The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

"By income taxes we strive to redress the balance and at the same time make 
the builders of great fortunes pay proper toll to the society which has 
made their success possible." ~~ George Lorimer, 1934

By Bridget Gibson

02/22/04; (ICH) In 2001, we were told that the Bush Tax Cuts would create two million new jobs. In 2002, the administration projected 2.5 million new jobs and in 
February 2003, we were told that the Bush Tax Cuts would create 3.6 million 
jobs.

On February 9, 2004, the Bush administration released the Economic Report 
of the President which was interpreted by economists to state that there 
would be 2.6 million jobs created in the calendar year of 2004. The 
following day, the President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) said that 
the economists had misinterpreted the report and that there would actually 
be a creation of 3.8 million new jobs. The 3.8 million new jobs promised 
number equates to approximately 317,000 new jobs that need to be created 
each and every month. Despite great expectations by the Bush 
administration, the total jobs created for the last SIX months of 2003 was 
366,000. However, the net job LOSS for 2003 was 53,000, bringing the total 
number of jobs lost since January 2001 to 2.2 million.

Since January 1, 2004, the following companies have announced staff 
reductions and mass layoffs:

AlcaTel, AllTel, American International Group (AIG), AOL, AT&T, Baltimore 
Maryland Schools, Best Buy, Biddeford Blankets, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, 
Blue Ridge Paper, Boeing, Bombardier, Bon-Macy's, Bose, Cebal, Champaign 
County, Illionois, Cigna, Cigna Corp., City of Baltimore, Maryland, City of 
Benton, Illinois, City of Boston, Massachusetts, City of Chicago, Illinois, 
City of Chillicothe, Ohio, City of Cleveland, Ohio, City of Erie, 
Pennsylvania, City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, City of Houston, Texas, 
City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, City of Providence, Rhode Island, City of 
Salem, New Jersey, City of Sioux City, Iowa, Cooper Bussman, Covenant 
Medical Center, CXS, Danka Business Systems, Dickinson Hospital, Bismarck, 
North Dakota, Drexel Heritage, DST Systems, Earthlink, Eastman Kodak, 
Emisphere Technologies, Fetzer Vineyards, Ford Motors, Gradall, Hennepin 
County, Minnesota, Home Depot, Hoover Hanes Rubber Custom Mixing Copr., 
Huffy, IBM, Iowa Packing Co., Kanawha Manufacturing, KB Toys, Kraft, 
Madison Square Garden/Cablevision, Maytag, Meijer Foods, Monroe County, New 
York, National Textiles, Northampton County, New Jersey, Northwest 
Airlines, Ohio Casualty, One Price Clothing, PalmOne, Perdue Farms, 
Pillowtex, Rainbow Movers, Reliant Energy, REMEC, RJR/Brown & Williamson 
Tobacco, Rouge Steel, Rubbermaid, SBC, Sprint, State of California, State 
of Colorado - CSU Veterinary Teaching School, State of Connecticut, State 
of Missouri, State of Oregon, Steelcase, Subaru, Systemax, The Carrier 
Corp., TSYS, Tulalip Casino, Tulsa World News, TYCO, U. S. Airways, Union 
Institute, United States Navy - civilian employees, Walt Disney Studios, 
Washington Mutual, Weirton Steel Corp., Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 
Wilson's Leather, Yale University Library

Many companies, both large and small, are outsourcing or off-shoring their 
jobs, or are closing their American facilities entirely.

The state and local municipalities are facing massive budget shortfalls due 
to the decline in the economy, and are reducing services, laying off 
employees or are raising local taxes and fees.

The current administration is facing a net job loss of more than two 
million, the first administration since Herbert Hoover to fail to create 
jobs within the American economy.

Between January 2001 and January 2004, the civilian work force has grown by 
3,076,000 people, while the non-farm jobs have decreased by 2,357,000.

The loss of jobs within our borders shows that the current administration's 
mantra of cutting taxes has failed to support its snake-oil claims of "job 
creation." In fact, the opposite is true. These tax cuts have encouraged 
the flight of jobs from the United States. Treasury Department figures show 
that actual corporate income tax revenues fell to $132 billion in 2003, 
down 36 percent from $207 billion in 2000.

As a result of these low levels, corporate revenues in 2003 represented 
only 1.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (the basic measure of 
the size of the economy), the lowest level since 1983, the year in which 
corporate receipts plummeted to levels last seen in the 1930s.

Corporate revenues represented only 7.4 percent of all federal tax receipts 
in 2003. With the exception of 1983, this represents the lowest level on 
record (these data go back to 1934).

The ripple effect of these lost jobs will be enormous. One of the many 
apparent consequences will be the reduction in the monies that are received 
by the U.S. Treasury, making the deficit grow exponentially.

The failure of the accounting will produce a massive shortfall in the 
ability of the Federal Government to narrow the budget deficit, which is 
approaching $500 Billion for the fiscal year of 2004.

The U.S. National Debt surpassed $7 Trillion last week, an amount equal to 
sixty-three percent (63%) of our 2003 Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Republicans have been saying that 'deficits don't matter' since Ronald 
Reagan. This explanation for the justification of the insolvency of our 
country makes no sense.

They compare the deficit to the GDP, stating that it is only 5%.

Since 1986, the burden of taxes has shifted from the corporations to the 
individual taxpayers, thus the amount of revenue that the U.S. Treasury 
receives is dependent on the wages of its citizens. As fewer American jobs 
are kept and created, the chasm between the receipts and the expenses 
becomes greater.

For the debt to be compared to our GDP, one must suspend all logic. How can 
any of us borrow money on what our neighbor owns or earns? Unless our 
government is willing to nationalize every corporation and small business 
within its borders, it cannot claim the income from those endeavors. The 
U.S. National Debt must be repaid in dollars from the U.S. Treasury. The 
Treasury's funding comes from the receipt of taxes, fees and tariffs. It 
does not receive the funds that are used to calculate the GDP.

A more accurate comparison of deficit and GDP would be to compare the 
amount of money in your bank account to the amount in Bill Gate's bank 
account. Just because he has money, does not mean that you can borrow 
against his assets or on his credit rating.

When the smoke clears from the fiasco of the accounting procedures of the 
past and current administrations, it will become clear that 'things that 
can't go on forever, don't.'

Copyright: Bridget Gibson <rbsclay@grm.net>