Michigan State AFL-CIO Position on George W. Bush's Presidency
September 2003
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George W. Bush has become perhaps the most dangerous president of modern times. The economy has changed from robust growth to lingering recession. Job creation has become terrible job loss under the Bush administration. Poverty has increased, corporate scandals and corporate crime has increased, America's position and reputation in the world of nations has declined. Millions of Americans are worse off due to George Bush's selection as president (not election - remember he lost the popular vote in 2000).
Since George Bush became President, three million American workers have lost their jobs. Two million of these are manufacturing jobs and most of them are permanently gone. Michigan has lost over 250,000 jobs in total and over 160,000 in manufacturing during Bush's term. There are now over 15 million unemployed people in our nation today. (Unemployment has increased from 4.1% at the beginning of George Bush's term to 6.5% today - 7.4% in Michigan.) To reach these horrifying numbers, our nation had to hemorrhage between 60,000 and 100,000 jobs a month.
The Clinton Administration provided a federal budget surplus. Bush spent it and sent our nation's budget into deficit. That record-breaking, single largest national deficit will exceed $500 billion in 2004; $60 billion has been spent on the Iraq Invasion, another $87 billion will be appropriated for Iraq peace-keeping and more will be needed for Iraq in the future, according to Dick Cheney.
Vice President Dick Cheney ought to know. After taking $40 million personal pay-out as CEO of Halliburton upon joining the Bush slate, he has overseen a no-bid contract awarded to his former company to be the "official" oil company of post-war Iraq. The deal, not available to any other company or bidder, will make Halliburton between $600 million and possible $7 billion over the next two years. Halliburton built the prison in Guantanamo Bay, put out the oil fires in Iraq and currently delivers mail to our troops.
Other corporations, some probably engaged in law-breaking, receive special attention from George Bush's administration. Enron not only wrote our nation's energy policy, but was successful in preventing federal intervention in the form of price controls in California's energy crisis. Now California is suing Enron for market manipulation in their state. Kenneth Lay, Enron's CEO, was George Bush's single-largest individual campaign contributor.
Bush does more than coddle and accept contributions from those in the corporate world. He sends a very strong signal to corporate America by choosing John Snow, CEO of the Railway Conglomerate CSX, as the U.S. Treasury Secretary. Snow brags, in CSX's latest annual report, that his firm "pursue(s) all available opportunities to pay the lowest federal, state and foreign taxes... (and) works through the legislative process for lower tax rates." As a result of all that clever accounting and lobbying, CSX paid nothing at all in federal income taxes on its $934 million in U.S. profits over the past four years. Instead, it got tax rebate checks from the Treasury totaling $164 million. Now Bush wants to privatize and sell off parts of the U.S. Postal Service to his friends in the business world.
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