In a breath-taking case of Newspeak, the Bush campaign has hit the trail with a new message: 'Results Matter.' [Bush Back on the Trail 07/30/2004 subscription]
How stupid do they think Americans are? Could Michael Moore actually be right?
I hope not, because if this administration is judged on results, America is going to tell them to hit the road, no matter what sort of spin they try to sell on the trail.
The current issue of Business Week just asked "Are You Better Off Than 4 Years Ago?" and gives us a measure of some results so far:
| BETTER OFF NOW THAN FOUR YEARS AGO? | |
| From 2000 to 2004, households have been hit with rising costs. But they have also made some gains: | |
 |
|
| WORSE OFF | BETTER OFF |
|
|
| Gallon of gasoline: +23% | Nominal median family income: +8%, (but the real wages of workers have decreased,-2.6% in June) |
|
|
| Family health-care premium: +49%* (*2000-2003, up another 10+% this year) |
Monthly mortgage payments on a $250,000 mortgage: -20% ( but median house prices have risen 39% nationally, so mortgage payments are higher, not lower) |
|
|
| Tuition, 4-year public college: +40% | Average federal income and payroll tax rate: -2.3 % (the payroll tax rate did not go down and most people pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes so this has a minimal effect for most taxpayers - and note that it's an average so it strongly overstates the improvement for middle- and low-income taxpayers) |
|
|
| Day care and nursery school: +19% | Revolving debt as as percent of aftertax income: -0.5% (that's a big help, right?) |
|
|
| Property taxes: +30% | Overall inflation rate: -1.5% (insignificant - compare this with the reality of the left column in this table) |
|
|
| Business Week (Cover story 08/02/04 p.36 subscription) | |
Clearly this adminstration's fiscal policies are a total flop (not to mention the War on Terror, trade, immigration, etc.)
Continued on the next page
Page 1 — Page 2
Article comments
1 - Dirtgrain
Watch out for teacher salaries. My salary has not kept pace with inflation over our last three contracts.
What's up with tuition? Every year I read about nine or ten percent increases. Inflation is typically three or four percent. How are we supposed to keep up? And if our salaries and wages are going down (with the value of the dollar), who is going to be able to afford college? Michigan has a law that supposedly punishes publich universities for excessive tuition increases. Part of the punishment is that if my school raises tuition by too much, then I can't deduct my tuition from my taxes. Sorry to stray off topic, but as far as tuition goes, we are falling into a hole.
P.S. Instead of "Results Matter," the title of Bush's campaign should be Looting America: Greed, Corruption, Villains
and Victims.2 - Dirtgrain
"Adjusted for inflation, the income of all Americans fell by 9.2 percent from 2000 to 2002, according to the new IRS data" from Americans' income shrank 9%, IRS says Risks no longer confined to the wealthy.