Note: it's not clear that these references are for the same Tom Luce, or how many are relevant- your readers will have to check this further)Many, many more pages here:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=tom+luce+bush
... quixote, 8/17/03

The End Of The Lie Of Economic Impact

The citrus canker eradication program is not justified by pathology and it is not justified by the claim that it must be carried out to save a non existing 9 billion dollar citrus industry: The canker sensitive 1/10 segment of the groves represents not more than a 110 million dollar crop value, insignificant in its effect on Florida's economy.

The 9 billion dollar figure was picked by the Department of Agriculture for propaganda purposes, to impress the public how "devastating" is citrus canker.

There are companies who sell computer programs for a good price to estimate the "economic" impact of any industry, organization or other subjects. Such a company is "IMPLAN", who's program was purchased by DOA. Employing it is an entertaining game, camouflaged as computerized economic research.

It is based on a theory that all the money paid to and spent by employees, used for infrastructure and farm products or spent in any other way in connection with farming, has an impact on the state economy.

It is irrelevant from the viewpoint of damage estimate of citrus canker what mistakes the program users make accidentally or intentionally feeding wrong data into the program. It is irrelevant that the result is an imaginative figure of 9 billion, 5 billion or 12 billion dollars. It does not justify eradication in any way. However, since the DOA propaganda still utilizes it, it is not useless to demonstrate the total absurdity of the entire calculation.

It is not enough that the DOA is trumpeting totally untrue arguments when applying a claimed "economic impact" figure as a value of the industry, but even this figure itself is false. Their whole idea is, by expressing the "economic impact", that what a negative effect may hit Florida's economy in case of an industry crippling canker epidemic. Regardless of the fact that it is untrue that the citrus industry could be ever crippled by this disease, the calculation itself is also wrong. The basic component of the calculation is the industry's economic effect represented by the employee's merchandise and other goods purchasing activity.
Evidently, THAT IS THE EMPLOYEE'S ECONOMIC IMPACT AND NOT THE INDUSTRY'S ECONOMIC IMPACT.

The employees will buy food and other goods, even if the groves go out of business, (which will not happen as a consequence of canker.) The 10% segment of the industry, which is marketing fresh fruit, can successfully apply protective treatments or switch to processing.

Not canker, but the prosperous real estate market will diminish the number of groves. It may be be a good mind sharpening exercise for DOA economists to calculate the economic impact of real estate speculators.

Peter Harsany, D.Sc. (Doctor in agricultural economics)


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If workers don't stand up for worker's rights, WHO WILL

From the 1880's to 1980 workers in America have fought for and won many of the rights, and insisted on the dignity we had at the workplace. That was a long and arduous task which took the blood, sweat and tears of many of our parents and grandparents. And we should thank and honor their memories for that struggle. IT WASN'T EASY!

From 1980 to present workers in America have laid down and been run over by management and govt. alike through their timidity and uninvolvement in their own fate! Yourselves and your children face a bleak and less fortunate future because of this. Please stand up and be counted, take a more meaningful part in your own well-being and workplace conditions and compensation to begin to turn this situation around.

Start with this: http://www.now.org/issues/economic/050103familyflex.html

and then get together with fellow workers and research the various unions that organize workers in your particular type of work, and call them for advice on how to go about winning back some dignity and pay for yourselves and those to follow (your children).

You are NOT the victims of your fate, unless you allow that to be the case. You are the CREATORS of your fate, if you have the courage and good sense to be so.

Act now; act wisely; act with determination and foresight; act together. It's up to YOU.

John Howes, 5/18/03

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Move to Muzzle OPPAGA is Not Over

Ulterior Motive Lingers.
Last week, Legislation pushed by Governor Bush died on the calendar that would have merged the Legislature's non-partisan Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability into the Auditor General's Office. But this does not end the threat to OPPAGA's independence. Rep. Ray Sansom (R), Vice Chairman of the Legislative Auditing Committee is sponsoring the merger bill at the behest of his boss, Okaloosa School Superintendent, Donald Gaetz (R). Gaetz didn't like a recent OPPAGA audit of his district. Sansom is director of community affairs for the school district and gets paid by tax dollars to make speeches that help assure his re-election to the Legislature. The other proponent is Audit Committee Chairman, Sen. Jeff Atwater (R), a banker apparently under Jeb Bush's sway.

Florida is A Crown Colony.
Governor Bush treats the Florida Legislature as British colonial Governors treated their elected colonial assemblies. Bush hob knobs and drinks tea only with members of his appointed Privy Council and prominent loyalists. The insolent and audacious OPPAGA staff is guilty of treason and the Crown will not tolerate it.

Beware of the Implementing Bill.
In the upcoming special session, Governor Bush's call contains sufficient flexibility to allow another attempt at the merger. This time, however, it will be much more stealthy. Bush authorized consideration of the appropriations bill and a budget implementing bill, similar in form and content to the 2003 regular session HB 1791. The implementing bill has the force of law for one year and is used by the Governor and Legislature to skirt Section 12 of the Florida Constitution:

Appropriation bills.--Laws making appropriations for salaries of public officers and other current expenses of the state shall contain provisions on no other subject.

What is so threatening about HB 1791, the implementing bill? Section 64 of the bill:

In order to implement Specific Appropriation 2545 of the 2003-2004 General Appropriations Act, effective July 1, 2003, transfers shall occur as described in legislation that becomes law reorganizing the Office of the Auditor General and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability into the Office of Government Accountability. If such legislation does not become law, all powers, duties, functions, records, personnel, property, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds of the Office of 1691 Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability are transferred by a type two transfer, as defined in s. 20.06, 1693 Florida Statutes, to the Office of the Auditor General. Consistent with the provisions of s. 11.45(4)(a), Florida 1695 Statutes, and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Auditor General shall, within the funding provided, determine which duties and responsibilities assigned by law to the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability shall be provided during the 2003-2004 fiscal year. This section expires July 1, 2004.

This language was to assure that OPPAGA disappeared, even if the Legislature didn't pass a general law killing OPPAGA! Comes now the Governor's special session call that allows this sneaky language to be reconsidered. This is exactly like hunters in some states who are allowed to shoot deer with poison arrows--if the arrow point doesn't kill the deer, the poison will. In this case, the arrow failed but the poison is still working.

Governor Bush Violated State Law.
Jeb Bush violated state law by pushing the OPPAGA merger. It is clearly against the law for the Governor to meddle into the way the Legislature spends money on itself:

F.S. 216.081: (1) In sufficient time to be included in the Governor's recommended budget, estimates of the financial needs of the legislative branch and the judicial branch during the ensuing fiscal year shall be furnished to the Governor pursuant to chapter 11.


(2) All of the data relative to the legislative branch and to the judicial branch shall be for information and guidance in estimating the total financial needs of the state for the ensuing fiscal year; none of these estimates shall be subject to revision or review by the Governor, and they must be included in the Governor's recommended budget.

OPPAGA is a legislative branch agency. By what authority did the Governor propose reorganization or elimination of a legislative staff agency? Who knows? But as the old saying goes, What is the law and constitution among friends? Where are the grand juries? I wonder how the Governor would have reacted to legislation to merge his Office of Planning and Budgeting into the Office of the Chief Financial Officer?
....Live Oak Loner, 5/7/03

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Senator Daniel Webster, Senate Republican Leadership Gut Bill to Help 400,000 Unemployed Workers in Florida

Economic stimulus bill would have used Federal funds to improve Florida’s failing unemployment system providing a critical safety net for unemployed workers and a much needed economic boost for businesses

The push to provide real economic stimulus for Florida’s workers and businesses all but ended on April 22 in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Economic Development when committee chair Senator Daniel Webster introduced a strike-all amendment that stripped 3 of the 4 major provisions out of Senate Bill 470. Senator Wasserman Schultz's bill would have instituted much needed, temporary reforms to Florida’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) system including increases in eligibility, weekly benefits and new accountability measures for job training programs.

SB 470 was first and foremost an economic stimulus package. The Governor and Florida Legislature have responded to the current recession and unemployment crisis by pumping millions of taxpayer dollars into corporate tax incentives and give-away programs in a failed attempt to create jobs. In most cases, the public dollars have gone into private pockets with no net gain in jobs for Florida families and no improvement in Florida’s economy. This bill would have used a tried and true method to provide an increase in economic activity, the unemployment insurance system.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) is an "automatic stabilizer" of the economy during times of recession and high unemployment. It stabilizes the budgets of low and moderate income families who spend the most--both in total amount and in percentage of income. If people still have money to spend on the goods and services they need, demand is maintained in the supply-demand cycle. If large numbers of working people don’t have an income the cycle is broken and businesses suffer. This leads to increased layoffs in a destructive economic chain reaction. The first Bush administration used UI expansion and extensions as the primary tools to combat the recession of the early 1990s.

The current corporate give-away and Robin Hood-in-reverse programs both here in Florida and in Washington have stumped the nation’s leading independent economists. They have argued in forums across the country that these policies will do nothing to create jobs or stimulate the economy. Rather, they do nothing but provide an immediate cash gift to the wealthiest and drive up budget deficits.

In Florida, chief economist Ed Montanaro "resigned" late last year after serving many administrations because of his refusal to advocate these and other backward policies of Governor Bush. Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 winner of the Nobel Prize in economics argues that maintaining demand in the supply-demand cycle is the best way to keep businesses solvent, stop layoffs, and create jobs. He has argued that the current programs and tax cuts do nothing to accomplish that and that the states, with help from the Federal Government, should be using the UI systems to stimulate the economy.

Florida’s UI system received a failing grade in a 2001 comprehensive state-by-state study conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Economic Policy Institute and National Employment Law Project. The study concluded that Florida needed to expand eligibility by instituting an alternate base period and increasing unemployment benefits. Only 27 percent of Florida’s unemployed workers are currently receiving unemployment benefits, compared to the national average of 45 percent. This places the state near the bottom, ranking 48th in the nation. Average weekly benefits are $224.96 which is only 37.8 percent of the average weekly wage, making Florida 32nd in the nation for benefit amounts. UI tax rates for businesses in Florida are very low, 32nd in the nation and the UI Trust Fund from which payments are made had a balance of $2.1 billion last year, the 5th highest in the nation.

In 2002, Florida was given $449 million in federal Reed Act funds to increase eligibility with an alternate base period and increase benefits. To date, the Legislature has done neither. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, millions more are due to arrive in 2004 and 2005 to fund these program enhancements. This money is currently sitting in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and is being used as yet another tax break for businesses in the form of lower UI insurance premiums. HB 470 was drafted to use these funds as they were intended; to improve the UI system and make it another tool in the fight to reinvigorate Florida’s economy.

Specifically, the bill would have provided a temporary increase in UI weekly benefits totaling $25 or 15 percent, whichever was greater, waive the current one-week waiting period for the start date for benefit payments, and require a competitive bid process for all job training and re-training program providers who receive monies from the state. The bill also provided for accountability for the training programs mandating that contracts with program providers be discontinued if the program failed to place a significant number of workers in jobs. All of these provisions were removed from the bill by Senator Webster’s strike-all amendment.

The only portion of the bill left in place was the implementation of an "alternative base" for determining unemployment insurance eligibility. The base period is the period of time used for calculating whether or not unemployed individuals' earnings are sufficient to qualify them for Unemployment Insurance. The use of an alternative base period would more accurately reflect an individual’s complete earnings history. The minimum earnings requirement could be met on the basis of the four most recently completed quarters of work if it is not met using the standard base period. This would particularly help service industry workers, workers with irregular income, and benefit women and minorities who are currently involved with "welfare to work" programs.

In a statement following the adoption of the strike-all amendment Florida AFL-CIO President Cynthia Hall said, "This bill could have been the most significant piece of legislation passed this session. It certainly would have been the best measure to stimulate the economy. The bill will still allow some workers to qualify for the unemployment benefits they desperately need and for that we are thankful, but the removal of the benefit increases and job training measures are a huge disappointment."

President Hall said, "This bill would have sent a message to the over 400,000 workers in Florida still looking for work, still struggling to support their families, still trying to survive that they still matter. This was a real chance for the Florida Legislature to show that working families are more than political slogan to them, to show that their plight is just as important as the big special interests looking for a tax break or new sales tax exemption. Unfortunately, Daniel Webster and the Legislature blew that chance. These legislators refuse to believe that unemployment insurance is not a gift ... it is not welfare. It is business insurance. It is money that business put aside in the good times to be used to help the economy in the bad times. When will these legislators learn that Florida’s middle and low income workers are the real engines of the economy and that without a paycheck those engines are out of gas?"

Daniel Webster, the author of the amendment, has been an ardent foe of any and all progressive social and economic policies. As Speaker of the House, he ushered in the current period of ultra-right wing thinking in Florida and is credited with some of the most regressive policies on the books. He is in the running for President of the Senate in four years.
.... RichT, 5/3/03 (from Tallahassee/Redhills Independent Media Center - click link to comment on this article)

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Bush wants to muzzle and kick OPPAGA watchdog for barking

Legislation is rolling in the Capitol to abolish the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) and merge its duties and staff back into the Auditor General's Office, where it was as the "Performance Audit Division" until 1994. The Legislature wanted stronger and clearer recommendations in 1994 for eliminating ineffective programs and couldn't get anything responsive and actionable from the Auditor General. So the performance audit division was taken out, OPPAGA was formed and it has done its job admirably for eight years.

But the Governor fears and loathes OPPAGA. The Governor's Budget Director, Donna Arduin, gets visibly ill when OPPAGA is mentioned.

KAPOW! On Monday, March 31 Rep. Ray Sansom (R) and Senator Jeff Atwater (R) introduced a bill to keep the Auditor General basically as it is, abolish OPPAGA and make its function a policy analysis division headed by a deputy auditor who could be more easily fired. Atwater and Sansom are chair and vice chair of the Legislative Auditing Committee, which oversees OPPAGA. Atwater is a rising star in the Senate who has been uncharacteristically fooled by Bush and his budget director, Arduin; numerous lobbyists who want OPPAGA "gone;" and Rep. Sansom who has an ulterior motive.

Sansom requested and received an appointment to the audit committee, which is not considered a plum appointment. Why? OPPAGA recently offended Sansom's boss, Okaloosa School Superintendent Donald Gaetz (R), by recommending elimination of a costly data processing service contract that Gaetz personally negotiated. So, Gaetz boasted that he was going to "get OPPAGA." Rep. Sansom is Gaetz's Director of Community Affairs--a phony job that allows Sansom to be Gaetz's flack while making speeches to the public, campaign for his state representative job, and lobby for Gaetz Tallahassee. Why hire a lobbyist when you have a legislator on your payroll. This should be impossible for taxpayers to stomach. Where is the outrage?

Don't believe that this OPPAGA/OAG merger will save money. Sen. Atwater was quoted in a Tallahassee Democrat article on April 15, "This isn't a cost savings exercise."  The administration and some duped legislators want to muffle OPPAGA by burying it and putting it under control of shy and retiring, exacting and ethical, but not bold or brave management. The current OPPAGA Director can only be removed now by a majority vote of both the House and Senate and is required to be independent in every way.
.... anonymous, 4/20/03

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Mourning the Consequences or War

It is with great sadness I learned that the leaders of my country, the greatest on earth without having to prove it, and Great Britain stated flat out that the recent deaths of 15 anonymous Iraqi civilians and the wounding of at least 30 more as a result of an errant coalition air strike on Baghdad are an acceptable consequence of their "war."

I wonder if the US and Great Britain feel the same about the following US and British miliary personnel; just some of the nearly 50 who have already been killed in this "preventive war":

Spc. Gregory Sanders, 19, Indiana Cpl. Evan James, 20, Illinois Spc. Jamaal R. Addison, 22, Roswell, GA Pfc. Howard Johnson II, 21, Mobile, AL Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing, 20, Cedar Key, FL Lance Cpl. David K. Fribley, 26, Lee, FL Trooper David Jeffrey Clarke, 19, Littleworth, England Sgt. John Cecil, Royal Marines, Plymouth, England

How many more? I hope that these fine young soldiers will be remembered by all who support this unjust, selfish action, and that all of us remember the names of those who were never on the muster lists when it came their time: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, Wolfowitz, Ashcroft, Rice and all of those like them.
VanceB, 3/28/03 

Responses:  (posted 4/1/03)

First Response: If we took your advice: 1. Saddam would declare victory and would be the king of the terroist world; 2. he would then give terrorist organizations weapons that eventually would be used to kill hundreds of thousands and even millions of American (chemical weapons to nuclear). Then would YOU stand up and take the credit for their deaths because you did not act to end this tranny when we could?
Being a leader is a hard thing to do. You must be able to look into the future to see what would happen if you didn't act. Your way, Vance, would kill millions of Americans. The President's way costs as well, but not like yours.

Second Response: Just a word to say I totally agree with your statement. I am still shaking after reading [another writer's letter] about how one of ours is worth all of them, life-wise. And he propably calls himself a christian. This is a time where I hope hell exists, if only to be sure these people will somehow learn that they are morally wrong.

Third Response: How many letters have you written concerning the policy of the plo and iraq to target innocent Israeli citizens and their own citizens respectively?

Fourth Response: I find it very sad that the current trend among the anti-war people is to denigrate the military service of our country's leaders. Just because many of these people did not actually serve during wartime, does not nullify their service to this country. The fact is, these people willingly served this country in our Armed Forces --- and you will not find in this administration a single draft dodger, or person who went to a foreign country to protest against America. The same cannot be said for our prior administration.
You also might be interested to know that the "anonymous Iraqi civilians" that you say were injured or killed by an errant coalition airstrike, were actually killed by an errant Iraqi launched missile.
Any death caused by war is sad. However, sometimes, as in the case with Iraq, war is necessary to achieve the greater good. This war is not unjust, nor is it selfish.
I find it ironic that you people that whine about nominal Iraqi civilian casualties don't seem to care about the atrocities that Saddam Hussein and his regime have committed against these people.
The truth is...you DON'T really care about these people. Most of you protestors are simply disgruntled Liberals that can't get over the fact that your team was prevented from STEALING the 2000 Presidential Election.

Fifth Response: I totally agree with you. My feelings are more of fear for our country than anger, although that feeling has been rearing its ugly head lately. I didn't realize how much hate people were harboring towards different types of people. I thought we'd come a long way from such blatent racism, but I was wrong. Worse still, some of these hate-full people I thought I knew well. That is probably what hurts the most.
Thanks for your kind words, and I wish you peace as well.

Sixth Response: I have a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies and lived in the region for 5 years. I have read extensively on the middle east and Iraq in particular. One of the major problems with you on the left is your inability to differentiate between totalitarian regimes and free democracies. Your are protecting a sadistic fascist dictatorship in Saddam. Your logic is very halucinagenic.

Seventh Response: I guess you believe Bush is a cowboy and therefore the policies of the government he heads is arrogant and foolish. I disagree. Terrorism can only hurt us if they have a government to support them. We cannot afford to allow Saddam to nourish terrorism. If we did, some day, millions of us would die. Part of the lesson of 9/11 was a deficit of imagination. We never thought that kind of terror was possible. We better start thinking more imaginatively because our worse fears are possible. And appeasment and inaction will hasten our horrors.

Eighth Response: I have no use for a culture that kills U.S. citizens absent the field of battle and then say it's my fault and I'm supposed to understand their plight. Attempt to kill my brethren and I will render unto you ten fold, the same.

Ninth Response: There are millions of us who agree with you. We feel that this war against Iraq is utterly unjustified. I feel that the best way we can serve our men and women in uniform, and the people of Iraq is to STOP THIS WAR NOW !
Can we do that? Will you join with me and everybody we can find to take what ever lawful steps are needed to stop this madness?
I think our President is seriously ill. He is beset by some infirmity of mind that causes him to believe that he acts for Almighty God. He is a pious mad man. As the comander-in-chief of our armed forces he is the most powerful person on earth. We clothed him with this power. How do we correct our blunder?

Tenth Response: I read the Democrat letters page online each morning and was struck by yours, today. Very eloquently put. There is something missing at the very top of this administration, and it is the obligatory two years' military service. None of these people running this war, except Colin Powell, poor devil, knows what it is like to have been in the Army. Bush skated, the rest ghosted. It shows.
I did my two years (though Lord knows I didn't enjoy them very much, and I never heard a shot fired in anger. I at least know how to field-strip and clean an M16A rifle, and that is something our leaders couldn't do if you offered them a million dollars and a tax cut). I never thought I'd say this, but we should bring back the draft, and give everybody a taste of what it means to be in uniform. They might be a little more reluctant to send young men and women off to get killed.
But I don't mean to rattle on, just say I thought your letter said something worth saying, and said it very well.
... posted by VanceB, 4/1/03

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DOA PROPAGANDA 

As many homeowners distressed about the unjust citrus canker eradication program contact members of the Department of Agriculture, they receive a lengthy form letter. It claims the need for the program and attempts to justify it with Dr.Gottwald's experiment.

The following is quoted from the letter: "A year-long scientific study determined that the disease spreads approximately 1900 feet from an infected tree...and even farther during severe weather. The trees located within 1900 feet are not considered 'healthy'. They are exposed and could be harboring the disease but not yet showing symptoms. If the exposed citrus trees are not removed, once they do express symptoms, the disease will continue its spread. This science has been peer reviewed by plant pathologists world-wide and has been published in scientific journals." 

Firstly, Dr.Gottwald published a paper about his experiment, which may have received a kind of "peer review". I wish to emphasize that the peer-review was only about the paper and not the experiment itself in the field. This experiment has been never repeated nor has it been confirmed by other independent scientists. 

Gottwald never presented the actual records or figures of his experiment, despite requests by the Court to do so. It is considered lacking in reliable data collection and analysis. It should be mentioned that Gottwald himself did not recommend, in writing, eradication based on his experiment. 

Quoting from his papers: 

"Although this bacterial disease is mostly a leaf and fruit spotting malady....it is because of its socio-economic and political impact that the disease is so devastating" 
(from LTE in Phyopathology) 
"Can we live with citrus canker? - Several countries in Southeast Asia, South America and elsewhere have lived with canker for decades. In many cases their industry actually co-evolved with canker from the start" "Even if eradication is achieved, there is a high probability for introduction of Xac (canker) in the future."- "Introduction of the disease is a fairly regular occurrence." 

The scientists participating in this experiment examined only how far canker bacteria travels before it falls to the ground. Professor Chester M. Himel, who conducted extensive citrus canker research, concludes that "Gottwald's research protocol is fatally flawed. He did not measure any dormant bacteria and he has no knowledge as to how or why or when dormant bacteria become active or active bacteria become dormant." 

The Department of Agriculture's claimed "scientific justification" to cut every tree in a 1900 feet radius around an infected tree is baseless. There is no justification whatsoever to eradicate trees in home gardens to protect commercial growers, instead of applying proper preventive treatments in the groves. 

Industry representatives apparently feel that it is a better deal to let the public pay for eradication, instead of spending their own money for more expensive treatments in the groves. And at the same time they can extend their market to homeowners. 

An important aspect: there are no funds available for just compensation to homeowners for their lost trees. Just compensation would top the already much over 400 million dollars of taxpayers' money squandered on an ineffective and constitutional right offending program. 

Peter Harsany, D.Sc. (Doctor in agricultural economics) 

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Looking for inspiration in empty buildings

In his State of the State speech, Gov. Jeb Bush said one of his sources of inspiration in the days ahead is Florida's history.
"Our own state history begins with intrepid explorers in a new world and continues today with enormous courage - and sometimes enormous sacrifice - from our astronauts in the limitless expanse of the stars," he intoned.
Does it take enormous courage from the governor to jeopardize the future of the place that chronicles our state's history for our people? He's the one who wants to downgrade the Museum of Florida History by cutting its staff to virtually nothing.
Now that's really inspiration.
EARLD, letter to Tall.Democrat

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Jeb Bush Gets An "F" In Government

Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, in his Inaugural Address on January 7, reaffirmed the conservative doctrine of our era. He declared that "government is not the answer" to our social problems. Instead, he asserted, the answer is to "build a life centered on faith, friends, and family." 

First, I must say, that I am wholeheartedly for the latter values endorsed by Bush. I support faith that is "grounded in humility, gratitude, and generosity," as Bush described it; I am all for loyal friendships; and I believe, as Bush does, that personal responsibility is an essential quality that must be cultivated by families. 

The question in my mind is, why is government not part of the solution? Why doesn't Bush add "good government" to his pantheon of virtues? Why is the governor of the state talking about getting rid of government? 

"Without a caring society," said Bush, "without each citizen voluntarily accepting the weight of responsibility, government is destined to grow even larger, taking more of your money, burrowing deeper into your lives. . . . There would be no greater tribute to our maturity as a society than if we can make these [government] buildings around us empty of workers: silent monuments to the time when government played a larger role than it deserved or could adequately fill." 

Bush's statement reveals a fundamental lack of understandings about the nature of democratic government. Government necessarily grows larger as the population and complexity of society (Florida) increases. A neighborhood does not need a traffic light when only ten cars per hour pass through an intersection; but when 1,000 cars per hour pass through, traffic regulation is needed. 

Secondly, there are notable deficiencies in the market economy that require governmental intervention, whether to provide for a need not met by the private sector or to prevent corporate abuses and protect the public welfare. 

We need government to maintain roads, fund schools, protect the environment, prevent crime, provide a measure of economic security to individuals (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, and welfare programs), and protect children from abuse and neglect. 

Bush highlighted the latter problem, saying that if only families were together, the taxpayers would not have to provide for some 50,000 children in the custody of the state. This is undoubtedly true. But it is also true that if criminals committed fewer crimes, industries and farms produced less pollution, and business enterprises produced less urban sprawl, Florida taxpayers would likewise save themselves much more money. 

Bush and his conservative allies repeat the tired mantra of "less government" - meaning tax cuts and fewer regulations - because they do not want government to infringe on the market economy. Their "family values" rhetoric, however sincere, is used as a cover for a surreptitious attack on government programs and policies that limit or compete with the corporate-run economy. The struggle, in other words, is not about faith, family, and friends, but about power and money. 

The conservative strategy of crippling government by reducing tax revenue and regulatory powers would garner little public support if it were acknowledged as such. Instead the diversionary tactic of talking about "faith and family," combined with contradictory promises to advance certain popular programs, serve to divert public understanding of the underlying strategy. 

In his speech, Bush promised to reduce violent crime, clean up the Everglades, create a better school system, improve children's reading skills, and "build an economy that creates not just new jobs, but better jobs." Shouldn't he acknowledge that government has an important role to play in creating a "caring society?" 
... RogerP, from TallyIMC, 3/3/03

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