Pink Spider
03-30-2004, 02:54 PM
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
"JOB CZAR STUPIDITY"
http://www.jimhightower.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes when I see those in power pull some political action that's stupid, I say to myself: What were they thinking?
But a recent action by the Bushites is so obtuse, so blindingly-stupid that you can only conclude that no thought at all was involved, that no one with the brain power of a single-cell amoeba could have been consulted on such a perverse decision.
The Bush incident revolved around a bit of political fluff that the White House tried to foist on us last Labor Day. With his jobs record rivaling Herbert Hoover's, and with every industry from manufacturing to high-tech sending hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs offshore, Bush's political handlers decided that he needed to "DO SOMETHING."
Not really do something in the sense of stopping our country's middle-class bleeding, but appear to do something. So, George announced that he was creating – ta-daa! – a new assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing.
Big Whoopee. A new bureaucrat to do... what? To be a cheerleader and provide political cover, of course.
That was stupid. But then came stupid on steroids. Six months after announcing this position, Bush finally got around to appointing his new "Manufacturing Czar." It was Anthony Raimondo, a Bush campaign contributor and the CEO of a manufacturing outfit in Nebraska. Fine. Since he's from the biz, he might have an actual idea about how to stop offshoring.
But, no. Guess who had recently fired 75 of his own corporation's U.S. workers and built a new factory in China to employ 180 workers? Yes, Anthony! Our new czar!
This was too embarrassing even for Bush's White House of Big Blunders, so Anthony's name was withdrawn and he slipped back to Nebraska, China, or wherever. But it shows how clueless the Bushites are. As Sen. Charles Schumer put it: "This White House is so bad at jobs, it can't even fill the one it created."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources: "Bush pick for manufacturing 'czar' withdraws, Austin American-Statesman, March 12, 2004.
"Bush Choice for Manufacturing Post in Question, Washington Post, March 11, 2004.
"JOB CZAR STUPIDITY"
http://www.jimhightower.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes when I see those in power pull some political action that's stupid, I say to myself: What were they thinking?
But a recent action by the Bushites is so obtuse, so blindingly-stupid that you can only conclude that no thought at all was involved, that no one with the brain power of a single-cell amoeba could have been consulted on such a perverse decision.
The Bush incident revolved around a bit of political fluff that the White House tried to foist on us last Labor Day. With his jobs record rivaling Herbert Hoover's, and with every industry from manufacturing to high-tech sending hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs offshore, Bush's political handlers decided that he needed to "DO SOMETHING."
Not really do something in the sense of stopping our country's middle-class bleeding, but appear to do something. So, George announced that he was creating – ta-daa! – a new assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing.
Big Whoopee. A new bureaucrat to do... what? To be a cheerleader and provide political cover, of course.
That was stupid. But then came stupid on steroids. Six months after announcing this position, Bush finally got around to appointing his new "Manufacturing Czar." It was Anthony Raimondo, a Bush campaign contributor and the CEO of a manufacturing outfit in Nebraska. Fine. Since he's from the biz, he might have an actual idea about how to stop offshoring.
But, no. Guess who had recently fired 75 of his own corporation's U.S. workers and built a new factory in China to employ 180 workers? Yes, Anthony! Our new czar!
This was too embarrassing even for Bush's White House of Big Blunders, so Anthony's name was withdrawn and he slipped back to Nebraska, China, or wherever. But it shows how clueless the Bushites are. As Sen. Charles Schumer put it: "This White House is so bad at jobs, it can't even fill the one it created."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources: "Bush pick for manufacturing 'czar' withdraws, Austin American-Statesman, March 12, 2004.
"Bush Choice for Manufacturing Post in Question, Washington Post, March 11, 2004.