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CounterPunch
November
4, 2002
Bush versus
Robin Hood
by BEN ROBERTS
We all know and identify with the legacy of Robin
Hood, who in a time of despots and an abusive aristocracy, waylaid
the wealthy in England's Sherwood Forest, relieving them of their
wealth and distributing it to the poor and desperately needy.
Most of us identify with this story because for once the underdog
gets a break and wins. Apparently, George Bush never heard of
Robin Hood. Or maybe he did, and is determined at all costs to
be the exact opposite of this likable character. Based on his
behavior, the latter seems to be the case. The man is blatantly
robbing the poor and destitute to advance the fortunes of the
wealthy.
Believe it or not taxpaying citizens,
George W. Bush is using our hard earned taxes to fund his travel
to fund-raisers in support of Republican candidates. Yes, its
true. In six months the White House has billed $210,000 to an
agency that falls under Health and Human Services (HHS) for his
trips to boost GOP candidates in election bids. And not just
any agency. He is soaking the Office of Family Assistance, an
agency having to do with assisting the impoverished in this nation.
Incredible and unbelievable you say? Then turn to page A5 of
The Washington Post for Sunday, October 20, 2002, and see the
article written by staff writer Thomas B. Edsall. Here is how
the fleecing works.
Lets say Republican candidate Joe Blow
needs a boost to put him ahead of his Democratic challenger in
an election campaign. George Bush makes a visit to that state
in the name of welfare reform. Coincidentally, at the same visit,
he makes an appearance with, and an endorsement for his GOP brother
or sister-in-arms. Who knows, the event might even entail a $1,000
or $10,000 a plate dinner. Cheers all around. Then its back to
Washington and his Pennsylvania Avenue address. Later someone
on his team furiously punches numbers into a calculator of the
expenses of the trip. This bill is then sent to HHS and billed
to Office of Family Assistance, due to the fact that the President
did give an obscure half hour speech about welfare reform while
on that trip. What a windfall. The President made a trip. His
GOP cohort got a boost without having to dip into his own campaign
funds, his poll ratings has improved, and the Republican National
Committee has benefited from a lucrative fund-raiser. There is
happiness all around, and the world is great.
Not really. In truth America has been
hosed. Yeah I mean just like that Mountain Dew TV commercial
where the two boys have a disagreement over a Mountain Dew drink
and the father breaks it up by drinking the beverage. When he
is done he says, "Now let that be a lesson to you."
He pretends that his drinking their Dew was to teach them a lesson
about not getting along. In truth he had ulterior motives and
really wanted to appropriate their drink for himself. He actually
conned them out of their drink. The boys are left baffled as
one asks the other, "What just happened here?" His
companion responds, "We got hosed Tommy. We got hosed."
In similar fashion Americans, and most especially the poor and
needy, are being hosed right out of what is rightfully theirs.
This is despicable. Just this month George Bush made an impromptu
appearance in Maryland in support of Republican gubernatorial
candidate Bob Ehrlich. There was Ehrlich gushing and pleased
as punch that the President showed up on his behalf. Now in my
work I have provided healthcare in the state, and especially
in Baltimore, to the desperately needy subsisting on welfare
due to unemployment, limited education, drug addiction, AIDS,
or some other trying difficulty in life. I recall their faces.
It would be a shame to find out that Bush helped himself to the
funds allocated by Congress to these struggling souls, to finance
an appearance in this state on behalf of his cohort whose war
chest is no doubt loaded with money.
Recently I phoned the office of Secretary
of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson. It has to do with
a Health Education presentation I conduct in the schools. The
kids are delighted to look in my microscope and see slides of
blood cells, bacteria, and even anthrax. The problem is that
the school funding is so limited that they are hard pressed to
pay for the presentations. I figured I would contact HHS about
funding since my program is health education, which takes place
mostly at needy schools and After School Programs. I was told
by the receptionist after she conferred at length with someone
that HHS did not fund such enterprises. Wait a minute. I educate
kids about their health and about disease, and HHS has nothing
to do with an enterprise such as mine. Yet the President can
bill that agency for trips that advance the political fortunes
of his friends. In short he can take food from the mouths of
these needy citizens, but I am denied help teaching them about
their health? No wonder the cynicism and resentment of our citizens
toward politicians and government agencies.
A math wizard I am not, but with the
Office of Family Assistance having been billed $210,000 in just
six moths by George Bush for trips, we can expect in a four year
term they would have doled out $1.68 million dollars. That is
sickening. That's a lot of hungry adults and children. A lot
of them without much needed medical care. Without counseling.
Without health education programs. Without crucial immunizations.
In a four year term Bill Clinton's entire billing to HHS was
$243,862 for similar travel ventures. George Bush has almost
overtaken him in six months. It is often said that the progress
of a nation is measured by how well it treats its poor. If this
is true then Bush, and the America he and his friends preside
over, get a failing grade. Were Robin Hood to meet George W.
Bush he would promptly relieve him of these poor citizens desperately
needed money.
Ben Roberts
is a newsletter editor, freelance writer and published author.
His previous articles include: Blood, Guts, and Game Show Hosts,
The Shameless Hijacking of September 11, Tony Blair's Dossier
for Dummies, Letter to United Nations Secretary General Mr. Kofi
Annan, and Who's Afraid of Terrorists With Jerry Falwell and
the Religious Right Lurking About. His book Jackals
of Samarra was published in January 2001. He can be contacted
by email at: grandt730@aol.com
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