Bush, George W. (Administration)

ALTHOUGH GEORGE W. Bush claimed “compassionate conservatism” to be one of the defining characteristics of his presidency, the post-2001 poverty rate increased steadily. In 2001, the U.S. Census Bureau's [Page 104]poverty rate stood at 11.7 percent. By 2004, the last year for which data are available, the poverty rate jumped by one full percent to 12.7 percent, an increase of about 4 million people. An interesting feature of recent poverty statistics is that, in addition to high poverty among racial and ethnic minorities, poverty among whites rose at an unprecedented rate, from 9.9 percent in 2001, to 10.9 percent in 2004.

Offshoring and/or outsourcing led to the erosion of the economic and social status of labor, and thus contributed to the rise of poverty among the white working class. Another disheartening aspect of these statistics is that child poverty has been extremely high. In 2004, the poverty rate among children under 18 reached 17.8 percent, signaling that poverty is a long-term problem in the U.S. economy.

The growth in incomes from 2001 to 2004 affected different income groups differently. Whereas the real average income of the top five percent increased by 1.7 percent, real average incomes of the bottom 40 percent decreased by 0.5 percent, exacerbating the income inequality and income concentration. The data is also reflective of the Bush administration's efforts to redistribute income to high income groups as a supply-side trickle-down policy, unfortunately at the expense of the low-income groups.

The economic policies of the administration, especially tax policies, did not help to alleviate poverty. Budget cuts and/or freezes in healthcare, education, and other social programs inevitably hurt the poor and other socially and economically disadvantaged groups and raised their vulnerability, pushing them further into poverty.

One of the more controversial aspects of the Bush administration has been to outsource poverty and related problems to faith-based charities and organizations. This approach has been criticized on many fronts. Some argue that using faith-based groups helps to promote neoconservative values and views among the poor. Others maintain that federal financing of these groups is a violation of the principle of separation of church and state. Nevertheless, the failure of this antipoverty approach is evident in the rising poverty figures.

The Bush administration's failure to combat poverty at home also extends to the international arena. In the summer of 2005, at the G-8 Summit, in Gleneagles, Scotland, the leaders of the eight rich, industrial countries committed themselves to halving poverty and hunger by 2015. A corollary to this agreement was devoting 0.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product to development assistance to fund poverty, health, and education expenditures in countries stricken by extreme poverty. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has so far failed to meet the targeted 0.7 percent.