Press Advisory, January 16, 2004
Contact: Deborah Weinstein, (202) 223-2532 x31;
Mobile: (301) 873-1324
For Immediate Release

New Report:
The Real State of the Union:
How the Administration and Congress' Irresponsible Choices Failed Low-Income Families and Workers in 2003

When the President addresses the nation about the State of the Union, will he see a nation in which millions of out-of-work and low-earning Americans are struggling? He is likely to offer a selective picture - one that points to the welcome third quarter economic growth but fails to emphasize the continuing and painful joblessness of this "recovery." Listeners should know the whole story.

This brief report documents a state of the union characterized by almost unprecedented long-term unemployment, nearly 35 million poor Americans, 43 million people without health insurance, and inadequate child care, job training, affordable housing, and other supports to enable parents to get and keep jobs.

The report also describes the real state of the union as one of irresponsible choices. In 2003 alone, the tax cuts passed during the Bush Administration cost $260 billion in lost revenue. Last year, millionaires received an average of $113,000 in new tax cuts, while households earning between $10,000 and $20,000 received an average of $307.

Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, asks in the report, "What have low-income families received for these foregone revenues? Precious few jobs. Those billions in tax cuts have not been invested in improving education, expanding job training, protecting the unemployed, feeding our children, building affordable housing, or providing health coverage to the uninsured. The lowest income families are losing far more than they can buy with their $307 tax cut. In our current jobless recovery, some remain jobless, while others are recovering nicely. Low-income working families are clearly not in the latter group."

The full report details specific opportunities - ones that were missed in 2003 - to invest in education, job training, child care, jobless benefits, nutrition, health insurance, affordable housing, and other services. It also delineates how Congress and the President can begin to make responsible choices for the American people.