BUSHES' AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
"The Insider" mailing list article, 20 January 2004.
theinsider.org
State of the nation - highlights from Bush's presidential career:
501: Number of American servicemen to die in Iraq from the beginning of the war - so far
9.2: Average number of American soldiers wounded in Iraq each day since the invasion in March last year
29,000: Number of American troops - which is close to the total of a whole army division - to have either been killed, wounded, injured or become so ill as to require evacuation from Iraq, according to the Pentagon
0: Number of American combat deaths in Germany after the Nazi surrender to the Allies in May 1945
100: Number of fund-raisers attended by Bush or Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2003
0: Number of funerals or memorials that President Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq
0: Number of coffins of dead soldiers returning home from Iraq that the Bush administration has allowed to be photographed
10 million: Estimated number of people worldwide who took to the streets in opposition to the invasion of Iraq, setting an all-time record for simultaneous protest
16,000: Approximate number of Iraqis killed since the start of war
10,000: Approximate number of Iraqi civilians killed since the beginning of the conflict
80%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce now unemployed
$100 billion: Estimated cost of the war in Iraq to American citizens by the end of 2003
36%: Increase in the number of desertions from the US army since 1999
92%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that had access to drinkable water a year ago
60%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that have access to drinkable water today
45%: Percentage of Americans who believed in early March 2003 that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 11 September attacks on the US
1983: The year in which Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam Hussein a pair of golden spurs
$127 billion: Amount of US budget surplus in the year that Bush became President in 2001
$374 billion: Amount of US budget deficit in the fiscal year for 2003
1st: This year's deficit is on course to be the biggest in United States history
$1.58 billion: Average amount by which the US national debt increases each day
$23,920: Amount of each US citizen's share of the national debt as of 19 January 2004
1st: The record for the most bankruptcies filed in a single year (1.57 million) was set in 2002
1st: Rank of the US worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per capita
10: Number of solo press conferences that Bush has held since beginning his term. His father had managed 61 at this point in his administration, and Bill Clinton 33
$113 million: Total sum raised by the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign, setting a record in American electoral history
$200m: Amount that the Bush-Cheney campaign is expected to raise in 2004
$40m: Amount that Howard Dean, the top fund-raiser among the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls, amassed in 2003
88%: Percentage of American citizens who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of 2003 cut in capital gains and dividends taxes
$42,000: Average savings members of Bush's cabinet are expected to enjoy this year as a result in the cuts in capital gains and dividends taxes
$116,000: Amount Vice-President Cheney is expected to save each year in taxes
9: Number of members of Bush's defence policy board who also sit on the corporate board of, or advise, at least one defence contractor
$10.9 million: Average wealth of the members of Bush's original 16-person cabinet
$300 million: Amount cut from the federal programme that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes
2.4 million: Number of Americans who have lost their jobs during the three years of the Bush administration
1,000: Number of new jobs created in the entire country in December. Analysts had expected a gain of 130,000
+6%: Percentage change since 2001 in the number of US families in poverty
28: Number of days holiday that Bush took last August, the second longest holiday of any president in US history (Record holder: Richard Nixon)
13: Number of vacation days the average American worker receives each year
1st: This administration is on its way to becoming the first since 1929 (Herbert Hoover) to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office
9 million: Number of US workers unemployed in September 2003
43.6 million: Number of Americans without health insurance in 2002
$1 billion: Amount of new US military aid promised Israel in April 2003 to offset the "burdens" of the US war on Iraq
58 million: Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging and drilling
200: Number of public-health and environmental laws Bush has attempted to downgrade or weaken
3: Number of children convicted of capital offences executed in the US in 2002. America is only country that officially allows the execution of children
1st: First president to execute a federal prisoner in the past 40 years. Executions are typically ordered by separate states and not at federal level
1st: As Governor of Texas, George Bush executed more prisoners (152) than any governor in modern US history
1st: George W Bush became the first American president to ignore the Geneva Conventions by refusing to allow inspectors access to US-held prisoners of war
700: Number of Muslims from around the world the US has incarcerated in the concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
40%: Percentage of the world's military spending for which the US is responsible
35: Number of countries to which US has suspended military assistance after they failed to sign agreements giving Americans immunity from prosecution before the International Criminal Court
130: Number of countries (out of total of 191 recognised by the United Nations) with an American military presence
54%: Percentage of US citizens who believe Bush was legitimately elected to his post
44%: Percentage of Americans who believe the President's economic growth plan will mostly benefit the wealthy
90%: Percentage of American citizens who said they approved of the way George Bush was handling his job as president when asked on 26 September, 2001
53%: Percentage of American citizens who approved of the way Bush was handling his job as president when asked on 16 January, 2004
SOURCE:
The Independent, "George W Bush and the real state of the Union", front-page, 20 January 2004.
[ news.independent.co.uk ] |
