when this blog will be one long series of rants. But it is not this day. This day we will, however, rant against the present administration.
The newest dismal
economic figures came out yesterday and SURPRISE!!!
People lost jobs. One guy that I respect on NPR, David Johnston, couldn't understand how the forecasters got it all wrong and how he had talked to all these doodz in manufacturing and they said how great they were doing and blah blah blah...
I have been working in my field, uninterrupted, even by failed Reaganism, for over 24 years. I am now unemployed. That's the truth of it Mr. Johnston.
Actually, that's not quite the truth of it. I'm not really unemployed. I work for Yum! Brand Foods now. That's right. I deliver pizza. Thank you Republicans.
Oh, I know. It's Bill Clinton's fault. It takes a president at least 4 years to overcome his predecessor's... what? It's been almost 8? Oh snap! I'm sure that those damn Dems in Congress did something to make it so wrong? What? The GOP had control of both the Executive branch and both houses of Congress until 6 months ago? Hmmm. Maybe they spent the last six months blocking every improvement W was trying to make.... Huh? GW vetoed all but one of the Dem's attempted budget and spending bills?
Yeah... Old W had
broken a 200 year old record by not vetoing a single bill that traipsed across his desk while the
GOP were in control, but as soon as the Dems took control, through public mandate (yeah, it's called a vote), he's vetoed every one of their bills.
And now here's how most recent
economic report and what has Bush got to say? "Man, this sucks. After 52 consecutive months of jobs added, we have a small loss."
Exsqueeze me? Small loss? What, some 17,000 jobs is small? It's the first loss of this kind in 25 years George! After months of you telling us how robust and strong our economy is, you can at least stop lying to us for a little while. What? Oh yeah, that is a bright spot. There was a small wage increase. What, .02%? Yeah. Did we forget that there was a minimum wage increase in January? Kinda think that would account for it.
Actually, what he said was:
"The fundamentals are strong," Bush said. "We're just in a rough patch, witnessed by the unemployment figures today. I'm confident we can get through this rough patch."
Even with troubling signs, Bush insisted there are some strong points to the economy and said encouraging businesses to invest is also a key part of the stimulus package.
sourceEncourage business to invest... yessss, muahaha... Invest in a new factory in...India! Or Malaysia, or China (whose growth, btw, is 24% right now. Damn commies.)
This is the problem in a nutshell. McCain took it on the nose when he told the honest truth and said that Michigans manufacturing jobs were gone and we'd better face that fact and work with it. You can bet he won't make that mistake again, telling the truth and all, but this is why trickle down didn't work when Reagan splooged it across the American people's tramp stamps and it won't work when GW pulls out either. Business is cold and callous and owned by it's shareholders who care for nothing more than the price of their shares. Which is why business will take that money, thank you very much, and build a factory in Hong Kong or the Phillipines, or even Puerto Rico, where it is still tax free to do so. No, trickle down does not work except for where it trickles into foreign pockets and rich men's wallets.
...
The thing that kills it all for me, well, there are many, but the main one is the constant drumbeat of "cut taxes" we hear from the GOP. Cut taxes, dems raise taxes, we need smaller government, "make W's tax cuts permanent". Crap.
There was another little shieve of paper issued this week. A study of the nation's infrastructure. Yeah, we're falling apart like a Minnesota bridge. Coming soon to a bridge near you!
According to a
Congressional commission and the
American Society of Civil Engineers, the nation's roads, bridges, dams and many other major structures are in need of very serious repair.
Levees are breaking, dams are crumbling and highways are disintegrating underneath our cars. And Bush just signed a bill letting Mexican truckers, who constantly overload their vehicles, drive our highways further into the nation's cities than previously allowed.
You can read the actual commission report
here.Helloooo, these things are paid for with taxes. People need to pay taxes or they can't use the highway to get to the megamall to spend that $600 you're going to give them to stimulate the economy. If they die in a bridge collapse, they can't buy a new $1200 stroller for little Paris. If they get stuck in another giant pothole, they can't go buy that beautiful Leo Shackter diamond! C'mon!
Oh, maybe we can get Exxon to buy it for them. I just heard that they
broke the record for the most friggin money made, ever. The record they broke? Their own, set last year. $40.6 BILLION DOLLARS!!!!!
But that's not that much really. Just a week in Baghdad. Our government
spends 1/3 of all of our taxes on defense. More actually, than all of the other countries of the entire planet - combined. $717 billion. Once again, thanks Reagan.
