Conservative Failures

1. The Iraq War Money Pit
Before it even began, nearly half of all Americans opposed the war in Iraq. [Gallup [2]] Now, after five years of casualties and billions of dollars spent, nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose it. [CNN [3]] So far, the federal government has authorized $656 billion for the Iraq war. Of that total, $152 billion was appropriated to fund the Iraq war during the current fiscal year. [Congressional Research Service [4]] That amounts to more than $12 billion per month and $416 million per day. The Iraq War has drained America’s resources, contributed to the increased oil costs that are destabilizing the nation’s economy, and added volatility to an already unsettled region—but conservatives continue to throw good money after bad. [Washington Post [5]]
For More Information: Making Sense on The Unaffordable Economic Costs of Iraq [6]

2. Hurricane Katrina Blows Away FEMA
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, government officials failed to provide vital assistance and information to many of the city and surrounding areas’ most vulnerable residents. Over 26,000 people were left stranded on the rooftops of their flooded houses, and many more families’ homes were destroyed. [Government Accountability Office [7]] The Bush Administration was completely unprepared to respond to the disaster even though, according to the GAO, “Many of the lessons emerging from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are similar to those we identified more than a decade ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992.” [GAO [8]] FEMA, under the control of one of Bush’s friends, bungled what limited relief it offered, first stalling on releasing disaster aid, then distributing an estimated $1 billion of duplicate checks and payments to people who didn’t exist or for properties that weren’t damaged. [MSNBC [9], GAO [10]] Despite these failures, McCain repeatedly voted against a commission to examine the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. [Votes 6 [11], 229 [12]]

3. Housing Market Crashes
Conservatives have gutted many crucial housing-market regulations and looked away while corporations have violated others. This reckless abandonment of government responsibility has allowed banks and hedge funds to run amok, gambling on risky exotic home loans without concern for the long-term impact of their actions—or the immediate consequences for American homeowners. [The American Prospect [13]] The result: a wave of subprime-mortgage foreclosures that has sent a ripple effect through the housing market, driving down home values and devastating families financially. Through the beginning of 2008, home prices have fallen 14.1 percent—a drop that eclipses even the 10.5 percent fall that came in 1932, the low point of the Great Depression. [The Economist [14]] With families taking increasingly desperate measures to save their homes and make ends meet, the number of homeowners with both a home equity loan and a second mortgage has nearly tripled during Bush’s presidency. [U.S. Census 2001 [15], 2006 [16]]
For More Information: Making Sense on Housing [17]

4. Bush Administration Tortures Human Rights
For centuries, the United States has been an international leader on human rights and civil liberties. But during the Bush Administration, government officials violated our own laws and principles by torturing and unjustly imprisoning suspects. At the Guantanamo Bay prison and at secret “black sites” in countries whose laws allow torture, CIA agents have carried out Bush Administration instructions to use “waterboarding,” sleep deprivation, and threats against suspects’ families during interrogations. [Washington Post [18], Human Rights Watch [19]] These inhumane acts have sullied America’s international reputation and have drawn criticism from the United Nations and the Red Cross. [New York Times [20]]

5. Trade Deficit Devastates American Jobs
Conservative trade policy has pushed America’s trade deficit to record levels. Since President Bush took office, the trade deficit has grown by nearly $250 billion (adjusted for inflation). [Bureau of Economic Analysis [21]] The United States’ trade deficit in oil and other petroleum products was responsible for 56 percent of the growth in the trade deficit in the first quarter of 2008. [Economic Policy Institute [22]] The growing trade gap between America and our economic competitors has had a devastating impact on jobs and wages. For example, the U.S.- China trade deficit of $262 billion resulted in the loss of an estimated 2.3 million American jobs, nearly a third of which were held by workers with a college degree. [Economic Policy Institute [23]]
For More Information: Making Sense on Trade [24]

6. Big Oil Empties Consumers’ Pockets
Conservatives have mismanaged energy policy for years, bringing America to the brink of a nationwide energy crisis. Since President Bush took office, he and conservative allies in Congress have blocked efforts to achieve energy independence, such as energy conservation programs, renewable-source energy production mandates, and increased fuel efficiency standards. [Center for American Progress [25], Washington Post [26], New York Times [27]] The result: record-setting multibillion dollar profits for oil companies and a more than 100 percent increase in gas prices (even after adjusting for inflation). [Washington Post [28], Oil Price Information Service [29]]
For More Information: Making Sense on Clean Energy [30]

7. Health Care Costs and Uninsurance Rates Skyrocket
During President Bush’s time in office, 7.3 million more Americans have joined the ranks of the uninsured—a group that now includes over 15 percent of Americans. [U.S. Census Bureau [31]] Yet when the opportunity to help some of the most vulnerable uninsured Americans—children in low-income families—to get the health care they need by expanding the highly successful SCHIP program, conservatives in Congress blocked the legislation and Bush actually vetoed it. [MSNBC [32]] The legislation would have helped provide health insurance to an estimated 5.8 million poor children by 2012. [Congressional Budget Office [33]] That number of uninsured Americans would likely grow under John McCain’s proposal to force families with employer-sponsored health care into the individual-insurance market. Under the McCain plan, an estimated 56 million Americans living with long-term conditions such as cancer and diabetes could find themselves unable to buy health insurance at any price. [Center for American Progress Action Fund [34]]
For More Information: Making Sense on Health Care for America Now [35]

8. The Middle Class Falls Further Behind
Thanks to conservative economic policies, middle-class Americans are financially worse off than they were eight years ago, and economic inequality is on the rise. During President Bush’s tenure, pre-tax income for middle-class Americans grew less than 2 percent, while the wealthiest one-percent saw their income grow by more than a third—34.8 percent. [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities [36]] In real terms, the average annual earnings of a middle-class household have actually fallen by nearly $1,000, even as the cost of necessities continues to rise. [Economic Policy Institute [37]] It’s hard to blame workers for this decline; statistics show that they’ve actually been working harder and producing almost 20 percent more since 2000. [Economic Policy Institute [38]] So why has middle-class wage growth stagnated? One reason is conservatives’ resistance to raising minimum wage, a policy that drags down salaries all the way up the economic ladder. John McCain, for instance, voted against a minimum-wage increase 19 times. [Politifact [39]]
For More Information: Making Sense on Economic Growth [40]

9. Conservatives Embrace Scandal
Soon after being elected to the presidency, George W. Bush appointed a lobbyist named Jack Abramoff to his presidential transition team. [Associated Press [41]] Unfortunately for the American people, this was only the first in a long list of questionable decisions made by conservatives in the last eight years. Evidence suggests that the Bush Administration improperly fired seven U.S. attorneys to protect Republican political interests, destroyed over five million email messages to avoid investigation, and leaked information about a covert CIA agent. [Washington Post [42], Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington [43], National Journal [44]]

10. Bush-Appointed Labor Board Attacks Labor

President Bush’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board have used their power to roll back workers’ hard-won rights and prevent workers from gaining new protections. The NLRB reversed long-standing precedents, making it more difficult for workers to join a union or to recover back-pay after leaving a job. [Change to Win [45]] The Bush NLRB also denied labor protections for disabled and temporary workers, and moved workers with limited authority—such as nurses—into an employment category that prevents them from organizing a union in their workplace. [U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce [46]]
For More Information: Making Sense on Workers’ Rights [47]