Has Bush declared war on the middle class?

Question

with his big business / pro-outsourcing / tax cuts for the rich / cut programs for the poor economic policies?

Since he stepped into office the poverty rate has gone from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.6% in 2005 (latest stats available).
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov2.html

Inflation adjusted median incomes have gone from $47,599 in 2000 to $46,326 in 2005 (latest available).

Trade deficits are at record highs as are budget deficits. Since Bush stepped into office, the national debt has increased by almost THREE TRILLION dollars!
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm

Answer 1

Blame Clinton. Seriously.

CLINTON PERMANENTLY DAMAGED ECONOMY
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/bym/img/mar06/CHINA24g.gif
It is 100% fact that Clinton got China into the WTO and it was at the end of his term. The world was reluctant to do so because it still remembered China killing thousands in Tiananmen Square. (Can Any Liberals Explain Why Clinton Sold Out To China? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuQxPZQlqdc8abuMS8FjlqkAAAAA?qid=20070223211146AAK87ii )

Because of Clinton, China's GDP is growing 250% faster than the U.S.'s. Goldman Sachs predicts China will replace the U.S. as the number one economic giant . (http://www.the-global-institute.org/act/2006conference/Linn%20-%20Economic%20growth.ppt

Clinton's biggest mistake was to permanently screw America by forcing the world to accept China into the WTO. That caused a record growing trade deficit, and it has caused a lot of bankruptcies, car repossessions, and home foreclosures across America.

Because China is in the WTO, now Russia and other countries want to join.

Both China and illegal aliens slow tax revenue growth which increases the national debt. They are causing the lowering of family incomes for middle class Americans.
USATODAY.com - Average family income drops 2.3%
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2006-02-23-fed-incomes_x.htm

Clinton has seriously damaged the U.S. economy. Because of Clinton the trade deficit with China will top $1 trillion a year within 10 years. Clinton pushed the U.S. to agree to having China join the World Trade Organization. China is causing the loss of high paying U.S. jobs. And illegal aliens are undermining increases in family incomes. Clinton has caused China's economy to explode with growth and our trade deficit to explode. The HIGH OIL PRICES are due to China's growing demand for oil which did not exist ten years ago.

About Mexico: A non-biased report said illegal aliens take 1/3 of all new jobs created in America. That dilutes wages and puts Americans out of work. The real unemployment rate(u6) for the U.S. is running at over 7%.
References:
1) "China's booming economy is sucking in a huge amount of oil " "Why are oil prices so high?"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3708951.stm
2) DEMOCRAT WEBSITE:
Clinton's Risky China Gamble by Robert Kuttner
http://www.commondreams.org/views/031200-101.htm
3) Clinton Launches All-out Effort For China's Entry Into WTO
http://english.people.com.cn/english/200001/11/eng20000111W137.html
4) CNN.com - ASIANOW - Clinton to send China trade bill to Congress
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/east/03/08/china.wto/index.html
5) Clinton Urges Congress to Approve WTO Deal with China
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200001/11/eng20000111X110.html
6) USATODAY.com - Average family income drops 2.3%
The average income of American families, after adjusting for inflation, declined 2.3% in 2004 compared with 2001 while their net worth rose but at a slower ...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2006-02-23-fed-incomes_x.htm
7) Tibet supporters outraged by Clinton's WTO deal with China (MF)
http://www.tibet.ca/wtnarchive/1999/11/16_5.html
8) ILLEGAL ALIENS TAKE 1/3 OF NEW JOBS
by: www_minutemanproject_com
Latinos entering the country between 2000 and 2004 were hired to fill more than one-third of all new jobs in the United States last year according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/11550761.htm
9) 97% OF ILLEGALS TAKING JOBS AWAY
and only 3% work in farming.
"While 3 percent of unauthorized workers are employed in agriculture, 33 percent have jobs in service industries and substantial shares can be found in construction and extractive occupations (16%) and in production, installation and repair (17%)."Pew Hispanic Center Offers Fuller Portrait of Unauthorized Migrants http://pewhispanic.org/newsroom/releases/release.php?ReleaseID=33
10) "He's one of the Clinton Administration's leaders for making an all-out effort to convince Congress to vote "Yes" on granting China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status when the issue comes to a vote -- probably by late spring or early summer" http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2000/nf00324g.htm

Answer 2

Not in the same bellicose way as Clinton's war on the west, the military, and rural America but the "new world order" favored by GHW Bush, Clinton, and accelerated by W definitely hurts certain sectors of the middle class in the US (mainly industrial labor). While the new world order has created more jobs in the US then were lost, these jobs were mainly in either the low paying service sector or high paying technical jobs. One doesn't pay the bills of an established (not a youngster just starting out) laborer and the others are out of reach. The net result is that the traditional middle class has shrunk remarkably while the upper and lower has grown.

To me, the new world order seems a lot like the old world order of the 1800s. The last time there was a global economy, it came crashing down due to some event in August of 1914. Sure hope history doesn't repeat

Answer 3

If you think the middle class is hurting now, wait until a Dem gets in office. The middle class always ends up bearing the burden for their social experiments. The rich, being rich, can afford it.

Do your poverty rate stats take into account population increases during the mentioned periods? For example, if there are a couple of years with drastic increases in illegal immigrants who claim welfare benefits, that could skew the stats (which are usually skewed to favor the point of view of the statistician anyway).

Also, I can guarantee if the rich got tax cuts, so did everyone else. When a rich person gets a tax cut, what does he do with the money? Do they just pocket it? No, they invest it. That means the money, for the most part, goes right back into the economy. Yes, they make money off of it, but they're going to be rich anyway. How do you think they (the ones who didn't inherit it) got rich in the first place? All of the policies you mentioned make money that gets put back into the economy. That loop is a never ending money generator. Unless you tax it to death.

Deficit spending is the way to stop a recession. That is what started Bush's presidency. The trick is to pay back the deficit in the surplus years that follow the recession. Bush couldn't do that because of 9/11. Military operations are expensive. They are usually good for the economy in terms of jobs created. But, not so much in terms of national debt. The only way to reverse it is to completely return to a peacetime economy (which is impossible as long as al-Qaida exists). Unless we completely isolate ourselves and build 500 foot tall walls around our borders and coastlines, we will just have to live with national debt. At least until the threat to our existence is negated.

Answer 4

I am middle class and I am doing just fine and dandy thank you
now go get a job and do fine and dandy yourself!
stop trying to manipulate the Minds of others
just because you are sorry with yourself doesn't mean you have to be bitter towards others

Answer 5

So has the Democrat. Their idea of helping the Middle calss is to raise the minimum wage. I keep asking how that is going to help the middle class, since they don't make minimum wage. All that does is to increase inflation and make the middle class poorer.

Answer 6

You forgot to mention that the gap between the richest and the poorest is larger than ever:

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/01/18/wage.gap/

Answer 7

He has not declared war, he just has done nothing. He is not the one in charge. Ask the RNC (Rove 'N Cheney)

However he is pretty apathetic about issues that do not affect the wealthy.

Answer 8

Hey numbnuts.In case you have not heard there is no middle class anymore.you are now in the low class.And judging from your facts I think that's where you should feel very comfortable.

Answer 9

bush has always been a blue collar supporter, the simple fact of the matter is that wars cost a lot of money.

Answer 10

he certainly has and will soon seek congress' approval to commit troops