Bush: Americans Too Dumb To Work

I'm glad I wasn't the only one bothered by Bush blaming the unemployed for being out of work because, you know, they're undereducated.

SCHIEFFER: Mr. President, what do you say to someone in this country who has lost his job to someone overseas who's being paid a fraction of what that job paid here in the United States?

BUSH: I'd say, Bob, I've got policies to continue to grow our economy and create the jobs of the 21st century. And here's some help for you to go get an education. Here's some help for you to go to a community college.

We've expanded trade adjustment assistance. We want to help pay for you to gain the skills necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century.

If you have a job, but you're making minimum wage, it's also your fault because, you know, you're undereducated.

SCHIEFFER: The gap between rich and poor is growing wider. More people are dropping into poverty. Yet the minimum wage has been stuck at what, $5.15 an hour now for about seven years. Is it time to raise it?

PRESIDENT BUSH: [L]et me talk about what's really important for the worker you're referring to, and that's to make sure the education system works; is to make sure we raise standards. Listen, the No Child Left Behind Act is really a jobs act, when you think about it.

But lucky for all of us, Bush has made sure that more federal aid is available so we can all go to college and get smart enough to have and keep a job that pays more than minimum wage.

BUSH: Whew! Let me start with the Pell grants. In his last litany of -- of misstatements, he said we cut Pell grants. We've increased Pell grants by a million students. That's a fact.

A million more kids are getting Pell Grants because Pell Grants are only available to low-income families, a growing group during Bush's tenure. Unfortunately, according to a November 2003 article in the New York Times, the average Pell grant "has gone from covering 77% of the cost of a four-year public college in 1980 to 40% today."