digitaltoast

“I don’t know if smart people running the country will help, but we’ve tried it the other way” – Steve Six

I’m just putting a post together to try and counter some of the “Bush did a great job on the economy and now Obama is going to ruin it” messages I’m getting.

I realise, of course, that Obama isn’t Clinton, but Bush IS The Republicans. They chose and voted him in. Twice.
We don’t know how Obama is going to turn out. That’s the whole point!  

(And to answer one other, slightly off-topic question I keep getting asked (before anyone else asks): “What makes you kiss so much Obama butt?”.
Ignoring the argument about the difference between “admiring policies” and “kissing butt”, if I had to choose just one reason, it would be stem cell research.
 The difference between a man who spends money based on science, reason and research, vs voodoo, mythology and crystal healing.)
And just to prove I’m not against a bit of Obama ridicule, here’s The Now Show doing a translation from Gordon Brown into Obamese:

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I’ll tidy and flesh the post out, as I get time, but here’s the raw stats. Feel free to add comments below

http://digg.com/politics/George_W_Bush_Worst_record_of_job_creation_ever

http://jobs.stateuniversity.com/pages/17/American-Workplace-HOW-MUCH-TIME-DO-AMERICANS-SPEND-AT-WORK.html

Employees on nonfarm payrolls by major industry sector, 1955–2005

http://www.clintonbushcharts.org/main/frameset.html

http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=107&subsecID=295&contentID=252964

Bush vs. Clinton: An Economic Performance Index 

If words and numbers are your thing, here’s something that gets posted round from time to time. Often attacked, but you can’t argue facts.

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Bush- Has the worse job creation record in over 70 years with just 3.7m new jobs added to non farm payrolls.

Clinton had 22.7m new jobs.

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Bush- By the month record Bush added 53,000 new jobs.

Clinton- By the month record added 237,000 new jobs

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Clinton- When Clinton left office in 2001 the unemployment rate was 4.2%, 3.1% lower than when he took over.

Bush- The unemployment rate in December 2006 was 4.5% 0.3% higher than when Bush took over.

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Bush- Unemployment rose by 826,000 under Bush.

Clinton- Unemployment fell by 3.3 million underr Clinton.

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Real (inflation-adjusted) average hourly earnings have grown 21% slower under Bush than Clinton.

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Bush- Real median household income has Fallen $1,273 under Bush.

Clinton- Under Clinton it Grew by $5,825.

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Bush- Poverty rate has risen by 1.3% or 5.4 Million More people are poor since Bush took over.

Clinton- Under Clinton the poverty rate Fell by 3.5% or declined by 6.4 Million people.

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Bush- THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE “WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE” ROSE by >>>”6.8 MILLION”<<< since Bush took office!

Clinton-The number of people Without Health Insurance fell in Clintons last 2 years.

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Bush- Deficit has GROWN under Bush by $1.5 TRILLION.

Clinton-Deficit shrank and turned into a SURPLUS of $62.9 BILLION under Clinton.

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BUsh- Public dept as a percentage of GDP has Increased by 5.5 percentage points under Bush.

Clinton- Public dept was Reduced by 16.4 percentage points under Clinton.

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I like this cartoon from Huffington Post

 
Incidentally, we have our own whackos here in the UK. From this week’s Have Your Say, [Bradgate5] writes:

It was Thatcher that ruined the UK. We are still feeling the fallout from the Thatcher years, the split families, social unrest, poverty and declining industries. They all came directly from Thatcher’s election on 3rd May 1979. That government left a desperate legacy that the UK may never climb out of.

Short memory of the 1970s there! Clearly the 3 day week, strike, blackouts, unrest and union control of the UK passed Bradgate5’s notice…worse still, he got the top recommendation.

And finally – I know it’s a bit old, but in case you’ve not seen it, here’s G W Bush’s resume:

George W. Bush
The White House, USA

Past Work Experience:

I ran for Congress and lost.

I bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas; the company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team, in a sweetheart deal and built a stadium using taxpayer money.

With my father’s help and name, I was elected Governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR

I changed pollution laws in favor of the power and oil companies and made TX the most polluted state in the US. And replaced Houston over L.A. as the most smog-ridden city in America.

Cut taxes and bankrupted TX government to the tune of billions of dollars in borrowed money.

I set the record for most executions by a Governor in US history.

I became US President after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes with the help of major Enron money and my father’s appointments to the Supreme Court.

PRESIDENTIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

I attacked and overtook two countries.

I spent the US surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in US history. I set an economic record for private bankruptcies in any 12-month period.

I set the all time record for the biggest drop in history of the US stock market.

I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.

I set the record for most days on vacation in any one year.

After taking the entire month of August off, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

I set the record for most campaign fundraising trips by a US president!

I set the records for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in US history and refused to intervene when oil industry corruption was revealed.

I have cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.

I set the all time record for the largest number of people worldwide to protest my policies in public venues (15 million) shattering the record for protest against anyone in world history.

I have dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

I have made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

I am the first president of US to have all 50 states simultaneously go bankrupt.

I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any country in history.

I am the first president to order a preemptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation, and besides that I did so against the will of the United Nations.

I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US.

I am the first president to have the UN remove the US from the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the US from the World Court.

I refused to allow inspectors access to prisoners of war and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the all-time US and world record-holder for receiving the largest corporate campaign donations.

My largest campaign contributor and one of my best friends, Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in US history.

My political party used the Enron Private jets and their corporate attorneys to assure my success with the Supreme Court during the 2000 election.

I am the first president in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

In the past 18 months since the! World Trade Center attack, I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in US history.

In a little over two years, I have created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided since the Civil War.

I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and have turned every single economic category downward, all in less than two years.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES

I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine. And my Texas driving record has been erased and is unavailable.

I was AWOL from the National Guard during the Vietnam War.

I refuse to take a drug test or answer any questions about drug use.

All records or minutes from meetings I, or my Vice-president, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable to the public.

These are just a few of my accomplishments as President, for inquiries and more information, my father can be reached! here at the Carlyle Group offices, where he and James Baker are helping to divide up the spoils of the US-Iraq War and planning for the next assault.