Just the Facts

6 October 2003


The Failing Presidency of G.W. Bush

Campaign fundraising got a bit of a mention last week because the third quarter ended on September 30, and the candidates have to release their results to the public (are these politicians or public companies?). No surprise that Howard Dean came top of the Democrats, but even less of a surprise was Mr. Bush raising close to half of the $150-170 million his handlers want. The question is whether the GOP might do better with a different candidate.

It is far too early to discuss the November 2004 race in any meaningful term, but a look at the facts, a report card as it were, is most illuminating. Mr. Bush, a graduate of Harvard Business School, should be subject to some firm "metrics" on his job performance, as his professional school taught.

Since March 2001, the US has lost 2.6 million jobs (according to a Bloomberg story about a Labor Department report). The unemployment rate is at 6.1%. Clearly, Mr. Bush has done poorly with workers. At the same time, he hasn't done capital many favors either. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 10,646.15 on January 1, 2001, as William Jefferson Clinton was packing his bags to vacate the White House. It closed on September 30, 2003, below 9300. When Mr. Bush took office, 14.6% of Americans lacked health insurance (thanks partly to the disastrous failure of Mrs. Clinton in dealing with the problem in the mid-1990s). Today, the figure is 15.2%, some 43.6 million. Before Mr. Bush (a Republican and therefore a member of a party advocating fiscal responsibility) came to office, the US government was running surpluses that caused some to worry about how to deal with the cash. Now, the US government runs a record budget deficit on the order of $525 billion.

As Candidate Bush, nation-building was derided as a Democratic folly. As President, Mr. Bush wants $87 billion to build a new Iraq. He is so committed to this new goal that when people in North Carolina and Virginia needed plywood to protect their homes from the recent hurricane, the price had tripled because so much had been shipped to Iraq. This would be less of a worry if actual weapons of mass destruction had turned up -- even if the army had to plant them there.

Of course, the GOP operates on the principle of "Muggins Turn," meaning that there is never serious consideration given to dumping a sitting president, nor is there any real challenge to the party's anointed when the Democrats are in the White House. However, despite the glowing warm feelings from the sunshine patriots, he really hasn't done a very good job.

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