George W. Bush Likes Those Drug Dealers When It Comes To Pardons

      A big deal is being made in some circles about all of the presidential pardons that were issued by Bill Clinton before he left office. He did issue quite a few that he maybe should not have even looked at. So anyway, I checked up on our fearless leader to see what he has done in the pardoning arena and it would seem that Bush likes to pardon drug dealers.  Did the United States stop it's war on drugs policy and not bother to tell anyone?

    Out of 113 presidential pardons, 14 were pardons or commuted sentences for drug dealers.

Wikipedia

As of December 21, 2006, President George W. Bush had issued 113 presidential pardons to people who have served their entire sentence, and has commuted in addition the sentences of three people.

I am not going to bore you with the entire list. You can click the Wikipedia link for that.

    The order is alphabetical, the year is the date of conviction.

1) William Sidney Baldwin Sr. (1981 conspiracy to possess marijuana)

2) Marie Georgette Ginette Briere (1982 possession of cocaine with intent to distribute)

3) Harper James Finucan (1980 marijuana possession with intent to distribute)

4) George Thomas Harley (1984 aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine)

5) Patricia Ann Hultman (1985 conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and other controlled substance

6) Eric William Olson (1984 military conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, possession, and use of hashish)

7) James Edward Reed (1975 marijuana possession with intent to distribute)

8) John Louis Ribando (1976 and 1978 marijuana dealing)

9) John Gregory Schillace (1988 conspiracy to possess cocaine for distribution)

10) Wendy St. Charles (1984 conspiracy to trade narcotics and cocaine distribution)

11) Jerry Dean Walker (1989 cocaine distribution)

Two commutations of sentence were granted on May 20, 2004.

1) Geraldine Gordon (1989 distribution of phencyclidine) (sentenced to 20 years plus 10 years supervised release; sentence commuted after 15 years, term of supervised release left intact)

2) Bobby Mac Berry (1997 conspiracy to manufacture and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, money laundering) (sentenced to 9 years imprisonment plus 5 years supervised release; sentence reduced to 6 and a half years, terms of supervised release left intact)

A commutation of sentence was granted on December 21, 2006

1) Phillip Anthony Emmert (1992 conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine) (sentenced to 21 years and 10 months plus 5 years supervised release; sentence reduced Feb. 21, 1996; sentence commuted to 15 years and 1 month plus 5 years supervised release)

 

Technorati tags: George Bush, Presidential Pardons, Drug DealersCocaine, Meth

 

Is the Army Ripping Off Our Troops?

       If the Army is shortchanging our troops on their disability retirement ratings to save a few bucks, then the Army should be charged with treason for doing such a thing. The Army says that they aren't doing such things but anyone who reads the Inspector General's report will see many problems with the way that the soldiers are being treated and ripped off after serving this country in that sham war in Iraq!   MORE BELOW

                                                                               

Army Times 

The Army is deliberately shortchanging troops on their disability retirement ratings to hold down costs, according to veterans’ advocates, lawyers and services members, and the Inspector General has identified 87 problems in the system that need fixing.

The numbers of people approved for permanent or temporary disability retirement in the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have stayed relatively stable since 2001.

But in the Army — in the midst of a war — the number of soldiers approved for permanent disability retirement has plunged by more than two-thirds, from 642 in 2001 to 209 in 2005, according to a Government Accountability Office report last year. That decline has come even as the war in Iraq has intensified and the total number of soldiers wounded or injured there has soared above 15,000.

Along with paying them reduced wages during that time, the eventual reevaluation often leads to downward revisions in their disability ratings — and lower disability payments.

   From Daily Kos

...what about that Inspector General's report that identified 87 problems that needed to be fixed? It was from a year long probe that found, "inconsistent training for counselors helping soldiers through the system, inadequate record keeping and a failure to follow policy pushed down from the Defense Department," and yet two days ago, Secretary of Defense Gates was:

...dismayed to learn this past week that some of our injured troops were not getting the best possible treatment at all stages of their recovery, in particular the outpatient care. This is unacceptable and it will not continue.

I'm grateful to reporters for bringing this problem to our attention, but very disappointed we did not identify it ourselves.

Yes, Secretary Gates was shocked, simply shocked, at the problems at Walter Reed, and so he sprang into action, sending an army of workers to paint and patch up Building 18 before giving reporters a tour, and naming a review group to "inspect the current situation."  And after much study and expressions of support for the troops, with a few more case workers assigned to the ever-increasing number of wounded men and women, what will happen to Cpl. McLeod and the thousands like him across the country?  After the outrage and news coverage dies down, will the issue of shortchanging wounded veterans on their disability ratings continue to be ignored?  

 

Technorati tags: US Army, Secretary Gates, Walter Reed, GAO