"25 REASONS TO FEEL BAD ABOUT BUSH

[John H. Fisher]

"25 REASONS TO FEEL BAD ABOUT BUSH

Economic Indicators

1. The unemployment rate averaged 4.1 percent in 2000 and reached a 30 year
low of 3.9 percent in October 2000. Today, the unemployment rate has
increased to 5.7 percent. There are presently 8.1 million unemployed
Americans, an increase of 2.5 million compared to 2000
       
2. The number of Americans experiencing long-term unemployment-over 27
weeks-has almost doubled in the last year.
       
3. Job creation has reversed. In 2000, the year before President Bush took
office, the economy created 1.7 million new jobs. This trend has been
reversed, and the economy has lost almost 1.5 million jobs since President
Bush took office in January 2001.
       
4. Poverty is increasing. After decreasing for eight straight years and
reaching its lowest level in 25 years, the poverty rate increased from 11.3
percent in 2000 to 11.7 percent in 2001. In the first year of the Bush
administration, 1.3 million Americans slipped back into poverty, with a total
of 32.9 million Americans living in poverty in 2001.

5. Incomes are falling. After increasing every year since 1991, and reaching
an all time high in 2000, median household income in the United States fell
2.2 percent in 2001. Median incomes fell for households in every income group
in the country except for those earning over $150,000.

6. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are filing for bankruptcy. Almost
800,000 Americans filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2002. In the
second quarter of 2002, over 400,000 bankruptcies were filed in the United
States, an all-time record.

7. Mortgage foreclosures are at record highs. In the second quarter of 2002,
1.23 percent of home loans were in the foreclosure process, a record level.
Over this same time period, almost 5 percent of mortgage loans were
delinquent, up almost 20 percent from the average delinquency rate in 2000.

8. The federal budget deficit is increasing. In 2000, the year before
President Bush took office, the federal budget, excluding Social Security,
showed a surplus of $86.6 billion. The most recent figures from the
Congressional Budget Office indicate that for FY 2002, the federal budget,
excluding Social Security, will show a deficit of $314 billion.

9. This represents the largest budget decline in U.S. history, and it is the
third-largest on-budget deficit in history, exceeded in size only by the
deficits of 1991 and 1992 under the first President Bush. Health Care
Indicators

10.The number of Americans without health insurance is increasing. Between
1999 and 2000, the number of uninsured Americans fell by 600,000.

11. But this trend has reversed itself and in 2001 the number of uninsured
Americans increased by 1.4 million.

12. Over 41 million Americans - 14.6 percent of the population - had no
health insurance coverage in 2001.

13. The percentage of small businesses offering insurance to their employees
fell by 10 percent between 2000 and 2002.

14. Insurance costs increased by 12.7 percent in 2002, the second consecutive
year of double-digit increases and the largest annual increase in costs since
1990.

15. Prescription drug prices increased by almost twice the rate of inflation
in 2001.

16. For seniors, who use the most prescription drugs, cost increases were
even higher. The cost of the 50 most popular drugs for seniors increased by
7.8 percent in 2001, over three times the rate of inflation. The price of
Prilosec, the most popular drug for seniors, increased at over four times the
rate of inflation.

Crime and Drug Use Indicators

17.The crime rate is increasing. In 2000, the year before President Bush took
office, the crime rate reached its lowest level since 1972. This represented
the culmination of a 22 percent decrease in crime during the 1990s.

18. But in 2001, the crime rate increased by 2.2 percent. The murder rate
increased by 3.1 percent, the robbery rate increased by 3.9 percent, and the
rate of property crimes increased by 2.2 percent.

19.Drug use is increasing. Drug use among all Americans increased by 13
percent between 2000 and 2001, including significant increases in the use of
marijuana and cocaine. Among young adults, the percentage of drug users
increased by over 20 percent between 2000 and 2001. The number of Americans
in need of drug treatment increased from 4.7 million in 2000 to 6.1 million
in 2001.

Environmental Indicators

20.Air pollution is increasing. Recently released data indicate that the
number of times that air quality exceeded the health standard for
ground-level ozone, or smog, almost doubled between 2000 and 2002.

21.Fuel economy is declining as global warming accelerates. Automobile and
light truck fuel economy declined in 2001, reaching their lowest levels since
1980.

22. Overall, average fuel economy levels have declined by 8 percent since
reaching their peak in 1998. At the same time, 2001 was the second warmest
year on record

23. And areas across the country are experiencing their worst droughts in
decades.

24. The stock market has crashed more since George W Bush took office than
any other president in history, including the great crash of Herbert Hoover
in 1929. Actually, since Bush took office the market has gone down TWICE what
it did at the beginning of the Great Depression.

25. Since Jan 20, 2001 when George W Bush became president there has been $5
trillion dollars lost by investors in the stock market. (note- that figure is
through Sept 30 and does not include the additional $800 billion lost during
the last 10 days of the George Bush administration)." (end quotes)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/752664.asp?0cb=-11592581

"Jack" - John H. Fisher - TaxSe...@aol.com
Philadelphia, Pa - Atlantic City, NJ - West Wildwood, NJ
My Newsgroups & Boards at: http://members.aol.com/TaxService/index.html

Where Ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise!=:)