This Lame Duck Can Still Peck Away

Bush is supposed to be a lame duck...but he's sure accomplishing a lot. First he passed that bankruptcy bill that makes the average American debilitated by illness or the loss of a job that much more likely to be buried under debt.

And this week he scored a string of successes:

Bush passed CAFTA

Bush passed a bill shielding gun manufacturers from lawsuits, a prospect they've been salivating over for years.

Bush passed a transportation bill filled with pork to help the midterm elections

Bush passed an energy bill filled with pork that does little or nothing to help us lower our dependence on foreign oil, lets multinationals pollute the water and will trigger a massive wave of mergers in the utilities, with little understanding of what that means to the average consumer, though you can bet it means higher bills

Bush passed a bill to increase funding for veterans' health care -- Bush's top people at the VA insisted they wouldn't need more money (even though they failed to consider that WAR would cause a flood of injured soldiers) and of course they fell dramatically short, while still denying a problem. Congress stepped in and delivered the money. Bush deserves no credit but will surely tout this as another example of how he cares for the troops.

And renewal of the Patriot Act -- this is as close as Bush came to defeat, since he only got 98% of what he wanted here.

For a lame duck, Bush sure has been quacking a lot.