Squandering Prosperity

Can Bush get away with it? Can he turn in the most dismal economic performance of any president in decades and still win re-election?

Perhaps. The economy will have to loom larger in voters' minds than the amorphous war on terrorism, in which, we can be certain, the administration will find new threats and exploit old ones. The Democrats need a candidate who stands for homeland and defense security, and—in contrast to Bush—economic security as well. And their candidate needs an economic agenda that plausibly addresses Americans' anxieties about their health care, their jobs and their children's educations. A program that merely contains economic insecurity rather than attacking it will only guarantee a second term for Bush.

Presidental Term and Jobs created per month:

Truman 1: 60,000
Truman 2: 113,000
Eisenhower 1: 58,000
Eisenhower 2: 15,000
Kennedy: 122,000
Johnson: 206,000
Nixon 1: 129,000
Nixon/Ford: 105,000
Carter: 218,000
Reagan 1: 109,000
Reagan 2: 224,000
G. Bush: 52,000
Clinton 1: 242,000
Clinton 2: 235,000
G.W. Bush: 69,000 jobs DESTROYED per month

- Since Bush signed the biggest tax cut in American history in June of 2001, more then 1.7 million jobs have been destroyed in the economy.

- Even if Bush's new tax cut does create 1 million new jobs by the end of 2004, as he claims, his presidency will still have destroyed nearly 3 million jobs.

- Bush is about to become the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a 4-year economy that destroyed jobs.

- The only two Republican presidents to fail in reelection bids were named Hoover and Bush.

Average Monthly Job Creation Since Truman:

Democrat Presidents: 171,000 jobs created per month
Republican Presidents: 78,000 jobs created per month via buzzflash and common dreams

Federal Deficit 3 Times Higher Than 2002

An economic 'menu of pain'

GOP outspends Democrats in states posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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