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Monday, October 25
Levels of Mercury in Women Increase Dramatically During Bush's Term in Office; Superfund in Super Trouble
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 25 Oct 2004 11:51 AM CDT
 Levels of Mercury in Women Increase Dramatically During Bush's Term in Office; Superfund in Super Trouble
American Progress: Under the Radar
MERCURY RISING:
A new national study conducted by the University of North Carolina
shows a whopping 21 percent of all women of child-bearing age have mercury levels in their bodies that exceed federal health standards.
That's almost double the rate of the last study conducted in 2000,
which concluded 12 percent of women had levels which were too high. The
Bush White House has relaxed mercury regulations in recent years. It
also let industry lobbyists write the regulations – the EPA's mercury
emission rules, which were written this year, contained "at least a
dozen paragraphs [that] were lifted, sometimes verbatim, from the industry suggestions."
SUPERFUND IN SUPER TROUBLE: Bad news for the environment: Thirty-four Superfund projects in 19 states will go unfunded this year.
Superfund, the government's toxic cleanup program, is facing historic
budget shortfalls which were exacerbated when the Bush administration ended the tax on corporate polluters that funded the program.
Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI) and Hilda L. Solis (D-CA), who demanded
last August "that the EPA describe the full impact of the budget
shortfalls, said yesterday that the agency has yet to give Congress a
full accounting. 'EPA's failure to inform Congress and the public about
the site specific needs of the Superfund program in a timely manner
makes it much more difficult to get the support necessary to address
this serious problem,' the two lawmakers said."
Removing Mercury From Your System
Some
would have you believe that once mercury is in your body, it is
impossible to remove. That is not necessarily the case.
A search of the web brought up some information on the natural food
products, chlorella and spirulina, which are often used for cleansing
and detoxification. Take a look here.
Wednesday, October 20
Bush Fails American Public on Flu Vaccine While Lawmakers Shoot Up
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 20 Oct 2004 04:58 PM CDT
 Bush Fails American Public on Flu Vaccine While Lawmakers Shoot Up
American Progress
For years, the Bush administration – at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry – has been blocking access to cheaper FDA-approved prescription drugs
imported from Canada because it claimed they were not safe. But
yesterday, in an abrupt about face, the administration announced the
FDA is in "active negotiations" to obtain an extra 1.5 million doses of flu vaccine from a Canadian manufacturer.
Acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford said "the FDA would inspect the
Canadian facilities to see if they meet U.S. standards" and, if they
meet those standards, it is possible the Canadian-made vaccine "would
make it to American consumers this flu season." The FDA did not explain
why, if the safety of Canadian-made vaccine could be established so
quickly, it still hasn't figured out whether prescription drugs reimported from Canada are safe. (For the record, the FDA "can't name a single American who's been injured" from drugs purchased from a Canadian pharmacy.)
CANADIANS CONTRADICT CRAWFORD'S CLAIM:
Crawford tried to save face by telling American reporters that
"purchases of foreign vaccine would likely be done on a
government-to-government basis, with U.S. authorities taking direct
possession of the additional supplies," but Canadian officials said
that's not true. "Certainly not that I'm aware of,"
said Dr. David Butler-Jones, head of Canada's new Public Health Agency.
"Given that the vaccine that is available is either in the private
sector or already in the provinces' and territories' hands, largely,
that would be kind of funny to buy that back. "
THE ADMINISTRATION WAS WARNED: Bush continues to blame "a production flaw"
for the vaccine shortage, but the Bush administration received warnings
about the vaccination supply and could have taken steps to diminish the
problem. After Chiron Corp. informed British and American officials on
Sept. 13 that there were unresolved contamination problems
at its Liverpool, England, plant, the British government responded by
contacting other manufacturers and securing alternative supplies. The
Bush administration, on the other hand, failed to act before all doses
of the flu vaccine had been purchased. The administration had already
ignored two GAO reports which warned of impending production shortfalls.
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE? The
secretary of Health and Human Services also announced yesterday that
2.6 million extra doses of the flu vaccine would be made available
through Aventis Pasteur, the one company still approved by the FDA to
sell flu vaccines this year. Even with these added doses, 40 percent of Americans who want the vaccine will have to go without the shot. And the new shipment also will arrive well "after the date the government recommends
for vulnerable Americans to have had their shots," making it "unclear
how helpful the extra vaccine doses will be." The new doses will not be
available until January; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommend that people be vaccinated in October or November.
HEALTH IS A CONGRESSIONAL PERK: There's one place in the United States. that isn't experiencing a flu vaccine shortage: Congress.
"Directly contraven[ing] the instruction being given by the
government's executive branch," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
(R-TN) and the Capitol's attending physician are urging "all 535
lawmakers to get the vaccines even if they are young and healthy."
Despite the shortage, many lawmakers were quick to comply, making sure
to get their flu shots before they headed home to campaign this month.
Those who haven't gotten their shots plan to, like Sen. Joseph I.
Lieberman (D-CT), who said in an interview yesterday: "I haven't done
it yet, but I want to." All told, the congressional physician's office
"has dispensed nearly 2,000 flu shots this fall, and doses remained
available yesterday." E-mail your members of Congress to see whether they've bypassed the lines to get shots for themselves.
FLU SHORTAGE COULD AFFECT TROOP READINESS:
AP reports, "At military bases already strained by the demands of war
in Iraq and Afghanistan, the men and women who defend the nation aren't
being defended against the flu." Normally, "the Navy hospital at Camp
Lejeune…would be getting 50,000 to 60,000 doses of flu vaccine." This
year, however, the base has yet to receive a single dose.
This is especially dangerous in a time of war: special operations
Marines can be deployed at any time but will be vaccinated only after
the Department of Defense decides how to dole out the military's
supply. "If they get exposed to an area where the flu is epidemic,
there is a readiness problem," said George Reynolds, director of
community health at Lejeune's hospital.
Friday, October 8
Tonight's Debate: More Tough Questions
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 08 Oct 2004 02:09 PM CDT
 Tonight's Debate: More Tough Questions
American Progress
Bush has been preparing for
tonight's townhall-style debate for the entire campaign. At 19 "Ask
pResident Bush" events, he has fielded probing questions from an
audience which – his handlers insist – has not been prescreened. Some
examples: "I was wondering if you would permit me the honor of giving
our Commander-in-Chief (sic) a real Navy salute?" "I was just wondering
what your favorite book is, because I'd like to read it?" "I was
wondering if I could take a picture with you?"
Tonight's questions, however, are more likely to focus on jobs, Iraq, healthcare, taxes and education.
Here is your pre-debate primer on what Bush will say and what you should know.
FACT – BUSH'S JOBS RECORD IS AN EMBARRASSMENT:
Bush will say "the economy is strong and getting stronger." But the
economy added a paltry 96,000 jobs in September, once again failing
even to keep up with population growth. Since Bush took office in
January 2001, the economy has shed about 585,000 jobs. Bush is a lock
to become the first pResident since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss
of jobs over a four-year term.
[Poor Herbert Hoover - to be forever
compared to that junta puppet! What an ignominious end!
I've been to the Hoover Presidential Museum 8 times, and there is much
to admire about the President from Iowa.]
FACT – THE DUELFER REPORT UNDERMINES A KEY RATIONALE FOR WAR: Bush
will say that the recently released report by chief U.S. weapons
inspector Charles A. Duelfer bolstered his rationale for war.
Yesterday, Bush said the Duelfer report proved Saddam Hussein "retained
the knowledge, the materials, the means and the intent to produce
weapons of mass destruction ...and he could have passed that knowledge
on to our terrorist enemies." That claim is highly misleading. The
Duelfer report establishes that Saddam "did not produce or possess any
weapons of mass destruction for more than a decade before the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq last year." Moreover, Duelfer found "no evidence that
Hussein had passed illicit weapons material to al Qaeda or other
terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do so."
FACT – BUSH'S TAX CUTS WERE A MASSIVE GIVEAWAY TO THE RICH:
Bush will say that his tax cuts "left more money in the hands of
American workers so they could save, spend, invest, and help drive this
economy forward." In fact, Bush's tax cuts overwhelmingly benefited the
very wealthy. For example, Americans with incomes averaging $1.2
million per year have received a tax cut of $78,460. By contrast,
households in the middle 20 percent, with incomes averaging $57,000 per
year, have received an average cut of $1,090. One-third of all the
benefits went to the top 1 percent of all earners. Meanwhile, "9.2
million working families in the United States – one out of every four –
earn wages that are so low they are barely able to survive financially."
FACT – BUSH CREATED A $5.2 TRILLION TAX GAP:
Bush will say, "it is the job of a pResident to confront problems, not
pass them on to future Presidents and future generations." Yet, in four
years, Bush "has turned a $5.6 trillion surplus into $5.2 trillion
deficit." His tax cuts are a big part of the problem. For example, even
as corporate profits have soared 40 percent over the last four years,
tax revenue from corporations has decreased. For more on the
deterioration of America's fiscal situation, read this report by
America Progress's Scott Lilly, mentioned in today's New York Times.
FACT – TORT REFORM WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE HEALTH CARE COSTS:
Bush will say that the way to make health care more affordable is "by
doing something about these frivolous lawsuits that are running good
doctors out of business and running your costs up." But the
non-partisan CBO has found that even legislation dramatically limiting
the ability of patients to recover damages when their doctor commits
malpractice would lower heath costs by one-half of one percent.
FACT – BUSH LEFT THE FUNDING FOR HIS EDUCATION PROGRAM BEHIND:
Bush will stress the success of the No Child Left Behind program. Keep
this in mind: 1) Bush underfunded the program by $9.4 billion, 2) Due
to funding shortages 11 states will get less federal education money
this year than they did last year, and 3) Because the Bush
administration has "failed to give adequate guidance to help states
comply with the goals of NCLB," twenty-four states have still not
completed plans to fully comply with the law.
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