Bush To Alter Economic Stats Again

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> Thu, 2 Sep 2004 08:47:04 -0400 (EDT)

> The Daily Mislead <latest

 

> Bush To Alter Economic Stats Again

>

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> THE DAILY MIS-LEAD

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> http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=52818

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>

> BUSH TO ALTER ECONOMIC STATS AGAIN

>

> Last week, the Census Bureau released statistics

> showing that for the first

> time in years, poverty had increased for three

> straight years, while the

> number of Americans without health care increased to

> a record level.[1] But

> instead of changing its economic and health care

> policies, the Bush

> administration today is announcing plans to change

> the way the statistics

> are compiled. The move is just the latest in a

> series of actions by the

> White House to doctor or eliminate longstanding and

> nonpartisan economic

> data collection methods.

>

> In a Bush administration press release yesterday,

> the Census Bureau said

> next week it " will announce a new economic

> indicator " as " an additional tool

> to better understand " the economy. The change in

> statistics is being

> directed by Bush political appointees and comes just

> 60 days from the

> election. It will be the first modification of

> Census data in 40 years.[2]

>

> This is not the first time the White House has tried

> to doctor or manipulate

> economic data that exposed President Bush's failed

> policies. In the face of

> serious job losses last year, the Associated Press

> reported " the Bush

> administration has dropped the government's monthly

> report on mass layoffs,

> which also had been eliminated when President Bush's

> father was in

> office. " [3] Similarly, Business Week reported that

> the White House this year

> " unilaterally changed the start date of the last

> recession to benefit Bush's

> reelection bid. " For almost 75 years, the start and

> end dates of recessions

> have been set by the National Bureau of Economic

> Research (NBER), a private

> nonpartisan research group. But the Bush

> administration decided to toss

> aside the NBER, and simply declare that the

> recession started under

> President Clinton.[4]

>

>

> Sources:

>

> 1. " Census: Poverty up in 2003, " The Olympian,

> 9/01/04,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=52819.

> 2. Census Bureau press release, 8/31/04.

> 3. " Monthly report on mass layoffs dropped, " Shawnee

> News-Star, 1/05/03,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=52820.

> 4. " Inventing The 'Clinton Recession', " Business

> Week Online, 2/23/04,

>

http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2973095 & l=52821.

>

> Visit www.Misleader.org for more about Bush

> Administration distortion. »

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