Bad Bush Nominees, Consumer Debt, Working Too Hard and More

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/06/08/bad-bush-nominees-consumer-debt-working-too-hard-and-more/

Bad Bush Nominees, Consumer Debt, Working Too Hard and More

by Tula Connell, Jun 8, 2007

Wanted to bring up a few noteworthy items from today and the past couple of days.

Yet another bad Bush nominee: Yesterday, we described Bush’s nomination of Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit as one which brings up Southwick’s troubling court decisions, which included ruling against compensating workers for on-the-job injuries. Today, the Center for American Progress describes a Bush nominee for the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Hans von Spakovsky, who is said to have

“used every opportunity he had over four years in the Justice Department to make it difficult for voters—poor, minority and Democratic—to go to the polls.”

Like many of his other extremist nominees, Bush temporarily placed Spakovsky on the FEC using a recess appointment. Proving again that for an Imperial Presidency, a democratic process of checks and balances is such a bother.

Consumer debt on the rise. Spinning away, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) today calls the latest rise in consumer debt—to an unprecedented $2.4 trillion—good news. After all, consumers increased debt by $2.6 billion in April, compared with $14 billion in March. Since this item is such good news, the Journal buries the seven-graph story on page 14. And based on recent experiences with data coming out of Bush-run federal agencies, expect a revision in the numbers—for the worse. Wonder what page that item will show up on?

Vetos, unions and Bush. Having a rubber-stamp Republican Congress for six years enabled Bush to brag about his lack of vetos. With Democrats running the House and Senate, Bush has actually used the veto pen more than once. But what really pushes Bush’s veto buttons are issues benefiting working families. Writes the Chicago Sun-Times:

Five of the 24 veto threats President Bush has issued since Democrats took control of Congress target bills with provisions that benefit unions and their members.

FULL story at link.