...........After seven years of George W. Bush as President, let's look at the facts to see how working families have fared under his leadership. Unfortunatily, workers -- and Americans as a whole -- have not done well under his policies..............................A good example is his veto of a bill to expand Health Insurance for children whose parents can't afford it. The State Children Health Insuracne Program (SCHIP), which covers nearly 7 million children, would have received money to cover and additional 4 million kids. But Bush said no to the funds. At the same time he asked Congress for an extra $70 billion for the war in Iraq..........................................It was all about Bush's wrong prioirities. He cuts taxes for the rich and puts vital public services on the chopping block. He fights a mismanaged war yet refuses to fight a war on poverty. He takes away workerss' rights and looked the other way as CEOs raid workers' pensions. A brief look at his record shows why our new Presideent campaigned for change and will stand up for America's working families....................................MISGUIDED POLICIES. Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security is the clearest example of his many domestic policy misjudgments. He launched his proposal with a study commission whose members he chose specifically because they supported privatization. The panel then issued a report suggesting three ways to privatize America's retirement security program...........................................Bush misfired again when attempting to deal with the skyrocketing cost of health care. Instead, he helped create a Medicare prescription drug law that benefits insurance and pharmaceutical compainies while failing to provide affordable drugs to seniors. Among its problems: the infamous "doughnut hole," a gigantic benefits gap that forces seniors to go without coverage for a period although they must continue to pay their monthly premiums.........................................................................

.........TARGETING LABOR. Just days after moving into the White House, Bush began targeting workers - especially those who are members of unions. One of his first official acts was to repeal a rule designed to prevent injuries to factory, construction and office workers. But that was just the beginning..........................In one of his most egregious anti-worker acts, the Ex-President vowed in the summer of 2007, to veto the House-passed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would strengthen workers' rights by providing real penalties when employers violate the rights of workers to choose a union. Passage of EFCA would also enable workers to form unions when a majority says that they want one. The bill - a priority - is now bottled up in the Senate because of Bush's opposition................................................................Even the National Labor Relations Board, which is supposed to "protect" the rights of union members, showed a heavy pro-business bias under Bush. The panel - whose four or five members were appointed by the President - consistently has decided against the interest of working people. For example, one major ruling expanded the definition of "supervisor" so that tens of thousands of nurses and other workers could be barred from joining a union...................................................................GOVERNMENT FOR SALE. Privitazation is another well-used hammer in Bush's anti-union and anti-public-service tool box. In 2003, he announced the goal of outsouring up to 850,000 federal jobs, and he's used the war in Iraq as justification to greatly expand the use of contractors have been added to the federal payroll................................In addition, some 100,000 contractors are now operating in *Iraq - a so-called "shadow government" nearly the size of the U.S. military force stationed there, according to the Pentagon. That doesn't even count an undetermenied number of "subcontrators" working there, too!.......................................................................

........The Ex-President also used the war to justify stripping nearly 60,000 airport screeners of their right to form a union, and issured and executive order removing union representation for workers in th Justice Department's U.S Attorney's offices, the Criminal Division and several other offices................................................................WEAKENING PUBLIC SERVICE. When Bush took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2001, the nation's economic prospects were bright. There wa an estimated 10-year budget surplus of $5.6 trillion. Within three years, the surplus had shrunk to a projected 10-year "deficit" of $4.8 trillion..........................................By creating such a massive deficit, he has put pressure on future policy makers at the federal, state and local levels to reduce vital public services to make up for the shortfall.....................................Just look at what happened in 2002. Reeling from the economic turbalacne of 9/11, states faced the worst fiscal crisis since World War II. Yet Bush igonored appeals from governors to help pay for the costs of federal mandates in education, Medicaid and domestic security...............................Bush continues to swing his budget ax with wanton disregard for who gets hurt. In November of 2007, he vetoed a bill to fund the department of education, labor, and health and human services. His action could eliminate 45 federal education programs and cripple others, including special education for children with disabilities..............................................................TROUBLE AHEAD. Under Bush's leadership, the national debt has risen from $5.6 trillion to a record $9 trillion in November of 2007. That staggering burden is equal to $26,000 for every American alive today..................................................................................

......The country's "long term-fiscal outlook...........is clearly unsustainable," declared the nonparisan congressional Government Accountability Office last August. Yet Bush's ruinous military spending spree continues unabated. Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were launched, the U.S. government will have spent at least $804 billion, through 2008, figting those battles. That money could have provided health care for all Americans, fixed the roads and bridges or paid for other national priorities that Bush has ignored................................................................The Bush Adaministration's tax cuts for the rich will cost more that $2 trillion over a decade in lost revenue. Who benefits? Not most Americans: When they're fully in place in 2010, "nealy 100% of Bush's tax relief will go to households with incomes over $200,000 a year.............................................BUSH'S LEGACY. For seven years, the needs of America have gone unmet, and millions wait for improvements. They wait for the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical compaines to lower drug costs. They wait for an end to the war. For more than two years, that have waitted for the full restoration of New Orleans. And they will keep on waiting for all of these things as long as the Oval Office is occupied by a President who puts the wants of the weathy ahead of the needs of everyday Americas. "Let us take pride in our new President, Barack Obama and our First Lady, Michelle, as they make a difference for our country and the infrastructure of our world.................................................................Resource: AFSCME Works, The Magazince of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employeess, AFL-CIO, "Ex"President Bush's Record by Clyde Weiss, C January/February 2008, AFSCME. ORG.