Republicans plan more tax cuts for the wealthy, slashing of social programs

San Jose, CA – Just before the holiday recess, Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate agreed to cut social programs that serve the poor and working class, such as Medicaid (health care for low-income people), student loans for college, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and Medicare (health care for the elderly). At the same time Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill backed by President Bush to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the well to do and businesses.

Incomes Fall, Poverty and Uninsured Rise Four Years in Row

On Aug. 30 the federal government reported that average household income fell and the poverty rate rose for the fourth year in a row. The same report also showed that the percentage of people who went without health insurance for the entire year increased; their numbers rose to almost 46 million. While, on average, the bottom 80% of the population lost income in 2004, the top 20% of the population increased both their average incomes (to $151,000), as well as their share of income – to more than half, at 50.1%.

San Jose, CA – On July 19 Hewlett-Packard, or HP, one of the country’s largest computer makers, announced that they would cut almost 15,000 jobs and dismantle their workers’ pension program. HP said that it could increase its profits $300 million a year by ending pensions for all new workers and cutting pension payments for all but the oldest and most senior workers – and expanding their 401(k)retirement program instead. HP is just another big business to slash their workers’ pension plans. In 1979 over 60% of workers with retirement benefits had pensions, but now less than 13% do.

“Here’s the fix, tax the rich!” chanted 350 University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) workers, as they marched on May 26. Employees were mad as hell because of Governor Blagojevich’s threats against state pensions.

San Jose, CA – 2003 saw a record number of people filing for bankruptcy – for the second year in a row. More than 1.6 million people filed for bankruptcy last year, or one out of every 73 households in the United States. The percentage of credit cards whose users have fallen behind on their payments also hit record highs last year. The increase in bankruptcies and late credit card payments, despite low interest rates, show that more and more households are being crushed by almost $10 trillion of debt.

The Bush administration’s plans for war in Iraq pose a big risk to the economy. While the government claims the cost of the war will be about $50 billion, economist William Nordhaus of Yale University estimates that it could cost as much as $2 trillion, when including the costs of the war, an occupation of Iraq, and higher oil prices. This is more than one and half times as big as the entire federal government spending this year, and would lead to huge cuts in social services and other programs, as well as a massive increase in the federal deficit.

San Jose, CA – In late September, people turned off their lights in Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires, and in much of the rest of the country. This latest protest was aimed at the foreign-owned utility companies that want to raise energy prices by 35 to 50%, and the telephone rates by as much at 275%. While the national government would like to let the utilities hike their prices, many people are calling for returning the utilities to public ownership, since there has been no improvement in service since they were privatized.

San Jose, CA – Silicon Valley's boom is going bust. Hi-tech corporations that were once the darlings of Wall Street, such as Cisco, Hewlett Packard, and Juniper Networks are laying off thousands of workers. The unemployment rate here in Santa Clara County has doubled since the beginning of the year.

San José, CA -On July 2, the Labor Department announced that another 467,000 jobs were lost in June as the official unemployment rate rose to 9.5%. This brings the total job loss during the recession to more than 7 million. This means that all the jobs gained under the Bush administration have now been wiped away by the recession. This is the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s that all the job gains of an economic expansion have been lost.

St. Paul, MN – Chanting, “Hey Pawlenty here’s the fix: Tax the rich, tax the rich,” more than 50 people rallied in front of the Governor’s Mansion here, June 30 to slam Governor Pawlenty’s plan to cut hundreds of millions from health care, education, local government aid and human services. The protest was organized by the Welfare Rights Committee and backed by the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout.