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A Floundering Presidency
Posted 6-3-2004
Okay, so we've had a few months of increased job numbers, and the Bush
crew is crowing that it is an affirmation of his tax cuts. C'mon, compare
the last few months with years of sustained job growth during the 1990's,
and they're nothing to get thrilled about yet. Of course, with the problems
the Bush team created for itself in Iraq, they are desperately searching for
something to cheer about. After several years of losing millions of jobs, it
will take the Bush crew a long time to get employment numbers back where
they were before they grabbed power.
Also, the job growth that
occurred during the 1990's happened with balanced federal budgets that
eventually led to federal budget surpluses. Those surpluses allowed us to
begin to pay down the national debt. You don't hear any talk of balanced
budgets at the federal level, do you? In fact, can anyone remember Newt
Gingrich's "Contract With America"? The first pledge was a Balanced Budget
Amendment. Bush should be happy Newt was only doing that for show back then
or his tax giveaways to the wealthiest Americans wouldn't have been
possible.
To those right-wingers that
cry about a "liberal" media, if it so liberal, why has not one member of the
media brought up the fact that that was all Republicans in Congress cried
about when we had a Democratic President. Now, we are told deficits are
good. The "liberal" media that, I say, are nothing but lapdogs of the
corporations they work for, refuse to remind the American public that the
Republicans are singing a different tune now.
Oil prices are higher than
ever, and eventually they'll have an inflationary effect on the overall
economy. Yet, oil companies are reaping record profits. Who has all the
friends in the oil industry? Could it be that former Texas oilman? I'm sure
it is pure coincidence that prices are higher than ever under this
administration.
But the Bush team is now
crying that people aren't giving them credit for an improving economy, but
are focused on Iraq instead. Well, who created the nightmare of Iraq? It
wasn't the American public. It was the neoconservatives that have Bush's
ear. Forget their exaggerated claims about Saddam's involvement in 911, or
their supposed pipedream of Iraq being a model for democracy in the Middle
East. Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz was quoted as saying "Iraq is
swimming on a sea of oil." So if that was the neocons real agenda for
invading, even that hasn't shown dividends for the American public. Does
anyone out there believe we'll ever see gas for a $1.20 a gallon again, or
even $1.50?
In the irony of all ironies,
Bush had a floundering presidency with a stagnating economy, and he used 911
and his trumped up invasion of Iraq to be a "War President" to distract
people's attention from his problems at home. Now that the economy is
improving, even if it is only in the short term, he cannot get the focus off
of Iraq. And, until American blood quits getting shed for his misguided
adventurism, any economic gains back home aren't good enough to make people
say they're better off now than they were four years ago. |
