Published in "The independant" (UK)
Published on January 20, 2004 By JEPEL In Politics
New Page 1

 

Always good to have some numbers....


Published today in "The independant" (UK). CheckHere

George W Bush and the real state of the Union

Today the President gives his annual address. As the election battle begins, how does his first term add up?

20 January 2004

232: Number of American combat deaths in Iraq between May 2003 and January 2004

501: Number of American servicemen to die in Iraq from the beginning of the war - so far

0: Number of American combat deaths in Germany after the Nazi surrender to the Allies in May 1945

0: Number of coffins of dead soldiers returning home from Iraq that the Bush administration has allowed to be photographed

0: Number of funerals or memorials that President Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq

100: Number of fund-raisers attended by Bush or Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2003

13: Number of meetings between Bush and Tony Blair since he became President

10 million: Estimated number of people worldwide who took to the streets in opposition to the invasion of Iraq, setting an all-time record for simultaneous protest

2: Number of nations that Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into the White House

9.2: Average number of American soldiers wounded in Iraq each day since the invasion in March last year

1.6: Average number of American soldiers killed in Iraq per day since hostilities began

16,000: Approximate number of Iraqis killed since the start of war

10,000: Approximate number of Iraqi cililians killed since the beginning of the conflict

$100 billion: Estimated cost of the war in Iraq to American citizens by the end of 2003

$13 billion: Amount other countries have committed towards rebuilding Iraq (much of it in loans) as of 24 October

36%: Increase in the number of desertions from the US army since 1999

92%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that had access to drinkable water a year ago

60%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that have access to drinkable water today

32%: Percentage of the bombs dropped on Iraq this year that were not precision-guided

1983: The year in which Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam Hussein a pair of golden spurs

45%: Percentage of Americans who believed in early March 2003 that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 11 September attacks on the US

$127 billion: Amount of US budget surplus in the year that Bush became President in 2001

$374 billion: Amount of US budget deficit in the fiscal year for 2003

1st: This year's deficit is on course to be the biggest in United States history

$1.58 billion: Average amount by which the US national debt increases each day

$23,920: Amount of each US citizen's share of the national debt as of 19 January 2004

1st: The record for the most bankruptcies filed in a single year (1.57 million) was set in 2002

10: Number of solo press conferences that Bush has held since beginning his term. His father had managed 61 at this point in his administration, and Bill Clinton 33

1st: Rank of the US worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per capita

$113 million: Total sum raised by the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign, setting a record in American electoral history

$130 million: Amount raised for Bush's re-election campaign so far

$200m: Amount that the Bush-Cheney campaign is expected to raise in 2004

$40m: Amount that Howard Dean, the top fund-raiser among the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls, amassed in 2003

28: Number of days holiday that Bush took last August, the second longest holiday of any president in US history (Recordholder: Richard Nixon)

13: Number of vacation days the average American worker receives each year

3: Number of children convicted of capital offences executed in the US in 2002. America is only country openly to acknowledge executing children

1st: As Governor of Texas, George Bush executed more prisoners (152) than any governor in modern US history

2.4 million: Number of Americans who have lost their jobs during the three years of the Bush administration

221,000: Number of jobs per month created since Bush's tax cuts took effect. He promised the measure would add 306,000

1,000: Number of new jobs created in the entire country in December. Analysts had expected a gain of 130,000

1st: This administration is on its way to becoming the first since 1929 (Herbert Hoover) to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office

9 million: Number of US workers unemployed in September 2003

80%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce now unemployed

55%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce unemployed before the war

43.6 million: Number of Americans without health insurance in 2002

130: Number of countries (out of total of 191 recognised by the United Nations) with an American military presence

40%: Percentage of the world's military spending for which the US is responsible

$10.9 million: Average wealth of the members of Bush's original 16-person cabinet

88%: Percentage of American citizens who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of 2003 cut in capital gains and dividends taxes

$42,000: Average savings members of Bush's cabinet are expected to enjoy this year as a result in the cuts in capital gains and dividends taxes

$42,228: Median household income in the US in 2001

$116,000: Amount Vice-President Cheney is expected to save each year in taxes

44%: Percentage of Americans who believe the President's economic growth plan will mostly benefit the wealthy

700: Number of people from around the world the US has incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

1st: George W Bush became the first American president to ignore the Geneva Conventions by refusing to allow inspectors access to US-held prisoners of war

+6%: Percentage change since 2001 in the number of US families in poverty

1951: Last year in which a quarterly rise in US military spending was greater than the one the previous spring

54%: Percentage of US citizens who believe Bush was legitimately elected to his post

1st: First president to execute a federal prisoner in the past 40 years. Executions are typically ordered by separate states and not at federal level

9: Number of members of Bush's defence policy board who also sit on the corporate board of, or advise, at least one defence contractor

35: Number of countries to which US has suspended military assistance after they failed to sign agreements giving Americans immunity from prosecution before the International Criminal Court

$300 million: Amount cut from the federal programme that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes

$1 billion: Amount of new US military aid promised Israel in April 2003 to offset the "burdens" of the US war on Iraq

58 million: Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging and drilling

200: Number of public-health and environmental laws Bush has attempted to downgrade or weaken

29,000: Number of American troops - which is close to the total of a whole army division - to have either been killed, wounded, injured or become so ill as to require evacuation from Iraq, according to the Pentagon

90%: Percentage of American citizens who said they approved of the way George Bush was handling his job as president when asked on 26 September, 2001

53%: Percentage of American citizens who approved of the way Bush was handling his job as president when asked on 16 January, 2004


Comments (Page 3)
3 Pages1 2 3 
on Jan 22, 2004

If you play with stats you can reach anything.

CO2 emmissions went down under Bush.

Teen Drug use went down under Bush.

Did Bush have anything to do with these? No.

on Jan 23, 2004
Lunaticus,
I agree with much of what you said. Not all though. It could be interesting to compare the American approach (as described by you) versus the British approach.

In the UK the government choose to support the US and send troops to Iraq. As a nation we discussed and debated the decision but once made, the country was 100% behind the troops. The government however is a different issue. It has the right to make decisions and if we don't like them we'll vote against the governemtn. Telling lies and misleading the public howver are very serious crimes to the British. Any suggestion that the government lied is always chased up, whether years later. It's the British way. The country and the government are NOT the same. Even if Tony Blair is forced to resign next week over this issue, the UK will still supprot the troops and the decision he made.

Paul.
on Jan 23, 2004
No Brad,

you don't play with facts. You play with your conclusions. Very important different.

Assuming your facts are correct, CO2 emissions and drug use among teenager have both have decreased under Bush.

These are facts and good things. Whether Bush is associated with them or not, does not change their impact or relevance. If you had claimed that Bush's polices caused these then someone may disagree, but even then the facts are facts.

Paul.
on Jan 23, 2004

Agreed. That was my point. 

Jepel put together a bunch of specifically chosen facts designed to give a particular impression (i.e. Bush is doing a bad job).

One could put together a set of similar facts that woudl lead one to conclude that Bush is doing a good job.

The choice in facts tells us little about what the facts are supposed to mean but tell us a lot about the person making the facts.

Democrats, btw, would argue that Bush is responsible for the decrease in CO2 emissions: CO2 emissions in the US are directly tied to the economy. During economic downtimes the CO2 emissions decline with GDP.  Hence, if Bush is responsible for the bad economy and that economy is directly tied to the CO2 output, then Bush is responsible for the CO2 emission decline if it both were unintentional.

on Jan 23, 2004
::laughs:: That would be a stretch even for Dems Frogboy
on Jan 23, 2004
Heh.  Yea, but they can't have it both ways.  Either the economic downturn is Bush's fault or it's not. If it's his fault, then so is the CO2 reduction. if it's not his fault, neither is the CO2 reduction.
on Jan 27, 2004
Frightening, isn't he?...Dean, I mean.
on Jan 27, 2004
Dear Jepel,

We all have the right to critize; however, those who followed the US President into the Iraqi war, the governments, I mean, have no right to critize Bush. It was a choice made by the governments supported by the country's people. It appears most of these folks responding to your article are critique-ing each other's opinions on your article. I don't get all this angry attitude toward each other. Free thinking and speech is a right of free people; being impolite is just so "low rent," don't you think?
on Jan 27, 2004
Dear Patty,

I don't think I have been impolite to anyone here. Tell me if I'm wrong... As I consistently repeat, I don't see myself any right to criticise Bush Home policy, I let that to people that can vote in your country. However, as USA is the main influence in world today and so any of its foreign policy actions produces some repercussions and as I consider myself a citizen of the world, I think I can express my opinion. This being said, I can distinguish between American people and American administration.
Is it right to overthrown a ruthless tyrant ? of course but I don't reckon this right to the US, having the power doesn't mean that you should do it, and if you want to clear earth from its despotes, there is a lot more work to do...
For be honest with you, neither you or me can tell why this war happened. This is real politic. Morality is not part of the game, even if it's always invoked as a purpose.

Anyway, nice to have some news from you, I was thinking that you lost yourself in Pulaski...
on Jan 28, 2004
Something wrong with being low-rent, Patty O? I don't think being Polite OR Screaming at the top of your lungs changes anything. A person has to want to question his/her own opinions before they "hear" any other's. So why be poliet if it's a waste of time? Get down and dirty with your bad self.
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