Are you better off than you were four years ago?

Fri Oct 31, 5:30 PM ET
About 12 million American families worried they couldn't afford to buy food in 2002, according to the Agriculture Department. That's up 5 percent from 2001 and 8 percent from 2000.
Resume of President George W. Bush
In the two years since the recession began in March 2001, total payrolls have fallen by 2.1 million and private sector payrolls are down by 2.6 million.
The tax cuts passed in 2001 were said to be equal in some kind of proportional sense. The phrase "across the board" was heard repeatedly. When some pointed out the lack of tax relief for lower-income persons, it was said that tax cuts were given to all who paid taxes. This week's chart-which shows the 2001 tax cuts and the proposed 2003 cuts as shares of income-clearly demonstrates that none of these things are true.
The continued swelling of the trade deficit raises further doubts about U.S. financial stability, since it requires increased borrowing from overseas and thus, with a rise in the overall debt owed to foreigners, a growing debt service obligation. These worries have already led to a decline in the dollar.
Prof. George A. Akerlof, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics in an interview with Der Spiegel:
Akerlof:...The government is not really telling the truth to the American people. Past administrations from the time of Alexander Hamilton have on the average run responsible budgetary policies. What we have here is a form of looting.
(...)
I think this is the worst government the US has ever had in its more than 200 years of history. It has engaged in extraordinarily irresponsible policies not only in foreign and economic but also in social and environmental policy. This is not normal government policy. Now is the time for people to engage in civil disobedience.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Of what kind?
Akerlof: I don't know yet. But I think it's time to protest - as much as possible.
In Memorium: Sally Baron "Memorials in her honor can be made to any organization working for the removal of President Bush."
Outsourcing and Exporting American Jobs A true story.

Dean for America

Want your country back?

"I'm Howard Dean and I'm here to represent the democratic wing of the Democratic Party."

Excerpt from Howard Dean's closing statement at the 2003 SC Democratic Party Presidential Debates:

What I want to know is, why are so many Democrats voting 85 percent of the time with the Republicans?

. . . Let me tell you what I want to do. We need to repeal the Bush tax cut. I'm going to ask the people of this country if they would rather keep the president's tax cut or whether they'd like health care for every American. . . . We can balance the budget and provide health care for every American. I know, because we did it in Vermont. . . . In our state, everyone under 18 has health insurance if you make under $52,000 a year. If we can do that in a small rural state that is 26th in the nation in income, we can do that in Washington. . . . This country sure was a lot better off when President Clinton left office; we went from a balanced budget and biggest surplus in history to the loss of 2.7 million jobs and the biggest deficit in history. . . .

The Republicans have never balanced a budget. Yet it's hard to fathom social justice without a balanced budget. Here's why: You balance your budget, pay your bills, you are in good shape for when the lean times come.

But it's not just the Bush tax cuts that I disagree with . . . I disagree with this president on virtually every issue. . . . One of the worst things he has said was using the word "quota" to describe what was going on at the University of Michigan. . . . That's a racially divisive word. . . .

Three years ago, I signed the civil union bill in Vermont guaranteeing that gay couples have the same legal rights as everyone else. . . . We can have an inclusive society, or we can have one that divides people by race and income. . . . I am tired, Mr. President, of being divided by race. I am tired of being divided by gender and Title IX. I am tired of being divided by income. Mr. President, I'm tired of being divided by sexual orientation . . . Mr. President, I am tired of being divided by religion. I believe that the only possibility we have is to take back our country. I want this country back. . . .

The biggest lie people like me tell people like you is that if you vote for me, I'm going to solve all your problems. . . . The truth is, the future is in your hands, not mine. You have the power to reclaim our nation's destiny. Abraham Lincoln said that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth. You have the power to rid Washington of the politics of money. You have the power to make right as important as might. You have the power to give Americans a reason to vote again. You have the power to restore our nation to fiscal sanity and bring jobs back to our people. You have the power to fulfill Harry Truman's dream and bring health insurance to every American. You have the power.

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McKinley's failed economic policies practiced here.
McKinley's economic policies practiced here.