Claims have been bandied about that President Bush was at fault for the economic down-turn that began in late 2007. Until now, Democrats have pointed the finger at our 43rd President, stating that he single-handedly pushed our nation to the brink of economic collapse. That stops today. Examining unemployment, national debt data, and GDP growth, the truth becomes clear and apparent. President Bush was not at fault for the recession we are in. The Democrats who took over Congress in 2007 are.
From 1995 to January of 2007, Republicans held at least one house of Congress. However, in the 2006 mid-term elections, Democrats won control of both the House and Senate. They took their new offices in January, 2007. Soon after that time until now, the United States has entered a deep recession, often attributed to President Bush. However, examining the actions of the Democratic Congress and the effects that came, the truth is revealed.
Unemployment is a figure that commands the attention of everyone, from the rich to the poor. Examining its data seems the logical place to start. While President Bush and Republicans controlled Congress, unemployment
stayed around 5%, increasing by slightly over 1% after 9/11, from 4.7% to 6.3% in January of 2002. However, it eventually fell to 4.1% by the time of the November 2006 election. After Democrats took office, they passed incredibly expensive new bills, including raising minimum wage and the CLEAN Energy Act.
Under the Democrats, unemployment started to balloon. It stated to climb, rising past 4.5%, past 5%, past 6%, and past 6.5%, all the way to 8.5% by the time they had been in office for just two years. By then, President Obama had been inaugurated, and unemployment continued to rise as spending increased. This chart explains, in depth, the bills Democrats passed, and the effects they had from November 2006-March 2010 (click for a sharper, bigger image):
As you can see, the massive new spending that has been taking place from 2007-the present has had a major effect on unemployment.
A large National Debt data is also something that Democrats like to blame President Bush for. However, examining our debt as a percent of our GDP shows the truth again. This number sounds complicated, but in fact it is pretty simple. "Our debt as a percent of our GDP" simply means that if our GDP is $100 and our debt is $60, then our "debt as a percent of our GDP" is 60%. From 2001-2007 (when Republicans left office), the percent of our debt grew from 57.4% to 65.6%, or 8.8% (around 1.2% a year). Though the number did rise, you must take into account 9/11, the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Further, from 2005-2007, it slowed to an average of .5% per year, which means it may have began to go down in the near future.
Then Democrats took office. In their first full year in office, the debt as a percent of GDP rose 4.6%, from 65.6% to 70.2%. The next year was even more astounding, as the percent rose
15.9%, to 86.1%. So far this year, the percent is up another 5% to 91.1%. This graph explains in greater detail (click for a better image):
See the huge spike on the right side? That's when Democrats took control of Congress.
The growth of our very economy is also very important to examine. Under President Bush and the Republican Congress, our GDP grew on average
around 3%, peaking in the fall of 2003 to nearly 7%. The GDP only decreased in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and that was only for one quarter.
Then Democrats took Congress. At the beginning of 2008, our GDP sharply dropped. By the end of 2008, it was retracting at a rate of almost 7%. This graph shows everything in more detail (click for a bigger, sharper image):
The fall in growth under Democrats is amazing.
Examining this data, there can only be one conclusion: the United States entered our recession as the result of the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2007. The truth is out. Once again, the Democratic strategy of blaming President Bush for everything is revealed to be a lie. It is quite possible that the only way to remedy the recession we are in is to once again elect a Republican majority.
The truth is out.
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