resources, Geology and Soils, Hydrology and Water Quality, and Mandatory Findings of Significance will all be mitigated through a set of project suspension criteria that will halt all cloud seeding operations within the targeted watersheds when precipitation rates, dam capacity, rainfall forecast, burn area, and/or earthquake thresholds are met.
The initial study and project revisions showed that there is no substantial evidence, in light of the whole record before the County, that the project may have a significant effect on the environment.
Based on the Initial Study and project revisions, an MND was prepared for the proposed Project (Enclosure A).
Public notice was published in the Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Star News, and San Gabriel Valley Tribune newspapers on July 24, 2009, pursuant to Public Resources Code, Section 21092, and posted pursuant to Section 21092.3. Copies of the MND were also sent to 8 cities and 11 local libraries, the United States Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, and the State Clearinghouse for public review. The public review period for the MND ended on August 24, 2009.
Comments were received from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the California State Department of Fish and Game after the close of the public review period. The comments and Public Works’ responses are incorporated into the MND. No other comments were received. Responses to the comments received were sent to each respective public agency pursuant to Section 21092.5, and are included in Appendix D of the MND.
A review of the MND was conducted in April 2015. Public Works concluded that none of the conditions set forth in Section 15162 of the State CEQA Guidelines, which would require further circulation of a subsequent environmental document have occurred. Written results of the review are included in the MND, Appendix F.
The MND reflects that all identified significant environmental effects of the project can be avoided or reduced to a level of insignificance through the implementation of the MND mitigation measures. An MMRP narrative consistent with the conclusions and recommendations of the MND has been included within the MND and an MMRP grid was prepared and is attached as Enclosure D. The MMRP has been incorporated into this project.
The location of the documents and other materials constituting the record of the proceedings upon which your Board’s decision is based are located at the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Water Resources Division, 900 South Fremont Avenue, 2nd Floor, Alhambra, California 91803. The custodian of such documents and materials is Keith Hala, County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Water Resources Division.
The project is not exempt from payment of a fee to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife pursuant to Section 711.4 of the Fish and Game Code to defray the costs of fish and wildlife protection and management incurred by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Upon the Board’s adoption of the MND, Public Works will file a Notice of Determination in accordance with Section 21152(a) of the California Public Resources Code and pay the required filing and processing fees with the County Clerk in the amount of $2,210 plus the $75 county posting fee.
CONTRACTING PROCESS
On May 19, 2015, a notice of the RFP was placed on the County’s “Doing Business With Us” website (Enclosure C). Also, Public Works informed 1319 entities consisting of local small business enterprises, independent contractors, and community business enterprises about this business opportunity.
On June 17, 2015, two proposals were received. The proposals were first reviewed to ensure they met the minimum requirements in the RFP. All proposals having met these requirements were then evaluated by a committee consisting of Public Works staff. The evaluation was based on criteria described in the RFP, which included the price, experience, work plan, and references, utilizing the informed averaging methodology for applicable criteria. Based on this evaluation, it is recommended that this contract be awarded to the highest-rated, apparent responsive, responsible, and lowest-cost proposer, North American Weather Consultants, Inc.
IMPACT ON CURRENT SERVICES (OR PROJECTS)
The award of this contract will not result in the displacement of any County employees as this service has been intermittently contracted with the private sector.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Professor Gets Grant for HPV Vaccine Study Then Warns Against It
http://www.realfarmacy.com/hpv-vaccine-warning/
Professor Gets Grant for HPV Vaccine Study Then Warns Against It
Canadian Concordia University’s kinesiology professor Genevieve Rail was awarded a grant of $270,000 to study the effects of HPV vaccines on the public. HPV stands for human papillomavirus, which was suddenly declared the root cause of cervical cancer over the past decade.
Based on their study, Rail and study co-author Abby Lippman, a McGill University professor emeritus, published an op-ed article in Montreal’s Le Devoir newspaper questioning the safety and benefits of human papillomavirus vaccines. Their op-ed urged Quebec to halt HPV immunization until its dangers are independently investigated. Of course they were roundly attacked through the Canadian mainstream media.
The mainstream media piled on with remarks from the usual “prestigious” medical professionals who asserted HPV vaccinations safety and remarkable success at reducing ovarian cancer. Fortunately, several comments on Canada’sNational Post article favored the Rail-Lippman viewpoint despite the article’s slyly negative slant toward their findings.
Oh, of course statistics provided by pro-vaccine agencies and Big Pharma were included in the National Post article that “prove” HPV vaccine’s efficacy and safety.
Somehow these “prestigious” medical officials have ignored the adverse reaction cases reported internationally among teenage girls, ranging from chronic fatigue to chronic seizures to partial and complete paralysis. The HPV vaccines, Gardasil by Merck and Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have been pushed onto families with teenage girls and now teenage boys as cancer preventatives.
The Rail-Lippman four-year study involved 170 parents of teenage girls who were given the HPV shots, which usually are administered sequentially in a series of three. Rail has been the main recipient of pro-vaccine hysteria criticism, and she’s not budging from what she knows to be true.
“I’m sort of raising a red flag, out of respect for what I’ve found in my own study, and for the despair of parents who had totally perfect 12-year-olds who are now in their beds, too tired to go to school,” Rail said. “Yes, we’re going against the grain, and we are going against those who are believed, i.e. doctors and nurses and people in public health.”
Every Mother of a Vaccine Injured Child Was Once Pro-Vaccine
If you’re old enough to remember Mr. T, a favorite statement of his was “pity the poor fool(s)”. That’s my thought for the average vaccine indoctrinated sheeple. But my thoughts get nastier with the manic frothing-at-the-mouth vaccine fanatics, and downright vicious with the vaccine industry and its celebrated spokesman Dr. Paul Offit.
Offit has maintained that a newborn can receive 1,000 vaccinations safely in a day and aluminum is vital to our health. Offit is a mainstream media darling. Ignore Offit. He’s off it and has made millions with his vaccine patent. And ignore the presstitutes who feed off him.
In case you’re wondering, breast milk feeding supports a newborn while its immune system is developing over the next two or so years. And unbound or free aluminum, the stuff used in almost all vaccines, is aneurological toxin.
A couple of years ago, one of the lead HPV vaccine developers for Merck’s Gardasil, Dr. Diane Harper, came clean and warned that Gardasil was not only ineffective and unnecessary, it was dangerous. Harper mentioned the medically known fact that 98 percent of HPV warts among sexually active women heal on their own within a year or two.
Besides, Pap smears are still the recommended watch tower for cervical cancer, even if HPV shots are administered. After coming clean she reportedly sort of recanted. Maybe her pension was threatened, or her family. Who knows? You can see more of what she had originally said here.
Keep in mind it’s estimated that only around 5 percent of vaccine adverse events are reported to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting Service (VAERS) when you look over this graphic display from the Daily Sheeple.
Not convinced yet? More Gardasil horror stories here.
Paul Fassa is a contributing staff writer for REALfarmacy.com. His pet peeves are the Medical Mafia’s control over health and the food industry and government regulatory agencies’ corruption. Paul’s contributions to the health movement and global paradigm shift are well received by truth seekers. Visit his blog by following this link and follow him on Twitter here
50 despicable things George W. Bush did before and after 9/11
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/10/here-are-50-despicable-things-george-w-bush-did-before-and-after-911/
Here are 50 despicable things George W. Bush did before and after 9/11
Let’s look at 50 reasons, some large and some small, why W. inspired so much anger.
1. He stole the presidency in 2000. People may forget that Republicans in Florida purged more than 50,000 African-American voters before Election Day, and then went to the Supreme Court where the GOP-appointed majority stopped a recount that would have awarded the presidency to Vice-President Al Gore if all votes were counted. National news organizations verified that outcome long after Bush had been sworn in.
2. Bush’s lies started in that race. Bush ran for office claiming he was a “uniter, not a divider.” Even though he received fewer popular votes than Gore, he quickly claimed he had the mandate from the American public to push his right-wing agenda.
3. He covered up his past. He was a party boy, the scion of a powerful political family who got away with being a deserter during the Vietnam War. He was reportedly AWOL for over a year from his assigned unit, the Texas Air National Guard, which other military outfits called the “Champagne Division.”
4. He loved the death penalty. As Texas governor from 1995-2000, he signed the most execution orders of any governor in U.S. history—152 people, including the mentally ill and women who were domestic abuse victims. He spared one man’s life, a serial killer.
5. He was a corporate shill from Day 1. Bush locked up the GOP nomination by raising more campaign money from corporate boardrooms than anyone at that time. He lunched with CEOs who would jet into Austin to “educate” him about their political wish lists.
6. He gutted global political progress. He pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol which set requirements for 38 nations to lower greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change, saying that abiding by the agreement would “harm our economy and hurt our workers.”
7. He embraced global isolationism. He withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, over Russia’s protest, taking the U.S. in a direction not seen since World War I.
8. He ignored warnings about Osama bin Laden. He ignored the Aug. 6, 2001 White House intelligence briefing titled, “Bin Laden determined to strike in the U.S.” Meanwhile, his chief anti-terrorism advisor, Richard Clarke, and first Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, testified in Congress that he was intent on invading Iraq within days of becoming president.
9. Ramped up war on drugs, not terrorists. The Bush administration had twice as many FBI agents assigned to the war on drugs than fighting terrorism before 9/11, and kept thousands in that role after the terror attacks.
10. “My Pet Goat.” He kept reading a picture book to grade-schoolers at a Florida school for seven minutes after his top aides told him that the World Trade Centers had been attacked in 9/11. Then Air Force One flew away from the school, vanishing for hours after the attack.
11. Squandered global goodwill after 9/11. Bush thumbed his nose at world sympathy for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, by declaring a global war on terrorism and declaring “you are either with us or against us.”
12. Bush turned to Iraq not Afghanistan. The Bush administration soon started beating war drums for an attack on Iraq, where there was no proven Al Qaeda link, instead of Afghanistan, where the 9/11 bombers had trained and Osama bin Laden was based. His 2002 State of the Union speech declared that Iraq was part of an “Axis of Evil.”
13. Attacked United Nation weapons inspectors. The march to war in Iraq started with White House attacks on the credibility of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, whose claims that Saddam Hussein did not have nuclear weapons proved to be true.
14. He flat-out lied about Iraq’s weapons. In a major speech in October 2002, he said that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to send unmanned aircraft to the U.S. with bombs that could range from chemical weapons to nuclear devices. “We cannot wait for the final proof—the smoking gun—that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud,” he said.
15. He ignored the U.N. and launched a war. The Bush administration tried to get the U.N. Security Council to authorize an attack on Iraq, which it refused to do. Bush then decided to lead a “preemptive” attack regardless of international consequences. He did not wait for any congressional authorization to launch a war.
16. Abandoned international Criminal Court. Before invading Iraq, Bush told the U.N. that the U.S. was withdrawing from ratifying the International Criminal Court Treaty to protect American troops from persecution and to allow it to pursue preemptive war.
17. Colin Powell’s false evidence at U.N. The highly decorated soldier turned Secretary of State presented false evidence at the U.N. as the American mainstream media began its jingoistic drumbeat to launch a war of choice on Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
18. He launched a war on CIA whistleblowers. When a former ambassador, Joseph C. Wilson, wrote a New York Times op-ed saying there was no nuclear threat from Iraq, the White House retaliated by leaking the name and destroying the career of his wife, Valerie Plame, one of the CIA’s top national security experts.
19. Bush pardoned the Plame affair leaker. Before leaving office, Bush pardoned the vice president’s top staffer, Scooter Libby, for leaking Plame’s name to the press.
20. Bush launched the second Iraq War. In April 2003, the U.S. military invaded Iraq for the second time in two decades, leading to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and more than a million refugees as a years of sectarian violence took hold on Iraq. Nearly 6,700 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq and Afghan wars.
21. Baghdad looted except for oil ministry. The Pentagon failure to plan for a military occupation and transition to civilian rule was seen as Baghdad was looted while troops guarded the oil ministry, suggesting this war was fought for oil riches, not terrorism.
22. The war did not make the U.S. safer. In 2006, a National Intelligence Estimate (a consensus report of the heads of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies) asserted that the Iraq war had increased Islamic radicalism and had worsened the terror threat.
23. U.S. troops were given unsafe gear. From inadequate vests from protection against snipers to Humvees that could not protect soldiers from roadside bombs, the military did not sufficiently equip its soldiers in Iraq, leading to an epidemic of brain injuries.
24. Meanwhile, the war propaganda continued. From landing on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit to declare “mission accomplished” to surprising troops in Baghdad with a Thanksgiving turkey that was a table decoration used as a prop, Bush defended his war of choice by using soldiers as PR props.
25. He never attended soldiers’ funerals. For years after the war started, Bush never attended a funeral even though as of June 2005, 144 soldiers (of the 1,700 killed thus far) were laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, about two miles from the White House.
26. Meanwhile, war profiteering surged. The list of top Bush administration officials whose former corporate employers made billions in Pentagon contracts starts with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Halliburton, which made $39.5 billion, and included his daughter, Liz Cheney, who ran a $300 million Middle East partnership program.
27. Bush ignored international ban on torture. Suspected terrorists were captured and tortured by the U.S. military in Baghdad’s Abu Gharib prison, in the highest profile example of how the Bush White House ignored international agreements, such as theGeneva Convention, that banned torture, and created a secret system of detention that was unmasked when photos made their way to the American media outlets.
28. Created the blackhole at Gitmo and renditions. The Bush White House created the offshore military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as secret detention sites in eastern Europe to evade domestic and military justice systems. Many of the men still jailed in Cuba were turned over to the U.S. military by bounty hunters.
29. Bush violated U.S. Constitution as well. The Bush White House ignored basic civil liberties, most notably by launching a massive domestic spying program where millions of Americans’ online activities were monitored with the help of big telecom companies. The government had no search warrant or court authority for its electronic dragnet.
30. Iraq war created federal debt crisis. The total costs of the Iraq and Afghan wars will reach between $4 trillion and $6 trillion, when the long-term medical costs are added in for wounded veterans, a March 2013 report by a Harvard researcher has estimated. Earlier reports said the wars cost $2 billion a week.
31. He cut veterans’ healthcare funding. At the height of the Iraq war, the White Housecut funding for veterans’ healthcare by several billion dollars, slashed more than one billion from military housing and opposed extending healthcare to National Guard families, even as they were repeatedly tapped for extended and repeat overseas deployments.
32. Then Bush decided to cut income taxes. In 2001 and 2003, a series of bills lowered income tax rates, cutting federal revenues as the cost of the foreign wars escalated. The tax cuts disproportionately benefited the wealthy, with roughly one-quarter going to the top one percent of incomes compared to 8.9% going to the middle 20 percent. The cuts were supposed to expire in 2013, but most are still on the books.
33. Assault on reproductive rights. From the earliest days of his first term, the Bush White House led a prolonged assault on reproductive rights. He cut funds for U.N. family planning programs, barred military bases from offering abortions, put right-wing evangelicals in regulatory positions where they rejected new birth control drugs, and issued regulations making fetuses—but not women—eligible for federal healthcare.
34. Cut Pell Grant loans for poor students. His administration froze Pell Grants for years and tightened eligibility for loans, affecting 1.5 million low-income students. He also eliminated other federal job training programs that targeted young people.
35. Turned corporations loose on environment. Bush’s environmental record was trulyappalling, starting with abandoning a campaign pledge to tax carbon emissions and then withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases. The Sierra Club lists300 actions his staff took to undermine federal laws, from cutting enforcement budgets to putting industry lobbyists in charge of agencies to keeping energy policies secret.
36.. Said evolution was a theory—like intelligent design. One of his most inflammatory comments was saying that public schools should teach that evolution is a theory with as much validity as the religious belief in intelligent design, or God’s active hand in creating life.
37. Misguided school reform effort. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” initiative made preparation for standardized tests and resulting test scores the top priority in schools, to the dismay of legions of educators who felt that there was more to learning than taking tests.
38. Appointed flank of right-wing judges. Bush’s two Supreme Court picks—Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito—have reliably sided with pro-business interests and social conservatives. He also elevated U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pickering to an appeals court, despite his known segregationist views.
39. Gutted the DOJ’s voting rights section. Bush’s Justice Department appointees led a multi-year effort to prosecute so-called voter fraud, including firing seven U.S. attorneys who did not pursue overtly political cases because of lack of evidence.
40. Meanwhile average household incomes fell. When Bush took office in 2000, median household incomes were $52,500. In 2008, they were $50,303, a drop of 4.2 percent, making Bush the only recent two-term president to preside over such a drop.
41. And millions more fell below the poverty line. When Bill Clinton left office, 31.6 million Americans were living in poverty. When Bush left office, there were 39.8 million, according to the U.S. Census, an increase of 26.1 percent. The Census said two-thirds of that growth occurred before the economic downturn of 2008.
42. Poverty among children also exploded. The Census also found that 11.6 million children lived below the poverty line when Clinton left office. Under Bush, that number grew by 21 percent to 14.1 million.
43. Millions more lacked access to healthcare. Following these poverty trends, the number of Americans without health insurance was 38.4 million when Clinton left office. When Bush left, that figure had grown by nearly 8 million to 46.3 million, the Census found. Those with employer-provided benefits fell every year he was in office.
44. Bush let black New Orleans drown. Hurricane Katrina exposed Bush’s attitude toward the poor. He didn’t visit the city after the storm destroyed the poorest sections. He praised his Federal Emergency Management Agency director for doing a “heck of a job” as the federal government did little to help thousands in the storm’s aftermath and rebuilding.
45. Yet pandered to religious right. Months before Katrina hit, Bush flew back to the White House to sign a bill to try to stop the comatose Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube from being removed, saying the sanctity of life was at stake.
46. Set record for fewest press conferences. During his first term that was defined by the 9/11 attacks, he had the fewest press conferences of any modern president and had never met with the New York Times editorial board.
47. But took the most vacation time. Reporters analyzing Bush’s record found that he took off 1,020 days in two four-year terms—more than one out of every three days. No other modern president comes close. Bush also set the record for the longest vacation among modern presidents—five weeks, the Washington Post noted.
48. Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld. Not since Richard Nixon’s White House and the era of the Watergate burglary and expansion of the Vietnam War have there been as many power-hungry and arrogant operators holding the levers of power. Cheney ran the White House; Rove the political operation for corporations and the religious right; and Rumsfeld oversaw the wars.
49. He’s escaped accountability for his actions. From Iraq war General Tommy Franks’declaration that “we don’t do body counts” to numerous efforts to impeach Bush and top administration officials—primarily over launching the war in Iraq—he has never been held to account in any official domestic or international tribunal.
50. He may have stolen the 2004 election as well. The closest Bush came to a public referendum on his presidency was the 2004 election, which came down to the swing state of Ohio. There the GOP’s voter suppression tactics rivaled Florida in 2000 and many unresolved questions remain about whether the former GOP Secretary of State altered the Election Night totals from rural Bible Belt counties.
Any bright spots? Conservatives will lambaste lists like this for finding nothing good about a president like W. So, yes, he created the largest ocean preserve offshore from Hawaii in his second term. And in his final year in office, his initiative to fight AIDS across Africa has been credited with saving many thousands of lives. But on balance, George W. Bush was more than eight years of missed opportunities for America and the world. He was a disaster, leaving much of America and the world in much worse shape than when he took the oath of office in 2001. His reputation should not be resurrected or restored or seen as anything other than what it was.
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