George W. Bush and the Real State of the Union

+6%: Percentage change since 2001 in the number of US families in poverty

1951: Last year in which a quarterly rise in US military spending was greater than the one the previous spring

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More About

• George W. Bush
• U.S. Armed Forces
• Saddam Hussein
• U.S. Army Activities
• U.S. Armed Forces Activities

54%: Percentage of US citizens who believe Bush was legitimately elected to his post

1st: First president to execute a federal prisoner in the past 40 years. Executions are typically ordered by separate states and not at federal level.

9: Number of members of Bush's Defense Policy Board who also sit on the corporate board of, or advise, at least one defense contractor

35: Number of countries to which US has suspended military assistance after they failed to sign agreements giving Americans immunity from prosecution before the International Criminal Court

$300 million: Amount cut from the federal program that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes

$1 billion: Amount of new US military aid promised Israel in April 2003 to offset the "burdens" of the US war on Iraq

58 million: Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging, and drilling

200: Number of public health and environmental laws Bush has attempted to downgrade or weaken

Editor's Note: This piece is reprinted from the January 20 issue of The Independent newspaper in London.