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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 9:16:59 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

The national statistics, as determined by the government itself, are just as I described. You are an ignoramus......

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 9:49:18 AM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Voodoo 2 economics is not working. sunspot.net <font color=brown>America's deficit in the broadest measure of trade swelled to a record $136.1 billion US in the first three months of 2003 </font> Even though Junior is borrowing and spending as fast as he can. charlotte.com <font color=brown>I dread to think how bad it has to get before Bush makes some changes. - Senator Ernest Hollings</font> TP

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 10:08:59 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

When the Reagan economic program took effect in 1982, the economy took off and never looked back, growing at an average annual rate of 4.3%. As a comparison, average annual growth for the twelve years from 1990-2001 (since Reagan) was 2.95%, for 1991-2001 (previous trough to peak) it was 3.05% and for 1992-2001 (the last expansion) it was 3.4%. So the Reagan expansion growth was better than the last expansion by almost a full percent per year and the growth for all the Reagan years was greater than the growth since by half a percent. That's a lot of support for the claim that Reagan's policies have produced the best growth in a generation. (The average growth for the eight Clinton years was 3.55%, and it was part of the last expansion period.) Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis reagan.webteamone.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 10:11:25 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769670

One of the strongest features of the Reagan expansion was the job creation numbers. Almost 20 million jobs were created in just seven years. And contrary to popular mythology, most of those jobs paid at least $10/hour. Part of that myth is that service sector jobs equal low paying jobs. However, that is not the case, as even critics of Reagan are now admitting. In fact, the overall job statistics show the Reagan expansion to be one of the best ever. The job creation during the Reagan expansion was broad-based, spanning all sectors and providing good wages throughout the expansion. And while wages rarely keep up with inflation, during the Reagan expansion wages and inflation were very closely matched. One of the myths of the 1980s is that service sector jobs are all low paying jobs. However, as you have seen above, that is not the case. Service sector jobs include such professions as software engineers, lawyers, real estate agents, sales professionals, etc. all of whom have good wage rates. The popular image of the burger flipper or harried cashier is largely a product of the liberals and the compliant media. Such jobs are less than 10% of the total service sector. Data from the Statistical Abstract of the United States reagan.webteamone.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 10:15:41 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Below are the facts proving that after declining during the Carter years, median family income rebounded sharply during the Reagan years. Median Family income 1979-89 Constant 1990 dollars Year Income 1979 $35,474 1980 $33,346 1981 $32,190 1982 $31,738 1983 $32,378 1984 $33,251 1985 $33,689 1986 $35,129 1987 $35,632 1988 $35,565 1989 $36,062 Source: American Almanac, Page 449, table 703 (1993 ed.) Current statistics available from the Census Bureau. Note that we're showing figures from 1979 through 1981 as well as the Reagan fiscal years in order to demonstrate the magnitude of the decline that preceeded Reagan. Some Reagan deniers try to include these years without showing all years, which masks the massive decline prior to Reagan and the subsequent rise. Only showing 1979 and 1989, for example, would make it appear that there was little growth during the 1980s! Data from the American Almanac reagan.webteamone.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 10:19:23 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Another myth about the Reagan years is that millions were thrown into poverty (no doubt because the evil rich stole their income). However, the facts as shown below tell a different story. As with so many economic indicators, they get worse during the Carter years, then do an about face as Reagan's economic programs get under way. By 1989 the poverty rate was 1.2% lower than it was in 1981 and 2.4% below the peak rate of 15.2%. Another supply side success story. Poverty Rates 1979-89 Year % below poverty line /number below poverty line (millions) 1979 11.7 26.1 1980 13.0 29.3 1981 14.0 31.8 1982 15.0 34.4 1983 15.2 35.3 1984 14.4 33.7 1985 14.0 33.1 1986 13.6 32.4 1987 13.3 32.2 1988 13.0 31.7 1989 12.8 31.5 Source: American Almanac, table 717, page 456 (1993 ed) reagan.webteamone.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 10:32:15 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 769670

NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee Determines that Recession Ended in March 1991 CAMBRIDGE, December 22, 1992 -- The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met by conference call yesterday. The committee maintains a chronology of the U.S. business cycle that is widely used in the analysis of business conditions. In its meeting, the committee determined that the U.S. economy reached a trough of activity in March 1991. Previously, the committee had determined that the economy reached a peak of activity in July 1990. The eight-month period between July 1990 and March 1991 is a recession in the NBER's chronology. The committee thus determined that the recession ended in March 1991 and that an expansion began at that time. The committee had waited to make the determination of the trough date until it was confident that any future downturn in the economy would be considered a new recession and not a continuation of the recession that began in July 1990. The committee noted that the broadest measure of economic activity -- gross domestic product in constant dollars -- had finally surpassed its previous peak by the third quarter of 1992. Only by December did the overall pattern of economic activity appear to be strong enough to warrant the determination of the trough date. The behavior of the economy in 1991 made the determination of the trough particularly challenging. Two important monthly indicators related to the production and sales of goods -- industrial production and manufacturing-trade sales in constant dollars -- had unambiguous troughs in early 1991 (in March and January, respectively). Two other monthly indicators had declined to close to their minimum values by early 1991, but continued to decline slightly for the rest of 1991. Real personal income reached its trough in November 1991, at 0.07 percent below its level in April. Employees on non-agricultural payrolls reached its trough in January 1992, also at 0.07 percent below its level in April. Total hours of all non-agricultural employees reached its trough in April. The choice of March 1991 as the trough date was based primarily on the fact that various averages of the monthly indicators reached clear troughs in that month. The NBER also maintains a quarterly chronology of the U.S. business cycle. It determined that the most recent trough occurred in the first quarter of 1991. Committee members are: William Branson, Princeton University; Martin Feldstein, NBER President; Benjamin Friedman, Harvard University; Robert Gordon, Northwestern University; Robert Hall, chairman, of Stanford University; Geoffrey Moore, Columbia University; and Victor Zarnowitz, University of Chicago. nber.org

To: American Spirit who wrote (416844)	6/20/2003 10:40:03 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769670

Government Revenues, the Debt, and GNP: 1982-9 A nice comparison is the measure of the debt and deficit against our GNP, widely regarded as the best measure of our indebtedness. Because our revenues are tied to GNP (Note: we now use GDP, a slightly different measure) our relative indebtedness can be determined as a percentage of that figure. GNP, Budget Deficits and Relative Change In billions of dollars except percents Fiscal Year GNP Deficit %GNP Debt %GNP % Change 1982 3130 127.9 4.1 1147.0 36.6 1983 3325 207.8 6.2 1381.9 41.6 5.0 1984 3688 185.3 5.0 1576.7 42.8 1.2 1985 3958 212.3 5.4 1827.5 46.2 3.4 1986 4177 220.7 5.3 2129.5 51.0 4.8 1987 4442 148.0 3.4 2354.3 53.0 2.0 1988 4771 155.1 3.2 2614.6 54.8 1.8 1989 5201 152.0 2.9 2881.1 55.4 0.6 Source: American Almanac, United States Budgets, et al. As can be seen, the deficit spiked early, then declined sharply in the second term of Reagan's presidency. Our debt increased by about 18.8% (GDP) and 51% relative to the previous level (18.8 being about half of 36.6), a far cry from the doubling, tripling, or quadrupling that some claim. Note that since spending (in nominal dollars) has increased faster under Bush and Clinton than Reagan, liberals are falling back to the proper measure of indebtedness (as a % GDP) while trying to continue to attack Reagan solely on nominal dollar increases. A fiscal year runs from October-September. The 1982 fiscal year, for example runs from October, 1981 to September, 1982. This can make tables like the above appear a bit confusing at first. The 1982 fiscal year is Reagan's first budget year, so we use the fiscal years 1982-9 to demonstrate how deficits and debt changed during his terms in office. presidentreagan.info