Fortunately for us in Uganda, nobody is suffering because when our fearless leader proclaims to the world that our economy has been growing at 7% for the last 17 years under his wise stewardship, he actually means it. Just look at all that prosperity in our cityies and towns!
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Op-Ed Columnist: The Other America
January 23, 2004 By BOB HERBERT Either the president doesn't get it, or he is deliberately ignoring the hard times that have enveloped millions of Americans on his watch. "For the sake of job growth," said Mr. Bush, to the loud applause of the Congressional bobbleheads at his State of the Union address, "the tax cuts you passed should be made permanent." Job growth? That's the weirdest thing Mr. Bush has said since he told a CNN discussion group, "As governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have met those standards." Nearly 2.5 million jobs have been lost since Mr. Bush became president, and the most recent employment statistics have made a mockery of the claim that tax cuts for the rich would be the engine of job growth for the middle and working classes. Two days after the speech, Eastman Kodak announced plans to cut its work force by as much as 23 percent - 12,000 to 15,000 jobs - by the end of 2006. The news sent tremors through Rochester, where Kodak has its headquarters. More than 21,000 Kodak workers and their families live in and around Rochester. The economy created a meager 1,000 jobs in December. Moreover, according to a report released Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute, there has been a nationwide shift of jobs from higher-paying to lower-paying industries. In New Hampshire, where the Democratic presidential candidates are locked in a fierce primary fight, the wages in industries gaining jobs are 35 percent lower than in those losing jobs. New Hampshire is one of 30 states that have fewer jobs now than when the recession officially ended in November 2001. When millions of families are suffering in the midst of what is billed as a robust recovery, we should start looking closely at the possibility that the system itself is breaking down. This goes far beyond the issue of employment. The Times ran a front-page article on Wednesday about Gov. George Pataki's proposed state budget. The ominous subheadline read: "Plan Relies on Gambling to Aid Poorest Schools." I wrote a story last week about the tens of thousands of low-income youngsters in Florida who are eligible for a children's health insurance program but are being put on waiting lists. State officials say they can't afford to insure the kids now. In California, an estimated 300,000 eligible children are being shunted to similar waiting lists. No one knows when they might get coverage. President Bush got at least one thing right on Tuesday night, when he said, "Americans are proving once again to be the hardest-working people in the world." Those who are fortunate enough to be employed often have to work long hours, or string together two and three jobs to make ends meet. They are working harder and harder just to keep from falling behind. The Bush administration has offered up a perverse acknowledgment of this struggle: a proposed change in Labor Department regulations that would enable employers to deny overtime pay for millions of workers. Most of the Democratic presidential candidates, especially Senator John Edwards, have been hammering at these issues for some time. In his "Two Americas" speech, Senator Edwards says there is: "One America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks. . . . One America - middle-class America - whose needs Washington has long forgotten. Another America - narrow-interest America - whose every wish is Washington's command." The interests of the great corporations and the wealthy, privileged classes are not the same as those of American working families. And because the power of government has shifted so radically in favor of the interests of the former, there is little left but indifference to the needs and aspirations of the latter, who just happen to be the vast majority of Americans. In Monday's column I incorrectly wrote that treason was among the charges lodged against Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case. He was accused of treason by his critics, but he was actually charged with violations of the Espionage Act. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/23/opinion/23HERB.html?ex=1075912509&ei=1&en=0d5ceb0504639487 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
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