State of the Union: August 2005

[mubs]

Rep. Jim McDermott: One Nation – Two Countries

Rep. Jim McDermott Tue Aug 30, 7:34 PM ET

The President, rested after five weeks of paid vacation, returns to the White House with new data showing so much is up under his Administration.

Gasoline prices are up, dramatically. Oil Company profits are up, obscenely. And Americans know the sky is the limit in other important economic indicators as well. Bankruptcies are up. Poverty is up. And the number of uninsured Americans is way up.

The President is proud of the state of the nation. He says so time and time, in one scripted, invitation-only, stage-managed event after another. The last time he saw an average American was when his motorcade whizzed by Cindy Sheehan on the side of a Texas road without stopping. But there was no time to stop and talk because there was another fundraiser to attend.

Every year for the last four years, the Administration has shredded the hopes and aspirations of average Americans while it printed money for Republican benefactors.

New census data recount a grim story for ordinary Americans over the last four years under this President and Republican majority.

Poverty climbed to 12.7% under President George W. Bush. That’s one out of every nine Americans.

The number of Americans who work but live in poverty increased by half a million on The President’s watch. So much for all those good jobs he claims.

Americans without health insurance soared 5 million to over 45 million.

With so much up under this President, is there anything down? Well, yes. Real median income among the working-age population has fallen.

The percentage of people with employer based health care has dropped to a level last seen in 1933.

The federal minimum wage stands at 69% of poverty, the lowest point in the last half century.

And, last but not least, real family income for those in the lowest bracket went down 5% while the top bracket enjoyed a 40% increase.

Put simply, the rich are getting a lot richer under this President and the other 80% of America is getting gouged at the pump.

The President is turning America into a two country nation, one where the rich can afford $3 a gallon gas because they own the pump, and one where the vast majority of Americans can’t work enough hours or enough jobs to make ends meet.

The middle class existed in the year 2000. If this President has his way, we will witness the fastest extinction in history of an entire economic class.

 

[jtr1962]

While it's convenient to blame GWB for the economic problems this country is facing, the fact is that there are long-term global forces at work here responsible for the rise in poverty. It's a fact that Americans can't compete with the $75 a month labor readily available in India and China. To make it worse, more often than not the foreign labor is better educated and I might add more intelligent. I'm not really sure that much can be done about it, either. Protectionism doesn't work, income redistribution doesn't work. There aren't enough rich so the brunt of taxes to pay for poverty programs falls right on the dwindling middle class who can least afford them. Being better educated and more productive would help, but sad to say the majority seem to have little interest in bettering themselves.

I'll grant that there have been some areas where leadership has failed, most notably in the development of energy alternatives. However, both parties share the blame. We've had over 30 years warning to develop alternatives, yet Americans continued to elect leaders who were for the status quo, and continued to buy large, gasoline-burning cars instead of smaller cars and electric vehicles. Therefore, even here Americans are as much to blame as their leaders. If we had wanted electric cars, they would exist. If we had wanted better public transportation, it would exist. If we wanted to get away from the energy intensive suburban lifestyle and live in cities instead, we would have. In the final analysis, it's really the American people who are to blame for their predicament. Instead of keeping up and caring about larger issues, and then electing leaders who would deal with them, most Americans preferred to spend their time worrying about celebrity gossip and driving vehicles chosen for weight and power. Now it's payback time, and sadly even those who do care about more important issues than who Brad Pitt is sleeping with will be forced to suffer because of the short-sightedness of their fellow countrymen. The media shares a great deal of blame here as well for putting nonsense stories ahead of more important ones just because they allegedly sell.

 

[Fushigi]

jtr, I think an important point to take from the article is not that America has problems. Nor is it to blame GWB for them, although he should shoulder some of the burden of guilt.

I think the main thing to realize is that he is either blind to the problems faced by the non-rich or simply doesn't care. Either way, these are not traits you want in a leader.

 

[Mercutio]

I see no reason not to blame GWB and his party.

I can't believe the free passes that President Fuckhead gets in the media.
Heard anything about Rove and Valerie Plame lately?

 

[jtr1962]

Sure it seems like GWB doesn't give a shit about the average person but he's far from the only leader to do so. In general politicians treat their constituents as cash cows to finance the programs which get them reelected. Both parties are guilty of this. The Dems were actually the champs at it for a long time, and now that the Republicans are in power they're getting to be just as bad. Again, I blame the American people. Ever heard the old saying a country sooner or later gets the leadership it deserves? Well, GWB is just the culmination of years of the American public voting for the status quo. And in all honesty, the pathetic excuses for leaders the Dems put forward in opposition wouldn't have been any better for the country. There's just a huge dearth in leadership nowadays. Nobody wants to come forward and force people to make the painful choices that need to be made for the long-term good. And nobody seems to want to do any planning past the next quarter or next election.

 

[Mercutio]

 

[ddrueding]

I agree with JTR on this one. GWB is a massive idiot and is screwing the country at a time when we could really use some solid leadership. But the reason we're having to deal with him again is that the Dems provided no worthy competiton. Combine that with the fact that the majority of Americans are idiots and we live in a majority rule state, and we really do have the government we deserve.

 

[Tea]

What a dickhead. Oh, he's fine with getting his suit looking nice and new and wealthy, but look at the chord he's playing! It's a non-chord. It's a bloody G chord in the wrong place! All about looks and bloody photo opportunities, a real mess if you actually were to listen to it instead of having it dubbed (dubuyoued?) in.

 

[Tannin]

Tea, mind your language.

 

[Tea]

But he is a dickhead!

 

[Tannin]

Quite so, but you are not allowed to say so in print. And stop shouting!

 

[Tea]

I can say dickhead if I want to, and you can't stop me.

 

[Tannin]

Right, that's it.

Into the deep-freeze for you till you cool off and settle down a bit. A little bit of frost on your fur might make you a bit more careful with your language.

 

[Tea]

Aww! Not fair! I don't want to get into the fu....... Mumph...

 

[Tannin]

Sorry about that gentlemen. Remind me to let her out in half an hour or so.

 

[Tannin]

OK, that's probably long enough.

(bump, creak)

Feeling a bit more sensible now Tea?

 

[Tea]

Awww, I'm cold! I really really don't like the deep freeze.

And stop looking at me like that. I'm not going to say a single naughty word. Ten minutes in there is way too long.

But Tannin .... I got to thinking .... what on earth did the chicken say?!

 

[Buck]

Tannin, please be careful with Tea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4202734.stm