Bush is hitting the campaign trail again today, traveling to North Carolina (15 electoral votes) to tout his support for job-training programs. There are at least two disturbing facets to today’s announcement.
One, today’s announcement is an empty political gesture that talks about training but refuses to put any resources behind the initiative. As the Washington Post reported:
With his opponent making job creation the centerpiece of his campaign, President Bush will announce plans today to double the number of workers who complete federal training each year from the current 200,000 to 400,000 — but is putting no new money into the effort.
And two, it’s nice to hear Bush talk about it now, but it hardly makes up for the fact that the White House has cut over $1 billion from job training programs since taking office. As the Center for American Progress noted in January:
News reports indicate that in his State of the Union Address, President Bush will propose $120 million in “new” job training grants at community colleges. The problem is, the proposal comes after Bush has repeatedly slashed job training and vocational education programs. In fact, over the last three years, he has proposed at least $1 billion in cuts to job training and vocational education.
Matching words and deeds isn’t a Bush strong point.