View source for Bush-Cheney administration

This page covers the actions of [[George W. Bush]]'s [[US Presidential administration|administration]] while he was President of the {{USA}}.
==Personnel==
* [[George W. Bush]], President
* [[Dick Cheney]], Vice-President
* [[Karl Rove]], advisor/strategist and Deputy Chief of Staff
* [[Donald Rumsfeld]], Secretary of Defense
* [[Condoleezza Rice]], Secretary of State
* '''former personnel'''
** [[wikipedia:Lewis Libby|Lewis Libby]], former Chief of Staff and assistant for National Security Affairs to [[Dick Cheney]]; resigned 2005-10-28 after being indicted on criminal felony charges for obstruction of justice, perjury (2 counts), and making false statements (2 counts).
** [[wikipedia:John Ashcroft|John Ashcroft]], former U.S. Attorney General; resigned 2005-02-03, stating "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."

==Actions==
''Actions attributable to members of GWB's administration, including the majority-GOP-controlled Congress where there was no noticeable protest or apology from the President (and therefore presumably met his approval) are considered to be acts of this administration. Acts which are more or less directly attributable to [[George W. Bush|GWB himself]] should be listed on [[George W. Bush|his page]].''
* Has illegally assigned unprecedented powers to the President [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19092]
* Apparently ignored many [[pre-9/11 warnings]]
* Spent $1.62 billion on advertising in 2.5 years (see [http://www.freepress.net/news/13861] and [http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20060213110539-14835.pdf]), an apparently unprecedented amount
* Changed a $5 trillion budget surplus into a $5 trillion budget deficit in only four years (while continuing to reiterate the ever-popular [[The Big Lie|big lie]] about "tax-and-spend Liberals") &ndash; see [[US Presidential Administration Budgets]]); [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4780844.stm] (2006-03-06)
* The [[No Child Left Behind]] Act
* The [[USA PATRIOT Act]]
* The [[US Invasion of Iraq|Invasion & Occupation of Iraq]], which was carried through under [http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/12/lying-about-war.html false premises], was poorly planned, and has been thoroughly mismanaged [http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=snomarine12&date=20060412&query=coming%2Bhome]
** Apparently stole millions of dollars from the Iraqi government [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/05/international/middleeast/05reconstruct.html?ex=1288846800&en=38c51c03e8b84437&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss]  [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/middleeast/22reconstruct.html?ex=1274414400&en=d9ca198b63614094&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss]
** Has been less effective at rebuilding Iraq (despite multibillion-dollar levels of funding) post-invasion than Iraqis were in rebuilding it themselves (despite sanctions) after the 1991 war [http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#113754150457330274]
* Lackadaisical [[response to Hurricane Katrina]]
* '''2006-05-15''' [[wikinews:U.S. restores full diplomatic relations with Libya|U.S. restores full diplomatic relations with Libya]]
==Characteristics==
* Has made it clear that they believe torture to be a legitimate weapon [http://www.alternet.org/rights/36598/] in the "[[war on terror]]", which is consistent with repeated reports of [[Torture During GWB Administration|torture]] by US military and officials
* Appears to be encouraging the spread of evangelism in the armed forces [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101650.html] ([http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/111305F.shtml mirror @truthout]); also [http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1311971&secid=1] ''need to find the actual wording to see just how innocuous it is...''
* Anti-science/[[reality-based thinking|reality]], although they claim to be pro-science
** "It is unambiguous that the GOP Congress cuts funding for the National Science Foundation and NOAA even while calling for "more research" on global climate change." [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050911/news_lz1v11science.html]
* Anti-[[transparency]]:
** Accused of "[http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/12/bushs-war-on-press.html waging a war against the journalistic standards and practices that underpin not only a free press but our democracy]"
** '''Skyrocketing secrecy''': "Government secrecy has reached a historic high, even compared to the Cold War (San Diego Union July 3). Federal departments are classifying documents at a rate of 125 per minute... or two per second... and inventing new kinds of classification, while declassification efforts that peaked under the [[1992-1999 US Presidential Adminstration|Clinton Administration]] have slowed to a crawl." ([http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/] 2005-09-02 entry) See also [http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/12/gutting-freedom-of-information-act.html Gutting the Freedom of Information Act] and [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/politics/21reclassify.html U.S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review]
** '''Suppression of contradictory viewpoints''':
*** Squelching of constructive critical discussion (e.g. "public dissent is strongly discouraged by the White House" mentioned in [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/06/AR2005110601281_pf.html]; [http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2005/11/dueling_article.html use of IRS] as a tool for preventing dissention); also [http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/12/eliminating-dissent-in-media.html Eliminating Dissent in the Media]
*** Repeated incidents of action against whistleblowers:
**** Bunnatine Greenhouse: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800881.html The Washington Post] [http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/5104.html The Carpetbagger Report] (possibly problematic links: [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/international/middleeast/29halliburton.html?hp&ex=1125374400&en=f2175188366b5e36&ei=5094&partner=homepage] [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/army_contracting])
**** '''2004-11-14''': [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/14/161139/55 Bush Plans to Purge the 'Disloyal' at CIA]: "The White House has ordered the new CIA director ... to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush..." (a clear case of [[Equating the Individual with the Office]]) (also [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1114-01.htm another source])
**** The [[Wikipedia:Plame affair|Plame affair]]
*** Repeated [http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/interference/scientists-signon-statement.html misrepresentation and suppression of scientific data] ([[Science Abuse]], and see also "anti-science" above)
**** articles about James Hansen:
***** '''2006-03-19''' [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/17/60minutes/main1415985.shtml Rewriting the Science] (from the ''60 Minutes'' TV show) ([http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/21/0152231 slashdot])
***** '''2006-01-30''' [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8650 Top climatologist accuses US of trying to gag him]

==Opinion==
* '''2005-11-24'''  [http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/11/24/cheney/ The long march of Dick Cheney] (by [[Wikipedia:Sidney Blumenthal|Sidney Blumenthal]], in Salon.com): "The hallmark of the Dick Cheney administration is its illegitimacy. Its essential method is bypassing established lines of authority; its goal is the concentration of unaccountable presidential power."
* '''2005-10-17''' issue of Newsweek: [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9629463/site/newsweek/ On K Street Conservatism] by [[Wikipedia:George F. Will|George F. Will]]: "The fact that none of those responsible for the postwar planning, or lack thereof, in Iraq have been sacked suggests &ndash; no, shouts &ndash; that in Washington today there is no serious penalty for serious failure."