medicineman
New Member
President Bush's Record of Economic and Budget Failure
November 24, 2003
November 24, 2003
The economy entered recession in March of 2001, two months after President Bush was inaugurated. During the spring of 2001, the Administration claimed that its economic plan was the answer to our economic troubles and the President's tax cut proposals would strengthen a struggling economy. President Bush's economic plan was enacted soon after the recession began and now has been in place for two and a half years.
The Administration and congressional Republicans predicted that the President's tax cut plan would turn the economy around. Those predictions proved false - instead of a quick economic turnaround, the country still has fewer jobs than it did when the recession began. At 31 months, this matches the recession of the early 1990s, under the first President Bush, as the longest period of job losses since the Great Depression.
The start of a turnaround? We have a very resilient economy that is likely to recover eventually, even in spite of counterproductive economic policies. Economic growth surged in the last quarter and the economy began to create jobs, although at a rate too slow to keep up with population growth. It is too early to tell if this is the beginning of a healthy recovery or a false start much like we experienced a year ago, when growth also increased in the third quarter and we saw a few months of job creation. Senate Democrats hope that the worst is behind us and a strong recovery is around the corner.
Nevertheless, even a healthy recovery would not validate the Bush budget and economic policies. If the economy continues to create jobs at the current rate, it will take another year and a half to get back to the level of employment when President Bush took office. We would still have experienced the longest jobless recovery in our history and lost more than four years of normal job growth, reducing opportunities for new college graduates and those seeking new jobs. We also have experienced a permanent deterioration in our fiscal position that will mean higher interest rates and limit future growth and job creation, as well as burden future taxpayers with a heavier national debt and tax burden. The President's economic plan has clearly failed.
The Bush economic record. The recession began on President Bush's watch and a Republican Congress almost immediately enacted his plan to fix it. While the plan has been an economic and budget failure, the Administration's only response has been to push for more of the same failed policies.
The economy's performance under President Bush reflects the failure of his economic plan.
The Administration and congressional Republicans predicted that the President's tax cut plan would turn the economy around. Those predictions proved false - instead of a quick economic turnaround, the country still has fewer jobs than it did when the recession began. At 31 months, this matches the recession of the early 1990s, under the first President Bush, as the longest period of job losses since the Great Depression.
The start of a turnaround? We have a very resilient economy that is likely to recover eventually, even in spite of counterproductive economic policies. Economic growth surged in the last quarter and the economy began to create jobs, although at a rate too slow to keep up with population growth. It is too early to tell if this is the beginning of a healthy recovery or a false start much like we experienced a year ago, when growth also increased in the third quarter and we saw a few months of job creation. Senate Democrats hope that the worst is behind us and a strong recovery is around the corner.
Nevertheless, even a healthy recovery would not validate the Bush budget and economic policies. If the economy continues to create jobs at the current rate, it will take another year and a half to get back to the level of employment when President Bush took office. We would still have experienced the longest jobless recovery in our history and lost more than four years of normal job growth, reducing opportunities for new college graduates and those seeking new jobs. We also have experienced a permanent deterioration in our fiscal position that will mean higher interest rates and limit future growth and job creation, as well as burden future taxpayers with a heavier national debt and tax burden. The President's economic plan has clearly failed.
The Bush economic record. The recession began on President Bush's watch and a Republican Congress almost immediately enacted his plan to fix it. While the plan has been an economic and budget failure, the Administration's only response has been to push for more of the same failed policies.
The economy's performance under President Bush reflects the failure of his economic plan.
- The economy has lost nearly 3 million private sector jobs under President Bush. His is the only Administration to lose jobs since Herbert Hoover. Despite a slight uptick in recent months, the last two and a half years are the longest period of ongoing job losses since the 1930s.
- Census Bureau data shows that poverty increased and real median household income fell last year. In both years of the Bush Administration, the number of Americans in poverty has increased while the real income of a typical household has fallen.
- The budget deficit reached a record high of $374 billion this year, with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projecting a deficit of $480 billion next year. Next year's deficit may well climb past $500 billion since the CBO numbers do not reflect the costs of military and other activities in Iraq.
- Average annual economic growth under President Bush is 2.1 percent, less than two-thirds the average growth rate under President Clinton and rivaling his father for the weakest performance of any President in the last 50 years.
