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The Presidents Bush ~ Reports & Stories
President George W. Bush ~ 43rd President of the United States of America !
State of the Union Address ~ Wednesday February 2, 2005 ~ Transcript of Speech
May all citizens of the world make Your Second Term the finest in History !
Inauguration 2005 ~
Inaugural Address Transcript from "Whitehouse.gov" Congratulations and Best Wishes to the President & First Lady - to Vice-President & Mrs. Cheney , their Families and Entire White House Team !
Bush Family Stories by a True Fan
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The White House, President George W. Bush
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 2, 2005
State of the Union Address
President's Remarks
Fact Sheet In Focus: State of the Union 2005
Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives
The United States Capitol Washington, D.C.
9:10 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, fellow citizens:
As a new Congress gathers, all of us in the elected branches of government share a great privilege: We've been placed in office by the votes of the people we serve. And tonight that is a privilege we share with newly-elected leaders of Afghanistan, the Palestinian Territories, Ukraine, and a free and sovereign Iraq. (Applause.)
Two weeks ago, I stood on the steps of this Capitol and renewed the commitment of our nation to the guiding ideal of liberty for all. This evening I will set forth policies to advance that ideal at home and around the world.
Tonight, with a healthy, growing economy, with more Americans going back to work, with our nation an active force for good in the world -- the state of our union is confident and strong. (Applause.)
Our generation has been blessed -- by the expansion of opportunity, by advances in medicine, by the security purchased by our parents' sacrifice. Now, as we see a little gray in the mirror -- or a lot of gray -- (laughter) -- and we watch our children moving into adulthood, we ask the question: What will be the state of their union? Members of Congress, the choices we make together will answer that question. Over the next several months, on issue after issue, let us do what Americans have always done, and build a better world for our children and our grandchildren. (Applause.)
First, we must be good stewards of this economy, and renew the great institutions on which millions of our fellow citizens rely. America's economy is the fastest growing of any major industrialized nation. In the past four years, we provided tax relief to every person who pays income taxes, overcome a recession, opened up new markets abroad, prosecuted corporate criminals, raised homeownership to its highest level in history, and in the last year alone, the United States has added 2.3 million new jobs. (Applause.) When action was needed, the Congress delivered -- and the nation is grateful.
Now we must add to these achievements. By making our economy more flexible, more innovative, and more competitive, we will keep America the economic leader of the world. (Applause.)
America's prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for spending discipline. I will send you a budget that holds the growth of discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax relief permanent, and stays on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009. (Applause.) My budget substantially reduces or eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting results, or duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential priorities. The principle here is clear: Taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely, or not at all. (Applause.)
To make our economy stronger and more dynamic, we must prepare a rising generation to fill the jobs of the 21st century. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, standards are higher, test scores are on the rise, and we're closing the achievement gap for minority students. Now we must demand better results from our high schools, so every high school diploma is a ticket to success. We will help an additional 200,000 workers to get training for a better career, by reforming our job training system and strengthening America's community colleges. And we'll make it easier for Americans to afford a college education, by increasing the size of Pell Grants. (Applause.)
To make our economy stronger and more competitive, America must reward, not punish, the efforts and dreams of entrepreneurs. Small business is the path of advancement, especially for women and minorities, so we must free small businesses from needless regulation and protect honest job-creators from junk lawsuits. (Applause.) Justice is distorted, and our economy is held back by irresponsible class-actions and frivolous asbestos claims -- and I urge Congress to pass legal reforms this year. (Applause.)
To make our economy stronger and more productive, we must make health care more affordable, and give families greater access to good coverage -- (applause) -- and more control over their health decisions. (Applause.) I ask Congress to move forward on a comprehensive health care agenda with tax credits to help low-income workers buy insurance, a community health center in every poor country, improved information technology to prevent medical error and needless costs, association health plans for small businesses and their employees -- (applause) -- expanded health savings accounts -- (applause) -- and medical liability reform that will reduce health care costs and make sure patients have the doctors and care they need. (Applause.)
To keep our economy growing, we also need reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy. (Applause.) Nearly four years ago, I submitted a comprehensive energy strategy that encourages conservation, alternative sources, a modernized electricity grid, and more production here at home -- including safe, clean nuclear energy. (Applause.) My Clear Skies legislation will cut power plant pollution and improve the health of our citizens. (Applause.) And my budget provides strong funding for leading-edge technology -- from hydrogen-fueled cars, to clean coal, to renewable sources such as ethanol. (Applause.) Four years of debate is enough: I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy. (Applause.)
All these proposals are essential to expand this economy and add new jobs -- but they are just the beginning of our duty. To build the prosperity of future generations, we must update institutions that were created to meet the needs of an earlier time. Year after year, Americans are burdened by an archaic, incoherent federal tax code. I've appointed a bipartisan panel to examine the tax code from top to bottom. And when their recommendations are delivered, you and I will work together to give this nation a tax code that is pro-growth, easy to understand, and fair to all. (Applause.)
America's immigration system is also outdated -- unsuited to the needs of our economy and to the values of our country. We should not be content with laws that punish hardworking people who want only to provide for their families, and deny businesses willing workers, and invite chaos at our border. It is time for an immigration policy that permits temporary guest workers to fill jobs Americans will not take, that rejects amnesty, that tells us who is entering and leaving our country, and that closes the border to drug dealers and terrorists. (Applause.)
One of America's most important institutions -- a symbol of the trust between generations -- is also in need of wise and effective reform. Social Security was a great moral success of the 20th century, and we must honor its great purposes in this new century. (Applause.) The system, however, on its current path, is headed toward bankruptcy. And so we must join together to strengthen and save Social Security. (Applause.)
Today, more than 45 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, and millions more are nearing retirement -- and for them the system is sound and fiscally strong. I have a message for every American who is 55 or older: Do not let anyone mislead you; for you, the Social Security system will not change in any way. (Applause.) For younger workers, the Social Security system has serious problems that will grow worse with time. Social Security was created decades ago, for a very different era. In those days, people did not live as long. Benefits were much lower than they are today. And a half-century ago, about sixteen workers paid into the system for each person drawing benefits.
Our society has changed in ways the founders of Social Security could not have foreseen. In today's world, people are living longer and, therefore, drawing benefits longer. And those benefits are scheduled to rise dramatically over the next few decades. And instead of sixteen workers paying in for every beneficiary, right now it's only about three workers. And over the next few decades that number will fall to just two workers per beneficiary. With each passing year, fewer workers are paying ever-higher benefits to an ever-larger number of retirees.
So here is the result: Thirteen years from now, in 2018, Social Security will be paying out more than it takes in. And every year afterward will bring a new shortfall, bigger than the year before. For example, in the year 2027, the government will somehow have to come up with an extra $200 billion to keep the system afloat -- and by 2033, the annual shortfall would be more than $300 billion. By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt. If steps are not taken to avert that outcome, the only solutions would be dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing, or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or other government programs.
I recognize that 2018 and 2042 may seem a long way off. But those dates are not so distant, as any parent will tell you. If you have a five-year-old, you're already concerned about how you'll pay for college tuition 13 years down the road. If you've got children in their 20s, as some of us do, the idea of Social Security collapsing before they retire does not seem like a small matter. And it should not be a small matter to the United States Congress. (Applause.) You and I share a responsibility. We must pass reforms that solve the financial problems of Social Security once and for all.
Fixing Social Security permanently will require an open, candid review of the options. Some have suggested limiting benefits for wealthy retirees. Former Congressman Tim Penny has raised the possibility of indexing benefits to prices rather than wages. During the 1990s, my predecessor, President Clinton, spoke of increasing the retirement age. Former Senator John Breaux suggested discouraging early collection of Social Security benefits. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan recommended changing the way benefits are calculated. All these ideas are on the table.
I know that none of these reforms would be easy. But we have to move ahead with courage and honesty, because our children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics. (Applause.) I will work with members of Congress to find the most effective combination of reforms. I will listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer. (Applause.) We must, however, be guided by some basic principles. We must make Social Security permanently sound, not leave that task for another day. We must not jeopardize our economic strength by increasing payroll taxes. We must ensure that lower-income Americans get the help they need to have dignity and peace of mind in their retirement. We must guarantee there is no change for those now retired or nearing retirement. And we must take care that any changes in the system are gradual, so younger workers have years to prepare and plan for their future.
As we fix Social Security, we also have the responsibility to make the system a better deal for younger workers. And the best way to reach that goal is through voluntary personal retirement accounts. (Applause.) Here is how the idea works. Right now, a set portion of the money you earn is taken out of your paycheck to pay for the Social Security benefits of today's retirees. If you're a younger worker, I believe you should be able to set aside part of that money in your own retirement account, so you can build a nest egg for your own future.
Here's why the personal accounts are a better deal. Your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver -- and your account will provide money for retirement over and above the check you will receive from Social Security. In addition, you'll be able to pass along the money that accumulates in your personal account, if you wish, to your children and -- or grandchildren. And best of all, the money in the account is yours, and the government can never take it away. (Applause.)
The goal here is greater security in retirement, so we will set careful guidelines for personal accounts. We'll make sure the money can only go into a conservative mix of bonds and stock funds. We'll make sure that your earnings are not eaten up by hidden Wall Street fees. We'll make sure there are good options to protect your investments from sudden market swings on the eve of your retirement. We'll make sure a personal account cannot be emptied out all at once, but rather paid out over time, as an addition to traditional Social Security benefits. And we'll make sure this plan is fiscally responsible, by starting personal retirement accounts gradually, and raising the yearly limits on contributions over time, eventually permitting all workers to set aside four percentage points of their payroll taxes in their accounts.
Personal retirement accounts should be familiar to federal employees, because you already have something similar, called the Thrift Savings Plan, which lets workers deposit a portion of their paychecks into any of five different broadly-based investment funds. It's time to extend the same security, and choice, and ownership to young Americans. (Applause.)
Our second great responsibility to our children and grandchildren is to honor and to pass along the values that sustain a free society. So many of my generation, after a long journey, have come home to family and faith, and are determined to bring up responsible, moral children. Government is not the source of these values, but government should never undermine them.
Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children, and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage. (Applause.)
Because a society is measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable, we must strive to build a culture of life. Medical research can help us reach that goal, by developing treatments and cures that save lives and help people overcome disabilities -- and I thank the Congress for doubling the funding of the National Institutes of Health. (Applause.) To build a culture of life, we must also ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives for the benefit of others. We should all be able to agree -- (applause) -- we should all be able to agree on some clear standards. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought and sold as a commodity. (Applause.) America will continue to lead the world in medical research that is ambitious, aggressive, and always ethical.
Because courts must always deliver impartial justice, judges have a duty to faithfully interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. (Applause.) As President, I have a constitutional responsibility to nominate men and women who understand the role of courts in our democracy, and are well-qualified to serve on the bench -- and I have done so. (Applause.) The Constitution also gives the Senate a responsibility: Every judicial nominee deserves an up or down vote. (Applause.)
Because one of the deepest values of our country is compassion, we must never turn away from any citizen who feels isolated from the opportunities of America. Our government will continue to support faith-based and community groups that bring hope to harsh places. Now we need to focus on giving young people, especially young men in our cities, better options than apathy, or gangs, or jail. Tonight I propose a three-year initiative to help organizations keep young people out of gangs, and show young men an ideal of manhood that respects women and rejects violence. (Applause.) Taking on gang life will be one part of a broader outreach to at-risk youth, which involves parents and pastors, coaches and community leaders, in programs ranging from literacy to sports. And I am proud that the leader of this nationwide effort will be our First Lady, Laura Bush. (Applause.)
Because HIV/AIDS brings suffering and fear into so many lives, I ask you to reauthorize the Ryan White Act to encourage prevention, and provide care and treatment to the victims of that disease. (Applause.) And as we update this important law, we must focus our efforts on fellow citizens with the highest rates of new cases, African American men and women. (Applause.)
Because one of the main sources of our national unity is our belief in equal justice, we need to make sure Americans of all races and backgrounds have confidence in the system that provides justice. In America we must make doubly sure no person is held to account for a crime he or she did not commit -- so we are dramatically expanding the use of DNA evidence to prevent wrongful conviction. (Applause.) Soon I will send to Congress a proposal to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases, because people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side. (Applause.)
Our third responsibility to future generations is to leave them an America that is safe from danger, and protected by peace. We will pass along to our children all the freedoms we enjoy -- and chief among them is freedom from fear.
In the three and a half years since September the 11th, 2001, we have taken unprecedented actions to protect Americans. We've created a new department of government to defend our homeland, focused the FBI on preventing terrorism, begun to reform our intelligence agencies, broken up terror cells across the country, expanded research on defenses against biological and chemical attack, improved border security, and trained more than a half-million first responders. Police and firefighters, air marshals, researchers, and so many others are working every day to make our homeland safer, and we thank them all. (Applause.)
Our nation, working with allies and friends, has also confronted the enemy abroad, with measures that are determined, successful, and continuing. The al Qaeda terror network that attacked our country still has leaders -- but many of its top commanders have been removed. There are still governments that sponsor and harbor terrorists -- but their number has declined. There are still regimes seeking weapons of mass destruction -- but no longer without attention and without consequence. Our country is still the target of terrorists who want to kill many, and intimidate us all -- and we will stay on the offensive against them, until the fight is won. (Applause.)
Pursuing our enemies is a vital commitment of the war on terror -- and I thank the Congress for providing our servicemen and women with the resources they have needed. During this time of war, we must continue to support our military and give them the tools for victory. (Applause.)
Other nations around the globe have stood with us. In Afghanistan, an international force is helping provide security. In Iraq, 28 countries have troops on the ground, the United Nations and the European Union provided technical assistance for the elections, and NATO is leading a mission to help train Iraqi officers. We're cooperating with 60 governments in the Proliferation Security Initiative, to detect and stop the transit of dangerous materials. We're working closely with the governments in Asia to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and nine other countries have captured or detained al Qaeda terrorists. In the next four years, my administration will continue to build the coalitions that will defeat the dangers of our time. (Applause.)
In the long-term, the peace we seek will only be achieved by eliminating the conditions that feed radicalism and ideologies of murder. If whole regions of the world remain in despair and grow in hatred, they will be the recruiting grounds for terror, and that terror will stalk America and other free nations for decades. The only force powerful enough to stop the rise of tyranny and terror, and replace hatred with hope, is the force of human freedom. (Applause.) Our enemies know this, and that is why the terrorist Zarqawi recently declared war on what he called the "evil principle" of democracy. And we've declared our own intention: America will stand with the allies of freedom to support democratic movements in the Middle East and beyond, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. (Applause.)
The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else. That is one of the main differences between us and our enemies. They seek to impose and expand an empire of oppression, in which a tiny group of brutal, self-appointed rulers control every aspect of every life. Our aim is to build and preserve a community of free and independent nations, with governments that answer to their citizens, and reflect their own cultures. And because democracies respect their own people and their neighbors, the advance of freedom will lead to peace. (Applause.)
That advance has great momentum in our time -- shown by women voting in Afghanistan, and Palestinians choosing a new direction, and the people of Ukraine asserting their democratic rights and electing a president. We are witnessing landmark events in the history of liberty. And in the coming years, we will add to that story. (Applause.)
The beginnings of reform and democracy in the Palestinian territories are now showing the power of freedom to break old patterns of violence and failure. Tomorrow morning, Secretary of State Rice departs on a trip that will take her to Israel and the West Bank for meetings with Prime Minister Sharon and President Abbas. She will discuss with them how we and our friends can help the Palestinian people end terror and build the institutions of a peaceful, independent, democratic state. To promote this democracy, I will ask Congress for $350 million to support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms. The goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, is within reach -- and America will help them achieve that goal. (Applause.)
To promote peace and stability in the broader Middle East, the United States will work with our friends in the region to fight the common threat of terror, while we encourage a higher standard of freedom. Hopeful reform is already taking hold in an arc from Morocco to Jordan to Bahrain. The government of Saudi Arabia can demonstrate its leadership in the region by expanding the role of its people in determining their future. And the great and proud nation of Egypt, which showed the way toward peace in the Middle East, can now show the way toward democracy in the Middle East. (Applause.)
To promote peace in the broader Middle East, we must confront regimes that continue to harbor terrorists and pursue weapons of mass murder. Syria still allows its territory, and parts of Lebanon, to be used by terrorists who seek to destroy every chance of peace in the region. You have passed, and we are applying, the Syrian Accountability Act -- and we expect the Syrian government to end all support for terror and open the door to freedom. (Applause.) Today, Iran remains the world's primary state sponsor of terror -- pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its people of the freedom they seek and deserve. We are working with European allies to make clear to the Iranian regime that it must give up its uranium enrichment program and any plutonium reprocessing, and end its support for terror. And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you. (Applause.)
Our generational commitment to the advance of freedom, especially in the Middle East, is now being tested and honored in Iraq. That country is a vital front in the war on terror, which is why the terrorists have chosen to make a stand there. Our men and women in uniform are fighting terrorists in Iraq, so we do not have to face them here at home. (Applause.) And the victory of freedom in Iraq will strengthen a new ally in the war on terror, inspire democratic reformers from Damascus to Tehran, bring more hope and progress to a troubled region, and thereby lift a terrible threat from the lives of our children and grandchildren.
We will succeed because the Iraqi people value their own liberty -- as they showed the world last Sunday. (Applause.) Across Iraq, often at great risk, millions of citizens went to the polls and elected 275 men and women to represent them in a new Transitional National Assembly. A young woman in Baghdad told of waking to the sound of mortar fire on election day, and wondering if it might be too dangerous to vote. She said, "Hearing those explosions, it occurred to me -- the insurgents are weak, they are afraid of democracy, they are losing. So I got my husband, and I got my parents, and we all came out and voted together."
Americans recognize that spirit of liberty, because we share it. In any nation, casting your vote is an act of civic responsibility; for millions of Iraqis, it was also an act of personal courage, and they have earned the respect of us all. (Applause.)
One of Iraq's leading democracy and human rights advocates is Safia Taleb al-Suhail. She says of her country, "We were occupied for 35 years by Saddam Hussein. That was the real occupation. Thank you to the American people who paid the cost, but most of all, to the soldiers." Eleven years ago, Safia's father was assassinated by Saddam's intelligence service. Three days ago in Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote for the leaders of her country -- and we are honored that she is with us tonight. (Applause.)
The terrorists and insurgents are violently opposed to democracy, and will continue to attack it. Yet, the terrorists' most powerful myth is being destroyed. The whole world is seeing that the car bombers and assassins are not only fighting coalition forces, they are trying to destroy the hopes of Iraqis, expressed in free elections. And the whole world now knows that a small group of extremists will not overturn the will of the Iraqi people. (Applause.)
We will succeed in Iraq because Iraqis are determined to fight for their own freedom, and to write their own history. As Prime Minister Allawi said in his speech to Congress last September, "Ordinary Iraqis are anxious to shoulder all the security burdens of our country as quickly as possible." That is the natural desire of an independent nation, and it is also the stated mission of our coalition in Iraq. The new political situation in Iraq opens a new phase of our work in that country.
At the recommendation of our commanders on the ground, and in consultation with the Iraqi government, we will increasingly focus our efforts on helping prepare more capable Iraqi security forces -- forces with skilled officers and an effective command structure. As those forces become more self-reliant and take on greater security responsibilities, America and its coalition partners will increasingly be in a supporting role. In the end, Iraqis must be able to defend their own country -- and we will help that proud, new nation secure its liberty.
Recently an Iraqi interpreter said to a reporter, "Tell America not to abandon us." He and all Iraqis can be certain: While our military strategy is adapting to circumstances, our commitment remains firm and unchanging. We are standing for the freedom of our Iraqi friends, and freedom in Iraq will make America safer for generations to come. (Applause.) We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe they can wait us out. We are in Iraq to achieve a result: A country that is democratic, representative of all its people, at peace with its neighbors, and able to defend itself. And when that result is achieved, our men and women serving in Iraq will return home with the honor they have earned. (Applause.)
Right now, Americans in uniform are serving at posts across the world, often taking great risks on my orders. We have given them training and equipment; and they have given us an example of idealism and character that makes every American proud. (Applause.) The volunteers of our military are unrelenting in battle, unwavering in loyalty, unmatched in honor and decency, and every day they're making our nation more secure. Some of our servicemen and women have survived terrible injuries, and this grateful country will do everything we can to help them recover. (Applause.) And we have said farewell to some very good men and women, who died for our freedom, and whose memory this nation will honor forever.
One name we honor is Marine Corps Sergeant Byron Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas, who was killed during the assault on Fallujah. His mom, Janet, sent me a letter and told me how much Byron loved being a Marine, and how proud he was to be on the front line against terror. She wrote, "When Byron was home the last time, I said that I wanted to protect him like I had since he was born. He just hugged me and said, 'You've done your job, Mom. Now it is my turn to protect you.'" Ladies and gentlemen, with grateful hearts, we honor freedom's defenders, and our military families, represented here this evening by Sergeant Norwood's mom and dad, Janet and Bill Norwood. (Applause.)
In these four years, Americans have seen the unfolding of large events. We have known times of sorrow, and hours of uncertainty, and days of victory. In all this history, even when we have disagreed, we have seen threads of purpose that unite us. The attack on freedom in our world has reaffirmed our confidence in freedom's power to change the world. We are all part of a great venture: To extend the promise of freedom in our country, to renew the values that sustain our liberty, and to spread the peace that freedom brings.
As Franklin Roosevelt once reminded Americans, "Each age is a dream that is dying, or one that is coming to birth." And we live in the country where the biggest dreams are born. The abolition of slavery was only a dream -- until it was fulfilled. The liberation of Europe from fascism was only a dream -- until it was achieved. The fall of imperial communism was only a dream -- until, one day, it was accomplished. Our generation has dreams of its own, and we also go forward with confidence. The road of Providence is uneven and unpredictable -- yet we know where it leads: It leads to freedom.
Thank you, and may God bless America. (Applause.)
END 10:03 P.M. EST
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The Re-election and Capmpaign 2004 brought George Walker Bush to the White House for a second term !
It been unique, and now all that matters is getting great teamwork tasking
effectively for best results.
In spite of the Bashings, we enjoyed a slate full of worthy candidates. May we keep a little of our spirit in "ready mode " and be prepared to do our part to support it all. God Bless America!
The Presidential Debates can be reviewed and read at
George W. Bush.com, or Debates.org -hear them, free from Audible.com Whatever opinion, they provided a fine opportunity for voters to view the candidates, and hear the issues confronted before Election Day.
I liked the second one in Saint Louis, for its quieter way, and found it easiest of the three for listening attentively. I liked the President's balanced approach and refusal to be taken to extremes, showing responsible leadership skills under fire.
At this point, the main voter concern may be the Electronic voting machines, which newsitems report as having normal startup "uncertainties". It might be wise to get informed about the issue and how your voting place may be concerned. Check stories at any or all the major newsites, or this one, about
a possible solution to the predictied technical problems.
But this election, during a wartime, has been intense, abrasive, and grim...less lighthearted and haunted by the ghosts of nineleven, as is logical, and difficult. God Bless America! And may we do our best at the polls to achieve some redemption for the future, and continue to heal the pain of the inevitable burden of these times. We have worked so hard to keep America on the A-team, and still we fail, but election time is a fine time to take stock of the better than average job we do of it all, routinely. We have earned pride and justice and success as a nation.
"Generations will know if we seized this moment and used it to build a future of safety and peace,'' the president told delegates to the Republican National Convention. "The freedom of many and the future security of our nation now depend on us. And tonight, my fellow Americans, I ask you to stand with me.'' ~ President George Walker Bush Thursday 9-2-2004 RNC Nomination Acceptance / Agenda For America
Although the Convention Speeches have been stirring, and inspiring, the speakers themselves have said: Current events have spoken more truly than all the "speechifiers" on Earth -
what is, is!
Love is an Action Word ! And so Love of Country must win our Action, or hearts and minds as well ! Freedom to make a great life comes from good and healthy government.
The links below ARE our lives...Government of the People means just that: we get what we choose. Vote!
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Note on Re-Election 2004:Why I like George Walker BushWorld leaders, at the start of a new century, have the job of setting the foundation blocks that will influence events for the next hundred years.
The kind, happy,hearty, businesslike, fair and courageous ways, shown by our President and First Lady and their "Team", just create "the right stuff" for our health and prosperity and rightmindedness in things.
No President or their team is perfect, but the workmanship and pro-approach to tasks of this Bush Administration is one that commands respect. The humanity among the Bush Team is very good, and we all benefit from it.
"America is Back !.......We are one America, and President Bush is defending it with all his heart and soul.", said Governor Schwarzenegger at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday Evening, 8/31/2004 : Thank you, "Governator", for speaking my thought.
Thursday evening, President Bush promised, "We will prevail!" I believe him, and hope you can, too !
These links may help:
9-2-2004 Convention Acceptance / President Bush's Agenda For America
George W. Bush Online
Republican Party Online
The White House Online
I have been a neutrality-committed Red Cross helper in wars and peacetime. Compassionate response is a family trait. And yet, it will always be the duty of the Free People of Earth to unseat tyrants. As long as such monsters appear, we must be prepared to take aggressive action.
I cheered the liberation of Afghanistan, and the capture of Saddam Hussein, and Liberation in Iraq. Osama BinLaden is still at large...but the majority of AlQaeda are no longer so, and at nineleven, in my heart, I became convinced that the Bush team would capture BinLaden and bring him to justice, or persuade him to surrender...I believe this, and hope my hunch is right:
no one wants war, but we must not suffer tyrants and terrorists.
if we must fight we must win ! We are not immune to destruction if we fail.
The sacrifice of those who have died in terrorist attacks and in the Iraq War must not be in vain. I am so proud of the work of the Bush Team to optimize our Intelligence and Security, so that our agents and commandos can do the job we thought they were empowered to do, but were not.
I believe President Bush will win for us in this matter, and I like to send prayers and good wishes and I work to do my part to help.
I am not an historian, but the Amercan girl, with great memories of talk among my parents and their many siblings and friends...their patriotism, proven in war and peace...I remember the place won in history and in the minds and hearts of my parents by their favorite leaders for inspired ideas-made-real, compassion and courage, in war and peace. Now my generation is "at bat", and it is making coming-of-age a proud and exciting business ! Battered by the self-destructive patriotic anguish of the sixties and early seventies, I am feeling truly grateful...luminous... to experience once more, like my parents, the same patriotism and respect for our Amazing America, and its fine leaders. It simply regenerates me that George Bush is really "doin' us proud!"...Thank you!
Modernity and its complexities notwithstanding, President George Walker Bush, and his team at nineleven, may be forever distinguished, inviolate, for their service through those special days, alone.
My children and seniors, alike, have been just plain impressed with his style and method.....like "The Good Houseman", ticking off tasks on the world service "do sheet", like it was inventorying the linens.......now, that's American ! He needs to campaign?
"Time"magazine, online, said ,recently, of George Bush: "He reads history like an instruction manual." Neat, no?
The George Bush Team has led action projects in National Security, Military Support needs, Women's and Children's Issues, Prosperity and Financial improvements, Health Insurance, Taxations, Litigations, and so much more.
So I have reason to hope that this one will beNext on the list:
Occupant Safety & Escape is an issue too long ignored by Aeronautics and Architecture. If every Terrorist on Earth was apprehended, there could
not, still, be a guarantee against the crash of planes and tall buildings. But with the best of Y2K tech implementation for Occupant Safety and Escape, there is a near-guarantee that there will never again be the horrendous loss of life sufferred on nineleven 2001.
Occupant Safety & Escape is my cause, because: 50 years ago, gleeful at the neat idea, at age seven, my Father and a top aero-tech scientist/friend shared with me, the concept of escape pods, at our kitchen table.... Jetpacked pods to permit safe egress from planes and skyscrapers!
The idea was, and is, a jewel, expected American Ingenuity, and though it was set aside then, due to inadequacies in tech and finance, we are all tech-facile, and it could have been done twenty years ago, and, on Nineleven, most of the lost 2000+ lives could have been saved. This Truth was staggering on nineleven, but it propels me back to my feet, and to this writing:
We cannot undo the losses of Nineleven, BUT we CAN see that such loss is not repeated. This one time, I mean to have my wish.
I hope you will give this mission some thought and serious support.
OSHA and UT aeronautics friends like the idea, and Activist Groups whose membership includes survivors of the Nineleven Dead have been lobbying those in charge of Ground Zero Reconstruction, and apalled at the resistance to urgings for inspired provisions for Occupant Safety and Escape...and we must help them, if we can.
Recently, Documentaries on Television and the Proddings by Government agencies that something be done, have appeared. If there is a thing we can do to support this effort, we must. Freedom is not free, and neither is our Redemption, or part of it, as is contained in the implementation of innovative provisions for Occupant Safety and Escape . We are a Government of , by and for the people, ....we share the wealth, and the pride, the love, the celebration.......and, in this matter, we share in the shame, until ....Tell your Government Representatives on every level that you would like to see action on issues of Occupant Safety and Escape for planes and tall buildings.
Y2K ~ The Current President Bush, The First Lady & His Team
~Introductory Notes & Praise ~
For the Great Relief of Having "U-2" in the White House
Our First Ladies have been exceptional ladies, indeed, and Laura Welch Bush a former teacher and librarian, was so much so, that she was known for disinterest in public life, but she was promised by the President, at their betrothal, that she would not need to become a public person, or make speeches, and so felt reassured. However, once an active member of the Bush family, her articulate ways were almost immediately in service, helping her husband share data and spirit with his constituency, and she has become a favorite with all, gracious and kind, and not at all reticent. She is a fine example to all women everywhere. A man friend from ARCODS days sent this to me, his own calligraphy. A favorite dedication attributed to former British PM, Margaret Thatcher, it reminds me of our First Lady and her winning style. It rings true, except at election time,when it may be necessary to "make a joyful noise ", to win the day ! :-)
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A Very Special Birthday CardThe Story Behind thePainting at right: I recently received a "Thank You" signed by President Bush about this Birthday Card.....wow!...I enjoyed formatting one of my little paintings into a birthday card for the President. Born July 6,1946,in New Haven,Connecticut, USA...not far from here, he was a natural Patriot at birth. But there is more to the picture than meets the eye. Read on:
I paint the scenes as a profession,
and normally enjoy a quick smile for the falls as I pass on my walk,
and meditative connection, occasionally, for its healing powers.
The beautiful purple loosestrife flanked by two green plants
really grew at the top of our Hockanum Falls, when the
water main was shut down for repairs, and cut back the normal
waterflow over the cascade.
The miracle about it was the coincidence of its appearance
just after The Terrorist attacks at nineleven...
all of us profoundly shaken, and here in Connecticut,
friends and neighbors grieving over Ground Zero casualties,
and the rest of us praying for them daily.
President Bush and the First Lady acted and spoke to us,
calming our fright, and soothing our anguish. So the sight
at the top of the Falls seemed symbolic - the two "bushes"
presenting the "loosestrife", an herbal used to soothe !
Those days were so profound, I experienced the sight as a
sign from Nature, or "the Heavens", and I promised myself
to paint it and send it on. So this Birthday wish fulfills a
promise, and I hope it expresses gratitude for the way we
were dealt with, by our leaders, at that sensitive time.
A photo is available, if the coincidence seems hard to believe.
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2002 ~ The current President Bush, His "First", Lady Laura, and his entire
Presidential Team, and his parents, earned my praise,"hands down", a long time ago. I truly believe that the special challenges of these times have their equal in
the leaders of this new time. Seasoned and even cynical types have been wide-eyed
in admiration of the achievements of the past two years, which, of course, helped us
make an easier transition to normalcy from the "wide-eyed with horror" of nine-eleven.
They're doing it! For thirty years my generation has worked toward these days,
while being villified for Viet Nam, drugs, education and explosive liberality with sex till we earned a new disease, and bipolar economics, till it became easier to know less and do more,
or crash the cranium. The inevitability of confrontations with truth come from communications...nowhere to hide...and yet the same lights give insight to answers as well as pose very sensitive questions, and the long-developed goal of a generation's worth of improvements have been falling into place, with more to come.
"We think you'll like these better.", Laura Bush said to each of us, after
nine-eleven...coverups and oversights in the previous administration and the Bin Laden shows were one thing, but we really do like the Bush show much, much better, so far.
"He's making a list, he's checkin' it twice", as the U.S.Team
and then the Coalition seemed to be looking over a list of "must-do's" and checking off items as though it were no more than a grocery list......"add to basket"....
I was almost glad to have been disabled from my routine just for the incredible vantage point and time to watch the saga unfold.
If the First and Second Ladies get their e-mail links at Whitehouse.gov, they've made their A's...with a
Father in home building, the Capitol has never looked better. Just when it is important to have someone minding the store, we have a First Lady who can do that.
...and her share of the public statements as well. Laura Bush's list of life and death areas of doings in the Capitol...so many things beyond reach, ignored, or neglected by the former administration. My librarian friends are experiencing "actual health", with a former librarian in the spotlight...and the way things are going,
it really is turning into an evolution on "Adventure" with Greer Garson as the Librarian and Clark Gable as the Swashbuckler who cures her " iron-poor" problem.
The Senior Mrs. Bush made literacy important, but Laura makes it fun! I can only absorb a small part of the Big Picture before it overwhelmes me.
But this page is about issues of which I have some experience, and that claim my interest and support.
It is my goal to make it easy reading for the least politically minded.
I also made an effort to retain the humanity whose survival is its soul.
Special note for these special days:
The prayers and moral support of friends and neighbors and myself are with President Bush, the First Lady and the White House team and every single soul extending themselves to regain international peace, and free us from the Terrorism that has damaged the quality of life worldwide.
War is not
glamorous:
Friday April 11, 2003
Today, the President and Mrs. Bush visited injured military personnel, and I was struck by their appearance on television. I am a visual artist, and sketch them sometimes, working on
a really good portrait...they are a charming and handsome couple, and favorites...
but today their appearance showed a good couple - strong, tired and very, very good...
not as glamourous as some of their paired images, but never more valiant and beautiful in ways of which we can all be proud! My prayer for them this weekend is for healing and refreshment.
Our military, too...their images are not glamorous,either, these days...but never so handsome, dirty, torn and sometimes bloody from their endeavors. To all of us they are beautiful! May someone get for them the entire Hyatt for a huge "...cowboy lavender bath, shave and a haircut - two bits!"...updated for Y2K "topstuff glam", before it's done. If anyone has ever earned a pampering, they have!
...and they've my faith that the Bush Team will lead us to a quick and clean victory in Iraq, knowing that we can optimize a horrendous situation without too much loss, if we make it a goal, focus and follow through.
God bless America, and guide us in these days.
Please feel welcome to e-mail me:
esfagan@ellefagan.com
THE NEW DISABILITY HEARINGS LEGISLATION~
I include this paragraph because it is a political project, public-funded, often constroversial, yet essential. This website began as an
insurance of restored income, during an odd disability of my own, and the notes are a brief overview of my own observations. I would be happy to get into detailed reports if asked.
The only problem with the disability system, is that, in spite of steady efforts and achievement to make its miracle workable, there is still a lot to be done. Our children who look for careers in helping work need never fear a dearth of a need for them. Co-ordinating it humanely is the thing. Intake level, on all sides is difficult.
The entry into public care and supports usually means that the private sector/normal supports for the individual failed. This means that the existence of public supports saves lives. So the motive for the overprotective approach, at first, is well-motivated: to protect totally as possible at first..."a sociological 9-1-1".
However, once the case has been profiled, any means to make it easier for the individual and/or their family or executors to self-direct again, quietly and effectively is "manna in the desert". It saves time, money and most of all, "noise" for the client, in the case, the recipient of benefits, are usually aged or disabled, and the level of upset in a disability intensifies the experience of the actual condition or complaint.
Not long ago, one of the most respectful and well-spoken men I knew said of the Disability system: "you can die of an ingrown toenail going through those people." Sometimes true, I'm afraid.
Freedom! Freedom! We take it for granted in America, or we did, but age and infirmity take our freedom as it is, without external influences making it worse. However, this truth is not so easy to implement and integrate so that it works all the time.
Because of the life and death concepts involved in any new rules governing seniors and disabled, there was sure to be some controversy about the new legislation, which should work like a charm, but it is bound to be misunderstood and misused until and unless the law is amended to prevent its being misunderstood and misused, and untangle controversies without reprisals.
The legislation discussed below frees clients from the requirement to take every misunderstanding to court. The idea is for the client to resolve in private meetings
and appeals and counselling services, and the existing services are an ocean of help,
long- pleading for the power to be more effective, and less despairing.
The headline misleading, but the article following is a clarifying example, and the content is helpful:
"Bush Pushes Plan to Curb Medicare Appeals"
By ROBERT PEAR
"In a typical case, an administrative law judge ordered Medicare to pay for 230 home care visits to a 67-year-old woman with breast cancer, heart disease and arthritis. Medicare officials had said the woman should pay the cost. But the judge ruled that because the woman was homebound, the services were "reasonable and necessary."
Ronald G.Bernoski,
predident
Association of Administrative Law Judges
The American Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
Robert L.Roth washingon atty
Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, said the proposed legislative changes would give his agency "flexibility to reform the appeals system" so the government could decide cases in a more "efficient and effective manner."
source:www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/politics
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Art and Operation Iraqi Freedom
I am artist, and so could not fail to include this issue of 2002, re-iterated and expanded in 2004 news of the capture of Micah Garen and Amir Doshe, working to prevent and repair desecration of archeological sites and artifacts in Iraq,
explained at their group's site, Four Corners Media
The Coalition has been super in its awareness of what happens to Art and Architecture in a war. We learned a lot from previous wars. Missing and disputed arts properties is an interest of mine, and however exciting it may be to the arts world and public, some very important works
are still costing time and money to resolve, fifty years after WWII...and earlier.
So I was impressed by the alert respnse to this aspect of war, during the present crisis;
In 2002, the majority of questioned properties had been accounted-for, only a few weeks after the Fall of Baghdad. You go, guys!
In my secret heart, during the coverage of the concept, I fantasized about
Olan, the saintly heroine of Pearl S. Buck's "The Good Earth". After years of cruel
suffering during famine times in China, Olan found a bag of priceless jewels during
a political upheaval, and restored the prosperity of her husband and many children,
tucking the cache into her tattered beggar's vest. And I thought: would it not be justice for one of the Hussein's abused people to have such fun with life!" I have helped in response things, and know the logic is not acceptable, but somehow felt
justified, myself, at that moment...it gave me a moment's happiness for the people
so cheated all these years by the Tryrant and his ways.
As for the beautiful architecture...
From CNN sunday slideshow at onset of War with Iraq, end March 2003:
"
The monument of the Qadissiya Martyrs is one of the many symbols of power display in Baghdad"
My thought here was of the beauty of the country, and I hoped the war would not destroy too much of such places..the mosques, and historical sites...and the modern office buildings....I had a creative vision of them after the war....housing successful, honest free-enterprise activities, and school campuses, and care facilities for the children and others hurt by the endless conflict. And the right kind of fun...just plain fun...to hear the people sing and laugh after all the suffering...I am sure that I am not alone in my vision.
Two years later, a lot of it is reality in Iraq, and we helped!
I pray, also, that in the postwar helps we will send our bankers and not just the gifters...to empower the people to develop their own prosperity is to be preferred to outmoded "dole and control" methods, of responding to want.
I am happy about the UN sanctions
being lifted and the acceptance of temporary rule by the Coalition...Afghanistan had
new government ready to fall into place, as soon as Bin Laden's people were ousted,
but Iraq had no such organization prepared, and without the supervision from the Coalition, mob rule and its associated evils would have undone the good work.
President Bush has earned my trust in such things; so far, whether today's available
data supports it or not, he has been correct in his initiatives...and proven more than right by time and disclosure.
Note:
I am not always an Arnold Schwartzenegger fan, but his film named "Collateral Damage" about Terrorism, the ultimate dehumanization, hit the mark. The title, alone, served well...that a human life could be termed "collateral damage" seemed to speak volumes!
The film brought to life the concepts of terrorism as most of us never get to see, and many of us evade, or did so till September 11th developed our interest in combating terrorism
more responsibly. The list of people places and things that fall into this category, since 9-11, will only begin to surface soon, and re-iterate the motives for our horror of war. The battlefield is far from the only scene of casualties.
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is located on the campus of Texas A&M University,
and offers many "firsts" among Presidential projects of its kind. Plan a real visit
via the virtual one offerred here. Photo at right was found at the site.
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~~~~~
How I Owe The Senior Mrs.Bush
One of My Nine Lives
To Barbara Bush, with Thanks!
I am soon to open a visual arts gallery here in Connecticut and hope you will visit my virtual gallery, whose artsite and wordsite you are truly invited to enjoy. I did not get to this happy place in my life alone or without event.
At the depth of the recession, in the eighties, I was among those whose charmed life had suffered a sudden and undeserved end...
only Job from Bible stories was visited more simultaneous catastrophes; trusted friends and even family failed me!
Horrified and stunned, I howled into the effort to begin again. However difficult to return to my homestate, from the place where my late husband and I had enjoyed so many wonderful years, coming home still helped; memories of a fine girlhood full of "all the right stuff" to proceed with confidence into my adult life overwhelmed me at first, but also helped, as did memories of success in work and love with my late husband and young children in North Carolina with Wellcome Foundation people, making good medicine with non-profit-goaled money. The group later did most of the serious work for the success of the Human Genome Project, shared with the world for Y2K.
As for my grieving, E.Kubler-Ross, author of the Bible of grief recovery, mentions rightly, that there is a day when the lights go on again...but complications imbedded my grief..... I would not heal, the energies would not ignite with any reliable lights. Frightened by this failure of my happy, resilient Maybaby emotions, I kept making good choices, blinded by sorrow, searching for even one supportive word, but everyone was so negative in 1984...nearly as bad as the famous novel of the same name. There were betrayals by important people, contracts I broke immediately upon my husband's death, not by preference or purpose, but because of his sudden absence in partnership tasks, my ability to follow through, without his intelligence, took a lot of damage at first.
The novels "ham it up" with expressions like "reeling from the blows", and yet I paled to realize that there were days in those times when that was the case.
I am a positive spirit and normally find a "pick-me-up" in life when I have a sorrow, but all I could perceive in the mid-eighties was AIDS, Recession, and the problems of most-loved teens and retiring seniors needing me to get it together and make myself useful, "immediately if not sooner."
Visiting with home town family members for several weeks, we worked together to upgrade the homestead for
their senior years, and brought up happy and strong days and times, and it helped so much that it earned its praise sung in the
"Saga of the Little Whitehouse", however challenging it was there
at the time. Someone tossed me a copy of Mother Teresa's "Something Beautiful for God", and God was sufficient and.........
Spectacularly, it was Barbara Bush who inspired me on that day!
Her autobiography, recently published, talked with energy and honesty about her life, revealing humanity, and plenty of positive energy, and recovery after grieving. We met our husbands the same way, at the same age, in nearly the same dress...a few million humbler, though....:-)
In our wedding picture my "Officer and a Gentleman" and I looked like the "poor man's "Laura & Dubya"
I was able to remind myself that I was still a part of life, cared for and loved, despite my husband's death, and unavailability of usual helpers.
But more than that, I experienced a dynamic in Barbara Bush's words of encouragement, repeated in press realeases of the day, for recessionary casualties like myself:
"We're Americans!"
"We can deal with this and win!"
Her words were inarguably energizing!
I was astounded at my response! The painful void left an opening, a receptivity for new lights! Something lit up and I could do again. And when I wrote Barbara Bush to thank her,
she replied with a lovely note, on White House stationery, dated coincidentally on my birthday. I sealed it and archived it. I'll own another house, soon, and think about
displaying it there.
I am not gullible, but, If I was still bell-jarred from grief, someone pumped in some breatheable air! And most importantly, the effect was not momentary, but maintained me! Thereafter, I sought the telecasts and writings of the President and First Lady, and they continued to help. My brother had been a Red Beret and postwar marathon-winner, so when Mr.Bush, Senior "hit the wall" while jogging, I felt encouraged to write a cheery "Get well" and was thrilled with a written "Thank-you", in return - also archived for future display.
Whatever the logic behind it, Mrs.Bush's Lone-star-Texas and Connecti-cat "chutzpah" did the trick when nothing else could, and I will always be grateful.
I seldom give advice, since it was success in obtaining a "thumb", not a sledgehammer to aid this thumbtack in fixing to her spot on life's bulletin board, that did the trick, as is often the case.
I have been demonstrating this gratitude in Civic support
and good citizen action - chronicled at "Red Cross Lady Stories" people in the arts have a great deal of creative power, and it has been right to capitalize on a window to quietly "make the day" in a big way. There has not been one month that has failed to give me the opportunity to do something to make it better, in a tangible and contributory fashion, with maturity and my beliefs not destroyed, but enriched, because "when the going got tough", I was enabled by you, to "get going", with fine effect!
Sincerely,
Elle Fagan
This world is still an extraordinary place full of heroes. I want to be sure to praise my heroes...they earned it! I hope to make the story, above, one of a collection of similar accounts, and get it published....and more heroes, below.
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Note on literacy work:
My late husband and I were educated, and love to read, I was an early reader and writer, and I was blessed with a son and daughter who nearly took me off the road, reading the roadsigns spontaneously, as we carpooled it down the street when they were four and five years old, so I never realized the difficulties experienced by so many still, in America.
There really is a need, I learned, and the skills and people learning and teaching them are pretty special! I will always have admiration for those whose endeavors lie in this area.
Till my Mother learned lipreading, I was her "Annie Sullivan", signing and pantomiming and mouthing words, as her interpreter, and God blessed me with the love and interest to do it for her. I thought myself pretty cool, as a child to be able to help my smart and lovely and dynaminc Mother. However, tutoring Learning disabled is nothing of the sort.
Much later, I wondered if my grace from Mrs. Bush came as a reward for participation in a developmental project for tutoring learning-disabled children with literacy problems (1974) in North Carolina.
It got interesting, because I was duty-bound as a tutor to criticize the new program for its criteria, or basis for choosing the students to be included in the group.
My background was good for my role in it...wife of man who made neosporin and digitalis, I was a happy veteran of startup children's groups and civic work.
I was fit to interact well, when I found the program very intense, almost abusive, to the students, second and third-graders,half of whom had reading disabilities related to health problems...one of the little boys was terminal,and it made me ill to sit there and insist on improved reading perfomance,"Can you read this?", over and over...others of my students really had behavior problems better solved by other therapies, and were quick of mind,but psychologically unco-operative, and I became critical of the criterion used to place the children in the program...one child had a hate problem, and would glare at me the entire time, daring me to elicit a response. Of the eight in my group, only three seemed a match for the script, and benefitted from the letter by letter focus and repetitions.
One of the other tutors was a walking huggy rocking chair, and I thought that it was too bad that my endorphins were in an average range, since, perhaps rocking them through it might make it work, as I watched her hug and love them and seem to make a nicer experience of it for them, but some of her students had similar problems with it, anyway, and her decible of rocking got positively industrious.
I feared it was me, but the program was new and full of holes, and I had to file my critique and leave just short of the first year.
Evolution does not come easy!
The head of the program seemed to feel I was doing God's work in it, praised me
for my input, and we parted friends, and improvement and changes were made in an all-new , reworked program.
Today, the Mothers compete to get their children
into these groups, which created new problems (...i.e., inventing disabiities that do not exist to get the child special attention in the impersonal public school climate). But it is still much easier on all than the negative response on the part of many parents back then. Some thought it all a show, and showed behaviors about it worse than the children. Others showed up bringing their children in with deliberately incendiary remarks like: "if my boy don't listen up, you jus' hit 'em up the back of the head two, three times, till he get the idea...got a wooden paddle at home...bring it right in..." the parent I am quoting was university trained and popular in the area...but...
All our very best goals include some struggle, and error, and wise ones say it is causal to evolution and triumph. Today's communications put all of us on television, our needs and gaps and errors cannot be obscured.....and so, it is good that we aim to be eagles, since that is how it is....and more difficult to be the ostrich, famous for hiding its head from uncomfortable truth, every day.
"No child left behind" would have seemed an overwhelming goal twenty years ago, but we seem to be doing it!
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"a nice nanny agency"...and the adventure began:
This paragraph is included for its issues: staffing and the two career householdstaffing and immigration issuesstaffing and health issuesstaffing and staffers
These notes are an overview that will report on the listed issues more effectively soon.
But where exactly did it begin for me?
In my case, it began with a normal arts,den mother civic work profile gone too, too,
terribly awry, when widowhood, recessionary investment disasters, and
empty-nesting happened simultaneously.
"Nothing bad ever happened to me, and my hair literally curled overnight and
stood on end from the domino theory of disasters that made me glad I'd had forty
years of great work and love and religious and creative background, and good
fitness training.
Many years later, we are fit and fiesty, with all our original parts intact,
and only occasional fits of twitchy syndrome, tears and a desire to change the
subject quickly, but it certainly did get the wrong kind of "interesting", at a nice nanny agency.
After being out of the northeast for twenty years, my first job back in
Connecticut was supposed to have been the classic smart move...any agency job. Agencies give a person perspective of the job-market "big picture"; the
nanny "thing" would be fun for my teen daughter, doing her first babysitting
jobs; my teen son would like the upbeat energies and the "warm fuzzies", with
their Father dead three years, and after all the years in child-realted projects,
I liked it and had the right skills and committments for the job.
The agency was awesome...placed a range of help for middle-income to rich-and
-famous, and so there were "cheer up perks" for my devastated self.
I was glad that I had not just college corporate arts mommy stuff,
but began with the holy Ethnic and All-American caregiver/houskeeping training
things...the job was very demanding,and I held very well, and restored some of the
good lost in my bereavement...and this was also part of the new foundation
of "clean" for my fine arts business, since clean work was thought to be the beginning of it.
I had no way of knowing that, before I was done, I would boil a homeless shelter
stem to stern, and win through the dangers of groupspace hygiene public health
hazards...in fact, if I cared to bring it up, I could win a "queen of clean"
award, but seldom bring it up, now..."autre temps, autre meurs"....and that I'd sue and win "a nice nanny agency".
The agency experience is never all heaven. In fact, I cheered when "Nannygate"
hit the headlines, hoping for help with the laws currently governing domestic
emloyment agencies. It didn't really do more than superficial good, and so I am
writing this report, which probably will not be yet effective, but at least
my part of what I can do to help will be done. My family is proud of its
law-enforcement people in its many branches, and my jobs with child and school
related could not have prepared me for what I encountered.
Today's typical two-career household depends on good help more and more each
year, and creating a healthy, happy home for the good health and experience of
parent and child and caregivers is what it is about.
People call an agency expecting to be well-served and pay sometimes very high
fees for the services. I will never work for such an agency or endorse one ever
again. The law does not empower them to screen adequately, and coping with this obstacle creates some really "bad-dream" scenarios.
Domestic workers are among the most needy for proper legal and medical supports, and often play with the law for reporting income...not always innocently. they provide hiding place for illlegal immigrants, and crimnal types and even terrorists.
I plead for upgrades in this microcosm, if only for reasons of public health. But after cloroxing everything around me, I clorox-ed me, and got out of that too-dangerous lane on the highway.
Ten years later, writing about it is still not easy....happy to just be staffing my own menage, and back to my normal work, with all my original parts.....God Bless America, and the helps that made it possible!
more to come....elle | |
