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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion January 30, 2004
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Bush's Economic Optimism Belied by Deficits, Unemployed



Visiting New Hampshire yesterday, President Bush argued on behalf of making his tax cuts permanent, saying, "government has got plenty of money."1 But in Washington, the White House announced that the Medicare law signed six weeks ago would cost 35% more than indicated.2 White House officials have maintained the $134 billion increased estimate was "understandable and relatively close."3

The president also said yesterday that the government needs "needs to stay focused and principled."4 But the administration's budget, to be unveiled next week, is expected to produce a $520 billion deficit, about $150 billion more than the deficit for 2003.

President Bush hasn't yet articulated how he'll successfully "cut the deficit in half over the next five years,"5 other than being "wise with the people's money," as announced in his State of the Union. The White House has already announced an increase in spending for homeland security by 9.7%6, a 7% increase for defense spending7, and is stumping hard to make his tax cuts permanent, an additional cost of $2 trillion over ten years, according to the non-partisan Brookings Institution.8

The president spent much time yesterday claiming his tax cuts were successful and fair, "as opposed to trying to pick or choose winners in the political debate."9 All analyses, however, show that the top 1% received almost half of the president's tax cuts, even though that group pays only 21 percent of federal taxes.10

The Washington Post characterized Bush's speech as an "economic pep talk,"11 in which the president devoted a good deal of time lauding the success of his tax cuts. Bush said his tax cuts were "working. People are finding work."12 However, the Post also reported on the facing page of Bush's speech, that a record number of jobless workers, 375,000 will exhaust their unemployment benefits tomorrow, the highest number ever recorded for a single month.13

Sources:
  1. Presidential Speech and Q & A on Economy, 1/29/04.
  2. "Bush's Aides Put Higher Price Tag on Medicare Law," New York Times, 1/30/04.
  3. "In Bush budget, cost of Medicare bill grows 35%," Associated Press, 1/30/04.
  4. Presidential Speech and Q & A on Economy, 1/29/04.
  5. 2004 State of the Union, 1/20/04.
  6. "Bush Proposes Increase in Homeland Security Funds," 1/22/04.
  7. "Bush to Seek 7 Pct Boost in U.S. Military Budget," Reuters, 1/23/04.
  8. "Key Points on Making the Bush Tax Cuts Permanent," Brookings Institute, 1/21/04.
  9. Presidential Speech and Q & A on Economy, 1/29/04.
  10. "Key Points on Making the Bush Tax Cuts Permanent," Brookings Institution, 1/21/04.
  11. "Bush Visits N.H. in the Democrats' Wake," Washington Post, 1/30/04.
  12. Ibid.
  13. "Record Number to Run Out of Unemployment Benefits," Washington Post, 1/30/04.



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