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to the Florida Democratic Party-
After reading Tennessee's Democratic Party statement which included a breakdown of "what Bush didn't say" in terms of how it affected Tennesseans, I am wondering if the Florida Democratic Party is going to offer a similar response to the SOTU. It would be empowering for the Democratic Party to issue a state-by-state response, and in particular one for Florida, and the impact this administration's policies have had on Floridians. Here is the text of Tennessee's Democratic Party response: >quote< THE REAL STATE OF THE UNION UNDER BUSH: WHAT HE DIDN’T SAY
The Economy and Jobs: George Bush Didn’t Say: 55,000 more Tennesseans have become unemployed since he took office.
George Bush Didn’t Say: Nearly 60,000 Tennessee manufacturing jobs have been lost, 2.5 million nationally.
George Bush Didn’t Say: Under his Presidency, corporations grew, Tennessee salaries did not. America’s gross domestic product grew at 8.2 percent; corporate profits grew at an annual rate above 40 percent. Salaries grew by less than 1 percent (third quarter of 2003).
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed gutting overtime for 8 million American workers; more than 400,000 Tennessee and regional workers would lose access to overtime pay.
George Bush Didn’t Say: 3.5 million Americans have fallen into poverty under his Presidency; Tennessee’s poverty rate rose to 14.5 percent since Bush took office.
Balanced Budget and Taxes: George Bush Didn’t Say: He squandered a 10-year, $5.6 trillion budget surplus and created a projected 10-year, $5.0 trillion deficit – a $10 trillion failure.
George Bush Didn’t Say: 53 percent of Tennessee taxpayers will receive less than $100 from his latest tax cut.
George Bush Didn’t Say: Tennesseans will be left to pay for his failure to balance a budget. Over the next six years, Tennesseans will be left with nearly $24,000, per person, in their share of the national debt – a debt to be paid over a lifetime of higher taxes.
George Bush Didn’t Say: 266,000 Tennessee children were left out of his Child Tax Credit.
Education: George Bush Didn’t Say: He under-funded his own program, No Child Left Behind, by cutting $69 million in Title I funds for Tennessee this year alone.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a $286 million cut in grants to local Tennessee education agencies.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a $7.7 million cut for grants to Tennessee teachers.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a $5 million cut to educational technology grants for Tennessee schools.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a $6 million cut in rural education for Tennessee children.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a $4 million cut for the safe and drug-free schools program for Tennessee.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a $378 million cut for the Head Start program in Tennessee.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a total of $1.2 billion in federal education cuts for Tennessee schools this year.
Veterans: George Bush Didn’t Say: 550,000 Tennessee veterans are worse off under the Bush Presidency (See below)
George Bush Didn’t Say: He denied 360,000 middle-income veterans across the country their VA healthcare by cutting it from his budget.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He proposed a new $250 premium for 2.3 million middle-income veterans; he proposed doubling the pharmacy co-payments and even proposed a 30 percent increase in primary care co-payments for the same middle-income veterans.
Environment: George Bush Didn’t Say: He opened 9 million acres of national forest to logging and mining.
George Bush Didn’t Say: He cut $10 million from the Environmental Protection Agency’ enforcement programs his first year in office. >end quote< I urge you to consider undertaking a similar response from the Democratic Party in the state of Florida. Keep up the good fight, and Thank you for your time,
:kick:
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