The Republican Recession of 2008

[one...two...tree 2,762]

There's more bad news on the economic front:

Payrolls shrank by 20,000 workers [in April], following a revised 81,000 drop in March that was larger than previously estimated, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Labor. The Labor Department report also showed that income growth slowed in April. The economy's 0.6 percent expansion rate for the six months through March was the weakest performance since the U.S. was last in a recession in 2001.

Americans are noticing. As of early May, 78% of Americans now believe we're in a recession, according to a new poll. Another poll indicates that 46% of Americans believe U.S. economic conditions are poor, with just 15% rating them excellent or good. That same poll has a whopping 86% of Americans believing that economic conditions are getting worse, while only 9% believe they are getting better. Finally, only 22% of Americans approve of the way George W. Bush is handling the economy, while 73% disapprove. Perhaps this is why Democrats now hold an 18-point advantage over Republicans in the "generic" congressional vote for 2008 (and why Democrats won a "blood red district last night in Louisiana).

Americans are right, at least in part, to blame George W. Bush and Republicans like John McCain for our current economic woes. That's because the causes are related directly to Republican economic policies like:

*Continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels, including $120 per barrel oil from Saudi Arabia, etc., and a complete lack of leadership on developing a serious energy policy for our great country.

*A failure on many levels to position the United States to compete in a 21st century, globalized economy. Over the past few decades -- as Sen. Jim Webb might say -- we've seen the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class get squeezed.

*The war in Iraq is costing the United States hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. This money could have been far better spent to slash our debt, invest in our crumbling infrastructure, educate our children, provide quality health care to all Americans, and transition to a new energy economy. But no...that would not have been Republican "trickle down" economics.

*Republican economics also mean a consistently more regressive tax code. Huge tax cuts for rich people (who didn't ask for them or need them) and corporations like ExxonMobil (which just made enormous profits in the first quarter), crumbs for the middle and working classes? That's Republican economics in a nutshell.

*The situation we're in now is the direct result of "trickle down," "supply side" economics and "free trade" agreements that are neither "free" nor "fair." It's the result of lax regulation, in this case of the mortgage industry. It's the result of policy choices which rewards companies that outsource jobs overseas.

There's a lot more, but I'm sure you get the picture. Our current economic problems are not an accident, they are a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of policies that Republicans like George W. Bush and John McCain have advocated, voted for, and signed into law. So, the next time you pick up a newspaper and read about job losses, the US economy in recession, home values tumbling and energy prices soaring, you'll know exactly who to blame.

http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=14058

[GaryC 7]

Posts from raisingkaine.com now? That is even more far left than the Huffington post! No wonder you have such a warped sense of politics if these are the only places you get your opinions from.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

Edited June 9, 2008 by VJ Troll

[GaryC 7]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

I know mine is by a wide margin.

[SaadBell 0]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

A new survey says most middle-class Americans are worse off financially today than they were four years ago. Kai Ryssdal talks with David Leonhardt of The New York Times about the squeeze middle-class families are feeling.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display...9/middle_class/

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

A new survey says most middle-class Americans are worse off financially today than they were four years ago. Kai Ryssdal talks with David Leonhardt of The New York Times about the squeeze middle-class families are feeling.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display...9/middle_class/

I guess VJ is a well-off community!

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I am better off than I was 5 years ago (though not living in the US at the time!), but everything is more expensive!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

See, another one!

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

Americans are right, at least in part, to blame George W. Bush and Republicans like John McCain for our current economic woes. That's because the causes are related directly to Republican economic policies like:

ah but wait, don't the dems control congress?

[mawilson 2,133]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

Blame GWB and his failed economic policies!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

...that's because the ones hurting the most economically don't even have internet.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

...that's because the ones hurting the most economically don't even have internet.

If they are not online, then they technically do not exist.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

...that's because the ones hurting the most economically don't even have internet.

If they are not online, then they technically do not exist.

i download, therefore i am.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

[AlHayatZween 2]

As of this moment, 100% of VJ respondents feel their standard of living is better today than 5 years ago!

Can't be 100% of VJ...

because i'm worse off than i was 5 years ago...

are you saying i don't count, Troll?