The crisis concealed by Bush�s warmongering
Monopoly capitalists could not stop applauding after hearing George W. Bush�s speech in front of the US Congress on January 29. Aside from drumbeating and shouting anti-Iraq slogans, he repeated his promise of giving financial assistance to monopoly defense corporations and huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
Meanwhile, he offered no solutions to the issues now confronting ordinary Americans. In fact, he has been able to effectively use his repeated emphasis on the war against Iraq to obscure, conceal and dismiss the urgent economic and political issues now besetting their society.
Following are some statistics that mirror the real situation of the American economy which Bush is trying hard to cover up. - 1.7 million Americans have lost their jobs since January 2001, and 8.6 million more are actively looking for work. The unemployment rate has reached 6% � the highest in more than a decade.
- Living conditions of 1.3 million Americans plummeted in 2001 � the biggest number recorded in the past nine years.
- Since 2000, American corporations have registered a 23% bankruptcy rate, the highest in the US' entire history.
- In 2002, the number of applicants for emergency or temporary shelters rose 19%, the highest in 12 years.
- Up to 1.4 million Americans do not have health insurance after huge cuts in the national budget for health care.
The US economy posted a slight growth rate last year (1.4% compared to 0.3% growth in 2001) but this was merely due to brisker sales of cars and houses, bigger inventories and the infusion of funds into the defense industry. The GDP grew by 0.7% in 2002.
A $157 billion budget deficit was recorded for 2002. Estimates place the budget deficit for 2003 at up to $300-350 billion � a fall of almost half a trillion since 2000.
Between December 2000 and the end of the third quarter of 2002, the overall value of US equities fell by 38%, equivalent to $6.65 trillion.
(These figures were gathered by the US Congressional House Appropriations Committee)
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