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CounterPunch
December
30, 2002
Bush's Bizzaro
Year in Review
It's the End of the World as We Know It, And W. Feels Fine
by JASON LEOPOLD
President Bush put a positive spin on the sagging
economy in his last weekly radio address of the year Saturday,
going as far as to say that so-called measures his administration
has adopted this year has actually resulted in economic growth
that continues to show signs of improvement and will only get
better in the new year. But nothing could be further from the
truth.
The nation just saw its worst holiday
shopping season in 30 years. Consumer confidence is at an all
time low. The threat of war and the continuous corporate scandals
that plague Wall Street resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial
Index falling six percent in December alone, its lowest point
since 1931, according to the New York Stock Exchange.
Since Bush took office, seven of the
nation's top corporations have filed for bankruptcy protection
and analysts are expecting dozens more in <2003.But> Bush
would have you believe that's all in the past. In his radio address
Saturday, Bush said the corporate reform bill he signed last
summer has turned CEO's into honest citizens.
"Our nation learned of scandalous
abuses by some corporate leaders, and so I signed the most sweeping
corporate reforms in more than a half a century," Bush said.
"We are strictly enforcing the laws against fraud and deception
in corporate America because workers and investors must have
confidence in America's businesses and business leaders."
Corporate reform? There's no such thing.
Corporate reform is not a priority for the Bush administration
now that a war with Iraq is dominating the front pages. Signing
the corporate reform act helped the Republicans secure votes
before the November election. But enforcing the law is a different
story. Day after day corporations, large and small, continue
to restate their earnings and millions of investors continue
to lose their retirement savings. And that's just since the bill
was passed in July.
Possibly the most obvious of the President's
lies Saturday is that the economy is recovering. A report released
earlier this month by the National Governor' Association said
that nearly every state in the country is facing a fiscal crisis.
California is facing a staggering $35 billion budget deficit.
Kentucky has scheduled an early release of 500 prison inmates
in an effort to cut costs and California Governor Gray Davis
has said he may be forced to do the same. Thousands of state
employees across the country are losing their jobs. Education,
law enforcement and other vital services face the most serious
cuts. But the president will have you believe that all is well.
The reality is that the outlook for the economy is pretty grim.
Posing another threat to the economy
because of tensions with Iraq is rising oil prices, which reached
a high of $32.72 Friday. Analysts told Reuters news service last
week they expect the price for oil to hit $35 a barrel early
next year as the United States moves closer to war. That could
have a ripple effect on the economy and drive up the price for
all kinds of goods and services, according to the Reuters report.
"I see that happening in January.
I hate to break the bad news," Gary Kaltbaum of Investors'
Edge Partners in Orlando told Reuters last week.
All these dire predictions and warning
signs and the President still wants to give a huge tax break
to the wealthy. Where are the Democrats? What happened to their
backbones? Too many months have passed without as much as a squeak
out of the Democratic leadership in Congress and the Senate.
Not one Democratic lawmaker has even attempted to take Bush to
task on his war mongering, the economy, or corporate reform,
three of the biggest issues of the past year. It's this type
of weakness that the Republicans will use to put Bush back in
office for another four years.
As Bush said in closing Saturday, "thank
you for listening and Happy New Year."
Jason Leopold
can be reached at: jasonleopold@hotmail.com
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