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The 2008 DMI Injustice Index: The Bush Legacy
Opening weekend box office gross of Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic “W”: $10.6 million 1
Opening weekend box office gross of Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911, which intensely criticized the Bush Administration: $23.9 million 2
Number of days during his presidency that Bush spent on vacation at either Camp David or his Texas ranch, as of August 2008 (including partial days off): 916 3
Total number of years in Bush’s presidency, if these vacation days are subtracted: 5.5 4
Proportion of U.S. workers who have no paid vacations or holidays at work: 1 in 4 5
Date on which President Bush received a presidential daily briefing entitled “Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.” while in the midst of a month-long vacation: 8/6/2001 6
Date on which a FEMA report warned that Hurricane Katrina “could greatly overtop levees and protective systems” in New Orleans, displacing more than a million residents, a warning which came when the President was again on a month-long vacation: 8/27/2005 7
Date of a second warning, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, that Katrina would “likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching”: 8/29/2005 8
Date that President Bush told ABC “I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”: 9/1/2005 9
Date on which George W. Bush announced “I believe we’re overextended… if we don't stop extending our troops all around the world and nation building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road”: 10/3/2000 10
Date on which the United Nation’s chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, informed the U.N. Security Council that he had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, although inspection and monitoring efforts would continue: 3/7/2003 11
Date the United States invaded Iraq: 3/19/2003 12
Cost of the Iraq War through 2008: $567 billion 13
Approximate cost of the privately funded George W. Bush Presidential Library, whose manager insists it will discuss the war “upfront”: $250 million 14
Year the library is set to open: 2014 15
Year by which the No Child Left Behind law mandates that all students nationwide must achieve grade-level proficiency in reading and math: 2016 16
Number of societies on earth that has ever succeeded in achieving universal student proficiency, according to testing expert Robert Linn: 0 17
Amount by which No Child Left Behind has been underfunded since its inception, according to Senator Tom Harkin: $70.9 billion 18
Proportion of U.S. public schools that are failing to meet No Child Left Behind standards as of October 2008: 2 out of 5 19
Percentage increase in overall school performance when previously uninsured children were enrolled in public health coverage, according to a California study: 24% 20
Change in the number of children with health coverage during President Bush’s tenure: -78,000 21
Percentage of President Bush’s total vetoes that blocked expansion of children’s health insurance: 20% 22
Number of times he cited the superiority of private insurance programs in his message explaining the first veto to Congress: 5 23
Year when President Bush made privatizing Social Security the centerpiece of his State of the Union Address, asserting that “your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver.”: 2005 24
Number of points the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped on September 29, 2008: 778 25
Overall change in stock market wealth between Oct. 2007 and Oct. 2008: -$8.4 trillion 26
Date President Bush signed legislation phasing out the federal estate tax: 6/7/2001 27
Increase in the number of U.S. millionaires since that year: 928,000 28, 29
Increase in the number of Americans living in poverty since that year: 4.4 million 30
Cost of all Bush’s tax cuts from 2001 to 2007: $1.3 trillion 31
Date President Bush announced that his tax cuts would “encourage more investment” and “strengthen the foundation of our economy so that every American who wants to work will be able to find a job.': 5/28/2003 32
Rank of the business cycle that included these tax cuts compared to all business cycles since 1949 in terms of employment growth: last 33
Rank in terms of investment: last 34
Change in the real median income of non-retiree households since 2000: -$2,010 35
Estimated home equity lost by American families with the bursting of the housing bubble: $4 trillion 36
Year that subsidiaries of the U.S. Treasury Department struck down laws in Georgia and New Jersey that were intended to rein in predatory lending and prevent foreclosures within those states: 2003 37, 38
Year in which the Federal Reserve issued its own rules to rein in predatory lending and prevent foreclosures: 2008 39
Number of home foreclosure filings in the first three quarters of 2008: 2.2 million 40, 41
Number of surrounding homes likely to suffer price declines as a result of this number of foreclosures according to the Center for Responsible Lending : 40.6 million 42
Date on which President Bush appeared on the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal,” joking that he was “thrilled to be anywhere with high ratings': 4/21/2008 43
Percentage difference in viewership of the episode with the Bush cameo, compared to the show’s season average: -27% 44
Approximate proportion of Americans who approved of President’s Bush handling of the Presidency in October, 2008: 1 in 5 45
Proportion of American adults currently incarcerated in a prison or jail: 1 in 100 46
Date on which President Bush commuted the prison sentence of I. Lewis Libby, the Vice President’s former Chief of Staff, who was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice: 7/2/2007 47
Percentage change in the number of full time staff monitoring hazardous goods at the Consumer Product Safety Commission during Bush’s tenure: -16% 48, 49
Percentage change in the number of federal investigators who monitor employers’ compliance with minimum wage, overtime, and child labor laws during Bush’s tenure: -23% 50
Percentage of Bush Supreme Court appointees who ruled that factory worker Lilly Ledbetter would get no recompense from her employer despite proving 20 years of pay discrimination: 100% 51
Number of judges Bush appointed to the Supreme Court as president: 2 52
Number of Supreme Court Justices who ruled to stop the Florida recount in Bush v. Gore, effectively handing the 2000 election to George W. Bush: 5 53
Date on which Vice President Dick Cheney announced “history will be the judge – and history, I believe, will say, job well done.”: 10/3/2008 54
Opening weekend box office gross of Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic “W”: $10.6 million 1
Opening weekend box office gross of Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911, which intensely criticized the Bush Administration: $23.9 million 2
Number of days during his presidency that Bush spent on vacation at either Camp David or his Texas ranch, as of August 2008 (including partial days off): 916 3
Total number of years in Bush’s presidency, if these vacation days are subtracted: 5.5 4
Proportion of U.S. workers who have no paid vacations or holidays at work: 1 in 4 5
Date on which President Bush received a presidential daily briefing entitled “Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.” while in the midst of a month-long vacation: 8/6/2001 6
Date on which a FEMA report warned that Hurricane Katrina “could greatly overtop levees and protective systems” in New Orleans, displacing more than a million residents, a warning which came when the President was again on a month-long vacation: 8/27/2005 7
Date of a second warning, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, that Katrina would “likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching”: 8/29/2005 8
Date that President Bush told ABC “I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”: 9/1/2005 9
Date on which George W. Bush announced “I believe we’re overextended… if we don't stop extending our troops all around the world and nation building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road”: 10/3/2000 10
Date on which the United Nation’s chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, informed the U.N. Security Council that he had found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, although inspection and monitoring efforts would continue: 3/7/2003 11
Date the United States invaded Iraq: 3/19/2003 12
Cost of the Iraq War through 2008: $567 billion 13
Approximate cost of the privately funded George W. Bush Presidential Library, whose manager insists it will discuss the war “upfront”: $250 million 14
Year the library is set to open: 2014 15
Year by which the No Child Left Behind law mandates that all students nationwide must achieve grade-level proficiency in reading and math: 2016 16
Number of societies on earth that has ever succeeded in achieving universal student proficiency, according to testing expert Robert Linn: 0 17
Amount by which No Child Left Behind has been underfunded since its inception, according to Senator Tom Harkin: $70.9 billion 18
Proportion of U.S. public schools that are failing to meet No Child Left Behind standards as of October 2008: 2 out of 5 19
Percentage increase in overall school performance when previously uninsured children were enrolled in public health coverage, according to a California study: 24% 20
Change in the number of children with health coverage during President Bush’s tenure: -78,000 21
Percentage of President Bush’s total vetoes that blocked expansion of children’s health insurance: 20% 22
Number of times he cited the superiority of private insurance programs in his message explaining the first veto to Congress: 5 23
Year when President Bush made privatizing Social Security the centerpiece of his State of the Union Address, asserting that “your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver.”: 2005 24
Number of points the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped on September 29, 2008: 778 25
Overall change in stock market wealth between Oct. 2007 and Oct. 2008: -$8.4 trillion 26
Date President Bush signed legislation phasing out the federal estate tax: 6/7/2001 27
Increase in the number of U.S. millionaires since that year: 928,000 28, 29
Increase in the number of Americans living in poverty since that year: 4.4 million 30
Cost of all Bush’s tax cuts from 2001 to 2007: $1.3 trillion 31
Date President Bush announced that his tax cuts would “encourage more investment” and “strengthen the foundation of our economy so that every American who wants to work will be able to find a job.': 5/28/2003 32
Rank of the business cycle that included these tax cuts compared to all business cycles since 1949 in terms of employment growth: last 33
Rank in terms of investment: last 34
Change in the real median income of non-retiree households since 2000: -$2,010 35
Estimated home equity lost by American families with the bursting of the housing bubble: $4 trillion 36
Year that subsidiaries of the U.S. Treasury Department struck down laws in Georgia and New Jersey that were intended to rein in predatory lending and prevent foreclosures within those states: 2003 37, 38
Year in which the Federal Reserve issued its own rules to rein in predatory lending and prevent foreclosures: 2008 39
Number of home foreclosure filings in the first three quarters of 2008: 2.2 million 40, 41
Number of surrounding homes likely to suffer price declines as a result of this number of foreclosures according to the Center for Responsible Lending : 40.6 million 42
Date on which President Bush appeared on the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal,” joking that he was “thrilled to be anywhere with high ratings': 4/21/2008 43
Percentage difference in viewership of the episode with the Bush cameo, compared to the show’s season average: -27% 44
Approximate proportion of Americans who approved of President’s Bush handling of the Presidency in October, 2008: 1 in 5 45
Proportion of American adults currently incarcerated in a prison or jail: 1 in 100 46
Date on which President Bush commuted the prison sentence of I. Lewis Libby, the Vice President’s former Chief of Staff, who was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice: 7/2/2007 47
Percentage change in the number of full time staff monitoring hazardous goods at the Consumer Product Safety Commission during Bush’s tenure: -16% 48, 49
Percentage change in the number of federal investigators who monitor employers’ compliance with minimum wage, overtime, and child labor laws during Bush’s tenure: -23% 50
Percentage of Bush Supreme Court appointees who ruled that factory worker Lilly Ledbetter would get no recompense from her employer despite proving 20 years of pay discrimination: 100% 51
Number of judges Bush appointed to the Supreme Court as president: 2 52
Number of Supreme Court Justices who ruled to stop the Florida recount in Bush v. Gore, effectively handing the 2000 election to George W. Bush: 5 53
Date on which Vice President Dick Cheney announced “history will be the judge – and history, I believe, will say, job well done.”: 10/3/2008 54
1. http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/19/boxoffice.ap/index.html
2. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2004&wknd=26&p=.htm
3. http://dyn.politico.com/printplaybook.cfm?uuid=8D88D81F-3048-5C12-0019745B5C906B42
4. Based on DMI calculations. Any partial days off are counted as vacation days.
5. http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/NoVacationNation_asofSeptember07.pdf
6. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/10/august6.memo/
7. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
8. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
10. http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000a.html
11. http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/SC7asdelivered.htm
12. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html
13. http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33110_20070628.pdf
14. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/022608dnmetbushde
15. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/022608dnmetbushde
16. http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/growthmodel/proficiency.pdf
17. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/education/13child.html
18. http://harkin.senate.gov/pr/p.cfm?i=270651
19. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/education/13child.html
20. http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/MRMIB/HFP/PedsQLYr2CHHSSumm.pdf
21. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
22. http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/vetoes.html
23. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071003-2.html
24. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-11.html
25. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30markets.html?scp=1&sq=debt%20over%2010%
26. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368071064524779.html
27. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010607.html
28. http://www.us.capgemini.com/news/current_news.asp?ID=240&PRyear=2002
29. http://www.us.capgemini.com/DownloadLibrary/files/Capgemini_FS_WWR08.pdf
30. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
31. http://www.cbpp.org/1-31-07tax.htm
32. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030528-9.html
33. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp214
34. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp214
35. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_income_20080826
36. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/statement-on-congres
37. http://dbf.georgia.gov/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/14/27/64934245DeclaratoryRuling852
38. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3736/is_200401/ai_n9352380/pg_6
39. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20080714a.htm
40. http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=529
41. http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=489
42. http://www.responsiblelending.org/issues/mortgage/research/updated-projections-of-su
43. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080418-16.html
44. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04242008/tv/bush_cameo_sinks_game_show_107840.htm
45. http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm
46. http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/8015PCTS_Prison08_FINAL_2-1-1_FORW
47. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070702-3.html
48. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/pdf/app31.pdf
49. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/appendix/oia.pdf
50. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08962t.pdf
51. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-1074.ZS.html
52. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/members.pdf
53. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html
54. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081003-15.html
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2. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2004&wknd=26&p=.htm
3. http://dyn.politico.com/printplaybook.cfm?uuid=8D88D81F-3048-5C12-0019745B5C906B42
4. Based on DMI calculations. Any partial days off are counted as vacation days.
5. http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/NoVacationNation_asofSeptember07.pdf
6. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/10/august6.memo/
7. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
8. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
10. http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000a.html
11. http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/SC7asdelivered.htm
12. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html
13. http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33110_20070628.pdf
14. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/022608dnmetbushde
15. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/022608dnmetbushde
16. http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/growthmodel/proficiency.pdf
17. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/education/13child.html
18. http://harkin.senate.gov/pr/p.cfm?i=270651
19. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/education/13child.html
20. http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/MRMIB/HFP/PedsQLYr2CHHSSumm.pdf
21. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
22. http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/vetoes.html
23. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071003-2.html
24. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-11.html
25. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30markets.html?scp=1&sq=debt%20over%2010%
26. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122368071064524779.html
27. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010607.html
28. http://www.us.capgemini.com/news/current_news.asp?ID=240&PRyear=2002
29. http://www.us.capgemini.com/DownloadLibrary/files/Capgemini_FS_WWR08.pdf
30. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf
31. http://www.cbpp.org/1-31-07tax.htm
32. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030528-9.html
33. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp214
34. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp214
35. http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_income_20080826
36. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/statement-on-congres
37. http://dbf.georgia.gov/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/14/27/64934245DeclaratoryRuling852
38. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3736/is_200401/ai_n9352380/pg_6
39. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20080714a.htm
40. http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=529
41. http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=489
42. http://www.responsiblelending.org/issues/mortgage/research/updated-projections-of-su
43. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080418-16.html
44. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04242008/tv/bush_cameo_sinks_game_show_107840.htm
45. http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob1.htm
46. http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/8015PCTS_Prison08_FINAL_2-1-1_FORW
47. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070702-3.html
48. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/pdf/app31.pdf
49. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/appendix/oia.pdf
50. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08962t.pdf
51. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-1074.ZS.html
52. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/members.pdf
53. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html
54. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081003-15.html
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Past Installments of DMI Injustice Index
The 2008 DMI Injustice Index: The Bush Legacy (December 2008)
DMI INJUSTICE INDEX: PAID SICK LEAVE (May 2008)
The Drum Major Institute 2007 Injustice Index (December 2007)
The Drum Major Institute 2006 Injustice Index (January 2007)
The United Estates of America (June 2006)
The Drum Major Institute 2005 Injustice index (December 2005)
Hurricane Katrina (September 2005)
The American Worker (May 2005)
The Drum Major Institute 2004 Injustice Index (December 2004)
You Go Girl! (July 2004)
Pomp and Circumstance (June 2004)
The Black Middle Class (May 2004)
The Apprentice (April 2004)
Climbing the Ladder (March 2004)
White Collar Wonders (February 2004)
The Drum Major Institute 2003 Injustice Index (January 2004)
Children … Next (November 2003)
A Taxing Affair (October 2003)
Rich Man's Justice, Poor Man's Justice (September 2003)
Independence Day (July 2003)
The Gay and Lesbian Family (June 2003)
Criminal Injustice (March 2003)
Family Values (February 2003)
The 108th Congress (January 2003)
Shelter (November 2002)
Choices (September 2002)
States of the Union: Six Snapshots of America (January 2002)