Bush Tax Cuts and the Republican Cult of Economic Failure

[boutons_deux]

Under George W. Bush, U.S. GDP growth averaged about 2.1 percent a year. Since the end of World War II, the country has never experienced such low economic growth during an eight-year period. And if you exclude the war demobilization of 1946, when U.S. government spending fell by two-thirds and the GDP fell by 10.9 percent, Bush had the worst economic record since Herbert Hoover. During FDR's first two terms, when the country remained mired in a Depression, GDP growth averaged about 6.3 percent a year.

There is no way to make Bush's performance look good. Even if you cherry-pick the data, by excluding fiscal year 2008, when GDP growth was zero, economic expansion was anemic. During Bush's first seven years, it averaged about 2.4 percent, the worst rate in half a century. And what was the source of most of that economic growth? Homeowner equity extraction. Bush could point to one sector where growth outpaced that of all prior administrations: Residential mortgage debt. It almost doubled, from $5.1 trillion to $9.8 trillion, between 2001 and 2006.

Average Annual GDP Growth
Bush 2001-2008: 2.1%
Clinton 1993-2000: 3.9%
Reagan/Bush I 1981 - 1992: 3.0%
Carter 1977 - 1980: 3.2%
Nixon/Ford 1969 - 1976: 2.8%
Kennedy/Johnson 1961 - 1968: 4.8%
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis


Number of Jobs Added [millions]
Bush, Feb. 2001- Jan. 2009: 1.1
Clinton, Feb. 1993- Jan. 2001: 22.7
Reagan/Bush, I Feb. 1981- Jan. 1993: 18.7
Carter, Feb. 1976- Jan. 1981:10.3
Nixon/Ford, Feb. 1969- Jan. 1976: 11.3
Kennedy/Johnson, Feb. 1961- Jan. 1969: 15.7
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Payrolls

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-...tml?view=print

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Devastation, Repuglican Is Your Name.

[coyotes_geek]

Boy, those Bush tax cuts sure were bad. Thankfully, Obama & the lame duck democrat congress are going to let them all expire. Right?

[boutons_deux]

Bad? No! they were/are fantastic for redistributing wealth from citizens/taxpayers to the super-wealthy, who now hold so much unchallengeable wealth they can, and do, buy all of Congress and the Exec with their pocket change.

[Winehole23]

[Winehole23]

The more things change...

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-tax-strategy/

[Wild Cobra]

Boutons...

Are you complaining about low inflation?

If you look at the government data at OMB.gov, the annual average was 3.83% growth. President Clinton's was 4.89%. They used calender years. The budget and government operations are by fiscal year.

Does the Huff and Puff post ever get anything right?

Wouldn't the Misery Index be a better thing to look at?

President            	Period                	Start	End  	Change	Average
Richard M. Nixon	1969-01 - 1974-07 	7.8	17.01	9.21	10.57
James E. Carter, Jr. 	1977-01 - 1980-12 	12.72	19.72	7	16.26
Dwight D. Eisenhower 	1953-01 - 1960-12 	3.28	7.96	4.68	6.26
Barack H. Obama  	2009-01 - 2010-09 	7.73	10.74	3.01	10
Lyndon B. Johnson 	1963-11 - 1968-12 	7.02	8.12	1.1	6.77
George H.W. Bush 	1989-01 - 1992-12 	10.07	10.3	0.23	10.68
George W. Bush     	2001-01 - 2008-12 	7.93	7.49	-0.44	8.11
John F. Kennedy 	1961-01 - 1963-10 	8.31	6.82	-1.49	7.14
William J. Clinton 	1993-01 - 2000-12 	10.56	7.29	-3.27	7.8
Gerald R. Ford     	1974-08 - 1976-12 	16.36	12.66	-3.7	16
Ronald W. Reagan 	1981-01 - 1988-12 	19.33	9.72	-9.61	12.19
Harry S. Truman 	1948-01 - 1952-12 	13.63	3.45	-10.18	7.88