The Recent Outrage

Two days ago, I discovered that there’s another horrifically lethal and unaccountable war profiteer. It’s called L-3/Titan, and after Halliburton it’s the second biggest – and most deadly – contractor in Iraq for which to work. L-3/Titan makes about $1 billion each year out of outsourced intelligence gathering and translation services.

Yesterday, USA Today reported that Nobel Prize winner and leader of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement Nelson Mandela is currently flagged on the United States' terrorist watch list.

Last week, dozens of corporate bigwigs gathered in Baton Rouge, just a stone's throw away from New Orleans, for the 25th Annual Business Awards and Hall of Fame. Among the vague references to the devastating effects of Katrina, there was no talk of tax cuts for the poor that provide financial relief to the growing number of poor Americans.

At Progressive Future, we've been diligent about spreading the otherwise buried reports of the atrocities and abuses committed by military contractors in Iraq. As outraged as they made us, we had to wonder why these stories failed to reach the mainstream American public. Now we know why.

President Bush and Senator McCain have made clear that they favor welfare for Wall Street, but not Main Street. They happily bail out irresponsible investment banks like Bear Stearns, but have no plan for providing substantial relief to American families faced with losing their jobs or even their homes.

It’s outrageous enough that President Bush railroaded the country into the Iraq war. Now, even as he touts a plan to scale back the length of troop deployment — a promise he knows he will never have to keep — behind the scenes he is starting negotiations with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to keep U.S. troops in Iraq long after he leaves office.

Bush and Cheney have proposed to let the telephone companies off the hook for releasing private information of U.S. citizens to the government.

In a Rose Garden press conference yesterday, George W. Bush blamed the Democratic-controlled Congress for the Bush recession. It was classic Bush: cause a problem (in this case, our economic troubles), and then try to blame it on others (in this case, Democrats and farmers). Bush offered nothing new in terms of ideas or solutions, but nevertheless he attacked Congress for failing to support his Right-wing, special-interest-backed policies.