The Return of the Prodigal Son The year 2000 was publicized as the start of the new millennium and many people feared the implications. But the new millennium actually started in January 2001, and has the potential to be more like the Christian catastrophe that the prophets predicted.(alliteration)On the heels of a controversial election (personification), the prodigal son(metaphor) has swept into the White House like a plague sweeping down on Egypt.(simile) While the Republicans chant the tax-cut mantra, the environmentalists scream Armageddon. Will a GOP-run government be rapture or The Rapture?Bush’s tax-cut plan was largely responsible for his entry into the White House. An early headcount (synecdoche) indicated that people would vote for a man who offered tax cuts. But as more details become known about the plan, people are starting to question its fairness. Early figures indicate that fully 43% of the tax cut would be dedicated to the richest 1% of Americans, while most would receive a mere pittance. Those making less than $39,000 a year would receive only 12% of the overall cut. And as the waters bloody with tax-cut morsels, the sharks are beginning to circle. Business and special interest groups are all fighting for a share of the Republican chum. War.In the final days of the Clinton administration, Slick Willy pulled a fast one on the incoming oilman. He locked up 5.6 million acres of federal land as national monuments using his power of Executive Order. The executive orders are reversible but most feel it would do irreversible harm to the Bush administration. In fact, since the days of Teddy Roosevelt when this practice started, an executive order concerning national monuments has never been reversed by an incoming President. This gives the environmental groups a lot to cheer about.But Bush has his sights set on these lands as the future oil wells of America. By creative use of ‘land management plans’, he h...
