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Topic: How is the economy improving? (Read 192 times) |
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Navybrat
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How is the economy improving?
« Thread started on: May 3rd, 2004, 10:31pm » |
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The eight million plus unemployed workers are as yet unemployed....
The deficit continues to rise....
Jobs are still being outsourced, with more to come....
The bill for Bush's Iraq Debacle continues to climb, at taxpayer's expense....
Gasoline prices are going through the roof....
The rising cost of fuel is now hitting consumers both at the pump AND at the store, as the cost is passed on to the consumer and the price of goods is rising....
this is a good economy
gee, that must be the math class I missed....busheconomics mathematics 101.
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| « Last Edit: May 3rd, 2004, 10:32pm by Navybrat » |
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crasmane
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #1 on: May 4th, 2004, 08:07am » |
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There has been scattered mention of the economy, a fact here, a stat there. Here is an article that deals more generally with the economy in the Boston Globe.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/05/02/the_perilous_bush_recovery/
Quote:The perilous Bush recovery
By Thomas Oliphant | May 2, 2004
WASHINGTON
GIVE OR TAKE a nuance, President Bush is now an old-fashioned, pump-priming liberal Democrat of mid-20th century vintage -- presiding over an economy whose main engine of growth is the federal government.
Bush is also atop an increasingly inflationary system -- in one sense confirming evidence of a recovery that is real, but one whose main elements are injurious to ordinary Americans. It is also a system where long-term interest rates are on the rise -- reflecting not only concern about more inflation, but also about the impact of astronomical budget and trade deficits and a low-valued dollar. Rich people have more juicy tax cuts to look forward to; ordinary Americans, their wages essentially flat, can expect an even tighter squeeze.
The country's economic geniuses regarded last week's news that the economy's output has been rising for nine consecutive months with a large yawn -- in part because the first quarter's increase in the total production of goods and services was up by less in the preliminary estimate than expected, in part because of some mildly disturbing results in output measurement.
Not the least of these involves inflation -- quiet since the tight money policies of former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker wrung the wretched excess of the 1970s out of the system. The inflation part of the first quarter's gross domestic product was up an eyebrow-raising 3.2 percent, more than double the previous quarter's pace.
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The danger for the economy is that these trends could choke off a business recovery before it succeeds in returning employment levels to where they were before the boom of the '90s ended, and before the standard of living for most Americans improves.
In politics, this mixed-bag nature of the continuing recovery challenges both Bush and John Kerry to define reality for most Americans. Bush is entitled to his optimism. This is indeed a recovery; its most important component (consumer spending) increased by slightly more in the first quarter than it did in the final three months of last year.
The contribution of the federal government, though, is eye-popping. Federal spending shot up by more than 10 percent in the first quarter after a flat fourth quarter of 2003; within that total military spending was up fully 15 percent, while nondefense expenditures were nearly flat and state and local spending were down . The spending, moreover, comes on top of three straight years of whopping tax cuts. With that kind of unprecedented federal stimulus, a recovery of some sort was inevitable.
Kerry, however, has an equally valid point in focusing on the condition of families. The jobs are coming back, but it will be well over a year before employment might return to pre-2001 levels, and too many of the new jobs are minimum-wage service positions. More important, the federal tax cuts for ordinary people have been overwhelmed by state and local tax increases, cuts in family services like child care, higher gasoline prices, higher health insurance expenses, and higher education bills.
My favorite symbol of their looming argument involves housing, a major contributor to the recovery from both mortgage refinancing and new construction. The president always mentions the record percentage of Americans who own their own dwelling, which is still rising. On the other hand, Americans' equity in their homes is at the lowest level in two generations, and foreclosures and personal bankruptcies are also at unprecedented levels. Rising interest rates can only exacerbate those trends.
That would seem to mean that Bush needs a longer run of favorable news to make the economy a genuine plus for him; for now, it remains Kerry's issue.
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No, Mr. Oliphant, Mr. Bush does not need a longer run of economic good news. What he needs to do is create policy that serves the people directly and puts the spur to business rather than crippling it.
It's not a recovery when families are struggling and cannot make choices.
It's not a recovery when employment is so high.
Even when people do have jobs, there are lower wages.
Even when people do own homes, the equity in those homes is extremely low.
Nothing is worth much anymore.
That sounds like deflation in the private sector? It does to me.
And yet the government and those doing business with it are doing better than ever.
This is a neocon allies' recovery, but the people's nightmare.
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Navybrat
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #2 on: May 4th, 2004, 4:27pm » |
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This is not a genuine recovery, not by a long shot.
Until I see real jobs coming back, not the minimum wage hamburger manufacturing jobs touted by this stooopid administration, I won't believe it.
People keep forgetting that we are, in effect, in a war economy at this point, that the boosts are mainly connected with related industries. The rest of us are hurting, struggling to survive, as gas prices rise, food prices rise, rent goes up, local taxes increase to try and compensate for loss of federal investments, yet tax revenue goes down because the wages being taxed are far lower than they were.
I'm frankly sick of the damn spin that continues to deny the very real suffering of human beings in the real world. Wish I had the money for a camera, I'd do a documentary myself! 
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Navybrat
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #3 on: May 18th, 2004, 10:08am » |
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This site has a good selection of overviews on what's really going on, with up to date info like the impact yesterday's murder in Iraq of the council president had on stocks.
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/listarticles.cgi?106
yeah, things sure are looking up, huh. Interesting that you don't see this information on the so-called "liberal" media. You know- those news sources owned by conservative conglomerates?
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crasmane
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Ironic Election Spin
« Reply #4 on: May 19th, 2004, 08:58am » |
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I've found a very strange article in the New York Times this morning.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/19/politics/campaign/19GRAN.html?hp
Quote:White House Is Trumpeting Programs It Tried to Cut
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: May 19, 2004
WASHINGTON, May 18 — Like many of its predecessors, the Bush White House has used the machinery of government to promote the re-election of the president by awarding federal grants to strategically important states. But in a twist this election season, many administration officials are taking credit for spreading largess through programs that President Bush tried to eliminate or to cut sharply.
For example, Justice Department officials recently announced that they were awarding $47 million to scores of local law enforcement agencies for the hiring of police officers. Mr. Bush had just proposed cutting the budget for the program, known as Community Oriented Policing Services, by 87 percent, to $97 million next year, from $756 million.
The administration has been particularly energetic in publicizing health programs, even ones that had been scheduled for cuts or elimination.
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Whether they involve programs Mr. Bush supported or not, the grant announcements illustrate how the administration blends politics and policy, blurring the distinction between official business and campaign-related activities.
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The combination of official business and politics is neither illegal nor unusual in an election year, though Bush administration officials were reluctant to provide details. In fact, the Bush administration is using techniques refined by President Bill Clinton. The difference is that in the Clinton years the White House was often trying to add and expand domestic programs, not cut them.
The government has byzantine rules for documenting mixed official and political travel. The goal is to ensure that the campaign or some other political group pays for parts of a trip that are purely political.
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Even on the campaign trail, the rhetoric & actions all remind me of Nineteen-Eighty-Four.
The Bush Regime lauds the objectives of the programs it would destroy. I think eliminate is too gentle a word.
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Navybrat
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #5 on: May 24th, 2004, 5:46pm » |
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How can ANYONE be so blind as to believe anything these crooks say?
Crasmane, I'm honestly at a loss to understand how so many people can so willingly blind themselves to the manipulations of this administration, to their lies, their deceit, their criminal acts.
It's astounding.
This is NOT the country I grew up in. These are NOT the people I knew as fellow Americans. Even the Republicans nailed Nixon for what he did. What has happened to this country Jobs outsourced overseas, and they say it's good for us, and people believe it? Millions unemployed, and that's okay? Blatant cronyism, and they're all right with that? Deliberate lies and manipulation, and they don't care?
Where is the America I grew up with? I swear, if I didn't have you and Amadeus and Reindeer and so many others who I know feel the same way, I'd truly start to feel like someone without a country, someone who is alone in seeing the evil that abounds.
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Navybrat
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #6 on: Jun 29th, 2004, 5:09pm » |
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There are still millions of Americans unemployed...wages are still going down across the board...while the costs of living are going up.....the price of gasoline is still high....health care costs are abysmmal.....and those who have been outsourced still haven't found comparable jobs to replace the ones they lost.
But, hey, the Bush spin doctors still say things are gettin' better, things are gettin' better all the time! Guess he must have watched "The Postman" one too many times, and doesn't realize that Costner was lying, too.
Or maybe it was a lie he liked...
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crasmane
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #7 on: Jul 19th, 2004, 10:43am » |
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How, indeed, is the economy improving?
From Buzzflash this morning.
http://info.mgnetwork.com/printthispage.cgi?url=http%3A//ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBUU3OETWD.html&oaspagename=www.tbo.com/ap/story.htm&image=tbologo80x60.jpg
Quote:DELANCO, N.J. (AP) - Appropriately, the Catholic Charities food bank here is tucked in the corner of a shopping mall. Its clients come from generally affluent suburbs; many felt disbelief when hard times compelled them, for the first time, to seek help. ... According to the Agriculture Department, 11 percent of U.S. families - encompassing 34.9 million people - are "food insecure," meaning they lack the means to ensure themselves of healthy meals and are vulnerable to at least a mild form of chronic malnutrition. A U.S. Conference of Mayors survey of 25 cities found that demand at food banks rose 17 percent in 2003, with Denver and Trenton, N.J., experiencing the biggest surges in families seeking help. ... He [Arthur Baker, 56] appreciates the companionship extend to him at the food bank, and reciprocates with stints as a volunteer.
"If you don't ask for help, it's very unlikely you're going to get it," he said. "Some of my old associates are too proud to come in. I tell them, 'I'm going to eat.'"
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As God made me, this is wrong.
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YoRick
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #9 on: Oct 5th, 2004, 10:12pm » |
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Here's one for you: Since the biggest money maker that we EVER had, which we paid for with our blood, was given away (GIVEN) by Jimmy Carter (The Panama Canal), lets save money:
EVERYONE in the Government (Senators, Congressmen, Representatives, Governors, President, Vice President, Military--EVERYONE, take a 10% pay cut. All monies saved by this inconvience would, nay MUST, go to the deficit. PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS. BTW..I fall into this category, and I'll gladly do it AS LONG AS EVERYONE else does. Any takers?? (I'll be severely surprised if there are!)
yorick
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Navybrat
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #10 on: Oct 6th, 2004, 12:00am » |
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Hey, sweetheart, can you not read? The new site is located at http://www.politicalmonitor.us it's a blog and you can post your comments there.
But since you apparently have as much trouble reading and comprehending what you read as Bush does, here's an answer for you...
Thanks to Bush's policy of broad based indiscriminate outsourcing, I lost my good paying job. The car that I bought when CLINTON was in office is now falling apart, but I can't afford to get another one. Because it's in such crappy shape, I can't get a job in Nashville because the car won't make that daily sixty mile round trip.
So I'm stuck with whatever I can find locally, which means I've been reduced from office work to going back into waitressing, the very thing I worked my frigging ass off to get OUT of fifteen years ago. I make $2.15 an hour, get crappy tips, and it's the only game in town.
On that crappy income, I have to pay higher sales taxes on everything I buy, such as FOOD for my kids, because the states have had to raise their taxes to cover the severe shortfall they've been hit with due to the drastic cuts in income from the fed. Gas prices are at record highs, so that really helps my already nearly empty wallet.
I and my kids have NO insurance, and I sure as HELL can't afford it on $2.15 an hour, which by the way I earn working night shift for nine to ten hours straight, on my feet, busting ass, with NO breaks. AND they take an hour's pay every shift I work for meals.
You go right ahead and kiss the ass of this administration and throw your vote away on rich spoiled privileged assholes who don't give a DAMN about you or me or my kids or anyone else in this country. We are nothing more to them than a biological resource, disposable and useful only as it suits them.
The ONLY reason I have my own website right now is because I paid for it a LONG time ago. God only knows how long I'll be able to keep it. Keep your fingers crossed, I'm sure your fuhrer would be more than happy to make sure a nearly starving pissed off Democrat lost her only avenue to bitch, post the facts, and work to effect change that just might save her family from losing everything.
So much for compassionate conservatism.
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YoRick
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #11 on: Oct 6th, 2004, 10:22pm » |
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Well, I don't know if I should respond to your ignorance here, or at the "new site", which I still haven't seen any markers on MY computer pointing to that--maybe my firewall has blocked it (one of the MANY "x"s that appear all over my screen), but I'll take my chances and put it here:
While CLinton was in office, there were no major attacks against the US, however the price of fuel more than doubled in Southern California, as well as in Georgia. The cost of a house more than doubled in both areas as well. My pay? I make about $2800 / month in Southern California, where I've been paying about $2.00 / gallon for gas since Clinton took office. Oh, it JUST went up to $2.05. IMAGINE THAT. Even with a major attack on U.S. soil, a war going on, Millions of dollars in natural disasters from fires which occured right after Arnold took over (HE DIDN"T SET THEM EITHER!), and I lost track of how many Hurricanes hit Florida in less than two months. Wow, lets see, Clinton is in office for 2 months, the price of fuel doubles and stays there for 15 years. The price of houses double and stay there for 15 years. BTW, Clinton made a comment that he would NOT be satisified until the U.S. was paying $10.00 / gal for gas like the rest of the world. He wouldn't go anywhere unless China gave him permission, thus he didn't make many of his scheduled meetings. But that wasn't the point I was making. I offered a solution to the economy, or at least part of a solution. LIKE A NON READING DEMOCRATE THAT YOU MUST BE, you TOTALLY MISSED IT. It must have been a "hanging chad"! The option here was Yes or No. Is there anyone who is willing to take up a cross and ask their Congressmen, Senators, Governors, President, Vice President, and ALL Government staff to take a pay cut? If not, do you have a better solution? NO GENERALITIES, like put someone in this office, or that office. I gave a VERY specific course of action; one that could be implemented IF enough people take up the cross. By the way...I already have made the suggestion, if others do the same, MAYBE it will get noticed. Else, I say again, put your money where your mouth is.
YoRick
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YoRick
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #12 on: Oct 6th, 2004, 10:43pm » |
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Yeah, ok, I shut my firewall off, at the main page, and refreshed. I don't know why that was blocked, as it is appearently just text, but it was. But here's one for you while I'm waiting on my new account--since this is now JUST an archive, why don't you DISABLE the sign up process for this archive?
Oh, that would probably make too much sense!
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Navybrat
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Re: How is the economy improving?
« Reply #13 on: Oct 7th, 2004, 4:09pm » |
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I haven't disabled anything yet on this board because I was keeping it as BACKUP while I got my site revamped.
There are several people who either regularly or occasionally visit, but don't post precisely because of people like you. They don't like dealing with posters that do little more than ridicule others, viciously attack them, always blame Clinton, and never deal with the facts about the wrong choices of THIS administration. So I left the link up for them to follow to the new site, AND kept this one as backup just in case anything glitched, as every site or server sooner or later experiences glitches.
Or is that common sense thinking too hard for you to follow?
As for your Clinton references, your ignorance of the bigger picture because of your obssessive hatred of Clinton makes it an exercise in futility to point out the errors your post is replete with. So I won't bother.
Sooner or later, THIS administration has to be held accountable for THEIR choices, whether you like it or not. The buck stops at the Oval Office desk, even though you want it to stop at Clinton. I note that not once did you address THIS administration's failures....nothing Clinton ever did has anything to do with THIS administration's wrong choices and the disastrous results.
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