Do you believe the economy is better under bush?

Question

Do you really? Or are you just repeating what you've been told to believe?

Those "low unemployment rate" figures you're so proud of are not, in reality, factually representative of the actual numbers of people in America without jobs. Did you know that?

Are you currenlty up-to-date on the history-making catastrophe occurring in the Housing market? In bankruptcies in this country? In stagnant wages? In the record-shattering numbers of Americans now classified as "POVERTY LEVEL" income?

The economy is in a SHAMBLES.

http://www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com/economy/index.html

Bush Administration Fails to Jumpstart Economy
As of May, 2005, there have been 893,000 jobs created over the first 52 months of the Bush presidency - a gain that is due solely to the 917,000 jobs created in the government sector that offset the 24,000 jobs lost in the private sector. Since the Great Depression, no other president who served at least 52 months has overseen a net loss in private sector jobs through this point. In addition to lack of job growth, real weekly and hourly wages have declined since the start of the recession. At a time when middle-class Americans are experiencing stagnant wages and vanishing benefits, CEO pay continues to rise.
Source: Center for American Progress, Economic Policy Weekly, Jenna Churchman, June 6, 2005
Legislation Reflects Bush Business-Friendly Climate, Weakens Consumer and Environmental Regulations
President Bush and the GOP-controlled Congress are moving to extend corporate tax breaks.....

allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and limit lawsuits against corporations — including a settlement of asbestos litigation that has driven 70 companies into bankruptcy. The pro-business momentum is accelerating, analysts say, in part because the steps are easier to take in the lower-publicity atmosphere of a non-election year. A bipartisan deal, moreover, which allowed some of Bush's long-stalled judicial nominees could also be a boon to US corporations. Janice Rogers Brown, a conservative, anti-regulation judge from California, will serve on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where most cases that affect government regulation are heard. Early in Bush's second term, Congress passed a law sought by banks and credit-card firms that makes it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy. Another new law shifts most class-action lawsuits from state to federal courts, a move aimed to reduce huge verdicts against corporations.

Bush Budget Slashes Education, Veterans' Health Care, Law Enforcement, and Environmental Protections
The Bush administration's budget for the 2006 fiscal year will cut non-defense discretionary spending, including education, veteran's health care, law enforcement, and environmental protections. In all, President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget plan calls for elimination of or drastic cuts from 154 programs. Funding for the Iraq war, however, was recently increased. A House subcommittee approved an initial $45 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year, two weeks after Congress approved $82 billion for this year's costs of the conflicts. Although President Bush argues that it is too early to request money for the wars during the 2006 budget year, which starts Oct. 1, with no timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, war costs are certain and many lawmakers are reluctant to wait for his request.

Bush's National Energy Policy is Full of Smoke
When Bush announced his National Energy Policy on May 17, he vowed to fund research into "new, clean coal technologies." Although the administration has been handing out $250 million a year as an incentive for companies to develop technologies that reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, the General Accounting Office-the independent research arm of Congress-has repeatedly found this "Clean Coal Technology Program" wasteful and mismanaged. A 2001 report, for example, found eight clean coal projects suffering "serious delays and financial problems" and two of them in bankruptcy. Perhaps most importantly, the new technologies are doing little to actually "clean" coal. The Energy Department's own evaluations of clean-coal projects have shown that many new "clean coal" technologies are actually 40 percent less effective in removing sulfur dioxide emissions ......

Source: Washington Post, "Bush's Political Capital Spent, Voices in Both Parties Suggest," Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei, May 31, 2005
Numbers Contradict Bush's Claims of Economic Growth
In the 2005 State of the Union address, Bush said that more Americans are going back to work and that the economy is growing and healthy. The numbers don't necessarily support this assumption. Job growth over the last 18 months has fallen short of administration predictions by 1,703,000—more than one-third fewer jobs than the president's Council of Economic Advisers said would be created. Present employment levels show only 119,000 more individuals working than when Bush took office in 2001, which is effectively a decrease in employment rates, as the total civilian labor force grew by more than two million workers in 2004 alone, according to the Department of Labor. Additionally, the most recent data from the Census Bureau show that the average income for middle-class households has dropped ......

Bush Budget Proposal Heavy on Defense, Light on Domestic Spending
The Bush administration's proposed budget for FY 2006 slashes spending on key domestic programs. Major areas of decreased U.S. governmental spending include Medicaid, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the environment, and farm subsidies. Places where the budget is seeing larger expenditures include border, airport, and seaport security, anti-terrorism programs, and food and drinking water safety. The budget proposal counts on Bush's tax cuts remaining in place, reinforcing the intent to make them permanent. The new budget does not include the cost of privatizing Social Security, which could reach into the trillions, or the continuation of U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Sources: New York Times, "Bush Unveils Budget That Favors Security Over Social Spending," .........

Sends '06 Budget to Congress," Peter Baker, Feb. 8, 2005.
Bush Racks Up More Debt
For the third time in three years, Congress will have to raise the federal debt ceiling, thus increasing the government's borrowing authority by as much as $800 billion. According to the Washington Post editorial board, "the Treasury Department has been doing the governmental equivalent of scrounging for spare change in the couch cushions to pay its obligations." This latest hike in the debt limit will amount to a grand total of more than $2 trillion during Bush's first term. "The deficits [the government] racks up year after year impede economic growth, burden future generations and force the United States to rely on foreign governments and investors," the Post reports. "Meanwhile, as the government has to pay more interest on its debt, it has less for health care, education and other programs.",,,,,,,

Bush Plans to Overhaul the Tax Code
Bush never gets tired of indulging the special interests of wealthy Americans. Sources close to the White House say that the Bush administration is considering a tax code overhaul that would drastically cut, if not eliminate, taxes on savings and investment. According to advisors, Bush plans to push major amendments that would shield interest, dividends and capitals gains from taxation, expand tax breaks for business investment and take other steps to "encourage economic growth." To pay for these changes, the administration is considering eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and doing away with tax deductions for employers who provide their workers with health insurance. Bush has said that tax policy will be the centerpiece of his domestic agenda in the coming years. And during his campaign, he said replacing the income tax with a national sales tax was "an interesting idea."

A Welfare Program for Big Business
In early October, Congress considered a $140 billion dollar tax bill that would provide a tax break to 276 large companies and special interest groups. Instead of using this money to help national financial worries, Congress has decided to give tax breaks to the rich and powerful. As Doug Thompson explains, this "corporate tax reform bill" is more like a "welfare program for big business." A few specific examples include provisions for the following corporations: Starbucks, NASCAR, Carnival Cruise Lines and Home Depot. Thompson claims that many members of Congress, representatives and senators alike, only care about "the golden rule." That is, "he who has the gold, makes the rules."
Source: Capitol Hill Blue, "Corporate 'Tax Reform:' Rich Get Richer While Taxpayers Get Screwed," Doug Thompson, Oct. 12, 2004.

EDIT:
To all the posters telling me how great it is for them? Do you have the ability to comprehend that it is not all about YOU?

http://www.povertyinamerica.psu.edu/

Answer 1

No it is not! I am considered well off by most standards but I still see the effects of our horrible economy every day. I have customers that come to me and have to decide whether to pay their gas bills to heat their homes or purchase their medications.

Things like gas and food are more expensive than ever. And families are spending more money to survive and making less.

Answer 2

The economy isn't in shambles. It is in fact, better than anytime in the last 50 years. Personally, I don't believe the president should have that much say over the economy, and in most cases, he or she doesn't.

Take the case of a time when a single party controls both the house, the senate, and the white house. Now, if that party says, "We need to raise taxes, so we can increase our paycheck." or "We need to raise taxes to enslave more people to government programs," then that's who will make or break the economy.

Every time you raise taxes, you take money away from the hard working common man. That's money that could be used to feed his family, buy a house, and get clothing. Every time you raise taxes on businesses, those business will raise their prices in order to cover their expenditures.

Is the government taxing too much, I can only say, "Hell yes." I would like to see all of my money go to me, so I can take care of myself. Has the government grown too big and dumb? Again, "Hell yes." There is nothing that government can do that private enterprise can't do better.

Getting back to the party who controls everything. Now if that party decides to cut taxes, suddenly, people will have more money to spend, and then some extra to spend on luxury goods. That money will go to workers of company A, who will buy things from company B, and so on.

Do we need such a big governent? No. In fact, our founding fathers believed that the DC crowd should only be there 3 months out of the year, and should work other jobs the rest of the year. The first legislatures didn't even get paid to work in DC, they volunteered their time.

Now, what I have said has been hypothetically spoken, but in my Thirty seven years of life, I have seen enough to know that the president can't control the economy any more than he can control the weather. He just gets blamed for it, instead of the people who are really responsible for it.

Answer 3

While I have my own personal beliefs and numbers can be shifted to support any stand whether true or not, but the question you have to ask yourself is, "Are you in better standing now than when he got in?"
Most people I know are not.

Answer 4

My bank account tells no lies.... I am much worse off.

Far less disposable income.... I'm considering taking out a home equity loan to fill up my gas tank

Answer 5

It's just dandy for Canada--our dollar has hit a record high of .91 US...Yippee-eye-oh....

So does that mean Canada's economy is booming? Or does it mean the US's is sinking?

I'll leave that to you to ponder.....just FYI a decade ago we were at about .72 cents/US buck.

Answer 6

so I assume that you are now unemployed and busy looking for a job??? why are you still here??

The Stocks Market is the best indicator of the Economy. So far I can see DJ keep hitting new highs and not like Bubble Clinton's years.

Answer 7

The economy is booming !! Both of my company's have really grown over the last 6 years. So much so that I've added 35 more employees !!!!!

Answer 8

You should check out all the indices and look at the numbers. The economy is as strong as it has been in 25 years and booming.

Answer 9

yea right bush has totally made our economy worse the day he does get some sense and get our country out of billions and billions dollars of debt then i beleive that will be the day that there's a snowball fight in hell

Answer 10

You are a fruitcake!!!

The numbers do not lie. The economy is better nationwide. It is not a matter of opinion.

You are simply wrong!