Bush By The Numbers

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Some, eye-opening, to say the least!

-------------------------------------------
$0 Amount approved by George Bush to hire more INS special agents.

$10m Amount Bush cut from the INS's existing terrorism budget.

14 Number of Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) agents assigned to track down 1,200 known illegal immigrants in the United States from countries where al-Qa'ida is active.
76 Percentage of 215 cities surveyed by the US Conference of Mayors in early 2004 that had yet to receive a dime in federal homeland security assistance for their first-response units.

5 Number of major US airports at the beginning of 2004 that the Transportation Security Administration admitted were Not fully screening baggage electronically.

22,600 Number of planes carrying unscreened cargo that fly into New York each month.

5 Estimated Percentage of US air cargo that is screened, including cargo transported on passenger planes.

95 Percentage of foreign goods that arrive in the United States by sea.

2 Percentage of those goods subjected to thorough inspection.

$5.5bn Estimated cost to secure fully US ports over the Next decade.

$0 Amount Bush allocated for port security in 2003.
-----------------------
$3,500 Reward a group of veterans offered in 2000 for anyone who could confirm Bush's Alabama guard service.

600-700 Number of guardsmen who were in Bush's unit during that period.

0 Number of guardsmen from that period who came forward with information about Bush's guard service.

0 Number of minutes that President Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, the assistant Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, the former chairman of the Defence Policy Board, Richard Perle, and the White House Chief of Staff, Karl Rove ­ the main proponents of the war in Iraq ­served in combat (combined).

0 Number of principal civilian or Pentagon staff members who planned the war who have immediate family members serving in uniform in Iraq.

8 Number of members of the US Senate and House of Representatives who have a child serving in the military.

10 Number of days that the Pentagon spent investigating a soldier who had called the President "a joke" in a letter to the editor of a Newspaper.
------------------------
1 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security issued between 20 January 2001 and 10 September 2001 that mentioned al-Qa'ida.

104 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned Iraq or Saddam Hussein.

101 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned missile defence.

65 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned weapons of mass destruction.

0 Number of times Bush mentioned Osama bin Laden in his three State of the Union addresses.

73 Number of times that Bush mentioned terrorism or terrorists in his three State of the Union addresses.

83 Number of times Bush mentioned Saddam, Iraq, or regime (as in change) in his three State of the Union addresses.

$1m Estimated value of a painting the Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, received from Prince Bandar, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States and Bush family friend.

0 Number of times Bush mentioned Saudi Arabia in his three State of the Union addresses.

1,700 Percentage increase between 2001 and 2002 of Saudi Arabian spending on public relations in the United States.

79 Percentage of the 11 September hijackers who came from Saudi Arabia.

3 Number of 11 September hijackers whose entry visas came through special US-Saudi "Visa Express" programme.

140 Number of Saudis, including members of the Bin Laden family, evacuated from United States almost immediately after 11 September
-------------------------------
1983 The year in which Donald Rumsfeld, Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, gave Saddam Hussein a pair of golden spurs as a gift.

2.5 Number of hours after Rumsfeld learnt that Osama bin Laden was a suspect in the 11 September attacks that he brought up reasons to "hit" Iraq.

237 Minimum number of misleading statements on Iraq made by top Bush administration officials between 2002 and January 2004, according to the California Representative Henry Waxman.

10m Estimated number of people worldwide who took to the streets on 21 February 2003, in opposition to the invasion of Iraq, the largest simultaneous protest in world history.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=557746

[rosco]

WOW! I figured the sheep that roam here aimlessly preaching the gospel of
G.W.Bullsh!t would've responded by now.

[watermock]

Because alot is total bullcrap

Border Security, Smart Borders for the 21st Century
New initiative to strengthen America's borders announced

President Bush announced a new initiative January 25 to strengthen America's borders against threats of terrorist attack, illegal migration, illegal drugs, and other contraband.

The President will increase funding for border security from $8.6 billion to $10.7 billion in FY-2003 budget, an increase of $2.1 billion from the FY-2002 budget.

Following is the White House Fact Sheet:

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
January 25, 2002 Border Security
Smart Borders for the 21st Century
America's borders -- land, air or sea -- are the boundaries between the United States and the rest of the world. The massive flow of people and goods across our borders helps drive our economy, but can also serve as a conduit for terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, illegal migrants, contraband, and other unlawful commodities. The new threats and opportunities of the 21st century demand a new approach to border management. President Bush envisions a border that is grounded on two key principles:

• First, America's air, land, and sea borders must provide a strong defense for the American people against all external threats, most importantly international terrorists but also drugs, foreign disease, and other dangerous items.

• Second, America's border must be highly efficient, posing little or no obstacle to all legitimate trade and travel.

The President's 2003 Budget begins the process of achieving this vision of the border of the future.

Facts about America's Borders

• The United States has a 7500-mile land and air border shared with Canada and Mexico and an exclusive economic zone encompassing 3.4 million square miles.

• Each year, more than 500 million people are admitted into the United States, of which 330 million are non-citizens.

• On land, 11.2 million trucks and 2.2 million rail cars cross into the United States, while 7,500 foreign-flag ships make 51,000 calls in U.S. ports annually.

The Smart Border of the Future

America requires a border management system that keeps pace with expanding trade while protecting the United States and its territories from the threats of terrorist attack, illegal migration, illegal drugs, and other contraband. The border of the future must integrate actions abroad to screen goods and people prior to their arrival in sovereign U.S. territory, and inspections at the border and measures within the United States to ensure compliance with entry and import permits. Federal border control agencies must have seamless information-sharing systems that allow for coordinated communication among themselves, and also the broader law enforcement and intelligence gathering communities. This integrated system would provide timely enforcement of laws and regulations. Agreements with our neighbors, major trading partners, and private industry will allow extensive pre-screening of low-risk traffic, thereby allowing limited assets to focus attention on high-risk traffic. The use of advanced technology to track the movement of cargo and the entry and exit of individuals is essential to the task of managing the movement of hundreds of millions of individuals, conveyances, and vehicles.

Some of this work has already begun with Canada, our largest trading partner. On December 12, 2001, Governor Tom Ridge, Director of the Office of Homeland Security, and John Manley, then Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed "The Smart Border Declaration" with a 30-point action plan that will help speed and secure the flow of people and goods between the United States and Canada. The Smart Border Declaration recognizes that "our current and future prosperity and security depend on a border that operates efficiently and effectively under all circumstances." A similar effort is currently underway with Mexico.

Border Security Initiatives in the 2003 Budget

In the 2003 Budget, the President will propose $10.7 billion for border security, an increase of $2.1 billion from the 2002 Budget. This additional funding will allow our border agencies to begin implementing a seamless air, land, and sea border that protects the United States against foreign threats while moving legitimate goods and people into and out of the country. The new border initiatives will be managed by the agencies with primary responsibility for border control.

U.S. Customs Service -- Inspections The President's 2003 Budget increases the inspection budget of the Customs Services by $619 million, for a total of $2.3 billion. This additional funding increases the ability of the Customs Service to fulfill its critical border security role. Specifically, the additional resources in the 2003 Budget will allow the Customs Service to achieve the following key objectives:

• Additional Agents. The Customs Service will complete the hiring of approximately 800 new inspectors and agents to carry out additional security activities on our borders and at our seaports.

• New Technology. The President's Budget provides resources to purchase technologically advanced equipment that will assist in inspecting shipments so that time consuming and labor-intensive searches can be minimized.

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)

Enforcement The President's 2003 Budget increases the INS budget for enforcement by $1.2 billion, for a total of $5.3 billion. These resources will enhance key INS missions related to homeland security, including border patrol, inspections, and the implementation of a technologically advanced system for monitoring the entry and exit of foreign visitors. Key goals include:

• Additional Agents. The INS will more than double the number of border patrol agents and inspectors, focusing particularly on the northern border. Additionally, INS will install integrated information systems to ensure that timely, accurate and complete enforcement data is transmitted to INS agents and other border security agencies operating in the field.

• Entry - Exit Tracking System. The INS will implement a new entry-exit system to track the arrival and departure of non-U.S. citizens. This new system will dramatically improve our ability to deny access to those individuals who should not enter the United States, while speeding the entry of routine, legitimate traffic.

United States Coast Guard The President's 2003 Budget increases funding for the Coast Guard's homeland security-related missions (protecting ports and coastal areas) by $282 million, to an overall level of $2.9 billion. After September 11, the Coast Guard's port security mission grew from approximately 1-2 percent of daily operations to between 50-60 percent today. In addition, the Coast Guard has important national security missions such as illegal migrant and drug interdiction and port security.

• Coordination. Working with other port entities, the Coast Guard is developing tracking mechanisms for all vessels operating in the maritime domain: within or transiting to U.S. ports and transiting our coastal waters. The heart of this maritime domain awareness program is accurate information, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance of all vessels, cargo, and people extending well beyond our traditional maritime boundaries.

• Coastal Asset and Infrastructure Protection. Coast Guard forces will provide "point defenses" for critical high-risk vessels and coastal facilities, marine and otherwise (e.g. nuclear power plants, oil refineries). Close coordination through Harbor Safety Committees, which help bring together the many local, state, and federal agencies that maintain and protect the harbor, will ensure a well-balanced protective envelope is sustained at different threat levels.

Department Of Agriculture The President's 2003 Budget increases discretionary funding for the Agriculture Quarantine Inspection program by $14 million, or approximately 30 percent, for a total of $61 million. This will provide resources for inspections of people at land border crossing and on flights entering the mainland from other States and territories, such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

• Coordination: USDA will develop an automated targeting system to serve as an interface with Customs to identify and automatically segregate high-risk cargo of agricultural interest. ATS will also serve as the electronic interface between USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration to track animal products entering the United States.

• Enhanced Border Inspection: USDA will place additional inspectors and x-ray machines for people entering by land, as well as additional inspectors and canine teams for high risk cargo entry points along the border.

http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive_Index/Border_Security_Smart_Borders_for_the_21st_Century .html

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Because alot is total bullcrap

Border Security, Smart Borders for the 21st Century
New initiative to strengthen America's borders announced

President Bush announced a new initiative January 25 to strengthen America's borders against threats of terrorist attack, illegal migration, illegal drugs, and other contraband.

The President will increase funding for border security from $8.6 billion to $10.7 billion in FY-2003 budget, an increase of $2.1 billion from the FY-2002 budget.


Can you find any breakdown on how much money was spent where or just have the whitehouse spin on it?

-------------------------------------
INS inspectors pulled from duty on some days to save money
By Brock N. Meeks
Chief Washington correspondent
MSNBC
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 - A $20 million budget shortfall is forcing cuts at U.S. ports of entry that could impact security, MSNBC.com has learned. The deficit has led officials to make a series of security compromises that include replacing INS inspectors with their less-qualified, lower-paid Customs counterparts on heavily trafficked Sundays and holidays. U.S. officials, who announced Tuesday a plan to merge these inspector jobs into a single position, denied that the current cost-saving measures weaken security in any way.

An immediate consequence of the cost-cutting has been the removal of INS inspectors from working Sunday and holiday shifts because on these days they earn double time, a federal pay scale anomaly tracing back to a 1931 Act of Congress.

“Why in God’s name is Customs and Border Protection doing this? Especially now, we’re coming up to the anniversary to 9/11,” wonders a senior Customs inspector who works out of a major eastern airport. “It’s not a secret that anniversaries mean something to the loonies that want to reach violent ends.”

In some cases, INS inspectors are simply removed from all overtime work and the port operates short-staffed. In other instances, Customs inspectors are used to fill the jobs typically done by INS personnel. Customs officers get time and half for weekend and holiday work.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3070685&p1=01%7C%7C%7C%7C003
------------------------------------
Chiefs of police: Border security a sham
Organization claims lax federal policies causing murder of cops
Posted: January 27, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

The National Association of Chiefs of Police claims national border security is a "sham" and the lack of controls by the federal government is rewarding criminals.

In a statement, Jim Kouri, vice president of the 14,000-member organization, slams the feds for using "smoke and mirrors in our border security strategy." He also indicts states issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

"Even the president of the United States is prepared to reward lawbreakers," he said, referring to President Bush's proposal to legalize millions of illegal aliens in the U.S.

Kouri, an Arab-American, says the lack of security on U.S. borders causes the murder of law-enforcement officers as well as civilians.

"Border security is the weakest link in our antiterrorism effort – it's our Achilles' heel," said Kouri, who claims billions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on an immigration bureaucracy that does "practically nothing to stop the illegal-alien traffic."

The law-enforcement expert and columnist claims the nation's political leaders have a "cynical approach to American sovereignty," winking at the immigration problem to garner votes and adhere to a "suicidal politically correct orthodoxy."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36780
-------------------------------------------------
Lack of federal agents allows aliens off hook despite 'high' terror alert
By Jon Dougherty
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Local authorities are catching then releasing illegal aliens despite the nation's increased terror alert status because there are too few regional U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services agents to pick them up.

While the so-called "catch-and-release" strategy isn't a new practice for many local police departments, some of the most recent cases have been occurring despite the Department of Homeland Security boosting the nation's terrorist threat level to orange, or "high," and that has drawn criticism from immigration-reform advocates.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32828
------------------------------------------------
"Our porous southern border represents one of the greatest security threats to this country," Lee said.
U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, hosted U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, D-Crockett, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, both members of the House Homeland Security Committee, in a tour of several border facilities in the Brownsville area Thursday. The three disclosed the intelligence in a news conference after the gathering.

Ortiz called attention to procedures along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, particularly how "other than Mexican," or "OTM," immigrants often are released after apprehension because of limited bed space in detention facilities.
http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_3158948,00.html

[watermock]

I find it amusing that illegal immigration suddenly becomes a central issue for Democrats.

Wasn't that a Republican issue, you know, the racist Republicans? Wasn't it just recently that that was a bullhorn for Gray Davis and Pulosi, who opened an office so illegal immigrants could "pay their taxes??" What a riot and revenue generator that was.

More immigrants arrived in the U.S. during the 1990s than the total of all immigrants living in the country in 1970.

Suddenly, it's Bush's fault. Just like the rescession, outsourcing, terrorism and Nile Virus.

Once again, your confusing Illegal Immigration with Terrorism.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

I find it amusing that illegal immigration suddenly becomes a central issue for Democrats.

Wasn't that a Republican issue, you know, the racist Republicans? Wasn't it just recently that that was a bullhorn for Gray Davis and Pulosi, who opened an office so illegal immigrants could "pay their taxes??" What a riot and revenue generator that was.

More immigrants arrived in the U.S. during the 1990s than the total of all immigrants living in the country in 1970.

Suddenly, it's Bush's fault. Just like the rescession, outsourcing, terrorism and Nile Virus.

Once again, your confusing Illegal Immigration with Terrorism.
Illegal immigration has always been an issue with me, since the late 60s.
Tom Tancredo has the correct idea.
http://www.tancredo.org/issues/issues_immigration2.html
http://www.house.gov/tancredo/Immigration/welcome.htm

I haven't confused the two at all, what I'm hoping for is that the finances and personnel are put into place to secure our borders and coastlines before it's too late.

[watermock]

Well, I put it to you that this isn't a new problem that popped up thru 9/11 or was even a factor.

That fact you should be concerned is more of a Republican Issue, yet your not impressed, yet I showed you the budget increases. As I said, it's an impossible task. The best thing to do is watch carefully. An open border has many advantages, and one explicit weakness we don't need any time arguing about, the fact that an Arab can probably make it thru if he shaves his Taliban flea nest, and puts on mexican clothes.

The fact is, it's still easier to go thru Canada.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

WOW! I figured the sheep that roam here aimlessly preaching the gospel of
G.W.Bullsh!t would've responded by now.

LOL

What?

You mean they haven't gotten around to calling you a "spammer" or a "forum killer" yet? ;)

[watermock]

Since I blew the whole piece of crap out of the water noone has bothered to confront this thread except idiot boy.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/bush_manipulation_accomplished.jpg

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/bush_presidency_for_dummies.jpg

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Since I blew the whole piece of crap out of the water noone has bothered to confront this thread except idiot boy.
I think you missed. I've posted multiple links showing how our borders are way undermanned and security is joke. You posted one piece from the whitehouse.
Do you have ANY links showing where or how all this supposed money is being spent and what the results may be?

[Rohirrim]

Seems to me, from reading through this, is that Beerslug's post points out what Bush has done, and Mock's post is what Bush says he will do. Fool me once, as the saying goes.

[Blueflame]

I think you missed. I've posted multiple links showing how our borders are way undermanned and security is joke. You posted one piece from the whitehouse.
Do you have ANY links showing where or how all this supposed money is being spent and what the results may be?

Of course, we all believe everything the white house tells us... whether on tv or from their website. They'd never, ever lie or mislead us...


[/sarcasm]

[watermock]

It's called reality and hysterical ranting.

The whole thread is totally hysterical.

Go play with it.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Fool me once, as the saying goes.

Um, isn't it "fool me once, shame on you, fool me....can't get fooled again?"

;)