[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15174-15175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           AD GROWTH INDUSTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 4 minutes.

[[Page 15175]]


  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, the President keeps telling America that 
his administration is good for the economy. I have to admit under this 
administration one sector is booming. In fact, booming may not be a 
strong enough descriptor. Stellar, bottomless, and gusher could easily 
describe the runaway growth in the need and use of political campaign 
commercials by the administration's campaign.
  They are awash in cold, hard cash, and they are spending it as fast 
as they can get it in. They are spending more on airing a 30-second 
commercial than the network spends on making a 30-minute hit show. Talk 
about a growth industry.
  The networks have brought us reality TV, but this administration has 
brought us fiction TV. After 30 seconds one would swear the moon is 
made of Swiss cheese and the U.S. economy is too good to be true. 
Remember what our mothers taught us, if it is too good to be true, it 
is not true.
  Every time a new spot runs extolling the virtues of the 
administration, keep these numbers handy because the administration 
will not be talking about them: Since the President took office the 
stock market is down. Yes, down. Forget the slight-of-mouth they are 
attempting, look the numbers up. The Dow Jones industrial average is 
lower than when the President came in. 4 years later they have negative 
growth in the stock market. Is that the kind of economy America wants?
  If one is saving for their retirement, they have just experienced 4 
years of net loss. If one is living on a fixed income, their nest egg 
has 4 years of constant financial assault. If one is a tech buff, the 
same is true about the NASDAQ, 4 years later it is significantly lower 
than when he came in. Is that the kind of economy that is good for 
America? Four years later the money is worth less, lots less.
  So the administration uses special effects in its commercials to make 
it seem like Americans are better off. The smoke and mirrors might 
cloud the truth, but the smoke is only good for 30 seconds and then 
reality takes over.
  If the administration wants to take credit, and they say they do, 
then they have to take credit for the U.S. stock markets that are lower 
than when they came in. The stock markets tell the story about the U.S. 
economy under the stewardship of this administration.
  This can be summed up this way: The privileged few became the 
beneficiaries of the administration's use of our tax money. Do not let 
their commercials trick my colleagues into thinking anything else. 
Millionaires got a cool extra $100,000 from this administration's tax 
cuts. Go look at your own 1040 and do the math. What did you get? The 
average is about $700. The administration gave the rich about $10,000 
per month and the rest of America got 60 bucks a month. That is a lot 
of zeros. That is a lot of smoke and mirrors to cover that up.
  Now the administration claims we never look at what has been going 
on. So let us be fair. When the President took office, the Nation's 
unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. Today's unemployment rate is 30 
percent higher than it was when the President took office. That is the 
record. But one will not find it in any commercial that this 
administration is showing.
  Millions of Americans are without jobs. I cannot call that economic 
growth. I call it a real life crisis for people when they cannot find a 
job and the administration is unwilling to help. Unemployment is 30 
percent higher today than when the President took office. This 
administration has 2 million jobs less than when they took office. That 
record is only surpassed by the great Herbert Hoover in the Great 
Depression.
  Now, there is a commercial for you. The administration would need a 
lot of extra smoke to cover that up. The administration's economic 
policies have their closest comparison with the Great Depression. These 
are the facts. One might say this is reality TV just in case all those 
fictional accounts of the U.S. economy under the administration have 
one confused.
  With the amount of smoke the American administration is using, it is 
no wonder the level of pollution across America is higher than ever. 
America is choking from pollution caused by their fictional TV adds. 
They have got 112 more days and it is over.

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