Checking the Facts, in Advance
Krugman is a whacko, but it'll be interesting to see how accurate he was.
Krugman is a whacko, but it'll be interesting to see how accurate he was.
Bush's upcoming distortions.
- Thread starter Ferocious
- Start date
I'm surprised he didn't mention Bush's brag that Homeland Security's budget is now at $30 million. All Kerry has to do is compare that to the billions spent elsewhere and that'd certainly end that repetition
Checking the Facts, in Advance
By PAUL KRUGMAN
It's not hard to predict what President Bush, who sounds increasingly desperate, will say tomorrow. Here are eight lies or distortions you'll hear, and the truth about each:
Jobs
Mr. Bush will talk about the 1.7 million jobs created since the summer of 2003, and will say that the economy is "strong and getting stronger." That's like boasting about getting a D on your final exam, when you flunked the midterm and needed at least a C to pass the course.
Mr. Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a decline in payroll employment. That's worse than it sounds because the economy needs around 1.6 million new jobs each year just to keep up with population growth. The past year's job gains, while better news than earlier job losses, barely met this requirement, and they did little to close the huge gap between the number of jobs the country needs and the number actually available.
Unemployment
Mr. Bush will boast about the decline in the unemployment rate from its June 2003 peak. But the employed fraction of the population didn't rise at all; unemployment declined only because some of those without jobs stopped actively looking for work, and therefore dropped out of the unemployment statistics. The labor force participation rate - the fraction of the population either working or actively looking for work - has fallen sharply under Mr. Bush; if it had stayed at its January 2001 level, the official unemployment rate would be 7.4 percent.
The deficit
Mr. Bush will claim that the recession and 9/11 caused record budget deficits. Congressional Budget Office estimates show that tax cuts caused about two-thirds of the 2004 deficit.
The tax cuts
Mr. Bush will claim that Senator John Kerry opposed "middle class" tax cuts. But budget office numbers show that most of Mr. Bush's tax cuts went to the best-off 10 percent of families, and more than a third went to the top 1 percent, whose average income is more than $1 million.
The Kerry tax plan
Mr. Bush will claim, once again, that Mr. Kerry plans to raise taxes on many small businesses. In fact, only a tiny percentage would be affected. Moreover, as Mr. Kerry correctly pointed out last week, the administration's definition of a small-business owner is so broad that in 2001 it included Mr. Bush, who does indeed have a stake in a timber company - a business he's so little involved with that he apparently forgot about it.
Fiscal responsibility
Mr. Bush will claim that Mr. Kerry proposes $2 trillion in new spending. That's a partisan number and is much higher than independent estimates. Meanwhile, as The Washington Post pointed out after the Republican convention, the administration's own numbers show that the cost of the agenda Mr. Bush laid out "is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion" and "far eclipses that of the Kerry plan."
Spending
On Friday, Mr. Bush claimed that he had increased nondefense discretionary spending by only 1 percent per year. The actual number is 8 percent, even after adjusting for inflation. Mr. Bush seems to have confused his budget promises - which he keeps on breaking - with reality.
Health care
Mr. Bush will claim that Mr. Kerry wants to take medical decisions away from individuals. The Kerry plan would expand Medicaid (which works like Medicare), ensuring that children, in particular, have health insurance. It would protect everyone against catastrophic medical expenses, a particular help to the chronically ill. It would do nothing to restrict patients' choices.
By singling out Mr. Bush's lies and misrepresentations, am I saying that Mr. Kerry isn't equally at fault? Yes.
Mr. Kerry sometimes uses verbal shorthand that offers nitpickers things to complain about. He talks of 1.6 million lost jobs; that's the private-sector loss, partly offset by increased government employment. But the job record is indeed awful. He talks of the $200 billion cost of the Iraq war; actual spending is only $120 billion so far. But nobody doubts that the war will cost at least another $80 billion. The point is that Mr. Kerry can, at most, be accused of using loose language; the thrust of his statements is correct.
Mr. Bush's statements, on the other hand, are fundamentally dishonest. He is insisting that black is white, and that failure is success. Journalists who play it safe by spending equal time exposing his lies and parsing Mr. Kerry's choice of words are betraying their readers.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
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http://bugmenot.com/
& as far as the orig post, it sort of irritates me when a post refers to an opinion piece as the truth or factual.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
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Type in the URL of the subscription-required web-page & you'll get a passowrd the wep page author has posted, saves you the hassle & spam of registering yourself.
So Moonbeam, I'm just curious. How exactly are you going to live with yourself if Bush wins? What will you do for the next 4 years?
Galt there felt it appropriate to slam the OP by calling his post trash so I did the same to him. You and he can guess why. But I'm curious too as to why my remark should have prompted your question. How does that post lead you to believe I'll have trouble with the next four years if Bush wins?
I think it would be a terrible tragedy if Bush wins but I don't think he will. He lost last time and I think he'll lose this time too. But if I'm wrong, well, as a nobody, it won't matter to me at all. I am the sun and the moon and the stars in the sky, the infinite light; I am the forest brook and the birds song. I am the beloved and all that I behold is her and me. But then so are you so you should know. Right?
Actually, you are reading a lot more into my post...I just happened to run across you, and the question popped into my head. You are one of the more fervent anti-Bush types on the board, and I was just curious as to where your mindset was. Sounds like you haven't considered the possibility to me.
Since you are me and I am you, life will go on, and I won't much care one way or the other.
heh heh...good article.
Was watching the news tonight and a clip was shown of the Bush rally in Colorado. Bush had the nerve to bring up that he was a compassionate conservative! I damn near choked on my sandwich laughing so hard!
Was watching the news tonight and a clip was shown of the Bush rally in Colorado. Bush had the nerve to bring up that he was a compassionate conservative! I damn near choked on my sandwich laughing so hard!
Hehe, why would I consider the question. I know the answer because I am living under Bush now.
But I am not a person who would use the words 'I don't care' because my experience tells me that people who say that are doing two things. In the first place they do care and care with great feeling, but they also instinctively feel vulnerable and deny. If you have feelings you can be hurt; that's why the really cool people are the walking dead. I believe that Bush personifies what is worst about Americans. His appeal is to the dark and dead side. He too is ever soooooooo cool. A real punk ass kid, Mr blowhard, testosterone deficient, macho pretending kid. He's not even close to being thirty five.
LunarRay
Diamond Member
- Mar 2, 2003
- 9,993
- 1
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MB,
One thing for sure... If Bush wins there will only be four more years and not eight.. we've weathered the storm thus far and I suspect we'll be able to get by another four..
Well.... so long as we don't rely on the economy or domestic and foreign policy matters...
One thing for sure... If Bush wins there will only be four more years and not eight.. we've weathered the storm thus far and I suspect we'll be able to get by another four..
Well.... so long as we don't rely on the economy or domestic and foreign policy matters...
You and me got the world by the tail. It's the kids I worry about. Bush has ruined their beautiful country and they will have to pay for his profound stupidity when it's not their fault.
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