Ok folks, People (some) seem to act as if republicans have stolen the car and kicked the new puppy...I have yet to hear about what is going on in the life they lead that is so wrong, that it's the fault of the Republicans. I would also like to know, having a Dem in office will make your life better. When I look at the world, I see unemployment low, (when was the last time you parked in front at Wal-mart?) Gas is down, Stocks are high, the border fence is going up, terrorist are on the run. The housing market is good, so do tell.
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Comments: 53
Seriously, a lot of the problems are "All about me". Someone who has a problem that stems from a refusal to take personal responsibility - like only being able to get a minimum wage job because they have a tenth grade education - will blame the repubs. Someone who thinks the government should take care of us cradle to grave will blame the repubs. The democrats pander to that because they share the same cradle to grave sense of entitlement.
And get real, who the hell cares what the Dow is doing if they aren't invested?
So lets see. Dems will raise taxes which will enable them to fund more entitlements so the min wage jobs will be fine because you'll get $5,000 back due to the various tax credits available. The Dow will sink and we'll have a recession or massive inflation buit that will be okay because the min wage will increase to $10 an hour. It doesn't matter if thousands will lose jobs because of that because it won't happen to me.
Do you really think that the majority of democrats can answer this in a thoughtful manner?
i think the republicans haven't delivered. congress did hardly anything. you say unemployment is low and that's proof that things are fine?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/02/AR2006060200121.html
The Labor Department report showed no sign that the low unemployment rate is driving up wages. Average hourly wages for most workers rose just 1 cent, to $16.62, after a 10-cent gain in April. Moreover, because they worked slightly fewer hours last month, average weekly wages fell $1.32, to $561.76.
May was the third consecutive month of slowing job growth, Labor Department figures showed. The employers that trimmed jobs last month included automakers, retailers, airlines, hotels and temporary-help agencies.
http://www.calchamber.com/Chamber_in_the_news/090306_MinWage_OT.htm
California and U.S. workers won't have much to celebrate this LaborDay. The problem: They're not sharing in the wealth they help create for their employers, according to new reports released this week.
Real wages remained stagnant in the past year in the Golden State, barely keeping up with inflation, and wages are falling nationwide, a report from the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education revealed.
Productivity growth is strong and corporate profits are soaring.
But labor's share of the Gross Domestic Product is at its lowest level on record, and the gap between productivity and compensation hasn't been wider since 1947.
"Falling real wages reflect workers' weakened bargaining position," said Arindrajit Dube, a research economist at the Labor Center. "Among the likely causes are the offshoring of jobs, the declining share of workers in unions
and weakened federal worker protections." As the decline of labor union representation continues, the old saying that "the rising tide lifts all boats" isn't holding water for workers and their families.
"The rising tide has lifted only a very few boats," said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project.
Despite five years of economic recovery, job growth has been weak and only the wealthiest Californians are experiencing significant income gains, according to a separate state Budget Project report.
Even a college degree doesn't protect workers from pay erosion thesedays. Workers with a college degree saw real wages fall 0.9 percent nationwide in the last year, though California real wages for those with bachelor's degrees rose 3.2 percent, according to the Labor Center report.
California workers under 30 also fared poorly, with a wage decline of 1.8 percent since 2003. Nationally, young workers saw a 2.3 percent wage erosion.
re: shopping at walmart - i prefer not to. there is a walmart within 2 miles of me and i do shop/frequent stores around it. but i don't like shopping at walmart because i don't think they are fair to their employees. i drive 6 miles in the other direction, if want to buy stuff that i can find at walmart.
re: gas is down. of course gas is down. it usually goes up in the late spring when they change the heating oil/gas mixture and usually goes down in the early fall when they switch back. i don't vote on gas prices. if the republicans want to take credit for that, perhaps they can explain to me how they affected the price of gas.
re: stocks are high. stocks are bound to go up after the double shock of a fairly strong market correction with a security shock of 9/11. the profits from companies are making it to the employees, or what? do politicians control the stock market? what is the connection here?
re: border fence. yes, homeland security gets the $. does that mean the fence will be built? who knows. what happened to enforcement of the present immigration law? oh, never mind.
re: housing market:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/290283_economy28.html
The housing market's free-fall cast a chill over the economy this summer, slowing economic growth in the third quarter to 1.6 percent, its weakest pace since early 2003, the government reported Friday.
and this was bound to happen. so people that purchased with an ARM might see their home value dropping while the interest on their loan increases.
unemployment benefits are not extended so once your off, your not counted as an enemployed stat
bush says a million more jobs, how many of us have 2 or 3 of those jobs just to survive?
I wouldn't put it past bush to count the jobs the illegals have or even the jobs we created by outsourcing.
If you put ANYTHING past them you are nieve!
YOUR LIFE!...Not what you read in the newspaper or get from CNN..but YOUR LIFE.
YOUR LIFE!"
How about, since you guys stole the election in both 2000 and 2004, I have had to hear annoying right wing assholes go ON and ON about how they "won" and how Bush is the greatest!
I remember gas being under $2/gallon. You bring gas prices down to that level and then I'll be impressed. Until then, they are just high.
None of them want you to be fully integrated, autonomous individuals.
WOW... 6 people and NOT ONE person can answer what should be such a simpleton question,..I mean w/ all the bitchin you'd think thousands would reply as to why the life THEY lead is hell because of Republicans....just as I thought.
James---Giuliani?
2. If you haven't noticed, Gather is more "pumpkin pie recipes and bad poetry" than it is succinct political discussion.
3. Your freakin post has been up all of a few hours. Before you crown yourself king of the stupids why dont you wait all of a day for a response.
In the past 6 years I have seen:
-Gas prices fluctuate and spike at an alarming rate that makes it hard for me to know how much money I am going to need to get to work each day (as far as filling up the car)
-I have watched friends and the family of friends shipped off to go die in a war and then if they come back they are told within a week that they are going back and being redeployed.
-I have watched the cost of my education skyrocket and my ability to get a federal loan to pay for it become usurious in its interest rates to the point of having to stop getting federal aid and move to private aid. Which was a ridiculous process.
-I havent seen any good jobs in this time period at all. As a computer repair technician the only way I am employed is through contacts. There is no job market for ACTUAL jobs. I could be a fulltime freakin waiter or a godamn best buy employee for the rest of my life...but I don't think I would be able to pay off all of my now extremely high interest loans.
-I currently pay most of my income to housing and food and I have watched the price of normal groceries go through the roof during this time. (why do you assume that a large consumption economy means a good economy...oh! thats right. You probably have never even touched any kind of economics literature and Fox News tells you that the economy is doing well so why should you critically think about anything?)
Besides all of this I will tell you that your prompt is ridiculous. Many of the decisions made by the administration do not have tangible "real world" effects that I can see and shake my fist at and all of my points (except the one about Iraq) are not strictly related to the Bush administration and its actions. The president doesnt have a big switchboard labeled "ECONOMY" next to his desk that he can press buttons on and see changes in the Dow. This is true of someone from either party.
And finally we get to the sad little dialectic of the neo-con. I don't like republican talking points. I don't like democrat talking points. They are both interested in demands of the lobbyists and interested not in serving the people of this country and their needs but rather serving their own interests, the interests of their friends, and staying in any kind of power as long as possible. I don't believe any democrat that I see as a candidate for presidency will be anything exciting (they already threw Howard Dean out for actually having opinions and getting excited). The only reason why I would vote for a democrat as opposed to a republican is because the democrat is less (note the LESS here. It is a lesser of two evils in a corrupt and broken political system) likely to tell me what religion I should be/what I can do in the comfort of my own home/send me off to die somewhere for bullshit reasons/slowly destroy the world around me through deregulation.
You don't think the tax increases the dems have planned will have a major impact on your standard of living? That the recession won't hurt your kids' employment prospects again? When my husband lost his job, we moved to a different state where he is making 40% more and I can stay home. Maybe your son needs to consider that. How can you feel comfortable knowing innocent Americans are being murdered by terrorists at home and in Iraq? Do the names Nick Berg and Danny Pearl mean anything to you? Would you rather those animals start stalking us at home? Do you remember 9/11?
Steph - the reason your gas prices are high is completely unrelated to Bush. The nationwide average is more than 50 cents a gallon less that in California. It has to do with state policies. Strangely enough, our gas prices started going back up again last week. If it was a great republican conspiracy, I can't imagine they would let that happen. And for the record, us annoying right wing assholes are sick of hearing the annoying left wing wimps whine about the republicans.
Can someone tell me why the democrats are supporting Harold Ford? I just listened to an interview and he is against tax increases or a rapid pull out in Iraq. He sounds a lot more like a republican who will vote against democratic ideas than anyone you would want.
"You don't think the tax increases the dems have planned will have a major impact on your standard of living? That the recession won't hurt your kids' employment prospects again"
I actualy hope sombody raises taxes. All bush seems to do is raise spending, even as we lower taxes. Let's see the resession when china decides to stop buying our federal bonds and our economy collapses. I wouldn't trust our economy to the whims of china's financial policy. Bush is taxing us, he's just postponing the pain of it for people like me.
You also assume there would be a resession if the democrats came in power. That's almost as naive as saying the republicans will help our econmy grow to unimaginable hights.
"How can you feel comfortable knowing innocent Americans are being murdered by terrorists at home and in Iraq?......Do you remember 9/11?" Yea, I remeber 9/11. I also remember the republicans critcize Clinton when he bombed Afghanistan. O wait, Clinton also bombed Iraq when they denied inspectors access. And I also remember Clinton didn't get us stuck in an unwinable war.
I love when the republicans tell me who I can marry, and what my values are, and tell scientests that they can't do research that can save lives. It reminds me of the good old days, when black people weren't allowed in the front of busses. I love it when bush goes on national TV and says "bring it on" to people who want to kill us, or that he thinks people are cowards if they don't want to send or people to iraq to die. I just can't wait to see what he does for the next 2 years!! Long live George Bush!!
Troublemkr---Well POT meet Kettle-!!!...if Unemployment was high people would be bitchin high off the mountain,..lol,..but now you say "you say unemployment is low and that's proof that things are fine?"...YOU have got to be kidding me!...& yes,...the fence is going up,...I have a few friends w/ minute men.....so again how is this making your life hell?!?!
i provided facts. you provided nothing but your opinion.
and you probably didn't read this article either:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976825902
why didn't you address any of my issues. i addressed yours.
i'm not a democrat. i'm a republican. but a dissident one. i'm a fiscal conservative and social liberal. which may put me about the opposite of you.
the truth is that the economy has not recovered. we have just bought everything that the president and congress wants on credit. and with outsourcing, we're gonna continue to have a trade deficit.
you can continue to be as rightwing as you want to be, but how will your grandchildren look at you when they have to pay it back.
RIGHT ON, Daniel.
SOME of us actually look at the bigger picture than just what's hitting us immediately in the pocket book. The fact is, it is detrimental to America's long-term stability to keep increasing spending while lowering taxes and living off of massive debt.
Unlike some dumb people, I don't believe that "less taxes" is always the right thing. If we are at war, it is inherently stupid to lower taxes while our expenses have increased due to the war. Just plain STUPID.
My concern is, Democrats will come in to fix this mess and get hit with the fallout of Bush's bad policies and then blamed for them by shortsighted people like you.
"Prez Bush NEVER stole one election,...as many times as it was counted--yes,..Gore and his tantrums waisted weeks trying to find more votes,..he lost and well,..the second was a landslide."
In a recount of ballots financed by media sources after the 2000 election using 7 different scenarios, gore won six of them, ironically, the only one he lost on was the one he went to court to get, which he didn't, but surprise, that's the one the right always points to. So, that's pretty lame. In 2004, Bush stole Ohio, and probably Pennsylvania based on the same standards that the UN used to invalidate that former Russian states election a while back, and that we demanded be overturned. Then there is this:
AFFIDAVIT
December 13, 2004
Sherole Eaton
Re: General Election 2004 - Hocking County, TriAd
Dell Computer about 14 years old - No tower
On Friday, December 10 2004, Michael from TriAd called in the AM to inform us that he would be in our office in the PM on the same day. I asked him why he was visiting us. He said, "to check out your tabulator, computer, and that the attorneys will be asking some tricky questions and he wanted to go over some of the questions they maybe ask." He also added that there would be no charge for this service.
He arrived at about 12:30PM. I hung his coat up and it was very heavy. I made a comment about it being so heavy. He, Lisa Schwartze and I chatted for a few minutes. He proceeded to go to the room where our computer and tabulation machine is kept. I followed him into the room. I had my back to him when he turned the computer on. He stated that the computer was not coming up. I did see some commands at the lower left hand of the screen but no menu. He said that the battery in the computer was dead and that the stored information was gone. He said that he could put a patch on it and fix it. My main concern was - what if this happened when we were ready to do the recount. He proceeded to take the computer apart and call his offices to get information to input into our computer. Our computer is fourteen years old and as far as I know had always worked in the past. I asked him if the older computer, that is in the same room. could be used for the recount. I don't remember exactly what he said but I did relay to him that the computer was old and a spare. At some point he asked if he could take the spare computer apart and I said "yes". He took both computers apart. I don't remember seeing any tools and he asked Sue Wallace, Clerk, for a screwdriver. She got it for him. At this point I was frustrated about the computer not performing and feared that it wouldn't work for the recount. I called Gerald Robinette, board chairman, to inform him regarding the computer problem and asked him if we could have Tri Ad come to our offices to run the program and tabulator for the recount. Gerald talked on the phone with Michael and Michael assured Gerald that he could fix our computer. He worked on the computer until about 3:00 PM and then asked me which precinct and the number of the precinct we were going to count. I told him, Good Hope 1 # 17. He went back into the tabulation room. Shortly after that he (illegible) stated that the computer was ready for the recount and told us not to turn the computer off so it would charge up.
Before Lisa ran the tests, Michael said to turn the computer off. Lisa said, " I thought you said we weren't supposed to turn it off." He said turn it off and right back on and it should come up. It did come up and Lisa ran the tests. Michael gave us instructions on how to explain the rotarien, what the tests mean, etc. No advice on how to handle the attorneys but to have our Prosecuting Attorney at the recount to answer any of their legal questions. He said not to turn the computer off until after the recount.
He advised Lisa and I on how to post a "cheat sheet" on the wall so that only the board members and staff would know about it and and what the codes meant so the count would come out perfect and we wouldn't have to do a full hand recount of the county. He left about 5:00 PM.
My faith in Tri Ad and the Xenia staff has been nothing but good. The realization that this company and staff would do anything to dishonor or disrupt the voting process is distressing to me and hard to believe. I'm being completely objective about the above statements and the reason I'm bringing this forward is to, hopefully, rule out any wrongdoing.
Further buttressing Eaton's claim is an addendum to a previous affidavit filed by Evelyn Roberson who, you may recall, was involved in the Greene County recount action that was summarily shut down by Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell. Her addendum reads as follows:
Addendum to Declaration of Evelyn Roberson dated December 12, 2004
Re: Incidents of December 10, 2004
This is to add to the approximately 1 :15 p.m. portion of the visit with the Deputy Director of Elections Lyn McCoy with respect to the following comment:
"She said they would have their computer technician check over their computers on Monday in case they has been tampered with."
the addition is that Lyn McCoy also mentioned to me at the same time that her computer technician was with Triad.
I declare under penalty of perjury the forgoing is true and correct.
Dated: December 14, 2004
Evelyn Roberson
Gee TJ I didn't know that, but surprisingly, I don't care either.
Sorry dude, I'll chill
I heard a thing on the TV about the economy and personal disposable income that was interesting. If the economy is so bad, how come people are signing up for expensive cell phone contracts in record numbers? More people are buying five and six dollar coffees than ever? More Internet access, cable and satellite TV, pets and pet food, cruises and vacations, etc. People are buying all kinds of crap they don't really "need" and used to be considered extras. It may be that our spending habits and what we think important is causing the problem for some...????
Anyway, a couple of things to think about.
TroubleMkr.s-When you cut and paste PLEASE post all not just parts,asking me to read something from June 3,2006 about something in May, and I must ask,..did YOU read it......
.."Employers added 75,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, the weakest gain since October, (2005)when hiring nearly halted after a series of destructive hurricanes. The report followed others this week showing that the economy is losing some momentum because of rising interest rates and high energy prices. The housing market softened, auto sales dropped and manufacturing activity dipped last month.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Report
Employment Situation Summary
"With evidence that the economy is slowing, the employment data suggest firms have grown more cautious of taking on additional workers," economists at PNC Financial Services Group Inc. wrote in an analysis for clients.
Nevertheless, unemployment fell from 4.7 percent in April to 4.6 percent in May, the lowest since May 2001, as more workers found jobs than began seeking them. Among Hispanics and Latinos, the jobless rate fell to 5 percent, the lowest level since the department began collecting the data in 1973
Steph B--Your Kidding, Right?
Paul---"Thinking beyond yourself "..Hmm,...so then what have YOU been doing to help out this "horrible" state of being we are in?..maybe you should set your Lib side, to the side and look at what your doing,..remember if your not part of the solution then your part of the problem!
John S--Good Info
T.J--Hit yet again,..Nail on the head
Nanci B--As always, informative reading..: O )
Thor---1. Not everyone wants to humor your ignorance.(but yet,YOU left a reply)
2. If you haven't noticed, Gather is more "pumpkin pie recipes and bad poetry" than it is succinct political discussion.(but yet YOU left a reply)
3. Your freakin post has been up all of a few hours. Before you crown yourself king of the stupids why dont you wait all of a day for a response. (not one reply is stupid or from stupid people it's opinions )
All that, yet you have taken the time to read this AND reply,..so ask yourself this,..who is "crown yourself king of the stupids ? BTW,...first line & and last are like a bi-polar moment...just MY opinion.. ; o )
Your silence speaks volumes.
Also TJ has proven himself to be a delusional shut-in....humoring him only makes it worse.
Nick, what the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you have some data to back that up or is that straight out of the bullshit almanac?
This count, Bob?
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UNRATE?&cid=10
or is the Fed a Republican comspiracy too?
I won't even argue that the situation doesn't look worse than it did just a few months ago- -it does. I follow the markets and these statistics and try to anticipate where we are going. Last quarter the GDP growth rate was only 1.6% according to the WSJ.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/GDP/Custom?cs=Medium&crb=on&cf=lin&cosd=2006-01-01&coed=2006-07-01&seid2=+%3CEnter+Series+ID%3E&cg=Go
Although I compute that as only 0.75%- -even worse, but still positive.
And, yes, I know what the problems are with the the gov'ts unemployment, CPI, and GDP figures are.
Is that so? Then I'm SURE your prepared to explain to us why the peak in 2004 was in October and in 2003 in March and in 2002 in very late September.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui
(Hope that chart displays correctly for those who are not subscribers to Stockcharts.)
And in 1999 it was in November and in 1998 in March and in 1997 in January and in 1996 in December and in 1995 in May.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui
Please do enlighten us. I'm really eager to hear this.
I'd bet the farm on oil prices rising in or by December. And American children not yet born will be trying to pay off the debt run up paying contractors who have supported the Bush junta.
The whole world freakin hates the US. Wake up. And I assure you, those feelings are not out of jealousy...
How has Bush afected me personaly? You mean other than making me feel like a freakin criminal every single time I re-enter the US? You mean other than putting my name on The List simply because I speak against this administrations crimes? Honey, if I thought you would actually have the brains to listen, I´d spend all day in this comment section educating you... but I don´t think you will listen to the truth about what is going on. You are too happy oin your ignorance.
I'll bite. How many?
...or is there another 80%?
Here's a site that might come in handy: John FitzGerald's Actual Analysis.
> yes but gas prices were high in the times you were talking about but in general gas prices on average do fall during this time of year.
Could you pull up those charts of oil prices? Stockcharts has changed their URL format and I'm not certain that sending someone a link results in them seeing the same chart I do.
If you look at it, often you can see no change in oil price during the summer (not the same as gas prices, admittedly). There are other factors also that can greatly effect oil prices. The most important is probably international tension and war in the ME. Another is unusually cold winters in Europe or here.
Also, if reliably oil prices could be counted on to rise in the summer, that would soon stop. People would buy oil at other times of the year and store it for sale in the summer. Soon enough people would be doing this to iron out fluctuations.
Life is not simple. Gas prices? Demand is higher for gas in the summer because people long distances drive on vacations. The gas station operators can get more for their gas. They do. It's that simple.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UNRATE?&cid=10
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UEMPMED?&cid=10
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/CIVPART?&cid=10
Feel better now?
Show me where you bitched about the composition of the DJIA when Slick was Prexy. Or does it only matter NOW? The composition of the averages is regularly changing and a number of changes were made while Slick was boinking Monica. AND what you say of inflation and the averages has always been true. Including during Dem regimes.
If you look at a long term chart of the Dow, it appears it regained is 1929 peak of 381.17 in 1954. Yet if you take accont of inflstion and deflsation, it was sometime in 1943- -a full 11 years earlier. Which is right?
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
Yeah, Jesse P, you hit it. But Clara Stella would rather have airliners hitting skyscrapers.
second the leftist media is so hated today by the military and the majority of the people who know the left media is flat out owned by foriegn nationalists bent on the destruction of america
At least one songwriter might: