Re-Electing President Bush
...ush did not help Funding to America's schools. For example, President Bush claimed he has seriously increased funding for various programs. But his rhetoric is at odds with the budgets he's proposed. In the case of St. Louis, Bush said, "Teacher training money is up. We've increased the teacher training and recruitment budget significantly." But in his most recent budget, Bush proposed to freeze Teacher Quality State Grants - cutting off training opportunities for about 30,000 teachers, and leaving 92,000 less teachers trained than called for in his own No Child Left Behind bill. Bush also said, "Schools need mentors. We all need to be out encouraging people to volunteer." But again, his budget proposed to eliminate all $48 million for Youth Opportunities Grants - the Department of Labor's major program to "provide youth seeking assistance in achieving academic and employment success." Finally, Bush said, "Title I money [for disadvantaged students] is up." And while Bush did propose increasing this program by $1 billion - he proposed paying for the increase by eliminating 45 education programs and slashing another 18 for a total cut of nearly $3 billion in funding for these same disadvantaged students. Another claim worth discussing would be how Bush’s administration claims to better the economy, but don't follow through with the numbers. This is because while the Bush/Cheney re-election website promotes the idea that the economy is "stepping on the gas pedal," new figures released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed hiring to be flat in December 2003 with a net gain of 1,000 jobs. A new report released today by the Economic Policy Institute finds that the Bush administration's assertion that the president's 2003 tax cut fell 1.615 million jobs short of its prediction for the year. The president publicly unveiled his 2003 tax cut last year by tying it to job creation. In the State of the Union, Bush said, "When America works, America prospers, so my economic security plan can be summed up in one word: jobs."4 But the president's policies have failed to benefit American workers. A National Journal piece last week noted that "The economy is so far behind the administration's forecast that an average of 400,000 jobs would have to materialize every month until the end of 2004 to keep to the White House schedule. How hard is that? During the 1990s boom, such phenomenal job growth occurred in eight months out of 102." The White House has thus far focused on putting a positive spin on the state of the economy. The president said in early December, "This administration has laid the foundation for greater prosperity and more jobs across America so every single citizen has a chance to realize the American dream." But so far, the widely reported increases in productivity and growth aren't translating into jobs or higher wages. New jobs being created are paying 13% less than those lost during the recession--$14.65/hour versus $16.92/hour. By contrast, new jobs created during the later years of the expansion, 1998 to 2000, paid 12% more. While the rapid growth of the recovery has so far failed to benefit workers, corporate profits have increased at a rate far beyond those of previous recoveries. According to the EPI study, previous recoveries provided an average of 61% of total income growth - and never less than 55% -- to workers. In this recovery, however, only 29% of the total income growth has gone to workers' wages and benefits. Meanwhile, corporate profits have claimed an average share of 46% of total income growth in this recovery, compared to an historic average of 26%. In conclusion, voters should vote no on re-electing President Bush. He even recently ha...