Untitled Document
If you ever wanted to see how badly 'conservatives' have been shaking
the silver out of our pockets in the past six years, this list is it.
Had enough of 'conservative' rip-off artists in Washington? Here's
a list of the worst offenses we've seen since 2001.
1) The Bush administration has created the biggest budget
deficit, debt, and trade imbalance ever while cutting funding for domestic needs
like education, Medicare, and Medicaid.
2) The administration’s tax cuts favor the rich, no
matter how you look at it. About 87 percent of tax benefits go to the 14 percent
of households with incomes above $100,000. Households with incomes below $75,000
-- three-quarters of all households -- get just 5 percent of those benefits.
3) Bush signed the largest corporate tax break package in
two decades, $136 billion. After World War II, corporations paid half the cost
of running the federal government. Today, they pay 7%.
4) The price of gas doubled under Bush. The top oil companies
earned $25 billion during the quarter that Hurricane Katrina struck compared
to $50 billion for all of 2004. Former Exxon-Mobil, CEO, Lee Raymond got a $400
million exit package.
5) The Republican Congress has voted against every minimum
wage increase, except the one linked to getting rid of the estate tax for the
rich. The real income of the average American household has fallen five years
in a row.
6) House Republicans chopped education programs by $14.3 billion
-- the highest cuts ever. College tuition has increased 34 percent since Bush
took office.
7) Since 2001, average monthly health care premiums have risen
from $342 to $603. Annual deductibles have doubled. Today 46 million Americans
(including 8.4 million children) have no health insurance, an increase of 6
million since Bush took office.
8) The Senate approved the biggest bankruptcy law in a quarter
of a century. Republicans voted AGAINST protecting senior citizens, the seriously
ill, military members, veterans, and employees.
9) In 1983, the Greenspan Commission put Social Security measures
in place that created a $1.7 trillion surplus in the system. This administration
borrowed against and cut that to $153 billion while blaming citizens for not
dying young enough.
10) In 2005, Americans paid $4.3 billion in withdrawal fees
at ATM’s and $16 billion to credit card companies in late fees alone.
Republicans have suggested no remedies.
Nomi Prins is a senior fellow at the public policy center
Demos and author of Other
People's Money and Jacked:
How "Conservatives" are Picking your Pocket (Whether you voted for
them or not).