Another lie Bush often tells is that he appreciates workers and helps them get ahead. According to the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Bush's 2003 budget proposed a 9 percent, or $476 million, cut to job training programs and a 2 percent, or $8 million, cut to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Similarly, his 2004 budget proposed a $60 million cut to adult job training programs and a total elimination of the Youth Opportunities Grants, which provided job training for younger workers.

The wheels came off on October 11, 2002, the day John Kerry voted ‘Yes’ on George W. Bush’s Iraq War Resolution. The occupation of Iraq, the mounting American casualties, the skyrocketing cost of the conflict, and the still-missing weapons of mass destruction have become a significant liability to Bush. Amazingly enough, however, the Iraq situation has been far more damaging to Kerry than to Bush.

U.S. policy was to strengthen an independent, Moscow-free Georgia that would eventually become a member of NATO and the European Union; privatization and extensive foreign investment would provide the economic catalyst for such a transition. Georgia's proximity to the war-torn republic of Chechnya was also of great significance for Washington, as Moscow was employing the pretext of security in Chechnya to justify sending its troops into Georgia in search of terrorists aiding the Chechen independence movement.

Now, after a sudden shakeup in Georgia, the United States is already taking a proactive role. This was made clear when U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suddenly visited the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. In a veiled reference to an agreement Russia had made to withdraw its troops called the Istanbul accords, he said: "As I recall Russia agreed to the Istanbul accords, which suggests to me that there was unanimity on the subject and that would suggest to me that it was probably a pretty good idea.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also warned Russia of becoming involved with the internal stability and security of Georgia.

People began to wonder if perhaps Putin and Russia really are fighting the identical enemy in Chechnya as the United States is elsewhere in the world.

Energy security is also involved in this complex relationship, the center of which is the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. This pipeline, now under construction, would bring Caspian oil to the West completely bypassing Russia as early as 2005.