The purpose of the Bamboozlepalooza tour is to drill in certain aspects about private accounts, so President Bush has been hammering the same points. But now the students are becoming the teacher. Things have gotten so bad that the president is now congratulating people on their performances. One woman was interrupted halfway through her comment with, “You’re on a roll. You’re doing great.” And at the end he congratulated her with, “There you go. Thanks, great job. Thanks for coming.”

Can you guess which statements were made by the president and which ones actually came from audience members?

1. “Now, you can’t take your money under this idea and put it into the lottery. That’s not safe, with all due respect…. You can only put it in safe and secure stocks and bonds.”
2. “We have choices. You can’t just go out and dump all your money in the hottest tech stock. You’ve got a certain number of limited choices that it’s not going to disappear tomorrow….”

3. “And the other thing that I really like is that at the end of the day, there would be something … to leave to [our children].”
4. “I think it makes sense for somebody to build up an asset base and say to a child, I’ve worked all my life, I’ve set aside money, and I want you to be able to better afford your life, and so this is for you when I pass away.”

5. “We don’t need a Band-Aid solution for Social Security. We need to solve this issue now and forever.”
6. “I’m not looking for a Band-Aid effect to this. I’d like to see a permanent fix for the Social Security Administration.”

7. “I like the idea of people opening up their quarterly statement and saying, well, here’s how — here’s my — here’s what my worth is. Watching something grow.”
8. “No, that’s — you know what, you look at it all the time, you get a quarterly statement once every quarter, every three months, and you see your money grow, this money that you’re putting in every week continues to grow. And I believe that we should have a part of that in our system today that we have, and we don’t have that.”

9. “It’s a sense of ownership. And I think the idea of personal retirement accounts….”
10. “And I think it makes sense to encourage ownership when it comes to retirement systems.”

11. “Now, what does that mean? It means you either have to run up taxes, cut benefits, cut programs, or borrow money. That’s what it means. In big ways.”
12. “So in the future, if we don’t do anything we’re either going to have to cut benefits … or we’re going to have to take the money from another part of the sector.”

13. “Personal accounts would give every younger worker … the chance to save a nest egg for their later years and pass something on to their children.”
14. “I feel like this private account would be great for our grandchildren, because when they get up to the age of retirement, they’ll have a nest egg….”

Answers after the flip!
Read more

Some possible good news this week for Americans suffering from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, spinal cord injury and stroke. Supporters of a bill to fund embryonic stem cell research may have the support they need to pass the measure in the Maryland House of Delegates. This comes a few months after legislation was introduced in Minnesota on January 6, 2005, to allow the University of Minnesota to use state funds for stem cell research and establish a state policy that the use of embryonic and other stem cells for research be allowed. Last November, strides were made in California, where citizens approved a $3 billion ballot initiative for embryonic stem cell studies overwhelmingly, 59% to 41%.

This is all part of a growing debate in this country about stem-cell research, which could hold promise for individuals suffering with debilitating diseases. State governments have been forced to step in to advance stem cell research, since President Bush decided on August 9, 2001, to authorize funding of stem cell research using only existing pluripotent stem cell lines, thus prohibiting federal funding of stem cell lines derived after that date. Not funding research since August 9, 2001, has hampered research that could ultimately save the lives of people suffering from a multitude of diseases. Read more

President Bush in public: “Now, that’s why I went to the Congress during the State of the Union and said, we’ve got a problem. I spent a lot of time describing the problem, but I also said, I’m willing to listen to any solution. I’m willing to say, you’ve got an idea, bring it — bring it forward.”

President Bush in private: “White House officials are privately telling Republicans that Bush is opposed to the idea [of government-subsidized personal savings accounts outside the existing system] but does not want to say so because it would appear he is not willing to compromise.”

President Bush, 10/29/04:

“Unfortunately — unfortunately, my opponent, tonight, continued to say things he knows are not true — accusing our military of passing up a chance to get Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora. As the Commander in charge of that operation, Tommy Franks had said, it’s simply not the case. It’s the worst kind of Monday morning quarterbacking. It is especially shameful in the light of a new tape from America’s enemy.”

Associated Press, 3/23/05:

“A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, helped the al-Qaida leader escape his mountain hide-out at Tora Bora in 2001, according to a U.S. government document. The document, provided in response to a Freedom of Information request, says the unidentified detainee ‘assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora.’”

You got a taste yesterday in the New York Times. Think Progress brings you the uncensored version DeLay’s speech to the Family Research Council on Friday.

Download the MP3 file

Read the Transcript:

And so it’s bigger than any one of us, and we have to do everything that is in our power to save Terri Schiavo and anybody else that may be in this kind of position.

And let me just finish with this: This is exactly the issue that’s going on in America. That attacks against the conservative movement, against me, and against many others. The point is, it’s, the other side has figured out how to win and defeat the conservative movement. And that is to go after people, personally charge them with frivolous charges, and link that up with all these do-gooder organizations funded by George Soros, and then, and then get the national media on their side. That whole syndicate that they have going on right now is for one purpose and one purpose only and that’s to destroy the conservative movement. It’s to destroy conservative leaders and it’s, uh, not just in elected office but leading. I mean Ed Feulner, today at the Heritage Foundation, was under attack in the National Journal. I mean they, they, this is a huge nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in, and, and you need to look at this and what’s going on and participate in fighting back.

Don’t, you know, the one way they stopped churches from getting into politics was Lyndon Johnson, who passed a law that said you couldn’t get in politics or you’re going to lose your tax exempt status because they were all opposed to him when he was running for president. That law we’re trying to repeal; it’s very difficult to do that. But the point is, is when they can knock out a leader then no other leader will step forward for awhile because they don’t want to go through the same thing. When, if they go after and get a pastor then other pastors shrink from what they should be doing. It forces Christians back into the church and that’s what’s going on in America: “The world is too bad. I’m going to go get inside this building and I’m not going to play in the world.” Uh, that’s not what Christ asked us to do. And, and so this, they understand that it is a political maneuver, and, and they are, uh, going to try to destroy the conservative movement and we have to fight back.

So, please, this afternoon, each and every one of you, if you know a senator give him a call. Tell him, they’ll say, “Our bill can pass in the House.” Tell him, “That’s fine. Your bill’s okay but the House bill is better and, uh, I want the House bill.” Particularly if you know Democrats, uh, don’t let them get off the hook, um, by hiding behind one House and the other is adjourned. We can do anything we need to do to pass any bill that we need to pass. So I appreciate what you’re doing. God bless you and thank you for the Family Research Council.

Robert J. Samuelson wrote extensively about the U.S. dollar policy (or lack thereof) in a Newsweek cover story last week. His piece was very thoughtful in describing how the United States will be up a creek if the dollar doesn’t grow some legs — recession, national security threats, etc. Samuelson agrees the issue is a “yawner” for most Americans, but maybe another aspect of the story will get the attention of elites like Paris Hilton. The fashion section of the New York Times illustrates just how painful weak greenbacks can be … last year’s Chanel suit jacket was a steal at $2,900, but this year it will cost $4,100.

The once powerful and respected Treasury Department used to manage the dollar with a tight lip and a clear policy. Now the agency is the administration’s black sheep with a very murky dollar policy. Hopefully the short term results are no more family vacations to Europe or one less Prada bag, rather than the doomsday scenario of a bond market dive and global recession. That’s so not hot.

– Anna Soellner

The Washington Post confronted Tom DeLay with this passage from Monday’s Progress Report: “At every opportunity, [House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay has sanctimoniously proclaimed his concern for the well-being of Terri Schiavo, saying he is only trying to ensure she has the chance ‘we all deserve.’ Just last week, DeLay marshaled a budget resolution through the House of Representatives that would cut funding for Medicaid by at least $15 billion, threatening the quality of care for people like Terri Schiavo.” In today’s Post, DeLay’s spokesman, Dan Allen, responded. Allen said, “The fact that they’re tying a life issue to the budget process shows just how disconnected [they] are to reality.”

Allen’s statement succinctly reveals exactly what is wrong with right-wing leaders like Tom DeLay. DeLay and his allies have divorced their conceptions of morality from their core responsibilities as legislators, like the budget. As a result they are advancing amoral policies which have devastating effects on children, the sick and the indigent.