It is MUCH MORE significant because in 2000 we were not running a deficit. In 2005 we ran a $620 billion dollar deficit. I would say that a $620 billion dollar deficit is a bit more significant then NO DEFICIT. If the United States were a company we would be running a 28% loss.
Bush began a deficit the FIRST year he was in office and EVERY year the loss has gotten larger. Just like his two oil companies that he ran into the ground. If this is what you want for our country, you and anyone like you that attempt to defend Bush are what will eventually cause our country to fall. WE CAN NOT CONTINUE THE POLICY WE FOLLOWING. I believe I have summed it up in the preface of my book:
George W. Bush Robin Hood for the Rich
Preface
This book examines the policy changes that have taken place since George W. Bush became President of the United States. Although no amount of introspection can definitively predict the long-term impact of these policy changes, they can be examined on the basis of past events, social and economic theory and by the results and the reactions to date at home and abroad.
Regardless of how you view the way George Bush became President of the United States; no one can claim the American voters gave him a mandate for change. In November 2000 our nation was equally divided and the political atmosphere was very divisive. By 2004, in spite of President Bush’s pledge to restore a more positive atmosphere to our political process, we are even more polarized and he won reelection by about 2% of the vote. It is hard to recall a time since the Civil War when the divisions in our country were more intense. The laws that have been passed since January 2001 have moved us to the right and have been designed to benefit the wealthy of America at the expense of both the middle class and the poor. The spread between the haves and the have-nots has widened and we have turned to huge increases in debt to pay for the rapidly expanding Federal budget.
The economic impact of the Bush tax cuts is clear. The poor have received no benefit since they do not pay Federal Income taxes due to their income level. In addition, the static wage rates of the low paying jobs combined with rising costs have made the plight of the poor worse over the past five years. Middle income tax payers only received any real benefit if they had children under18 or from the elimination of the marriage penalty if both adults were employed. The alternate minimum tax provisions have actually harmed many middle income tax payers. The median benefit from the Bush tax cuts for middle income Americans has been estimated at $470 per year or less then $1.25 per day. When President Bush proposed his tax cuts Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, the two wealthiest people on earth, wrote to Mr. Bush and advised him not to cut taxes for the wealthy. They explained to the president the wealthy did not need a tax cuts and that the country had far more pressing needs for that money. Bush ignored their advice. The Chairmen of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of the Treasury in 2001 advised the president to tie his tax cuts to the available surplus and NOT to return to annual budget deficits. The president ignored them.
When we view consumer debt and personal savings rates the results are very clear - we are heading for trouble. The average family credit card balance has jumped from $3,300 in the mid 1990’s to over $8,600 in 2005. The personal savings rate is the lowest since 1933 and in December 2005 it was negative. Americans took money out of the past savings to make purchases in December 2005. Personal bankruptcies are at an all time high. The Federal deficit, after subtracting the Social Security and Medicare surpluses of about $175 Billion, is over $400 billion in 2006. The national debt has jumped from $5.7 Trillion in January 2001 to $8.3 Trillion in January 2006. OMB has estimated the National Debt at the end of the Bush term will be about $10 Trillion and the annual interest will have jumped from $230 Billion in 2001 to $500 Billion by 2010.
In December 2005, David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States said, “The current fiscal policy is unsustainable.” He went on to say, GAO simulations indicate we could be facing “rising taxes 2.5 times today’s level or spending cuts of 60%.” He said that the fiscal burden that our policies have placed on Americans amounts to $350,000 for every full-time worker.
At the same time, President Bush in his 2007 budget is proposing that his tax cuts be made permanent and the Brookings Institute released a study that shows making the tax cuts permanent will add another $2 Trillion to the national debt by 2014. Both parties selectively use statistics to justify their positions. This book will lift the fog that has been used to mask the real conditions of the United States.
On October 20, 2004 George W. Bush at a diamond–studded fund raiser in New York gave us a very clear look through the window of his soul. Mr. Bush said, “This is an impressive crowd – the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elites; I call you my base.”
George W. Bush was not seeking the highest office in our land to be president of all the people, not even the majority, just his base –the wealthy. The policies he has implemented with the cooperation of the GOP in Congress have benefited his rich base at the expense of the middle income and poor of our country.
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