Top Ten Worst Consequences of Republican Economic Policies

July 2006

1)  7 million Americans remain unemployed, with an additional 4.8 million who want a job but are not counted among the unemployed.

2)  Only 121,000 jobs were created in June. Since Bush took office, the economy has posted only 16 months of job gains of 150,000 or more – the number of jobs needed to simply keep up with population growth.

3)   The Bush Administration has the slowest job growth of any administration in over 70 years.  Since January 2001, 2.9 million manufacturing jobs have been lost.

4)   There are now nearly a million unemployed workers than when Bush took office.  And the long-term unemployment rate (people unemployed for more than 26 weeks) has nearly doubled since that time.

5)   Congressional Republicans have contintually defeated Democratic attempts to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25.  If the minimum wage kept pace with inflation, it would be $9.05.

6)   The Consumer Conference Board’s Expectations Index is the lowest it has been in three years.

7)   37 million Americans are living in poverty (12.7% poverty rate is on the rise.)  5.4 million people have fallen into poverty since the beginning of the Bush Administration.

8)   45.8 million Americans have no health insurance, 6 million more than in 2000. Since then, the cost of health insurance has risen nearly 59 percent, yet workers’ wages have increased by only 12 percent.

9)   The Bush Administration is the administration with the greatest average annual decline in household income.  Since Bush took office, household income has declined by $1,670.

10)  A projected surplus of $5.6 trillion has vanished, replaced by a deficit in 2004 of $413 billion - the largest in our nation’s history; a deficit of $318 billion in 2005, and almost $3.5 trillion deficit over the next 10 years (includes extending the tax cuts, providing Alternative Minimum Tax relief, and the prescription drug benefit.)  [Source: CBO]