Fast Facts on Bush Adminstration: 2001-2004

[Danospano]

I'll just throw these facts out there and hope they convince the voting population:

JOBS:

-Since he took office, 1.8 million PRIVATE-sector jobs have been lost. (Bureau of Labor Satistics)

-Worker's wages have stagnated, rising just 0.3% from the first quarter of 2001 thru the first quarter of 2004. In the same time period, corporate profits leaped by 28.4%. (Economic Policy Institute analysis of Bereau of Labor Statistics data)

-Jobs in growing industries are less likely to provide health coverage than jobs in shrinking industries. (Economic Policy Institute)

-In May 2004, real wages fell to a two-year low. (Econ, Policy Institute)

-Bush and Congress refused to extend unemployment insurance(the federal Temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation program) for the more than 2 million unemployed US workers--a record--who had exhausted their regular unemployment insurance benefits by March 2004. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

HEALTH CARE:

- Since his term began, the number of uninsured rose by 4 million. (Families USA)

- Nearly 44 million Americans lack health insurance coverage. (US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey).

- During at least some part of 2002 and 2003, nearly 82 million Americans between the age of 18-65 did NOT have health insurance. (Families USA)

-Since Bush took office, the cost of family health insurance has increased more than $2,700. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

-Workers' share of family health care premiums has increased by nearly 50% from 2001 to 2004. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

EXPORTING OF JOBS:

- Between 300,000 and 500,000 professional jobs lost in the US since 2001 have been shipped overseas, according to the financial consulting firm Goldman Sachs. (USA TODAY)

-More than 14 million good jobs are at risk of being exported. (Fisher Center Research Reports)

-A survey of 182 companies shows nearly 86% of US firms exporting jobs plan to outsource mroe jobs in the near future. (Diamondcluster Internationl)

-The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revised its prediction of the growth in the number of high-tech white-collar jobs between 2002 and 2012 downward by 70%. (Analysis of Labor Bureau Statistics)

NATIONAL BUDGET PRIORITIES:

- Under Bush's tax cuts, millioaires received an average tax break of $136,398. The middle 20 percent of taxpayers got %652. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

- Bush's tax cuts have caused 37% of the state budget deficits across the country. Over the past three years, state have struggled to close budget deficits totally almost $200 billion. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

-The Bush tax cut lowered taxes on income from investments--which benefits primarily the wealthiest---two and a half times more than the tax cut on earnings. (Insitute of Taxation and Economic Policy)

TRADE/MANUFACTURING:

-He presided over the loss of 2.7 million manufacturing jobs since he took office. (Bureau of Labor Statistic)

-Under Bush Adminstration policies, the US trade deficit soared from $375 billion in 2000 to a record $489 billion in 2003. (The Washington Post)

-Bush ended the steel tariff program, designed to prevent surging imports of cheap, subsidized steel being dumped on the US market, halfway through its three-year term. (The Washington Post).

- Bush rejected the AFL-CIO trade petition seeking an investigation into China's repression of workers' rights resulting in unfair trade and costing some 727,000 US jobs. China prevents workers from joining unions, denies its citizen safe working conditions and uses forced labor. (The Washington Post)



more to come later...

 

[ThatGuy]

I don't think it's going to change anyone's mind, but a new Census Bureau report is out today. Not good.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4451206,00.html

 

[Jamila]

Thanks, danospano and thatguy, for providing us with some of the FACTS regarding the performance of the first four years of the Bush administration as it affects the economic health of the American working class.

Not the best statistics, are they?

I know - I'm one of those statistics and folks - it ain't fun.

This is the poorest I have been in my entire life - and I'm in my mid-forties. And things aren't getting better in Bush's former "home" state.

There are times when we have to get off our rhetoric and our philosophical agendas and see if what we are DOING are helping or hurting the majority of people.

Bush's economic policies are definitely NOT helping the working class people of the USA.

These statistics are but the tip of the iceberg - the REAL horror stories lie in the lives of American citizens who can barely pay their bills - try as hard as they might.

It's DEFINITELY time for REGIME CHANGE.

 

[BOYO3221]

dude i have got a million stats to counteract those an if u look at the irs numbers. thetax break has helped the country start to soar again, i want specific links to ur sources not just the name in quotes, i want ot see them word for word. it is all futile anyways bush will win in a landslide, MARK MY WORDS!. AFTER THE RNC CONVENTION IT WILL BE ALL OVER. watch the polls soon after, even if u hate bush, kerry is the biggest lying peice of %$#@ their is,my god can he lie and flip flop anymore. I am an independent who reads the true facts from both sides not just facts u picked out to show against bush, be logical
p.s. i want links to the articles, and i will put many more myself if u really wanna discuss this , which i dont really want to because as i said it's futile, the more kerry speaks the worse he does. He simply is a liar

 

[BOYO3221]

ask for my email and i'll send u some, since i cant post my facts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DaveC]

Been watching a few ads, have we?

PS: If you're an Independent, I'm the Presidential Candidate for the Prohibition Party.

 

[RockNRollDawgie]

Bush.......the Teflon President.
I'm convinced it doesn't matter Bush is
the worst president in US history.
His supporters will blindy follow him and
ignore his non-record of service.

 

[nbcrusader]

Ah, yes. Believe our selective facts or you "blindly" follow Bush.

 

[ThatGuy]

Finally, some intelligent debate!

 

[BOYO3221]

well i dont know how to or care to prove i'm an independent, except i voted for peot in 92 and 96. And i'm registered as one so , ohh well, still dont see those links, yet, when i can post mine (regulations prevent me) i could show u numerous studies and facts from independent analyists. you see i read all publications not just biased ones.

 

[Danospano]

So the only argument against the aforementioned facts is to simply claim their not true. Can you do better than that? I mean this isn't a damn high school president election, this is the future of our lives.

I'm going to list more interesting fact in a second, but I primarily wanted to clarify that Bush proponents weren't affected by the information I gathered.

 

[BOYO3221]

Basically before i retire for the night is , i have articles saying and showing 2.4 million jobs created since bush in office and an iundependent article which shows they are good paying jobs , well above the norm, despite what kerry calls bad jobs. Here is the bottom line after 8 years if reducing the cia and fbi clinton screwed us with al qaeda, am i saying busg was 100 percent innocent no, but he was only there7 months and everyuone knows how much work it is changing "regimes". and what about our lady friend on the 911 commision anyone? anyone? resonsible for building the wall between the cia and the fbi, which would have avoided alot of this mess miss gorelick. Anyways i could go on for hours the economy is rebounding at record rates after a recession clinton left us look at his last 4 quarters, and a terrible tradgedy. After 911 nobody felt safe bush has made us feel safe by going after terrorism before they go after us anymore. and if anyone thinks that playcating to them will help ease them off of us is foolish. and to all the wmd people. if there were none then why did almost all the dems in congress beg clinton in 98 to invade iraq?????????? over wmd's you can see the requests online(public records). just a few of the millions of stuff ihave read and studied about

 

[Danospano]

Okay, here's the rest of the information:

MEDICARE:

-Under Bush's Medicare plan, HMO's will receive $46 billion in taxpayer money---more than three times the cost the administration admitted before Congress passed the bill. (US Dept. of Health and Human Services)

-The Bush-backed Medicare law will cost $534 billion over the next 10 years---$134 billion more than estimated at the time Congrees was debating the legistlation. (Office of Management and Budget)

-Under the new Medicare prescription drug law, seniors and people with disablities must pay annual out-of-pocket expenses between $2,251 and $5,100. (PL 108-173, 12/8/03)

-Cost of name-brand medicines most commonly prescribed for seniors have risen at least three times faster than inflation in the past four years---outpacing the discounts availible on teh new Medicare drug cards. (Sticker Shock: Rising Prescription Drug Prices for Seniors, Families USA, June 2004)


RETIREMENT SECURITY:

-If one of the plans recommended by Bush's Social Security privatization commission is adopted, workers who are 37 years or older today would face benefit cuts of more than 17% when they retire. Today's two-year olds would see their benefits cut by 41%. (center on Budget and Policy Priorities and The Centurty Foundation)

-Currently, 1% of Social Security funds are spent on administration. Privatizing Social Security would result in adminstrative cost 12 and 14%. (American Council of Life Insurance)


FREEDOME TO FORM UNIONS:

-The Bush-appointed Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is planning to review the legality of majority verification (also called card-check and neutrality procedures) which enables workers to more fairly and rapidly indicate whether they want a union. (NLRB)

-Bush's NLRB reversed a 2000 decision and ruled graduate employees at private universities and colleges are students, not workers, and therefore are not entitled to the protection of federal labor laws. (342, NLRB No.42)

EDUCATION:

-Bush cut $100 million from the Perkins loan programs that helped student pay for college. (National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, March 2003)

-Proposed changes that would cut off Head Start education for 59,000 children. (National Head Start Association)


CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS:

-Twice circumvented the US Senate to appoint to federal appeals courts two judicial nominees who had failed to win Senate confirmation votes. (www.cnn.com)

-Between 1/2001 and 1/2004, the unemployment rate for African-American rose from 8.2 to 9.9%. (Bureau for Labor Statistics)

-Between 1/2001 and 1/2004, the umemployment rate for Latinos rose from 5.8 to 7%. (Bureau for Labor Statistics)

- Nominated to federal district and appeals courts extremist candidates who have issed hostile ruling in important civil rights cases such as Americans with Disabilities Act, the Violence Against Women Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. (www.civilrights.org)

BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION JOBS:

-Bush's cuts to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration budget have slashed the number of construction worksite safety inspections. In 2002, the construction trades industries recorded the highest-ever number of on-the-job deaths. (CQ Daily Monitor, 4/3/01...Bureau of Labor Statistics).

- Bush's Federal Highway Administration threatened to withhold $2 billion in federal funds if the state of Maryland negotiated a project labor agreement for construction work on its part of a new bridge over the Potomac River. (Washington Times, 12/13/01)


SAFETY AND HEALTH:

-Bush administration's Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Food and Drug Administration halted progress on 140 rules that would have helped workers and consumers, including regulations to protect workers from reactive chemical injuries and tuberculosis in the workplace. (Citizens for Sensible Safeguards Coalition, May 2004).

- Bush refused to release the $5.1 billion Congress approved for supplemental homeland security programs that included $90 million to monitor the health of workers who cleaned up the rubble at Ground Zero. (Inside OSHA, 9/2/02)

- The Bush Administration's 2003 report on mining fatalities reports that deaths in the nation's mines fell by 18%, but the report downplays the fact coal mining deaths actually increased by 11% (Mine Safety and Health Administration)


TRANSPORTATION:

-Bush Supported an airline industry scheme to take away transportation workers' bargaining rights and replace them with a forced arbitration system (The Washington Post, 11/8/02)

-Bush backed new trade agreements that would allow foreign companies to have greater control of US airlines, a move that threatens the jobs of US aviation workers. (Financial Times, 12/3/03)

-Bush was the first President in 35 years to use presidential authority to block strikes by airline workers and threatened to use military personnel as strikebreakers when management locked out West Coast dockworkers. (The Washington Post, 12/20/01; USA Today 4/17/01; Wall Street Journal 1/14/02; Los Angeles Times, 8/5/02)


HOMELAND SECURITY:

-Bush's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has refused to require airlines to provide conterterrorism and security training for the nation's more than 80,000 flight attendants, despite federal law requiring TSA to order the training (www.gov.exec.com)

-Security at the nation's ports is severely underfunded, and more than half of US ships have not been inspected. (General Accounting Office, June 2004).

-Bush supports extensive changes to the personnel systems of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland security that would greatly weaken on-the-job protections for whistleblowers, failed to advance the public's interest in protecting homeland security and could jeopardize national security. (www.afge.org)



and here's a few on Dick Cheney:

-He cut programs for working families and reduced taxes for the wealthy by casting the tie-breaking bote on the fiscal 2004 budget resolution. (H.Con. Res. 95, 4/11/03)

-Voted with working families 6% of the time while he was a congressman from Wyoming, 1978-1989. (AFL-CIO)

-Provided the tie-breaking vote defeating an amendment to the Fast Track trade bill that would have provided low-interest loans to help workers who lose their jobs because of trade to pay their mortgages for up to a year. (H.R. 3009, Sen Amdt. 3406, R.C. 119, 5/21/02)

-Cheney's former firm, Halliburton Inc. received a nearly $2 billion contract for reconstruction work in Iraq without any competitive bidding. The Bush Administration wants to privatize as many as 850,000 federal jobs, claiming this system would be more efficient and cost effective. (The Hill, 2/24/04; Los Angeles Times, 12/31/03)

 

[ThatGuy]

Basically before i retire for the night is , i have articles saying and showing 2.4 million jobs created since bush in office and an iundependent article which shows they are good paying jobs , well above the norm, despite what kerry calls bad jobs. Here is the bottom line after 8 years if reducing the cia and fbi clinton screwed us with al qaeda, am i saying busg was 100 percent innocent no, but he was only there7 months and everyuone knows how much work it is changing "regimes". and what about our lady friend on the 911 commision anyone? anyone? resonsible for building the wall between the cia and the fbi, which would have avoided alot of this mess miss gorelick. Anyways i could go on for hours the economy is rebounding at record rates after a recession clinton left us look at his last 4 quarters, and a terrible tradgedy. After 911 nobody felt safe bush has made us feel safe by going after terrorism before they go after us anymore. and if anyone thinks that playcating to them will help ease them off of us is foolish. and to all the wmd people. if there were none then why did almost all the dems in congress beg clinton in 98 to invade iraq?????????? over wmd's you can see the requests online(public records). just a few of the millions of stuff ihave read and studied about

I frankly had a hard time wading through that, but I did catch something in there about Jamie Gorelick and the "wall." Right?

Sorry, no.
For those who don't want to register to see it, use BugMeNot

Hmm, from New York state, claims to be non-partisan but spouts off standard Republican talking points, kind of excitable ... Do you have your own show on Fox?

 

[pax]

Yeah, this thread is really going places.

Sorry, Dano. I know it's not your fault.