Bush held another “conversation” with real people yesterday to tout his alleged successes in improving the U.S. economy. With a record like his, I’m surprised Bush would want to bring the subject up, but that’s up to him.
In December, Bush held a similar event in Michigan (17 electoral votes), in which the president shared the stage with the owners of two small auto supply companies and four workers for what was billed as an impromptu dialog between Bush and six regular Americans.
It wasn’t. Participants had to “rehearse” for hours the day before the event and Bush even had to “prompt” some of them to mention prearranged topics.
Yesterday, Bush hosted another campaign-style “conversation,” this time in Florida (27 electoral votes). In kicking off the event, Bush made it sound like it was a spontaneous gathering of concerned citizens.
You’re probably wondering why we’re here. It’s because we’re going to herald the entrepreneurial spirit of America and talk about small business ownership and job creation. And we’re going to talk to some people who are working hard to do their duty as a parent, what it means to try to make a living in this environment.
Nonsense. All of this was choreographed for the cameras and the audience knew why they were there. After all, as the New York Times noted today, the participants were “carefully selected” and limited to those who would sing Bush’s praises.
And because the White House claimed this was an official event, and not a campaign event, the whole charade was paid for by the taxpayers.
But the “substance” of the event was far worse than the political theatrics.
The AP noted, for example, that Bush argued “his tax cuts are helping the economy and suggested Democrats would endanger America’s fiscal health by raising taxes.”
This is rich. We’re going to endanger the nation’s fiscal health? The man who has overseen the loss of over 2 million jobs, the biggest trade deficit in U.S. history, and the biggest budget deficit in U.S .history is concerned about Democrats jeopardizing our fiscal health?
As Josh Marshall so astutely noted, “This is [like] the arsonist in your house telling you that stranger outside with the hose can’t be trusted.”
But the talking point of the day was “small businesses.” By my count, Bush used the phrase 31 times at yesterday’s event, at one point arguing that, “[O]ne of the vital aspects of the tax relief plan was the help it provided to small businesses.”
As the Center for American Progress reported today, this is completely false. The White House’s multiple tax cuts for the wealthy provided almost nothing for small businesses.
As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes, more than 96% of small businesses are not affected by the top tax rate cuts which the Administration claims was the biggest help to small businesses in its 2001 tax bill. In fact, “small business owners would be far more likely to receive no tax reduction whatsoever from the Administration’s tax package.” In the 2003 tax bill, “nearly four out of every five tax filers (79%) with small business income would receive less than this amount,” according to the nonpartisan Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. Additionally, “52% of people with small business returns would get $500 or less.”
I guess Bush’s carefully-scripted audience forgot to bring this up.