The economic indicator news for BushCo hasn't been good for months. And this
morning, the consumer confidence index was released, showing a steep drop.
August's jobless claim report comes out on Friday. Talk about setting
expectations - even the media is downplaying the jobs creation report.
Anything above last month's dismal 32,000 will elicit chortles of "recovery",
when in fact (as we've stated here before), the economy has to create a minimum
of about 150,000 jobs per month just to keep pace with the number of people
entering the workforce.
It's not happening.
And then, from the convention last night on Lou Dobbs, we were treated to a GOP
congresswoman from who-knows-where (I didn't catch her name and can't find a
recap on Dobbs' website from yesterday evening) saying outsourcing was a
good thing for American business. Lou was incredulous that she would
say such a thing, and he nailed her to the wall - but she persisted...and
that's the mindset of the GOP.
Funny how everyone who's actually involved in the economy down in the trenches
know the real deal - the economy sucks, and the average American has lost a lot
of position in the "discretionary income" category. The pyramid of debt that
most consumers have built on credit has to come tumbling down pretty quick.
BushCo is just hoping that the prop stays in place until the end of the year.
Then, everyone can head to bankruptcy court.
Oh, wait.
The law is about to change on that, too, making it harder for the average
schmuck who is up to their eyeballs in life strangling debt to get relief.
Next up: debtors prisons. Hey, that'll make a few bucks for Halliburton on the
construction contracts, anyway. Maybe even create a few construction jobs.
Anyway, with all of the bad economic news around us, I find it kind of sad that
the 'murican people, Mom and Pop Trailerpark, keep buying into the lie that
the economy is improving, and George Bush is the reason. Hell, he gave ma and pa
a $300 check last year. That can't be all bad! Except...no one told ma and pa
that the rich folks received an average of nearly $100,000...
Or that real income has declined for the first time since the depression.
Or that more people are living in poverty since the depression.
Or that more people are flying without a net of health insurance since...well...forever.
Or that George Bush will be the first pResident to preside over a net loss of jobs in his term since Herbert Hoover.
Yep, keep throwin' them bones to Ma and Pa.
