From the Center for American Progress

RACE -- BUSH USES NAACP SPEECH TO PROMOTE ESTATE TAX, DOESN'T UTTER THE WORD 'POVERTY':

President Bush addressed the NAACP yesterday for the first time in his presidency. Speaking on behalf of his friend, multi-millionaire conservative BET founder Bob Johnson , Bush used the opportunity to promote the repeal of the estate tax on the ultra-rich: "[Johnson] believes strongly, for example, that the death tax will prevent future African-American entrepreneurs from being able to pass their assets from one generation to the next. He and I also understand that the investor class shouldn’t be just confined to the old definition of the investor class." President Bush’s “death tax” pitch demonstrates his stunning disconnect from the African-American community. According to an American Progress analysis, just 59 African-Americans will pay the estate tax this year , and that number will drop to 33 in 2009. Meanwhile, as of 2004, 24.7 percent of African-Americans lived under the poverty line (up from 22.7 in 2001) -- that’s more than 9 million people. Bush didn't use the word “poverty” once during his speech, and "a somber silence fell over the room as the president discussed his policies on education, jobs and housing."