It's the economy, stupid!

[ovidsen]

It's not just the economy, of course. There's that untidy mess in Iraq as well. Plus the death of habeas corpus, corporate fraud, political corruption, etc.,etc....

But every time I hear wingnuts talk about how great the economy is, how the stock market is at record highs and the jobless rate is at record lows, I want to hit them over the head.

Here's something I found that I'm now using to hit them over the head.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/kevin_g_hall/15781393.htm

Health care, wages, energy costs put squeeze on middle class

... The typical family paid, on average from 1999 to 2004, about $865 a year to heat a home with heating oil or $586 with natural gas, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association.

Last winter, however, it cost $1,496 to heat a home with heating oil and $946 with natural gas. Those are increases of 73 percent and 61 percent.

Then there's gasoline. The nationwide average for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $2.22 on Monday, according to AAA. That's 57 percent higher than $1.41, the average price for a gallon of gas during the second week of October from 2000 through 2003.

Health insurance costs have risen even faster. The premiums workers pay for employer-provided health insurance rose an average of 7.7 percent this year - and have increased 84 percent since 2000, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-issues research center.

I don't care what Bush and the wingnuts are saying. We are NOT better off.

[HughBeaumont]

1. When they say "the economy is better", they don't mean US.

They mean, the board directors, mega-owners, fat cats, CEOs, high management corporate weasels . . . you know, the "ownership" society.

[Greyhound]

2. Yes, it is better for the owners of the country. They leave that out. n/t

[Warpy]

3. I inherited quite a bit this year

so suddenly this economy is good for ME.

However, I know that I'm still a very small fish in a very large ocean, and those enormous fish won't be happy until they've gobbled me up. I also know what I've gone through for most of my life, and especially the last three years.

I will welcome any changes that allow the wealth of this country to be distributed more fairly, instead of just pushed up to the top 0.5%, no questions asked.

If not, well, I remember thinking the SDS and their talk of revolution in the 60s was silly as hell. I don't think that talk is silly, now.