Republicans - Eight Years of Devastation

On November 2, 2006, as we concluded the sixth year of the Republican reign with their control of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, I examined what they had wrought. If you wish to read that piece in its original form, it can be found here.

For those who don't want to bother reading the original I paraphrase what I wrote: As Bush was sworn in on January 20, 2001 the country was at peace. Democracy was sweeping the globe; moderate democratic governments were in power in South America, and in much of the globe including Thailand. Iraq was contained with sanctions and no fly zones, and in Iran it’s youth was clamoring for reform, and had elected as its President, the moderate, Mohammad Khatami. North Korea was a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and had admitted inspectors into its closed society. It had negotiated the “Sunshine Policy” with South Korea, which led to a lessening of tension, and we were witnesses to relatives from the divided nation meeting each other, amid hugs and tears for the first time in decades. In Thailand a democratically elected government ruled the country.

Six years later, as of 11/2/2006, we had extreme left wing governments in power in Venezuela and Peru. In Thailand the democratically elected government had been overthrown by a military coup and a military dictatorship reigned, without a murmur of protest from our government.

In Palestine the radical Hamas had been elected.

Iraq lay in ruins as the death toll of our troops mounted and the total casualty figures were withheld from us. Afghanistan, which was the one and only success of the Administration, was back slipping as a result of neglect, and it looked like a resurgent Taliban might yet turn that unhappy country into another Vietnam.

In Iran, Khatami was replaced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the youth who once clamored for reform, clamored for atomic power and cheered the madman. Any hope that the youth would successfully push for reform went down the drain.

Korea had left the NPT, kicked out the inspectors and rather than forswearing an atomic bomb bragged about having one. It probably did not, but it looked like that if we “stayed the course” in this theater, it undoubtedly would have one before long.

In the meantime Russia’s atomic weapons were left unguarded and it was a more likely source for such weapons falling into terrorist’s hands than any of the rogue states, but negotiations to safeguard this danger had been all but abandoned.

When it came to terrorism all attempts by the terrorists to attack our homeland were thwarted before the Republicans gained ascendancy. In the years immediately preceding that ascendancy, during the Clinton Administration, the terrorists tried again and again to attack our homeland. They attacked the World Trade Center but it was unsuccessful. They planned to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously; to attack and blow up UN Headquarters; to blow up FBI Headquarters; the Israeli Embassy in Washington; Boston airport; the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge in NY. They were thwarted each time and without the use of torture or illegal wiretaps. And then Republicans gained power and 9/11 happened and somehow they reaped benefit from it. It shows that they are good at one thing. PROPAGANDA!!! How can one reap credit for failure?

On the home front Republicans inherited a Budget Surplus. The federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion and the cumulative National debt stood at 5.7 trillion. Even though during the previous twelve years of Republican rule preceding the Clinton Administration, the Federal debt had quadrupled, the White House and the Congressional Budget office projected that the National debt of 5.7 trillion would be retired in ten years. No one questioned these projections and the Republican Administration, expressed fear that without a tax cut for the most affluent, the surplus would become too large. Well, we didn’t have to worry about that any more. The cumulative national debt rose to 8.5 trillion by 2006. While huge sums were stolen, laws were written by lobbyist for their clients, instead of by legislators for the American people, and pork was rampant with appropriations for bridges to nowhere. Citizens Against Government Waste calculated that pork barrel spending exploded from 1,439 projects worth $10 billion in 1995 to 13,997 worth $27.3 billion in 2005. How did they propose to remedy this mess? They told us our entitlements cost too much money. The said we couldn’t afford Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid anymore or loans and grants for needy college students.

In the meantime wages were stagnating. In the years 2000 to 2005 total compensation for workers, which includes wages, health insurance and pension benefits, declined 2.5% as a percent of gross domestic product, according to the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis. This contrasted with the 1990s when Workers’ share of the economy grew by 2.3%. What made this even worse was that it happened while productivity was increasing rapidly.

As for unemployment, an area where Republicans were bragging about the low rate, it appeared that in 2000 just before Republicans seized the Presidency and enacted their “stimulating” tax cuts, the unemployment rate stood at 4%. By 2003 it was up to 6%. It was finally down to 4.5% by 2006, which they claimed showed how well things were working. It took them 6 years to get it close to where it was when they seized power. When Walmart, in 2006, offered it’s extremely low paying jobs without benefits, 25,000 potential employees vied for 325 available jobs. On another occasion in ’06, 15,000 people lined up to try to snag one of the 400 available jobs.

Even the people who supposedly were the beneficiaries of the Bush policies did not fare well. The Investor Class, whose taxes had been slashed again and again, had not benefited. Between the ascendancy of a Republican President to go with a Republican Congress, investors actually lost money. At the close of the market on January 19, 2001, the day before Bush took office, The S&P 500 which tracks 500 of the largest companies and is a much more meaningful indicator than the Dow, stood at 1,342 at the beginning of the Republican ascendancy. On October 30, 2006 it was at 1,378, a gain of 36 points or 2%. Factoring in inflation, investors in an S&P index fund lost 13%. If we look at the NASDAQ we find the respective figures to be 2,770 and 2,359 a loss of 411 points or a loss of 14%. When inflation is factored in that was a whopping 29% loss.

Let us see how much worse things have gotten since then. There has been some improvement in Iraq, but things have markedly deteriorated in Afghanistan, and Pakistan has been added to the crisis areas. Israel is at war with Hamas. Korea and Iran have become more dangerous, and our relations with Russia have reached a stage of confrontation. Africa is aflame.

On the domestic front Republicans have managed us into a severe recession and possibly a depression, and the national debt as of 02/19/2009, the latest available figures from the Treasury Department, is almost 11 Trillion, up from under 8.5 trillion only a little less than 3 years earlier.

As for unemployment it is now at 7.6 percent, up from 4.5% four years ago, and this doesn’t count the underemployed and those too discouraged to continue looking.

As for the investor class the S&P stood at 1,342 when The Republicans became ascendant. It now, as of 2/20/09, stands at 770 a loss of 572 or 42.6%, and that is without an inflation factor.

And now that the American people have removed a Republican from the Presidency and left them depleted in Congress, they have only one answer. Oppose, obstruct, and prevent action to alleviate the disaster they have caused. They don’t just vote against necessary action; they obstruct action. They will not allow an up and down vote, and they filibuster (i.e. they talk and talk and talk, so no vote can be taken). And the three “moderate Senators,” who provide the votes needed to stop the obstruction, only lend their votes in return for a watering down of effective action. They demand their pound of flesh. They want Obama to fail even if that means disaster for The American people.

Next time I will discuss the stimulus program passed by Congress and analyze its provisions. I will show that the three "moderate" Republican Senators did not improve the bill but substantially weakened it. I will also discuss some of the unfounded criticism that have been leveled against it, and show that some it is simply misplaced, some of it distorts and some of it is based on outright lies.