Just in case you've forgotten...

Just in case you've forgotten what it was like when Republicans were in charge...

One of the Bush and Cheney machine's favorite games? Making former allies pay dearly for acts considered disloyal.

• Lawrence Lindsey, Director of National Economic Council: Forced to resign after he estimated cost of Iraq invasion at $200 million.
• (Jen, Anthony Zinni, Commander in Chief in the Middle East; Broke ranks on Iraq, calling it a failure, and was labeled an anti-Semite,
• Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki: Correctly estimated troops needed to occupy Iraq, disagreeing with Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. Forced to retire.
• Paul O'Neill, Treasury Secretary: Fired for questioning tax cuts and smeared as malcontent for revealing inner workings of the cabinet.
• Richard Clarke, Counter-Terrorism Chief: Revealed Bush's lack of concern with terrorism pre-9/11. Smeared as liar, blame-shifter, out of the loop, and profiteering author.

Just in case you've forgotten...

Just in case you've forgotten what it was like when the Republicans were in power, here's a reminder.

The poverty rate in the United States rose each year of President George W Bush's administration; in 2006, 12.7 percent of Americans were living in poverty. Between 2001 and 2004, poverty among African Americans rose from 22.7 to 24.7 percent. Child poverty rose from 16.3 percent in 2001 to 17.8 percent in 2004. Between 1999 and 2004, median household income dropped 5.9 percent.