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BUSH MUST GO! VOTE NOVEMBER 2!
(Statement by Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People's Organization For Progress,
October 18, 2004)
Bush Must Go! He must go now. His administration represents such a profoundly serious and grave threat to the interests of people at home, and the peace and stability of the rest of the world, that it is imperative he be removed from the office of President of the United States.
The People's Organization For Progress (POP) calls for the defeat of President George W. Bush in the upcoming election. We call upon men and women, young and old, people from all social and economic backgrounds, of all races, nationalities, and ethnic groups, of all faiths, creeds, and political affiliations, from all walks of life, and from all parts of this country to work for a regime change at the White House in November.
Therefore, we ask that every person who is eligible to vote and opposes Bush go to the polls on Election Day, November 2 and vote him out. In addition, tell your family members, neighbors, friends, co-workers, and everyone you know to go and vote on Election Day.
Everyone who can should volunteer to help mobilize voters and get people to the polls on Election Day. There is something for everyone to do. Even if you can't vote you can still help get voters to the polls.
If you would like to help the People's Organization For Progress (POP) with its voter mobilization efforts call (973) 801-0001, or contact the local office of the political party with which you are affiliated, or other organizations engaged in this activity.
Furthermore, The People's Organization For Progress calls upon everyone who opposes Bush to attend our "Bush Must Go!" March and Rally which will take place Saturday, October 30, 12:00 noon at Lincoln Park in Newark, New Jersey.
If for some unfortunate reason Bush is not defeated at the polls, or steals the election as he did in 2000, or has the election canceled then we should join efforts already underway to have him impeached.
If Congress does not impeach Bush then we should call for his immediate resignation and begin to build a mass movement around that goal. Such a movement will work to win public support for his resignation and build political pressure to make that happen.
Bush must go! His administration has been a disastrous failure. It has brought pain and suffering to people at home and abroad. His domestic policies have fostered economic insecurity and inequality in the U. S., and his foreign policies are destabilizing a whole region of the world and have engendered the hatred of millions around the globe.
Bush is running the country into the ground. When he came to office he had a $400 billion federal budget surplus. Today, there is a deficit of more than $400 billion. The country has lost a million jobs during the Bush administration, more than previous administrations.
Since Bush has been president more people in the United States have been plunged into poverty, millions have lost health care benefits, and the ranks of the homeless have increased. Unemployment in our urban areas has risen sharply. In cities across the country black men now have 50% unemployment rates.
Cuts in federal funds for public housing programs have adversely affected services to those that live in public and subsidized housing. It has also resulted in layoffs for many who work in housing agencies. Due to cuts in housing programs many have lost their apartments and many others may do so in the near future.
Proposed Bush administration cuts in funding may prevent hundreds of thousands of children from participating in the Headstart Program. As a result of Bush's "No Child left Behind Act," federal funding for public schools is now directly tied to the military being permitted by local school authorities to actively recruit in schools and have direct access to students.
Speaking of the military, Bush often boasts about his love for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He loves them so much that he cut $25 million from the budget of the Veterans Affairs Administration, the agency responsible for taking care of and providing services to the veterans of Bush's war in Iraq.
The most glaring example of why Bush must step down is his illegal, unjust, and unnecessary imperialist war of aggression and occupation in Iraq. This war is based on a web of lies from Bush and members of his administration. He says we're safer now, but the truth is that there have been more terrorist attacks and the world is a more dangerous place since the war began.
Bush said we were going to Iraq to find terrorists connected to the attack of September 11, 2001 (9/11) on the World Trade Center. The CIA and later the 9/11 Commission said there were no connections between the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein and the attack of 9/11.
Despite this President Bush launched what he called a "pre-emptive strike" against Iraq. In other words, we attacked first. The U. S. started a war of aggression against a nation that did not attack or pose any threat to this country.
Bush said we had to invade Iraq because Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. To this day, U. S. troops and inspectors have not found them. Why? Because there never were any weapons of mass destruction. This was simply one of the pretexts used to invade the country and seize control of its vast oil reserves, which are among the largest in the world.
He said we were going to Iraq to spread democracy. In fact, after the invasion we established a military dictatorship. Then we installed a puppet government of handpicked leaders whose authority is based on the military force of U. S. troops who are seen by the vast majority of Iraqis as foreign occupiers.
This is the most blatant form of hypocrisy. How can Bush talk about bringing democracy to Iraq when he has trampled upon the democratic rights of people in his own country? He subverted democracy when he stole the election of 2000 and disenfranchised thousands of African American voters and other voters in the process.
Bush did not receive the majority of votes in the 2000 election, his opponent Al Gore did. He was not elected president by a majority of the people. He was selected to be the president by five members of the U. S. Supreme Court, several of whom were appointees of presidents George Bush, Sr., his father, and Ronald Reagan.
Today, Bush is squandering our tax dollars on this war at a level that is criminal. Nearly $300 million per day, $2.1 billion per week, with a total of more than $200 billion being spent on the war this year. We shouldn't be spending billions on this war. We should be spending that money on jobs, housing, health care, education, and the other needs of the people.
The cost is high in other ways. Since Bush announced victory in Iraq more than 1,072 U. S. soldiers have died, with 27,000 wounded, disabled or taken out of action. An estimated 30,000 Iraqis have been killed and wounded. We must end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home now. Removing the Bush regime from power will bring us closer to that goal.
While Bush wages war against the people of Iraq he wages a social and economic war against the people here in the United States. He cuts back social programs and implements domestic policies that hurt the working class, poor people, the middle class, women, African Americans, Latinos and other minorities. Meanwhile, he gives multibillion dollar tax breaks to the richest people in the country, and billion dollar "no bid" contracts to corporations such as Halliburton.
The Bush administration has attacked our civil liberties and civil rights. Through the Patriot Act and Homeland Security legislation it has undermined, eroded, and even attempted to nullify protection guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Bush has appointed federal judges with anti-civil rights records and he has opposed affirmative action policies and women's right to choose.
Based on all that Bush has done thus far in his first term, his re-election would be a disaster for working and poor people, minorities, women, and the middle class--the majority of Americans. There is also the possibility that a second term would allow Bush to appoint conservative members to the Supreme Court who will move it even further to the Right.
Clearly, the strongest possible political action should be taken to ensure that Bush does not win a second term, or if re-elected that he is met with the strongest possible opposition. Hopefully, that opposition would be strong enough to bring that term to an early end. Again, here are three proposals along those lines.
First, we must do all we can to defeat Bush at the polls in November. We should look at this election as a referendum on the Bush administration. If Bush wins, he will use that victory to justify his desire to continue along his current course, and as a propaganda tool to make the world believe that the vast majority of Americans support his policies. It will also help to further strengthen and embolden the worst elements of the political right wing in the United States.
A defeat for Bush will be seen as a rejection of his policies, especially the war. It will strengthen the position of the peace movement and other movements for racial, social, and economic justice. It will make the political environment more fluid and give added impetus to our struggles to affect the status quo. We can also build on Bush's defeat to begin to break down the political stranglehold of the Right on the national political system.
A year ago, the possibility of someone defeating Bush seemed remote. Now, the race is so close that there is the possibility that the Democratic candidates for president and vice-president, Senator John Kerry and Senator John Edwards can defeat the Republican candidates, President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
The key is voter mobilization. An important factor in this equation will be African American and Latino voter turnout, particularly in our urban communities. If these communities turnout in record numbers they could provide the margin of victory.
We fought hard for the right to vote. During the sixties, many sacrificed and died for our right to vote. Now, let's exercise that right to the fullest extent possible. Let's vote in record numbers in November. We need a landslide to bury the Bush and Cheney administration with our votes. Let's vote like we voted during the Civil Rights Movement and the movement for black political empowerment.
We must vote like we voted when Ken Gibson was elected the first Black mayor of Newark. Vote like the black people of South Africa who had mile long lines at the ballot boxes when they elected Nelson Mandela their first Black president. Voting in such numbers could help defeat Bush or leave him with such a small margin of victory that he will not have a clear mandate for his policies.
Second, if we do not defeat Bush on Election Day then we should immediately join those efforts already underway to demand impeachment proceedings against him. Just based on the machinations of the Bush administration related to the war there appears to be grounds for Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against Bush.
Third, if Congress fails to impeach Bush then we should build a mass movement for his resignation. In other words, the people should impeach Bush. We should impeach him in the streets of this nation. There should be on-going mobilization and demonstrations, and mass actions demanding that Bush resign as president.
So, on Election Day make sure you go to the polls and vote. Politically speaking, this is one of the most important things that every individual in our community can do. Vote like its a matter of life and death because it is.
POP urges everyone to vote. However, we realize that even if we defeat Bush, this in and of itself will not bring about the kind of changes that we all want. The fact of the matter is that in order to bring about meaningful change we must vote but we must also actively struggle for justice and peace after Election Day and all year round.
One of the best ways to do this is for people to join grassroots organizations that are working and struggling around issues of concern to our community. Of course, you are invited to join the People's Organization For Progress, but if you don't want to join POP then join another group or form your own.
It is clear that the presidential race is between Kerry and Bush. More than 95% of those who will cast their ballots will vote for either one or the other. There are third party candidates running for president but all of them combined will only receive a small percentage of the vote. Among Bush's opponents Kerry is the only one that has a chance of defeating Bush.
As most of us could see during the debates, there are similarities between Kerry and Bush on foreign policy issues but some differences when it comes to domestic issues. In the area of domestic policy Kerry appears to have better positions on some of the issues than Bush.
Several of the third party candidates have better positions on the issues than Kerry. Their views should be heard. They should be given a fair chance to compete in the political arena, and people have a right to vote for them if they choose to do so. However, none of them have the strength to defeat Bush in this election.
And he must be defeated. Our number one immediate political objective should be to defeat Bush on Election Day. He is the worst president that we have had in many years.
His foreign policy points toward more wars abroad and his domestic policy will result in continued hardship and greater repression at home. Bush is so reactionary and so far to the Right that he must be stopped now. The opportunity to defeat Bush on Election Day should not be missed.
If Kerry wins the election we will have to struggle with his administration. This is already clear. For instance, many in the peace movement, including POP want an immediate withdrawal of U. S. troops out of Iraq. Senator Kerry has said if he is elected it could take him four years to get all the troops home.
During the presidential debates Kerry criticized Bush for misleading the country about his reasons for going to war. However, at certain points Kerry sounded more hawkish about the war than Bush.
This is why we should vote against Bush on Tuesday and make plans to demonstrate on Wednesday. Even if we get Bush out we will still have to mobilize just as energetically and just as intensely to keep the pressure on to stop the war and bring the troops home now.
Despite these difficulties the task is clear. Bush must go. We must not rest until we get him out of office and out of the White House by whatever political means are necessary. Power To the People!
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"If there is No Struggle, There is No Progress," Frederick Douglass