CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE: The Bush Administration’s Snow Job on the Economy
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The Bush Administration’s Snow Job on the Economy
Despite the Cheerleading, the Bush Tax Breaks for Mllionaires are a Proven Failure
The Bush economic cheerleading squad is in motion –
claiming that their tax breaks created jobs last
month and the remarkable 7.2% economic growth reported last quarter. To sell their budget-busting tax breaks for millionaires, George Bush promised 5.5 million new jobs.
Then last month, Treasury Secretary John Snow “boldly” promised that they would generate 2 million new jobs before the next election (less than the Bush administration said the economy would create with no tax breaks at all). An archetypal snow job. But look behind the pom poms to find the real results of Bush economic policies: pink slips and broken promises.
A reality check, by the numbers:
(October) Average monthly new jobs projected by Bush admin………………………… 200,000 (1)
(February) Average monthly new jobs economy would generate without tax cuts as estimated by Bush admin…………… 228,333 (2)
(February) Average monthly new jobs promised from tax breaks……………………… 306,000 (3)
Number of new jobs Bush promised, June through October……..………………………. 1,224,000 (4)
Number of new jobs Bush actually produced, June through October….……………… 229,000 (5)
Shortfall below projection……………………………………………………………………………… 995,000
Number of jobs lost to date since Bush took office………………………………………….. 2.43 million jobs lost (6)
(October) Bush admin. projection of new jobs created by end of 2004………………. 2.0 million (7)
(October) Bush admin. projection of net new jobs created by end of 2004………… 430,000 jobs lost
Last president to lose jobs during entire first term…………………………………………… Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) (8)
Job creation, Bill Clinton, 8 years…………………………………………………………………… 22.4 million new jobs (9)
Bush admin. own estimate of jobs creation after 4 years…………………………………. 430,000 jobs lost (10)
US Manufacturing jobs lost 1979 – 2000, 21 years……………………………..…………… 2.4 million (11)
US Manufacturing jobs lost since Bush took office, 2 years, 10 months……………… 2.56 million (12)
Budget surplus 2001, when Bush took office…………………………………………………… + $127 Billion (13)
Bush estimate of Budget deficit FY 2003…………………………………………………………. - $401 billion (14)
Average annual tax cut Bush promised to Americans……………………………………….. $1000 (15)
Average tax cut actually received by 65 million Americans…………………………………$19 (16)
Average tax cut actually received by top 1%…………………………………………………… $28,414 (17)
Dollars short of Bush promise in his Leave No Child Behind act…………………………. $9.4 billion short (18)
Amount federal spending on public schools, two years………………………………………$59 billion (19)
Amount federal spending for Iraq, Afghanistan two years………………………………….$166 billion (20)
Decrease, medium household income, last two years………………………………………..$1,439 (21)
Annual minimum wage earnings for full time worker………………………………………… $10,712 (22)
Vice President Dick Cheney annual salary from government……………………………… $192,600 (23)
2001 Halliburton payments to Vice President Cheney (yearly)…………………………… $205,298 (24)
Value of no bid contracts awarded to Halliburton in Iraq………………………………….. $948 million (25)
FOOTNOTES:
1 New York Times, Edmund Andrews. “Treasury Chief Sees a Job Boom, But Most Don’t.” (October, 21 2003)
2 Council of Economic Advisors projection (2/2003)—explained at,
jobwatch.org
3 Council of Economic Advisors projection (2/2003)—explained at,
jobwatch.org
4 Job Watch, www.jobwatch.org. Derived from Council on Economic Advisors projections
5 Job Watch, www.jobwatch.org.
6 Bureau of Labor Statistics, numbers in thousands: Change in employment level: 136181(Jan. ’01) – 138619(Oct. ’03) = -
2.438 million jobs lost. www.bls.gov
7 New York Times: Edmund Andrews. “Treasury Chief Sees a Job Boom, But Most Don’t.” (October, 21 2003)
8 New York Times, David Leonhardt. “Bush Record on Jobs: Risking Unhappy Comparisons.” July 3, 2003, citing
information compiled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
9 Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov
10 Determined by adding Treasury Secretary Snow’s projected job growth (2 million) to the 2.7 million jobs already lost
during the administration.
11 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 19.5 million manufacturing jobs in 1979 – 17.1 million 2000= 2.4 million. bls.gov
12 Bureau of Labor Statistics: 17.101 million (manufacturing jobs in January 2001) -14.54 (manufacturing jobs in October
2003) = 2.56 million lost since Bush took office. bls.gov
13 Congressional Budget Office, cbo.gov
14 Congressional Budget Office, cbo.gov
15 State of the Union address 2003, whitehouse.gov
16 Citizens for Tax Justice ctj.org
17 Citizens for Tax Justice-- ctj.org
18 NEA-- nea.org
19 Budget of the US Government w3.access.gpo.gov
20 Washington Post—Chris Van Hollen, “Paying the Postwar Tab With Plastic.” (October 27, 2003). 87 billion requested
plus 79 billion already spend = 166 billion dollars.
21 U.S. Census Bureau-Median household income has dropped 3.3% over the past two years. This decline represents a loss
of $1,439 over the past two years. census.gov, also available at
epinet.org
22 EPI-- epinet.org
23 Office of Personnel Management, www.opm.gov
24 Office of Government Ethics, Cheney’s financial disclosure filings
25 New York Daily News, Kenneth R. Bazinet. “Halliburton Contracts in Iraq my Trigger Congressional Probe.”
(September 19, 2003.) |
