this was compiled by someone i know very well. read it, THEN try to defend this travesty of an executive official (and i lose that term loosely here. . .)
Exhibit A -- Jobs
1. Bush has presided over the largest job loss in U.S. history since Herbert Hoover 3.1 million jobs nationwide and 182,000 in N.C.
2. Contrast that with former President Clinton who created nearly 22.5 million jobs during his 8-year term.
3. The unemployment rate was only 3.9% when Bush took office. This past June, the jobless rate reached a 9-year high at 6.4%.
4. More than 9 million citizens are now unemployed with the average duration of unemployment being almost 20 weeks.
Exhibit B Poverty
1. In 2001, 1.3 million more Americans slipped below the official poverty line ($17,960 for a family of four) -- the first increase in eight years.
2. The total percentage of people in poverty increased in 2001 from 12.1% to 12.4% and now totals 34.8 million.
3. The number of children in poverty rose by more than 600,000 during the same period to a total of 12.2 million.
4. In 2002, the number of families living in poverty increased more than 300,000 from 6.6 million in 2001 to almost 7 million. 5. More than 1.4 Americans lost their health insurance coverage in 2002.
6. Nearly 38% of those on Medicare have no prescription drug coverage and the cost of the 50 most frequently-used drugs by senior citizens increased by 7.8% in 2002.
Exhibit C Bankruptcies
1. In the last two years, the U.S. has had the highest rate in the increase in bankruptcy cases in U.S. history -- increasing 23% since Bush took office.
Exhibit D Stock Market
1. Between December 29, 2000 and the end of the third quarter of 2002, the stock market dropped 38% for a total loss of $6.65 trillion.
2. In 2002 alone, investors lost $2.8 trillion in the stock market.
Exhibit E Spending
1. In 2000, under President Clinton, there was a $281 billion surplus in the federal budget. In 2003, Bush will preside over a $455 billion deficit a negative turn-around of nearly $750 billion. Next years budget deficit is now projected to be $540 billion.
2. Even if you deduct non-military, non-defense spending, Bush oversaw a 6% increase in spending in 2002 and 5% in 2003.
3. This year, at the insistence of President Bush, the Republican-controlled Senate and House passed a $2.2 trillion budget which included major spending increases yet made substantial cuts in Medicaid assistance and in benefits to veterans.
4. Kevin A. Hassett in The National Review was quoted as saying, Under the current Bush budget, federal spending will have increased by 19.6% for the first three years of his administration 3 of the 5 biggest increases in spending in history have occurred during the first 3 years of the Bush administration; the other two occurred during World War II.
Exhibit F Tax Cuts
1. Bushs Jobs and Growth Act which created major tax cuts should really be called the Windfall for the Wealthy Act.
2. 31% of taxpayers get no reduction in taxes.
3. An additional 48% get less than a $100 reduction in taxes.
4. Less than 10% of the benefits go to the bottom 80% of wage earners.
5. 75% of our senior citizens get absolutely no benefit.
6. The top 1% of taxpayers will receive an average tax cut of $30,127.
7. The average millionaire gets a $90,000 tax break.
8. Virginia Governor Mark Warner was quoted as saying, So while the president pats himself on the back for cutting taxes, the hard reality is that his tax cuts end up simply passing the burden down to your state and local governments.
9. Bushs Council of Economic Advisers predicted the passage of the tax cut would create 510,000 new jobs in 2003 and 891,000 jobs in 2004. Bush even said, Tax relief is stimulating job creation all across the country. But what has actually happened? There have been 225,000 workers laid off since Bush signed the bill into law this past May.
Exhibit G Federal Deficit
1. In the last two years, Bush has amassed more national debt than which accrued from Presidents Washington through Carter COMBINED.
2. In the last two years, there have been 3 large, historic tax cuts. In the same two years, federal spending has increased by almost 20%. Trends like that do not a budget in the black make.
3. President Bush will preside over a $455 billion deficit this year and a projected $540 billion deficit next year.
4. The deficit for this year alone would entirely fund the State of North Carolinas budget of $15 billion through the year 2033.
5. In 2001, Bush projected a $5.6 trillion surplus from 2001 through 2011. Instead, the Presidents own Office of Management and Budget now foresees a $2.3 trillion deficitbetween now and 2011 even under a best-case scenario.
7. It is projected by most analysts that, under Bush, the national debt will increase by more that $3.7 trillion over the next decade (2004-2013). And if Bush and congressional Republicans extend tax cuts in 2005 at a cost of an additional $1.6 trillion, the deficit by 2013 will increase to $6.2 trillion.
8. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said that the expanding federal deficit will result in a rise in interest rates and even more unemployment by forcing the government to compete with private companies for capital.
9. The Congressional Budget Office issued a warning in August of 2003 that if Bushs policies remain in effect, baby boomers who begin retiring at the end of this decade will face either drastically higher taxes, severe spending cuts, or unsustainable levels of debt.
Exhibit H Trade Deficits
1. Growing trade deficits are proof that the Bush administrations free trade policies are not working. Under current trade laws proposed by Bush, companies are continuing to throw American workers on the street as they race to China, Mexico, and other countries in search of cheap labor. In addition to U.S. companies moving their operations overseas, imports are flooding into the U.S., a situation that has resulted in hefty losses of manufacturing jobs. With more imports and less exports, this trade deficit continues to rise and is now running at an annual rate of near $500 billion.
2. Since Bush took office, the U.S. has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs 16% of the entire manufacturing workforce.
3. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) recently said that Bush is out of touch on trade policies.
4. Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NC) recently said that Bush is too wrapped up in Iraq at the expense of workers at home.
Exhibit I Iraqi War
1. Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO commander and possible Democratic presidential candidate, stated, If Iraq is the centerpiece of the war on terrorism, it shouldnt be.
2. Bush used only two justifications for the Iraqi War a clear connection to al Qaeda and WMD.
3. Connection to al-Qaeda? Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA), who was awarded a Silver and Bronze Star for his military service in Vietnam, has said, The administration sold the connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda to scare the pants off the American people and justify the war. Theres no connection. What youve seen here is the manipulation of intelligence for political ends.
4. WMD? Conservative columnist and former Republican presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan recently stated in The American Conservative, President Bush launched Americas first pre-emptive war, but we have not found one single WMD . . . Did the intelligence fail us, or did Bush cook the books to meet the recipe for an imperial war?
5. The results? Again, Gen. Wesley Clark Weve made America more engaged, more vulnerable, more committed, and less able to respond.
6. Effect on War on Terror? Because the U.S. invasion was never embraced by doubtful allies, some observers feel that the invasion of Iraq may have even strengthened al-Qaeda by enhancing its appeal to Muslims living in the Gulf region and across the world because many Muslims now perceive the invasion as aggression against Islam and as an attempt to spread American influence.
7. If we invaded Iraq to liberate its people from totalitarian rule, why not invade Red China? If we invaded Iraq to stop weapons of mass destruction from being in the hands of a dictator, why not invade North Korea? If we invaded Iraq to cut other ties to al-Qaeda, why not invade Saudi Arabia?
8. The costs? Some experts say that over the next 5 years, our costs in Iraq will reach $300 billion at an average rate of $5 billion per month. To put it into perspective, $300 billion divided by 50 states divided by 100 N.C. counties equals $60 billion per county in North Carolina. Also, $300 billion divided by 300 million Americans equals $1,000 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.
9. Sen. Chuck Hager (R-NE) stated on September 6, 2003, just days before President Bush asked for another $87 billion for the War in Iraq, I do think that this administration did a miserable job of planning in a post-Saddam Iraq.
THE CONCLUSION
The 2001 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, George Akerlof, is quoted as saying, This is the worst government the U.S. has ever had in its more than 200 years of history.
I rest my case.
The Case Against the
Re-Election of President George W. Bush
By Clear and Convincing Evidence
Exhibit A -- Jobs
1. Bush has presided over the largest job loss in U.S. history since Herbert Hoover 3.1 million jobs nationwide and 182,000 in N.C.
2. Contrast that with former President Clinton who created nearly 22.5 million jobs during his 8-year term.
3. The unemployment rate was only 3.9% when Bush took office. This past June, the jobless rate reached a 9-year high at 6.4%.
4. More than 9 million citizens are now unemployed with the average duration of unemployment being almost 20 weeks.
Exhibit B Poverty
1. In 2001, 1.3 million more Americans slipped below the official poverty line ($17,960 for a family of four) -- the first increase in eight years.
2. The total percentage of people in poverty increased in 2001 from 12.1% to 12.4% and now totals 34.8 million.
3. The number of children in poverty rose by more than 600,000 during the same period to a total of 12.2 million.
4. In 2002, the number of families living in poverty increased more than 300,000 from 6.6 million in 2001 to almost 7 million. 5. More than 1.4 Americans lost their health insurance coverage in 2002.
6. Nearly 38% of those on Medicare have no prescription drug coverage and the cost of the 50 most frequently-used drugs by senior citizens increased by 7.8% in 2002.
Exhibit C Bankruptcies
1. In the last two years, the U.S. has had the highest rate in the increase in bankruptcy cases in U.S. history -- increasing 23% since Bush took office.
Exhibit D Stock Market
1. Between December 29, 2000 and the end of the third quarter of 2002, the stock market dropped 38% for a total loss of $6.65 trillion.
2. In 2002 alone, investors lost $2.8 trillion in the stock market.
Exhibit E Spending
1. In 2000, under President Clinton, there was a $281 billion surplus in the federal budget. In 2003, Bush will preside over a $455 billion deficit a negative turn-around of nearly $750 billion. Next years budget deficit is now projected to be $540 billion.
2. Even if you deduct non-military, non-defense spending, Bush oversaw a 6% increase in spending in 2002 and 5% in 2003.
3. This year, at the insistence of President Bush, the Republican-controlled Senate and House passed a $2.2 trillion budget which included major spending increases yet made substantial cuts in Medicaid assistance and in benefits to veterans.
4. Kevin A. Hassett in The National Review was quoted as saying, Under the current Bush budget, federal spending will have increased by 19.6% for the first three years of his administration 3 of the 5 biggest increases in spending in history have occurred during the first 3 years of the Bush administration; the other two occurred during World War II.
Exhibit F Tax Cuts
1. Bushs Jobs and Growth Act which created major tax cuts should really be called the Windfall for the Wealthy Act.
2. 31% of taxpayers get no reduction in taxes.
3. An additional 48% get less than a $100 reduction in taxes.
4. Less than 10% of the benefits go to the bottom 80% of wage earners.
5. 75% of our senior citizens get absolutely no benefit.
6. The top 1% of taxpayers will receive an average tax cut of $30,127.
7. The average millionaire gets a $90,000 tax break.
8. Virginia Governor Mark Warner was quoted as saying, So while the president pats himself on the back for cutting taxes, the hard reality is that his tax cuts end up simply passing the burden down to your state and local governments.
9. Bushs Council of Economic Advisers predicted the passage of the tax cut would create 510,000 new jobs in 2003 and 891,000 jobs in 2004. Bush even said, Tax relief is stimulating job creation all across the country. But what has actually happened? There have been 225,000 workers laid off since Bush signed the bill into law this past May.
Exhibit G Federal Deficit
1. In the last two years, Bush has amassed more national debt than which accrued from Presidents Washington through Carter COMBINED.
2. In the last two years, there have been 3 large, historic tax cuts. In the same two years, federal spending has increased by almost 20%. Trends like that do not a budget in the black make.
3. President Bush will preside over a $455 billion deficit this year and a projected $540 billion deficit next year.
4. The deficit for this year alone would entirely fund the State of North Carolinas budget of $15 billion through the year 2033.
5. In 2001, Bush projected a $5.6 trillion surplus from 2001 through 2011. Instead, the Presidents own Office of Management and Budget now foresees a $2.3 trillion deficitbetween now and 2011 even under a best-case scenario.
7. It is projected by most analysts that, under Bush, the national debt will increase by more that $3.7 trillion over the next decade (2004-2013). And if Bush and congressional Republicans extend tax cuts in 2005 at a cost of an additional $1.6 trillion, the deficit by 2013 will increase to $6.2 trillion.
8. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said that the expanding federal deficit will result in a rise in interest rates and even more unemployment by forcing the government to compete with private companies for capital.
9. The Congressional Budget Office issued a warning in August of 2003 that if Bushs policies remain in effect, baby boomers who begin retiring at the end of this decade will face either drastically higher taxes, severe spending cuts, or unsustainable levels of debt.
Exhibit H Trade Deficits
1. Growing trade deficits are proof that the Bush administrations free trade policies are not working. Under current trade laws proposed by Bush, companies are continuing to throw American workers on the street as they race to China, Mexico, and other countries in search of cheap labor. In addition to U.S. companies moving their operations overseas, imports are flooding into the U.S., a situation that has resulted in hefty losses of manufacturing jobs. With more imports and less exports, this trade deficit continues to rise and is now running at an annual rate of near $500 billion.
2. Since Bush took office, the U.S. has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs 16% of the entire manufacturing workforce.
3. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) recently said that Bush is out of touch on trade policies.
4. Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NC) recently said that Bush is too wrapped up in Iraq at the expense of workers at home.
Exhibit I Iraqi War
1. Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO commander and possible Democratic presidential candidate, stated, If Iraq is the centerpiece of the war on terrorism, it shouldnt be.
2. Bush used only two justifications for the Iraqi War a clear connection to al Qaeda and WMD.
3. Connection to al-Qaeda? Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA), who was awarded a Silver and Bronze Star for his military service in Vietnam, has said, The administration sold the connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda to scare the pants off the American people and justify the war. Theres no connection. What youve seen here is the manipulation of intelligence for political ends.
4. WMD? Conservative columnist and former Republican presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan recently stated in The American Conservative, President Bush launched Americas first pre-emptive war, but we have not found one single WMD . . . Did the intelligence fail us, or did Bush cook the books to meet the recipe for an imperial war?
5. The results? Again, Gen. Wesley Clark Weve made America more engaged, more vulnerable, more committed, and less able to respond.
6. Effect on War on Terror? Because the U.S. invasion was never embraced by doubtful allies, some observers feel that the invasion of Iraq may have even strengthened al-Qaeda by enhancing its appeal to Muslims living in the Gulf region and across the world because many Muslims now perceive the invasion as aggression against Islam and as an attempt to spread American influence.
7. If we invaded Iraq to liberate its people from totalitarian rule, why not invade Red China? If we invaded Iraq to stop weapons of mass destruction from being in the hands of a dictator, why not invade North Korea? If we invaded Iraq to cut other ties to al-Qaeda, why not invade Saudi Arabia?
8. The costs? Some experts say that over the next 5 years, our costs in Iraq will reach $300 billion at an average rate of $5 billion per month. To put it into perspective, $300 billion divided by 50 states divided by 100 N.C. counties equals $60 billion per county in North Carolina. Also, $300 billion divided by 300 million Americans equals $1,000 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.
9. Sen. Chuck Hager (R-NE) stated on September 6, 2003, just days before President Bush asked for another $87 billion for the War in Iraq, I do think that this administration did a miserable job of planning in a post-Saddam Iraq.
THE CONCLUSION
The 2001 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, George Akerlof, is quoted as saying, This is the worst government the U.S. has ever had in its more than 200 years of history.
I rest my case.
