Bush: A Do-Nothing President for the Poor

The abject failure of President George W. Bush’s international policy has longed obscured the damage he and his policies are doing to working Americans.  Backstopped by a media fixated on an overheated housing market and increasing gas prices, many have overlooked other indicators that the Bush economy is creating more space between wealthy and poor.  While his inability, some say unwillingness, to help low-income Americans is no surprise to most.  There are millions of people around the country who have seen their jobs go oversees, access to health care and education limited, and general fiscal well-being decrease or evaporate.  Despite this reality, Bush defenders continue to advocate his economic policy plan.  That’s unfortunate because the facts on the ground clearly indicate that there is a growing segment of America that is in big economic trouble.

The latest evidence of Bush’s failure to look out for those most in need can be seen in Census Bureau data on the 2004 poverty rate.  According to their statistics, the nations poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase.  Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty, up 1.1 million people from 2003. 

Four consecutive increases in the poverty rate are ridiculous, given that Bush inherited an economy from President Bill Clinton that drove down poverty.  Clinton inherited an economy in far worse shape than current President Bush.  Of course, Bush defenders use the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as a major reason why America’s economy has underperformed.  That is a tired excuse that overlooks bad policies heaped on top of each other that have driven the poor and near-poor into more distress that can be fixed with a poorly conceived tax cuts or slick marketing of occasional good economic news.

Most knowledgeable observers argue that official government poverty statistics actually undercount poverty rates, so it’s safe to say that things are actually worse than reported.  In other words, government-issued poverty data is a minimal indicator.  The rate is much higher in certain groups. Black poverty generally runs three times the White rate.  For example, while more than 20 percent of single mothers with no male in the home live in poverty, more than half of all Black single mothers live in poverty.

Bush’s legacy begins with Iraq.  That’s irrefutable.  But the impact of his domestic policies on the poor and his inability to do anything to help should be as much a part of his legacy as his international policy failures.  Five years into his presidency, there is no evidence that life is getting better for the millions of people at the bottom of America’s economic order.  He is what he is: a president committed to improving America’s corporate bottom line at the expense of workers who  see growth in their costs of living, but not their income.  Bush’s assault on the poor is an embarrassment to all who cling to the notion of compassionate conservatism and should wake up all that believe that corporate welfare and tax cuts will improve the lot of all Americans.

© Michael K. Fauntroy
August 30, 2005