THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF GEORGE W. BUSH AS PRESIDENT

The facts speak for themselves

ECONOMY
• Started with the largest surplus ever and turned it into the largest deficit ever
• First president to lose more jobs than he created since the Great Depression
• 4.3 million Americans have gone below the poverty level
• Shifted the tax burden towards the middle class
• Household bankruptcies set a record in 2003 at 1.6 million
• Promised to double spending on job training, actually cut it by 10% (flip flop)
• Changed laws on overtime pay, now 6 million workers no longer get overtime.

EDUCATION
• Created "No Child Left Behind," provided $9 billion less than he said it needed (flip flop)
• Cut $200 million from Impact Aid, a program that helps military children receive a quality education

HEALTH CARE
• Since Bush took office, 3.8 million Americans have lost health insurance.
• Broke promise to allow people to purchase prescription drugs from Canada.
• Annual out-of-pocket expenses are up $174 (52%) for individuals and $793 (49%) for families
• Health care spending rose 9.3 percent in 2002 and 8.5 percent in 2001 -- more than four times the rate of inflation.
• The average cost of the top 10 most-used prescription drugs went up 8.7 percent in 2003 alone.
• Bush "Medicare Reform Act" makes it illegal for the government to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry, adding an extra $139 billion to drug companies' profits. The plan also sent $46 billion to heath insurance companies just for participating. It also pushed 6 million seniors off Medicaid.

ENVIRONMENT
• Drafted energy policy behind closed doors with oil and power company executives
• Initiated major rollbacks of America's environmental laws
• Relaxed power plant emission standards
• Appointed anti-environmental lobbyists to key positions
• Polluters no longer have to pay to clean up toxic waste, our tax dollars do.
• Opened 9 million acres of public land to logging
• Proposed weakening mercury regulations in Clean Air Act

RESPONSE TO 9/11
• Promised to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, then left him free in Afghanistan (flip flop)
• Started a war in Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11
• On 9/11 our country had never been more united. Now we have never been more divided.
• During a time of national emergency and war, Bush has spent more time on vacation than any other president.
• Cut funding to police COPS program by $659 million, firefighters by $246 million, First Responders by $178 million, and port security by $50 million.

WAR / MILITARY
• Rushed to war with a false sense of urgency
• Promised he would obtain global support and UN approval to attack Iraq and then backed out before the vote. (flip flop)
• Ignored advice from top military commanders to send several hundred thousand troops
• Did not plan exit strategy
• Sent National Guard troops to Iraq with no combat training
• 1,000 US soldiers and 12,000 Iraqi civilians dead
• Has not attended the funeral of a single US soldier killed in Iraq
• Called the war in Iraq a "crusade" which infuriated Muslims around the world
• Did not provide Kevlar Interceptor body armor for US soldiers, forcing family members to purchase the armor themselves and send it to loved ones
• Cut funding on veterans health care
• Cut payments to families of Iraq soldiers
• "Back door draft" forces troops to go back to Iraq after their duty is finished
• On May 1st 2003, Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" and an "end to major military operations in Iraq." However, more US soldiers have died since that date than before it, and there is no end in sight.

FLIP FLOPPING, MISLEADING, DISHONESTY, CORRUPTION
• LIE: Lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
• LIE: Lied about connections between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda
• LIE: Lied during January '03 State of the Union Address about Iraq seeking nuclear materials from Africa
• MISLEADING: Promised to keep gas prices low with his connections to the oil industry. Since he took office, the average price of gas has gone from $1.51 to $2.03 per gallon.
• CORRUPTION: Without opening contracts to competition, billions of US tax dollars are sent to Halliburton, a company that Cheney ran until the day he decided to run for VP. The company is under investigation for several illegal activities in the US and globally, and still has paid Cheney over $2,000,000 since he took office.
• FLIP FLOP: Claims to be the choice for Christians, but defied the Pope's pleas to not start the war in Iraq.
• LIE: Lied about who his tax cuts would benefit the most
• FLIP FLOP: Said gay marriage should be left to states, now favors constitutional amendment banning gay marriage
• HYPOCRISY: Attacks Kerry's service in the military when he avoided the draft, disobeyed direct orders, and was AWOL when required to show up for National Guard duty.
• HYPOCRISY: Attacked Iraq to "liberate the people" while women in Saudi Arabia aren't allowed to drive a car.
• LIE: Lied about the true cost of the Medicare bill until after the vote
• CORRUPTION: Bribed legislators to vote for the Medicare bill (Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI))
• CORRUPTION: Administration purposely disclosed the name of a an undercover CIA operative to the media (a felony)