Vote with the Facts!
Voter Guide
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The Economy
1) What percentage of the combined Bush tax cuts will go to the wealthiest Americans in 4 and 6 years?
43.7% in 4 years, 51.8% in 6 years will go to the wealthiest 1% (income of at least $337,000; average income $938,000)
52.9% in 4 years, 58.6% in 6 years will go to the wealthiest 5% (income of at least $145,000; average income $210,000)
7.1% in 4 years, 7.4% in 6 years will go to the bottom 40% of taxpayers (income of 0 to $28,000)
1.2% in 4 years, 1.2% in 6 years will go to the poorest 20% of taxpayers (income of $0 to $16,000)
Source: Citizens for Tax Justice, " The Bush Tax Cuts: The Most Recent CTJ Data l -
2) What is the average yearly increase in the debt by Republican and Democratic Presidents since WWII (1946)?
Democratic Presidents have increased the debt by an average of 3.7% per year resulting in 1.9 trillion.
Republican presidents have increased it an average of 9.1% per year resulting in 5.2 trillion.
Over the past 57 years Republicans have borrowed [$2.73] for
every dollar Democrats have borrowed. 
Source: Encyclopedia Encarta; “An Analysis of the Presidents Who Are
Responsible For Excessive Spending”, Steve McGourty,
3) In addition to $210 billion in new corporate tax relief passed in October 2004 (to be signed), corporate taxes fell to their lowest sustained level in six decades during the Bush presidency. In a study of 275 of 500 Fortune 500 Companies, how many avoided paying any taxes?
82 of America’s largest and most profitable companies paid zero or less than zero in tax in one or more Bush years.
28 companies received $44.9 Billion due to negative income tax rates from 2001-2003.
In 2003 alone, 46 companies paid zero or less in federal income tax.
In 2002 and 2003, the 275 companies sheltered more than half their 1.1 trillion in pretax profits from federal tax.
Source: Citizens for Tax Justice, "Bush Policies Drive Surge in Corporate Tax Freeloading: 82 Big U.S. Corporations Paid No Tax in One or More Bush Years” - September 22, 2004, page 1-2, http://www.ctj.org/corpfed04pr.pdf
4) What does each American owe on our national debt as of March 2004?
Roughly $24,000 for every man, woman and child in the country for the debt of $7.11 trillion as of March 2004, as reported by David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States in his op-ed piece in the New York Times.
Source: Fiscal future somewhat frightening, Walter Cronkite, Seattle Post
Intelligencer,
5) What was the budget deficit this is the annual debt not the accrued national debt when this administration took office?
$236.4 billion surplus in 2000.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1821&sequence=0#table1
6) What was the federal budget deficit in 2003 and 2004?
$377 billion in 2003 and $413 billion, a record deficit in 2004.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, Historical Budget Data - Revenues, Outlays, Surpluses, Deficits, and Debt Held by the Public, 1962 to 2003. http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1821&sequence=0#table1
Joint Statement of John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury, and Joshua B. Bolten, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on Budget Results for Fiscal Year 2004, October 14, 2004, http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js2032.htm
U.S. posts record $413B deficit in 2004, All-time high comes just 19 days before the election, CBS Marketwatch, Corbett B. Daly, October 14, 2004, http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BA5C15D6E-8A7F-4A5B-8F7F-2D1E13DF5D71%7D&siteid=google&dist=google
7) How much more debt did Bush create in 2004 and 2003 than
For 2004, Bush’s increase of the debt was $413 billion which is 23 times greater than Clinton’s last year in office, 413 billion vs. $18 billion. In 2003, Bush’s increase of the debt was $375.3 billion will be 20.85 times greater than Clinton’s last year in office.
Joint Statement of John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury, and Joshua B. Bolten, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on Budget Results for Fiscal Year 2004, October 14, 2004, http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js2032.htm
Source: Congressional Budget Office, Historical Budget Data - Revenues, Outlays, Surpluses, Deficits, and Debt Held by the Public, 1962 to 2003. http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1821&sequence=0#table1
8) At what rate has government spending been increasing since Bush has been in office?
An average of 12% per year.
Source: Congressional Budget Office - Monthly Budget Review -
9) At what rate did government spending increase over the decade before Bush took office?
An average of 4% per year.
Source: Congressional Budget Office - Monthly Budget Review -
10) What was the national debt before the Bush administration took office?
$5.67 trillion in 2000.
Source: Bureau of the Public Debt - Department of the Treasury, http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov
11) What is the national debt as of
$7.43 trillion, an increase of 31% since the Bush administration took office.
Source: Bureau of the Public Debt - Department of the Treasury, http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm
12) What is the projected deficit which Bush's budget will produce over the next decade according to the Congressional Budget Office?
$2.75 trillion.
Source CBO: Bush budget would mean $2.75 trillion deficit - http://www.cbo.gov
The Associated Press, The
13) Open: Do you think it is conservative to give tax cuts to the wealthy and drive up budget deficits?
14) How much is it costing per month to run the war with
$5.4 billion ($4.4 billion in
Source: "Disparity in
15) Over the past 40 years, how has the balance between individual and corporate taxes shifted?
Currently corporations are paying less than half the percentage of federal tax they were paying in 1962. In 1962 individuals paid 69% and corporations paid 31%. (Individuals paid $45.6 billion, corporations paid $20.5 billion.) In 2003 individuals paid 86% and corporations paid 14%. (Individuals paid $794 billion, corporations paid $132 billion.)
Source: Congressional Budget Office - historical data, Congressional Budget
Office - Monthly Budget Review -
16) How has the trade deficit changed since the Bush administration took office?
For 2004, America's trade deficit is running at a record annual rate of $590 billion, 19 percent higher than the previous record which was last year's $496.5 billion imbalance which was 17% higher than the year before.
Source: U.S. trade deficit surges to second highest level on record: Trade performance an issue in presidential race, CNN, October 14, 2004, http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/14/economy.ap/
Annual Trade Highlights 2003 Highlights, http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/annual.html
Please share this information face to face with as many others as possible based on as much commitment you can muster in yourself for your country, your fellow Americans and for the world. For more referenced questions and answers please visit our website at: www.votewiththefacts.org