The Bush Cash "COW"

The Bush Cash "COW"
16 Sep 2007

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested that the Department of Education’s Inspector General (IG) investigate why federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) funds are being spent on educational products sold by Ignite! Learning, a company founded and headed by Neil Bush, President Bush’s younger brother.

Neil Bush, who has no education background, is best known for his role in the failure of Silverado Savings and Loan, which cost taxpayers $1.6 billion. CREW is asking the IG to discover why federal money is being funneled to a company with no proven track record of effectiveness, but so happens to be run by the president’s brother.

Congress has set rigorous standards for the types of educational approaches and products on which NCLB funds can be spent, but CREW’s research shows that Ignite! products do not meet those criteria. In fact, there is no scientific data, as defined by NCLB, supporting the effectiveness of Ignite!’s products.

CREW’s three-month investigation revealed that school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, including NCLB funds, on Ignite!’s Curriculum on Wheels (COW), a cart-mounted video projector and hard drive loaded with a year’s supply of Ignite!’s social studies, science, or math curricula. At a standard price of $3,800-$4,200 per unit, the COW is a very expensive device with limited use.

Adding to the initial expense, schools must pay an annual $1,000 licensing, upkeep and upgrade fee in order to retain the COW for more than one year.

In Houston, Barbara Bush donated money to a hurricane Katrina relief fund, but mandated the money be used to buy her son’s Ignite! program for schools.

Ask yourself (and your government) why schools would invest money in this product?

References:

The Raw Story

chron.com

campaignwatch.org

austinchronicle.com

mediatransparency.org

businessweek.com/magazine/

Americanfreepress.net/

washingtonpost.com

motherjones.com

associatedcontent.com

citizensforethics.org

Ignite Learning

Wikipedia

Why Is Bush's Kid Brother Neil Getting Federal Funding? Posted by Liliana Segura at 12:06 PM on September 13, 2007. Alternet

Karl Rove Resigns Key Role

Debra Sellers, August 14, 2007

Monday Karl Rove, the longest-serving and closest White House aide, announced that he would resign as a deputy White House chief of staff at the end of the month.

"Karl Rove is moving on down the road," Bush said as the two appeared together for an emotional close to this chapter of their 14-year political partnership. A few moments later, he turned to Rove and added: "I'll be on the road behind you here in a little bit."

Rove, the primary author of President Bush's two national campaigns and perhaps the most influential and controversial presidential strategist of his generation, became the latest Bush adviser and one of the last of the senior Texas team members to head back to Texas.

Rove known as "Bush's brain" by critics and "the architect" by Bush himself, became famous for a brand of attack politics that emphasized turning out his party's conservative base and painting Democrats as weak on national security. He hoped to realign national politics with far-reaching plans to steer taxpayer money to faith-based groups, rewrite immigration laws, and redefine government to favor more market-based approaches in Social Security and taxes .

Rove follows other top aides in departing since the midterm elections, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton, White House counsel Harriet E. Miers, presidential counselor Dan Bartlett, deputy national security advisers J.D. Crouch and Meghan O'Sullivan, and budget director Rob Portman.

"Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has left the country more divided, the special interests more powerful and the American people more shut out from their government than any time in memory," said Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

Former senator John Edwards (N.C.) was more succinct:
"Goodbye, good riddance."

Senator John Kerry, (Mass.), who said Mr. Rove had “proved the politics of division may win some elections but cannot govern America.”

Rove leaves a legacy of a Supreme Court tilting significantly rightward, an expensive and flawed Medicare prescription drug plan; a failed immigration policy, they hoped would appeal to the growing Hispanic population whom he sees as crucial to the party’s growth.

He leaves behind a disheveled view of the US in the international arena with advice to shape the administration's case to go to war in Iraq, and was a key player in the leak of Valerie Plame's identification as a CIA operative on weapons of mass destruction. Wilson, Plame's husband, charged that "the move was an attempt at intimidation by the Bush administration in retaliation for his criticism".

Rove leaves as a string of Congressional committee investigations into his involvement in the firings of U.S. attorneys last year as well as the series of political briefings conducted at government agencies and the use of Republican National Committee email accounts by White House officials.

Read more at NY Times, Aug. 13, 2007

Read more at CNN

Read more at Washington Post , Aug. 14, 2007

Surgeon-General Silenced

Dr. Richard Carmona, a former surgeon-general who served until 2006, is revealing that Bush administration often silenced him on national health concerns that didn’t flatter the Bush administration. Carmona announced that he wasn’t allowed to speak on stem cells, emergency contraception, sex ed, and that officials tried to water down a report on second-hand smoke.

"Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology, [and] preconceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect," said Carmona. "I thought, 'This is a perfect example of the surgeon general being able to step forward, educate the American public.' . . . I was blocked at every turn. I was told the decision had already been made -- 'Stand down. Don't talk about it.' That information was removed from my speeches."

Carmona also says he was “discouraged” from attending the Special Olympics because of that organization's ties to a the Kennedys, and that he wasn’t allowed to present the effectiveness of teaching about condoms as well as sexual abstinence.

According to The Washington Post, last year a NASA scientist and other climate researchers claimed the administration made it difficult for them to speak “in a forthright manner” about global warning.

Carmona said that when the administration touted funding for abstinence-only education, he was prevented from discussing research on the effectiveness of teaching about condoms as well as abstinence.

"There was already a policy in place that did not want to hear the science but wanted to just preach abstinence, which I felt was scientifically incorrect," Carmona said.

While the Bush administration regularly puts theology ahead of science, this political interference in public health concerns has a human cost. We may have to wait until a Democratic president is elected to learn the full extent of the damage.

While the surgeon-general was denied the ability to protect the nation's health he was encouraged to speak on a less pressing subject; Carmona says he was ordered to praise President Bush three times on every page of his speeches.

Read More at Washington Post

Read More at Reuters

Read More at New York Times

Get Out of Jail Free Card for "Scooter "

President Bush commuted the sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby yesterday, sparing Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff 30 months in prison after a federal appeals court had refused to let Libby remain free while he appeals his conviction for lying to federal investigators (perjury and obstruction of justice).

President Bush said, "The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby's request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.

I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby's appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.

From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.

After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.

This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.

Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.

Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case.

Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.

I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.

The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby's case is an appropriate exercise of this power."

Reason for his decision was that the sentence was "excessive".

Would one month have also been excessive?
How long will it be before he has a cushy lobby job or how long will it take to earn back his $250,000 fine as a "consultant"?

This just shows that Pres. Bush has no regard for the rule of law and will do anything to hold on to his dwindling base.

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Read more at Washington Post
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