Are You Better Off?
In the 1980 election cycle, Ronald Reagan asked the now famous question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” If you weren’t, the implication was that you should vote for him.
I’d like to pose that question to voters today. Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
A large number of conservatives vote Republican for one reason only: Abortion. Since President Bush has had a Republican congress, has significant progress been made in this arena? Not really.
There have been, based on averages and estimates from the Center for Disease Control, 5.5 million abortions in the United States since Bush took office. To which my conservative readers will object, “that’s because we need a few more Supreme Court justices appointed by a Republican president!”
But, here’s an interesting tidbit for you to chew on: Did you know that of the 7 Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of Roe v. Wade, 5 of them were appointed by Republican presidents? Of the 2 dissenters, one was appointed by Nixon and the other by Kennedy.
Another interesting fact: Abortion rates decreased during the Clinton administration and have jumped significantly since Mr. Bush took office.
So, are things better for pro-lifers than they were four years ago? Well, not for at least 5.5 million of them.
So, take abortion out of the mix. How are we doing otherwise?
A recent CBS News poll showed that, "65% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track" – the lowest confidence level in a decade.
Under President Clinton, poverty fell by 25.2 percent since 1992. According to the most recent data from the Census Bureau, under President Bush poverty has risen by 7.1 percent. For the first time in 13 years, the poverty rate grew two years in a row, jumping nearly a percentage point from 2000 to 2002 (from 11.3 percent to 12.1 percent). The number of poor grew to 34.6 million people in 2002, including 12.1 million children.
So, are things better for the poor than they were four years ago? Not for at least 34.6 million of them.
There are more people unable to find work than four years ago. The current unemployment rate is 5.6 percent. Four years ago, the national unemployment average was 4.0 percent. Clinton created 22.7 million jobs. Under President Bush, 1.1 million jobs have disappeared.
So, are things better for the unemployed than they were four years ago? Not for 1.1 million of them.
But, some of us do still have jobs. And some of us are even getting new jobs. Unfortunately, wage growth has fallen dramatically over the past four years. In 2000, median weekly wages grew by 4.9 percent. This fell to a mere 2.0 percent in 2003. Adjusted for inflation that means that wages fell slightly in real terms in 2003 for the first time since 1996. For those of us lucky to have found work, the recovery is of questionable value in an upside down economy where profits have soared yet families' benefits are nullified by the rapidly rising costs of housing, education, and medical care – all of which jumped at double digit rates.
So are working Americans better off than they were four years ago? For the majority of them, they are clearly worse off.
When President Clinton left office, the U.S. government had a surplus of $23 billion, which brought the total budget surplus to $176 billion. This past January, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the government will be $477 billion in the red this year.
So, is America better off financially than it was four years ago? No, it’s screaming toward bankruptcy.
Speaking of bankruptcy, personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high. AP reports, "Personal bankruptcies rose 2.8 percent in the 12 months ending March 31," with 1.6 million new bankruptcy filings.
But, wait, don’t get discouraged yet. Our president tells us we’re safer now than we were four years ago. Al Quaeda has been “scattered”, Saddam Hussein defeated and lead away in shame. With two wars that have left thousands of civilians and soldiers dead – on both sides – we are far safer today, Mr. Bush assures us.
If you believe that, than you obviously haven’t been paying attention to the terror alerts and the administration plans to postpone the election in the event of a terrorist attack by a “scattered” and “defeated” aggressor.
So, again, the question is: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” If you’re not, than maybe it’s time for a change.
I’d like to pose that question to voters today. Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
A large number of conservatives vote Republican for one reason only: Abortion. Since President Bush has had a Republican congress, has significant progress been made in this arena? Not really.
There have been, based on averages and estimates from the Center for Disease Control, 5.5 million abortions in the United States since Bush took office. To which my conservative readers will object, “that’s because we need a few more Supreme Court justices appointed by a Republican president!”
But, here’s an interesting tidbit for you to chew on: Did you know that of the 7 Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of Roe v. Wade, 5 of them were appointed by Republican presidents? Of the 2 dissenters, one was appointed by Nixon and the other by Kennedy.
Another interesting fact: Abortion rates decreased during the Clinton administration and have jumped significantly since Mr. Bush took office.
So, are things better for pro-lifers than they were four years ago? Well, not for at least 5.5 million of them.
So, take abortion out of the mix. How are we doing otherwise?
A recent CBS News poll showed that, "65% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track" – the lowest confidence level in a decade.
Under President Clinton, poverty fell by 25.2 percent since 1992. According to the most recent data from the Census Bureau, under President Bush poverty has risen by 7.1 percent. For the first time in 13 years, the poverty rate grew two years in a row, jumping nearly a percentage point from 2000 to 2002 (from 11.3 percent to 12.1 percent). The number of poor grew to 34.6 million people in 2002, including 12.1 million children.
So, are things better for the poor than they were four years ago? Not for at least 34.6 million of them.
There are more people unable to find work than four years ago. The current unemployment rate is 5.6 percent. Four years ago, the national unemployment average was 4.0 percent. Clinton created 22.7 million jobs. Under President Bush, 1.1 million jobs have disappeared.
So, are things better for the unemployed than they were four years ago? Not for 1.1 million of them.
But, some of us do still have jobs. And some of us are even getting new jobs. Unfortunately, wage growth has fallen dramatically over the past four years. In 2000, median weekly wages grew by 4.9 percent. This fell to a mere 2.0 percent in 2003. Adjusted for inflation that means that wages fell slightly in real terms in 2003 for the first time since 1996. For those of us lucky to have found work, the recovery is of questionable value in an upside down economy where profits have soared yet families' benefits are nullified by the rapidly rising costs of housing, education, and medical care – all of which jumped at double digit rates.
So are working Americans better off than they were four years ago? For the majority of them, they are clearly worse off.
When President Clinton left office, the U.S. government had a surplus of $23 billion, which brought the total budget surplus to $176 billion. This past January, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the government will be $477 billion in the red this year.
So, is America better off financially than it was four years ago? No, it’s screaming toward bankruptcy.
Speaking of bankruptcy, personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high. AP reports, "Personal bankruptcies rose 2.8 percent in the 12 months ending March 31," with 1.6 million new bankruptcy filings.
But, wait, don’t get discouraged yet. Our president tells us we’re safer now than we were four years ago. Al Quaeda has been “scattered”, Saddam Hussein defeated and lead away in shame. With two wars that have left thousands of civilians and soldiers dead – on both sides – we are far safer today, Mr. Bush assures us.
If you believe that, than you obviously haven’t been paying attention to the terror alerts and the administration plans to postpone the election in the event of a terrorist attack by a “scattered” and “defeated” aggressor.
So, again, the question is: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” If you’re not, than maybe it’s time for a change.
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