Bush administration

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Or Else? U.S. Muscle With Russia Weakened

Bush administration has little leverage over Russian actions in Georgia.

Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Movement Loses Ground

Despite the best efforts of conservative groups and the Bush Administration, more kids are getting information that can save their lives.

Court Strikes Down Bush Administration Pollution Monitoring Loophole

Upholds Public's Right to Know; Throws out EPA rule that waived pollution monitoring requirements for thousands of factories and power plants

Wash. Times uncritically repeated McCain campaign's statement that Obama "voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time"

In an August 14 Washington Times article, reporter Christina Bellantoni uncritically repeated an assertion by Sen. John McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds that "[i]n the Senate, Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time, including the Bush-Cheney Energy bill which gave close to $3 billion in new giveaways to Big Oil." But Bellantoni did not report that according to the nonpartisan publication Congressional Quarterly, which tracks legislators' votes, McCain voted with the Bush administration 95 percent of the time in 2007 and has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time over the seven-and-a-half years of Bush's presidency. Further, while Bellantoni uncritically quoted Bounds' claim that Obama voted for an energy bill that "gave close to $3 billion in new giveaways to Big Oil" and uncritically repeated a McCain campaign statement that asserted Obama "voted for the Bush energy bill in 2005, which gave tax breaks to Big Oil," a February 27, 2007, Congressional Research Service report found that although the bill "included several oil and gas tax incentives, providing about $2.6 billion of tax cuts for the oil and gas industry," it also "provided for $2.9 billion of tax increases on the oil and gas industry, for a net tax increase on the industry of nearly $300 million over 11 years": The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT05, P.L. 109-58) included several oil and gas tax incentives, providing about $2.6 billion of tax cuts for the oil and gas industry. In addition, EPACT05 provided for $2.9 billion of tax increases on the oil and gas industry, for a net tax increase on the industry of nearly $300 million over 11 years. Energy tax increases comprise the oil spill liability tax and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank financing rate, both of which are imposed on oil refineries. If these taxes are subtracted from the tax subsidies, the oil and gas refinery and distribution sector received a net tax increase of $1,356 million ($2,857 million minus $1,501 million). From Bellantoni's August 14 Washington Times article: But Team McCain pointed out in a statement that Mr. Obama voted for the Bush energy bill in 2005, which gave tax breaks to Big Oil. "In the Senate, Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time, including the Bush-Cheney Energy bill which gave close to $3 billion in new giveaways to Big Oil - a terrible policy that John McCain opposed," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "The truth is Barack Obama's plan is a job-killing machine that ignores the struggling economy and raises taxes on family savings, Social Security and small businesses."

Fox's Cameron said McCain "often breaks with the GOP," but McCain has cited his record of agreeing with Bush

On the August 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, after playing part of an ad from Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign that calls Sen. John McCain "Washington's biggest celebrity" and shows McCain embracing President Bush, Carl Cameron asserted that "[w]hat the Obama attack ad does not say is that much of McCain's celebrity over the last decade or so is attributed to a liberal media love affair, fond of McCain because he so often breaks with the GOP." Yet the nonpartisan publication Congressional Quarterly and McCain himself have cited McCain's record of agreeing with Bush. In May 2003, Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked McCain whether "all things being equal right now and given the fact that you differ with the president so strongly on this tax cut and on some of these spending issues, would you ever consider challenging him for the Republican nomination next year?" McCain responded, "No, no. But, look, the president and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues." Further, a CQ analysis of legislators' votes found that McCain voted in support of the Bush administration's position 95 percent of the time in 2007, making McCain the administration's most reliable supporter in the Senate that year. Moreover, CQ also found that McCain has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time over the seven-and-a-half years of Bush's presidency. From the May 22, 2003, edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto (retrieved from the Nexis database): CAVUTO: Let me ask you, Senator, all things being equal right now and given the fact that you differ with the president so strongly on this tax cut and on some of these spending issues, would you ever consider challenging him for the Republican nomination next year? MCCAIN: No, no. But, look, the president and I agree on most issues. There was a recent study that showed that I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues. But this is an open -- this is an honest difference of opinion, but it's also what I campaigned on. I campaigned on a tax package that had to do with a balanced budget, not to do with massive deficits, and I'm sticking with the principles and the philosophy that I campaigned for president on, albeit I lost. From the August 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume: CAMERON: McCain says the U.S. should offer security help to Georgia for its fuel pipelines and to Ukraine, which Russia has also been at odds with for leaning west rather than toward Moscow. Obama may be off the trail, but he's on the air with a new attack ad responding to McCain's claims that Obama is a celebrity, long on glamour but short on substance, and that McCain's the maverick in the race. NARRATOR [video clip of Obama campaign ad]: For decades he's been Washington's biggest celebrity. And as Washington embraced him, John McCain hugged right back. A Washington celebrity playing the same old Washington games. CAMERON: What the Obama attack ad does not say is that much of McCain's celebrity over the last decade or so is attributed to a liberal media love affair, fond of McCain because he so often breaks with the GOP. Late this afternoon, Barack Obama did issue a statement on the Russia-Georgia war saying that he welcomes visits to Georgia by both French and Finnish officials to begin mediation and quote, "There should also be a United Nations mediator to address this crisis, and the United States should fully support this effort. We should also convene another international forums to condemn this aggression, to call for an immediate halt to the violence, and to review multilateral and bilateral arrangements with Russia, including Russia's interest in joining the World Trade Organization."

Experts Accuse Bush Administration of Foot-Dragging on DNS Security Hole

The internet remains vulnerable to a spoofing attack recently discovered by security expert Dan Kaminsky. The only real solution is to digitally sign the DNS root zone, but security experts say politics in the Department of Commerce are slowing the effort and endangering the trustworthiness of the net.