Cheney Brings Failed Bush Economic Policies To Ohio
Political Desk
October 25, 2006
Washington, DC - Today, the Bush Administration’s "Fear and Smear" tour headed to Cincinnati where Vice President Dick Cheney addressed the USA Regional Chamber. Vice President Cheney continued the Administration's fear and smear rhetoric in a desperate attempt to distract voters from its failed economic policies, which have caused Ohio to lose 151,600 jobs since Bush took office. Democrats offer a new direction for America's families and will increase the minimum wage and promote policies that benefit working families.
"The Bush economy is not working for most Americans and no amount of spin from Dick Cheney can hide the Republican economic record of deficits, deceit and divisiveness," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "Democrats remain committed to middle class tax fairness and pro-growth policies that create good jobs here in America. America's working families cannot afford more failed Republican leadership on the economy."
The Bush Record On Jobs
Manufacturing Sector Continues to Flounder; 2.9 Million Manufacturing Jobs Lost Since 2001. About 2.9 million jobs have been lost during the Bush Administration. The long employment slide in this key sector is also evident in the hourly wage trends of blue-collar workers. Despite the fact that manufacturing productivity has soared since 2000, up 29 percent, wage growth has slowed sharply. [EPI, 9/1/06; BLS 10/06]
People Who Lose Their Jobs Are Unemployed Longer. In September of 2006, 18.2 percent of the 7.1 million unemployed were jobless for at least half-a-year. Historically, when unemployment has been between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent, the average long-term jobless share has been 11.7 percent; in this recovery, when unemployment has been within those bounds, the long-term jobless rate has been 19.5 percent. [EPI, 9/1/06; BLS 10/06]
Household Income Declined by Nearly $1,300 Under Bush; Wage And Salary Increases Don't Cover Inflation. Although median household income increased by $509 last year, all of the increase came about because of increases for Americans over 65 years of age. median household income has declined by $1,273 under the Bush Administration. And the failure of wage and salary increases to cover inflation has meant a real reduction of median income between 2000 and 2005 of 2.7 percent for households. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06; EPI, 8/2/9/06]
African Americans And Latino Household Incomes Have Declined by Approximately $2,000 Under Bush. Real median household income decreased between 2004 and 2005 for African Americans by $757. Black households had the lowest median income, at $30,858 - down by $2,772 since Bush took office. Median income for Hispanic households was $35,967 in 2005-down by $1,631 since Bush took office. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1]
Full Time Workers Suffer The Most. The decline in workers' real income was especially pronounced for full-time, year-round workers. For men, median incomes fell by $774 from 2004-2005, and they have seen their incomes drop by $842 during the Bush Administration. For women, median incomes fell by $427 in the last year alone. Incomes in this group fell to their lowest levels since 1997 for men, and lowest level since 2000 for women. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-2; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06]
The Bush Record On Poverty
Number of People Living in Poverty Increased by 5.4 Million Since 2000. Since 2000, the number of people in poverty has increased by 5.4 million and the poverty rate is up by 1.3 percentage points. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table B-1; Center for American Progress 8/29/06]
Number of Americans Living in Extreme Poverty Increased by 3.3 Million During the Bush Administration. The percentage of Americans living in extreme poverty, with incomes less than 50 percent of the poverty line, was the highest on record (43 percent). The number of Americans living in extreme poverty - 15.9 million - has grown by 3.3 million since 2000, and is now at its highest level since 1993. Census data also show a trend of deepening poverty among those who are poor. [Center for American Progress 8/29/06; CBPP 9/1/06]
The Bush Record Of Exploding Deficits
Amount of US Debt Increased by 120 Percent Since Bush Took Office. Since Bush took office, the amount of U.S. debt owned by foreigners has increased 120 percent from approximately $1 trillion in January 2001 to approximately $2.2 trillion in January 2006. It took 42 American Presidents and 224 years to build up that amount ($1 trillion) of foreign-held debt. [Treasury Department, 3/15/06]
Federal Debt Limit Increased by 53 Percent Since Bush Took Office. The federal debt limit has increased 53% since President Bush took office, from approximately $5.6 trillion at the end of 2000 to approximately $8.6 trillion at the end of 2006. By 2011, the President's budget would increase the debt to $11.8 trillion. Interest payments are growing faster than all other items in the Bush Administration budget. [Bureau of the Public Debt, 3/15/06; www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/charts/2006/packet_floorstatementdebtlimit031506.pdf; House Democratic Leader 9/06]
Record Surpluses to Record Deficits. Republicans have turned President Clinton's projected 10-year $5.6 billion surplus into a nearly $3 trillion deficit. When this Administration took office, it inherited a projected ten-year surplus (2002-2011) of $5.6 trillion. Based on a realistic estimate of the President's policies, that surplus has now become a $3.3 trillion deficit over the same period of time, a dramatic fiscal reversal of $8.9 trillion. [House Budget Committee, 2/2006]
The Bush Record On Taxes
Administration's 2006 Tax Agenda Increases the Deficit. The Administration's plan for tax cuts reduces revenues by $1.9 trillion over ten years (2007-2016), according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. When the cost of a ten-year repair of the AMT is factored in, the Administration's tax policies worsen the deficit by $2.7 trillion, before adding the extra cost of debt service. [House Budget Committee Democratic Staff, 3/22/06]
Making the Bush Investment Tax Cuts Permanent Would Cost $197 Billion Over Ten Years. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that making the investment tax cuts permanent would cost the government $197 billion over 10 years. [New York Times, 4/5/06]
Individuals Making Less Than $50,000 Saved an Average of Only $10 From Bush’s Capital Gains and Dividend Tax Cuts. According to Citizens for Tax Justice, the 71 percent of tax filers with adjusted gross income less than $50,000 saved an average of only $10 each from the capital gains and dividend tax cuts, adding only 2 percent to their average $425 tax deduction in 2003. [Citizens for Tax Justice, 4/5/06]
Bush Tax Cuts Heavily Favor the Wealthiest 0.1 Percent of Americans. Americans with annual incomes of $1 million or more, about one-tenth of one percent all taxpayers, reaped 43 percent of all the savings on the Bush investment tax cuts in 2003. The savings for these taxpayers averaged about $41,400 each. [New York Times, 4/5/06]
"The Bush economy is not working for most Americans and no amount of spin from Dick Cheney can hide the Republican economic record of deficits, deceit and divisiveness," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "Democrats remain committed to middle class tax fairness and pro-growth policies that create good jobs here in America. America's working families cannot afford more failed Republican leadership on the economy."
The Bush Record On Jobs
Manufacturing Sector Continues to Flounder; 2.9 Million Manufacturing Jobs Lost Since 2001. About 2.9 million jobs have been lost during the Bush Administration. The long employment slide in this key sector is also evident in the hourly wage trends of blue-collar workers. Despite the fact that manufacturing productivity has soared since 2000, up 29 percent, wage growth has slowed sharply. [EPI, 9/1/06; BLS 10/06]
People Who Lose Their Jobs Are Unemployed Longer. In September of 2006, 18.2 percent of the 7.1 million unemployed were jobless for at least half-a-year. Historically, when unemployment has been between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent, the average long-term jobless share has been 11.7 percent; in this recovery, when unemployment has been within those bounds, the long-term jobless rate has been 19.5 percent. [EPI, 9/1/06; BLS 10/06]
Household Income Declined by Nearly $1,300 Under Bush; Wage And Salary Increases Don't Cover Inflation. Although median household income increased by $509 last year, all of the increase came about because of increases for Americans over 65 years of age. median household income has declined by $1,273 under the Bush Administration. And the failure of wage and salary increases to cover inflation has meant a real reduction of median income between 2000 and 2005 of 2.7 percent for households. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06; EPI, 8/2/9/06]
African Americans And Latino Household Incomes Have Declined by Approximately $2,000 Under Bush. Real median household income decreased between 2004 and 2005 for African Americans by $757. Black households had the lowest median income, at $30,858 - down by $2,772 since Bush took office. Median income for Hispanic households was $35,967 in 2005-down by $1,631 since Bush took office. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1]
Full Time Workers Suffer The Most. The decline in workers' real income was especially pronounced for full-time, year-round workers. For men, median incomes fell by $774 from 2004-2005, and they have seen their incomes drop by $842 during the Bush Administration. For women, median incomes fell by $427 in the last year alone. Incomes in this group fell to their lowest levels since 1997 for men, and lowest level since 2000 for women. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-2; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06]
The Bush Record On Poverty
Number of People Living in Poverty Increased by 5.4 Million Since 2000. Since 2000, the number of people in poverty has increased by 5.4 million and the poverty rate is up by 1.3 percentage points. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table B-1; Center for American Progress 8/29/06]
Number of Americans Living in Extreme Poverty Increased by 3.3 Million During the Bush Administration. The percentage of Americans living in extreme poverty, with incomes less than 50 percent of the poverty line, was the highest on record (43 percent). The number of Americans living in extreme poverty - 15.9 million - has grown by 3.3 million since 2000, and is now at its highest level since 1993. Census data also show a trend of deepening poverty among those who are poor. [Center for American Progress 8/29/06; CBPP 9/1/06]
The Bush Record Of Exploding Deficits
Amount of US Debt Increased by 120 Percent Since Bush Took Office. Since Bush took office, the amount of U.S. debt owned by foreigners has increased 120 percent from approximately $1 trillion in January 2001 to approximately $2.2 trillion in January 2006. It took 42 American Presidents and 224 years to build up that amount ($1 trillion) of foreign-held debt. [Treasury Department, 3/15/06]
Federal Debt Limit Increased by 53 Percent Since Bush Took Office. The federal debt limit has increased 53% since President Bush took office, from approximately $5.6 trillion at the end of 2000 to approximately $8.6 trillion at the end of 2006. By 2011, the President's budget would increase the debt to $11.8 trillion. Interest payments are growing faster than all other items in the Bush Administration budget. [Bureau of the Public Debt, 3/15/06; www.budget.senate.gov/democratic/charts/2006/packet_floorstatementdebtlimit031506.pdf; House Democratic Leader 9/06]
Record Surpluses to Record Deficits. Republicans have turned President Clinton's projected 10-year $5.6 billion surplus into a nearly $3 trillion deficit. When this Administration took office, it inherited a projected ten-year surplus (2002-2011) of $5.6 trillion. Based on a realistic estimate of the President's policies, that surplus has now become a $3.3 trillion deficit over the same period of time, a dramatic fiscal reversal of $8.9 trillion. [House Budget Committee, 2/2006]
The Bush Record On Taxes
Administration's 2006 Tax Agenda Increases the Deficit. The Administration's plan for tax cuts reduces revenues by $1.9 trillion over ten years (2007-2016), according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. When the cost of a ten-year repair of the AMT is factored in, the Administration's tax policies worsen the deficit by $2.7 trillion, before adding the extra cost of debt service. [House Budget Committee Democratic Staff, 3/22/06]
Making the Bush Investment Tax Cuts Permanent Would Cost $197 Billion Over Ten Years. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that making the investment tax cuts permanent would cost the government $197 billion over 10 years. [New York Times, 4/5/06]
Individuals Making Less Than $50,000 Saved an Average of Only $10 From Bush’s Capital Gains and Dividend Tax Cuts. According to Citizens for Tax Justice, the 71 percent of tax filers with adjusted gross income less than $50,000 saved an average of only $10 each from the capital gains and dividend tax cuts, adding only 2 percent to their average $425 tax deduction in 2003. [Citizens for Tax Justice, 4/5/06]
Bush Tax Cuts Heavily Favor the Wealthiest 0.1 Percent of Americans. Americans with annual incomes of $1 million or more, about one-tenth of one percent all taxpayers, reaped 43 percent of all the savings on the Bush investment tax cuts in 2003. The savings for these taxpayers averaged about $41,400 each. [New York Times, 4/5/06]
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