Q: What do the new Bush Medicare budget forecast and ex-Talon News reporter Jeff Gannon have in common? A: They are both frauds exposed on the same day. Medicon Today, the Bush administration revealed that its 10 year forecast for Medicare, including the supposed prescription drug benefit, will be $1.2 trillion. That's $1.2 trillion between […]

Sooner or later, every president is the subject of a "psycho-history." These works usually claim to explain the policies, behavior and even mannerisms of the occupant of the Oval Office based on a pseudo-psychological examination dating back to his childhood. Now, it's George W. Bush's turn on the couch: (Click here for a larger version […]

The Perrspectives Social Security Document Library has just been updated. It now includes the Republicans' cynical game plan, the Wehner memo, the Trustees' 2004 Report, the 2001 report of the Presidential Commission, CEPR's simple fact sheet, and resources from AARP, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the Campaign for America's Future and ThereIsNoCrisis.com. Recent […]

During the February 3rd segment of the Abrams Report on MSNBC, part of the discussion focused on President Bush's surprising and vocal support for DNA evidence funding during the State of the Union address. Abrams and his guests seemed mystified as to why President Bush, a man who presided over more executions than any other […]

From the perspective of public policy and narrative, President Bush's 2005 State of the Union Address brought few surprises. But for sheer chutzpah, President Bush reached new heights. 1. The Social Security Shell Game As expected, Bush focused on Social Security privatization. Also as expected, he continued the selective use of numbers to create the […]

Once in a rare while, tectonic historical change occurs with the span of only few days. The dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall heralding the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union, was one of those watershed moments. And for many Americans, the events of the last 10 days of January, with the Rice confirmation, the […]

With President Bush and the GOP launching an all-out campaign for their misguided Social Security privatization plan, Perrspectives has assembled a library of resources to help you evaluate the pluses and (endless) minuses of the Bush proposal. The Perrspectives Social Security Document Library includes the Republicans' cynical game plan, the Trustees' 2004 Report, the 2001 […]

Among the many sub-plots to watch for in Wednesday's State of the Union address will be President Bush's appropriation of the words "freedom" and "liberty" for his agenda and the GOP. As we've written before, the Republicans have dominated American policy debates through their manipulation and control of language. Whether through message discipline or superior […]

With President Bush's 2005 State of the Union approaching, my 2004 SOTU-eve critique of Bush's so-called Ownership Society still stands. State of Disunion Even with his shaky State of the Union address and dipping approval ratings, President Bush unfortunately remains in a strong position for the 2004 election. Saddam is captured, GDP is surging, and […]

Children's cartoon favorite Spongebob Squarepants is the latest cultural icon to draw the ire of the American Taliban. Identified as an agent of the gay agenda by Focus on the Family's James Dobson, Spongebob joins Rick Santorum's dogs and John Cornyn's box turtles as a threat to the American family. What is it about Spongebob […]