Riiight......
Bush administration scandals, as of January 18, 2005, according to Salon's Peter Dzikes, came to a grand total of 34 for the "first four years of George Bush's presidency." [1]
On January 13, 2005, Katrina vanden Heuvel posted her list in The Nation of "the Bush Administration's Ten Most Outrageous Scandals thus far uncovered by government investigators." :
- Halliburton's Corruption
- Iraq's Decline
- Abu Ghraib Prison Torture
- CIA Pre-9/11 Intelligence Failures
- HHS Deceptive Ad Campaign
- HHS Scully Scandal
- Government-wide Accounting Problems
- Sex Education Misinformation
- CAPPS II Failures
- Real Costs of the Iraq War
Additionally, Asher writes, "Bush faces a wider range of potential scandals, which include: [3]
- Iraq: the rationale for, cost of, and occupation plans following America's conquest (DOS, DOD, CIA, FBI);
- Suppressed Medicare costs (HHS) and bioterrorism studies (DOD);
- Insufficient terrorism preparedness and prevention, domestic and international, before and after 9/11 (CIA, FBI, DOD, etc.);
- Mounting fiscal deficits and tax relief only for the wealthy (Treasury, OMB); and
- Skewed or suppressed scientific research and policies (NIH, HHS, FDA, EPA).
At the time of that posting, the daily weblog cited no less than twelve "substantive scandals involving the GOP in the last three years":
- Dick Cheney's secretive Energy Task Force was investigated by the GAO and the case is currently pending at the Supreme Court.
- The Homeland and Lilly Protection Act
- The Plame Game is under investigation by the Justice Department.
- Bush's Medicare scam and the circumstances that led the administration to lie to Congress about the cost of the legislation is under investigation by the HHS inspector general's office.
- The massive intelligence failure that led Bush to lie to the world about the Iraqi threat is under investigation by a congressionally-authorized independent commission (which Bush fought the creation of).
- Bribes offered on the House floor to Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) in exchange for his vote on Bush's Medicare plan are under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and the Justice Department.
- Attorney General John Ashcroft was under investigation by the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign finance laws in 2000, and the FEC concluded that Ashcroft accepted $110,000 in illegal contributions.
- An investigation into House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's criminal fundraising schemes in Texas -- which allegedly used corporate funds to help state GOP lawmakers -- is already before a Texas grand jury.
- Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee were investigated for stealing thousands of confidential memos from Dem computers, a matter that has now been referred to the Justice Department for a possible criminal probe.
- Republican Connecticut Gov. John Rowland is under a criminal investigation (and an impeachment investigation) after he lied about prominent state contractors and several government aides paying for refurbishments to his lake-front cottage.
- Former Rep. Bill Janklow (R-S.D.) was under investigation for vehicular manslaughter, a crime for which he was later convicted.
- The Pentagon launched a formal investigation into well-armed evangelist and three-star General William G. Boykin, Bush's pick for deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and his record of extreme religious rhetoric.
- The circumstances that led to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 are under investigation by a congressionally-authorized independent commission (which, again, Bush fought the creation of and then later resisted cooperating with); and subsequently the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
- And honorable mentions should go, of course, to investigations into Halliburton (Dick Cheney's former company) and Enron (George Bush's biggest corporate supporter).
That bastard was THEE worse!
Source: Bush administration scandals - SourceWatch