BUSH DANGEROUSLY OUT OF TOUCH
Just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned ~ Emperor Bush continues his
' happy talk ' while the economy stagnates
This President is dangerously out of touch with reality and The Center for
Economic Progress points out the hard facts and the truth ~ the economy has still lost more than 2 million jobs over the course of Bush's term – virtually assuring that, by the end of his term, Bush will have " the worst record on jobs since President Herbert Hoover ."
Allen L Roland
Jobs Crisis Continues
Center for American Progress 3/5/04
Just weeks after the President predicted the nation would add 320,000 jobs each month of 2004 , the Department of Labor reported this morning that "America's unemployment rate remained stuck at 5.6% in February as the economy added a paltry 21,000 positions ." Not only did the new jobs report fall short of the White House's explicit promise, but it fell short even of Wall Street's conservative expectation of 125,000 jobs . Also, nearly 8.2 million people remained out of work, and last month alone 400,000 of the jobless stopped looking for work because the economy has become so bleak. The average time they have been unemployed was 20.3 weeks – "the highest average duration of joblessness in 20 years." The already decimated manufacturing sector lost another 3,000 positions.
PRESIDENT CONTINUES HAPPY TALK:
President Bush visited Bakersfield, CA yesterday – a city with an unemployment rate of 12.8% that has added 4,400 workers to its unemployment rolls over the last 3 years – and "rhapsodized...about the possibility that a stock-car firm in [Bakersfield] will add two new jobs this year ." Bush said that the prospect that chassis maker Les DenHerder would hire two more employees was "really good news" and "a sign a lot of people are confident about our future." The event, along with five similar "conversations" held by Bush this year, was an attempt "to make the case that his tax cuts were good for the economy even though they have failed to produce the jobs he forecast." But real economic indicators suggest a much bleaker jobs picture. Nationwide, the economy has still lost more than 2 million jobs over the course of Bush's term – virtually assuring that, by the end of his term, Bush will have "the worst record on jobs since President Herbert Hoover ." As a column by American Progress economist Christian Weller notes, working families just aren't buying the Administration's rhetoric anymore .
DIVORCED FROM ECONOMIC REALITY:
A chronological look at the White House's policy response to the jobs crisis is instructive: first the Administration claimed that sending jobs U.S. jobs overseas is "a good thing" for the American economy. Then the President tried to distance himself from his own prediction that his policies would create 2.6 million jobs by 2004. Then, the Administration considered reclassifying low-wage fast food workers as "manufacturing workers" to make the statistics look better. And now, even with the tax cuts for the wealthy failing to create the jobs that it promised, the President is touring the country saying a $1 trillion plan to make the tax cuts permanent is the only economic prescription that will work.
LABOR SECRETARY LIES TO CONGRESS ABOUT JOBS REPORT:
The President's Council of Economic Advisor's released a report last month that predicted 320,000 jobs would be created this month. This week, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and was asked by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) about the projection. Chao, attempting to dodge the question, said "[the President] doesn't sign this report. The Council of Economic Advisors sings this report." In fact, the President signed the report .
NEWSFLASH - CHENEY TELLS THE TRUTH:
One top Administration official who managed to tell the truth this week about the Administration's economic policies and its effect on jobs was Vice President Dick Cheney . He said "If the Democratic policies had been pursued over the last two or three years...we would not have had the kind of job growth that we've had." And he is correct: with a net 2 million negative job growth record over the last three years, Cheney was correctly asserting that his opponents' policies would have stemmed the job loss tide.
COURT REPRIMANDS WHITE HOUSE:
As the U.S. hemorrhages manufacturing jobs due to an increased reliance on imports and outsourcing, the Administration is failing to properly administer existing programs that deal with the problem of worker dislocation . The Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, provides benefits to workers who lost their jobs because of trade agreements. The Economic Policy Institute reveals that, over the last two years, the TAA has used less than 60% of the funds it was allocated to help workers . This was due to inadequate outreach and program administration by the Department of Labor. Things were so bad a federal court reprimanded the agency for "'flaws and dysfunctions' in its administration of TAA and noted that the [Department of Labor's] 'dereliction of duty' is depriving workers of the aid they need." But, instead of trying to improve the administration of the TAA, "the President's budget proposes significant cuts to the TAA benefits program."
PRESIDENT CUTS TRAINING MONEY FOR LAID OFF WORKERS:
While the President has touted his commitment to job training , his latest budget proposes cutting funding to states used to retrain workers who have been laid off . The proposed funding level is 11% lower in actual dollars than it was in the 2002 budget. But, because so many more people are unemployed today than three years ago, the actual problem is even worse. The average dislocated worker program expenditure was $274 in 2001 but just $167 today. The budget cuts come on top of the White House's efforts to slash more than $1 billion out of job training over the last three years.
Allen Roland's weblog: http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/
Website: www.allenroland.com
ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY
