Hightower Lowdown

In his January State of the Union speech, George W. declared that his number-one economic priority was jobs. “When America works, America prospers,” he said.

Indeed, with the high-tech bust, the job crash following 9/11, and the job-busting finagling by Enron and its ilk, the number of unemployed Americans is up 40% in the past year, so job programs are needed more than ever.

Two weeks later, however, came Bush’s budget, with his real priorities written in ink. Far from pushing jobs, George whacked the meager job-training budgets already on the books, particularly for programs that help those most in need today — laid-off workers and young adults.

“Youth opportunity centers,” for example, are effective training and job-search programs, and Bush even visited one in Portland just days before his State of the Union speech. He got his picture taken with trainees, but back in Washington, he took the ax to these centers, chopping their funding 80%.

Adding insult to injury, Bush & Company lied about it, asserting that they’re increasing the money going to job training. In truth, they’re counting federal job funds sent to the states this year as new money for next year, even though it’s already spent — a maneuver that would make Enron blush.