DNC: Cheney Can't Show the Show-Me State Why Bush Economy Has ...

[MaineDem]

For Immediate Release
January 6, 2006

Contact: Amaya Smith - 202-863-8148


Cheney Can't Show the Show-Me State Why Bush Economy Has Left Missourians Behind

Washington, DC - As part of the Bush Administration's new high-powered public
relations campaign, Vice President Cheney delivered a speech on the state of
the economy today in Kansas City. Cheney's speech is part of an Administration
effort to paint a rosy picture of the nation's economic outlook that stands in
stark contrast with the harsh economic realities facing most Missourians.

"No matter how hard Vice President Cheney tries, the people of the Show-Me
State know the impact of the President's failed economic leadership," said
Democratic National Committee Spokesperson Amaya Smith. "No PR campaign can
change what households in Missouri and across America are confronting every
time they sit down to pay the bills and balance their checkbooks. Wages have
fallen, while home heating bills, health insurance premiums, and college
tuition have all skyrocketed.

"Worse still, the President's reckless fiscal policies have produced record
deficits as far as the eye can see. Yet, instead of restoring the fiscally
responsible policies pursued by Democrats and seeking tax fairness for the
middle class, President Bush is insisting on extending his irresponsible tax
cuts and corporate giveaways for his special interest friends. No wonder 59% of
Americans disapprove of President Bush's handling of the economy.

"The people of Missouri deserve better. The time has come for Republicans in
Washington to join Democrats in fighting to increase workers' wages, cut out of
control health care costs, give every American the opportunity to get a college
education, help Americans heat their homes this winter, and end the culture of
corruption that for too long has kept the government from helping Americans
confront these challenges."

The Challenges Facing Americans and the People of Missouri

Winter Heating Costs Have Risen by $438, or 79%. The cost of heating fuels has
skyrocketed, leaving American families unprepared to deal with unprecedented
increases in heating bills. The cost of heating a home for the winter has
increased by $438, or 79%, since the winter of 2001-2002. Administration, Short Term Energy Outlook, 12/6/05]

MISSOURI FACT: Missourians' Home Heating Bills To Jump 25 to 40% This Winter.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch home heating bills are expected to
rise 25% to 40% in Missouri this winter.

Working Families' Wages Continue to Decline. Working families are working
harder and earning less today than they were at the start of this
Administration. Average household income for working families when adjusted for
inflation was $46,058 in 2000 and has declined to $44,389 today. Bureau; Bureau of Labor Statistics]

MISSOURI FACT: Household Incomes In Missouri Have Dropped $1577 since 2000.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in Missouri
dropped from $45,565 in 2000 to $43,988 in 2004, a decline of $1577. Census Bureau]

More American Families Live in Poverty. The number of Americans living in
poverty has increased each year this Administration has been in office and is
now nearly 20% higher today than in 2000. Roughly 37 million Americans were
living in poverty at the end of 2004 - an increase of 5.4 million over the 2000
level.

MISSOURI FACT: More Missourians Living In Poverty. According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, the percentage of people living in poverty in Missouri jumped from 9.7%
in 2003 to 10.9 in 2004.

Number of Uninsured Americans Has Increased Each Year. Almost 46 million
Americans are living without health insurance. After decreasing at the end of
the 1990s, the number of Americans without health insurance has increased from
39.8 million in 2000 to 45.8 million in 2004.

MISSOURI FACT: Number of uninsured up 180,000 in Missouri since 2000. In
Missouri, 663,420 people (12% of the population) lacked health insurance in
2004, an increase of 183,115 since 2000.

Health Care Premiums Up More Than 50% Since Bush Took Office. The cost of
family health insurance has skyrocketed 57% since President Bush took office.
The typical American family must now pay $9,950 per year for health insurance
compared with $6,348 in 2000.

College Tuition On The Rise. Tuition and fees at four-year private universities
have increased by almost $1,200 or 5.9% in 2005 and 32% since 2001. The
increase has been even more dramatic at four-year public universities, where
tuition and fees increased by 7.1% this past year and 57% since President Bush
took office.

###

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.
org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

1. Facts have never stood in the way of their message...

why should they change anything now?

Good post.

[chat_noir]

2. Missouri Republican governor Matt Blunt (son of Roy Blunt)

"Show-Me" the state of Missouri , and I will show you a microcosm of George Bush's domestic agenda for America . Under Governor Matt Blunt, Missouri is rapidly implementing laws reminiscent of the Gilded Age, when corporations ruled and the people were disposable cogs in their profit-making machines. Virtually each day I pick up the newspaper, Blunt has advanced this despicable agenda still further. Watching my former home state (and current neighboring state) become an ally to the American plutocracy in their bid to sweep away the remains of the progressive, humanitarian advances of the Twentieth Century leaves me deeply sickened and saddened.

From the plutocratic point of view, businesses and corporations simply cannot make their owners, executives, or shareholders obscenely wealthy enough without breaking the backs of the poor and working class. For the affluent to afford multiple multi-million dollar homes, cars that cost more than many homes, yachts, trophy wives, and jet-setting lifestyles, the poor must remain extremely poor. Freeing businesses (and corporations) of pesky impediments like paying taxes, having to negotiate with labor unions, and legal accountability for death or injury resulting from their products or services are essential to ensuring astronomical profits to fulfill the extravagant "needs" of the rich. Cutting "socialist government hand-outs" to the poor enables the plutocrats to give themselves additional tax breaks. In the New Corporatcracy, the elderly, the working class, victimized consumers, the homeless, minorities, the disabled, the sick, and the poor will increasingly discover that they are on their own as Social Darwinists implement "survival of the fittest (with the fattest wallets) policies through the government.

Why worry about human suffering when there are profits to be had?

While many of the poor scramble to obtain basic health services, corporations and businesses are basking in the radiant sunshine of Matt Blunt's state level corporatacracy. $250 million in tax credits for businesses create a virtual paradise. In March, Governor Blunt signed a law making it more difficult for employees to qualify for worker's comp benefits. Under Blunt, collective bargaining rights for state employees are a thing of the past. Is this a precursor to similar laws aimed at the private sector? Handing a gift-wrapped package to the insurance industry, Blunt allowed several executives from major insurance companies help him interview the finalists to become head of the Missouri Department of Insurance, the state department that acts as a watchdog over the insurance industry. Some of the interviewees were also Blunt campaign donors. Blunt has made great strides toward a corporatacracy in his short tenure. Remember the Chicago song "Only the Beginning"?

more at...

http://www.metaphoria.org/ac4t0507f.html