To the Point of Bankruptcy

by Dee Newman

For the past seven years Bush, as well as, McCain have been telling us "the American economy is the envy of the world . . . [that] the fundamentals of our economy are strong."

When we look at the facts, though, economic growth has actually been extremely weak under the Bush administration.

Since 1960, no administration ranks lower in economic growth than Bush's, including his father’s – which was 1.9%.

Nevertheless, it was not until February of this year when Bush signed the stimulus package that he finally admitted what most of us already knew – the economy is in real trouble and has been for a long time.

To sustain the myth, the Bush administration has barrowed and spent more than any other administration in our nation’s history – even more than the Reagan administration.

The effects of Bush’s deficit-spending have been to completely reverse the deficit-reduction of the Clinton years.

Furthermore, the massive trade deficits of the Bush years have added more than $1.5 trillion to our foreign debt.

Without China and Middle Eastern countries financing our debt the United States’ economy would already be insolvent.

The Dollar has shrunk to an all time low.

Wages have remained flat as the price of oil and food has climbed to record levels.

Inflation is on the rise.

Health-care coverage for most Americans has become increasingly precarious. Over 45 million Americans have no health care at all.

What's more, this administration has done absolutely nothing to help the average worker in this country.

Job growth has been extremely low – until this year averaging less than 900,000 jobs a year, compared to more than 2.5 million jobs a year during the Clinton administration.

As for this year, the U. S. government reported in August that the economy had lost jobs for the ninth straight month – bringing the total loss to over 700,000 jobs this year.

Bush’s only strategy has been to give out massive tax cuts, but tax cuts that heavily favored the rich and powerful – trickled down economics or as his Daddy use to say, voodoo economics.

In addition, between 2000 and 2006, the republican controlled congress gave out a record amount of pork. But, Bush did not veto or even threaten to veto one single spending bill, that is, until the Democrats took over and reduced pork by 40%.

On top of all this barrowing and spending, the Bush administration, also, gave massive handouts and tax cuts, not to the poor and hungry, but to big business (the energy companies, the defense contractors, the drug companies, the insurance companies, and yes, the financial industry), essentially everything they wanted, and all at the public's expense.

None of which produce the growth Bush promised.

And now, ”Bailouts!”

In other words – "Corporate Welfare."

Now, there is a lot of blame to go around, but it was Bush's decision to not only ignore, but also celebrate in hundreds of speeches the growth of the housing bubble. Let’s be honest, the insanity of the growth and deregulation of the mortgage market was one of the most disastrous economic mistakes in our nation's history.

The economic meltdown coupled with the billions of dollars we continue to spend on the Iraq War each month may well bring out precious country to its knees.

Borrow, borrow . . . spend, spend.

Osama bin Laden must be laughing his ass off.

As he has told us on numerous occasions since 9/11 – al Qaeda’s goal is to “bleed America to the point of bankruptcy.”

He told us in November of 2004 that al Qaeda had found it easy “to provoke and bait” the Bush administration. And, that America would suffer major human and economic losses while Bush’s buddies would rake in enormous profits.

“ The real loser is you," he said. "It is the American people and their economy."

How sad and depressing it is that the man Bush said he would capture "dead or alive" back in 2002 is still at large, and that it is his, Osama bin Laden’s words, not Bush's, that ring true, today.