We Can't Afford GB

George Bush's convention speech included many positive sound bites. There were even moments when it sounded like he had changed parties.

Mr. Bush's record, though, is full of occasions in which his actions and policies are contrary to his promises. Look back to his 2000 election promises. You don't have to remember or research them. His 2004 convention speech was just a repeat of his 2000 speech with about 17 Democratic promises added for the "fence riders".

In 2000 he promised to care for the elderly. Instead he has increased medicare costs to the elderly by 17%. He and the Republican congress closed the "drug tunnel" from Canada, increasing the costs of medicines for our aged and infirmed citizens by several billion dollars every year. Even several drug company execs have stated that many of the medicines purchased from Canada were either the same drug or equivalent in effectiveness and safety as those sold in the U.S. I'm sure that made Mr. Rumsfeld and his fellow stock holders at G.D. Searle & Company very happy.

In 2000 Mr. Bush promised education reform through his "No Child Left Behind" program. It sounded good. Congress approved it. The states were required to uphold it. But Mr. Bush never released the money to the states until there were threats of State vs Federal lawsuits. That's why states had to either find more tax dollars, borrow millions, or cut some educational programs for a couple years. Now Mr. Bush is thinking of cutting the funding for NCLB, because the states have proven, in his mind, that they don't need it!

In 2000 Mr. Bush promised major steps toward making the U.S. energy independent. Only after he was elected did he reveal that his approach to securing that independence was to explore oil deposits in our nation's wildlife and wilderness areas. Of course. It would be cheaper for his oil buddies, like Dick Cheney's Haliburton, or the Unocal Corp., where both he and his father had been on the Board of Directors until recently. Since it's public land they wouldn't have to pay royalties to land owners for the oil they removed. They could keep that money in their own pockets.

In 2000 Mr. Bush promised to lower health care costs for Americans. He has done nothing in that regard except to promote legislation mandating a maximum amount anyone could receive from a malpractice lawsuit. Actually it would be a quite minimal amount for the burden many experience of poor medical treatment. This is a main reason insurance companies and doctors support him. That would keep more money in the insurance companies' coffers and lower malpractice premiums doctors now pay. It would do nothing, though, to lower costs or improve benefits to patients.

He also promised a stronger economy in his 2000 campaign. Instead, he and the Republican Congress provided incentives to companies to either move entire operations or at least outsource jobs overseas and to Mexico. Since he took office the U.S. has lost nearly 23 million jobs.

The few jobs gained back this past year are due more to natural market fluctuations than to anything Mr. Bush or the Republicans in Congress have done. Those jobs tend to pay on average over $9,000 less per year than the jobs those people had before. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the Department of Labor and Industry, over 61% of people who now hold minimum wage jobs are over 21 years old; many of them over 30 years old. At that age they aren't "first time job holders" like Mr. Bush claims.

When he took office Mr Bush received a growing and stable economy with a $430 billion surplus. He has since transformed that into a $550 billion deficit - a $980 billion spending spree in only four years that your children and their childrens' children will have to pay for.

Many people say they support George Bush because, "he seems like an honest man". Delude yourself if you want. For those that study the facts, though, GB is anything but honest. We can't afford him for another four years.