Aren't you glad the Democrats aren't in charge?
by JohnHuang2
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Can the recent economic upswing get even worse? For the fragile recession, already teetering on the edge of recovery, the grim handwriting is on the wall. Like Madonna or Maureen Dowd, the recession has clearly seen better days. But it's more than just a rough patch. The recent spate of economic reports point to a crumbling recession, dashing Democrat hopes for '04. The tumbling recession -- blamed on a nasty outbreak of consumer confidence and business spending bred by lower taxes and interest rates -- make '04 Democrats increasingly jittery and increasingly vulnerable. Unless the recession improves or stabilizes, prospects which appear increasingly remote as the job market strengthens and stocks forge ahead, the deteriorating picture poses a growing challenge to Democrats in the race for the White House. As the '04 campaign gears up, should the economy succumb to full-blown recovery, eradicating the recession, the political fallout for Democrats, who admit addiction to recession, could be devastating.
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Not only could the recent economic upswing get even worse, it's already getting worse, according to a USA Today survey of 60 economists. The grim survey, "conducted Oct. 3-8, predicts the U.S. economy, which grew at a 3.3% annual rate in the second quarter, will expand at a" disastrously "strong 4% clip in the fourth quarter and," worse still, "3.8% in all of 2004." The impact of surging business investment on the recession will be especially severe. The recession faces other risks, including stepped up hiring which "three-fourths of the economists surveyed expect" will advance at "a rate of 100,000 or more net new jobs a month."
Many of you are probably wondering, in light of such news, why I call this a recession. Hmmm, that only shows how out of touch you are...with Dan Rather. I call this a recession because CBS's "Evening News With Dan Rather" says -- or hints -- it's a recession, albeit a faltering, poorly performing recession. Other than lying about Bernard Goldberg and liberal bias, lying about John Ashcroft not flying commercial, lying about not doing election projections, lying about war and the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, we know Dan Rather would never lie.
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Democrats, whose policy is 'Leave No Recession Behind,' also fault the Bush tax cuts for Halliburton for the boom in consumer spending and expected surge in business investment for the third quarter (8.5% annual rate, seasonally adjusted). Hurting the recession still further, the economists surveyed don't expect interest rates, already rock-bottom, will be groped by Alan Greenspan when the Fed meets behind closed doors later this month. For Democrats, only news that Bush had groped and grabbed Martha Stewart could possibly be worse.
Democrats believe economic recoveries should be caught early and cured with heavy doses of higher taxes before the healthy condition spreads further, but Bush has vowed 'Over-my-Dead-Body' no tax hikes on his watch. Sorry, Charlie. Historically, tax cuts are a big recession-killer, the warmer business climate unsuitable for recession, allowing the infectious recovery to breed and spread rapidly in all directions. Already, the sick recession is piling up medical bills for Democrats, taking a heavy toll in the form of disastrously low poll ratings, boring candidates and fractious infighting over 'Who Lost Saddam?' and 'Who Lost The Recession?'
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With the recession imploding -- some project third-quarter GDP growth in the 5.5%-6% range -- combined with low inflation, soaring productivity, profits, personal income and stocks, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Monday that "George Bush and his administration have taken our country far off track." Bush and his economic team, having crippled the recession, "lack the honor and integrity to acknowledge their mistakes, to change direction and give our country the recession "the fresh start it deserves." Trail-blazing with fresh ideas ranging from higher taxes all the way to higher taxes, Lieberman proposes higher taxes on Halliburton as a way to revitalize the recession. It's a sure-fire way to get the recession back on its feet, at a minimum. Lieberman, brimming with all the dazzling magnetism and charisma of Gray Davis as Al Gore's lap-top computer, says Bush is a bad President with no integrity. Give Lieberman a chance to raise your taxes, says Lieberman, and he'll bring back the good ol' days of integrity we fondly reminisce about under Clinton. Are fresh ideas like more integrity through higher taxes paying off? Yes! Fifty-six percent tell Gallup they approve of Bush's job performance, a jump of 6-percentage points from late September. Dubbing his 5-day tour, "Leading With Integrity," Lieberman himself has seen his numbers soar nationally from 10 percent in September to 13 percent (!) in the latest Gallup survey of '04 Democrats. Saddled with anonymity which comes as Gore's former running-mate, Lieberman could well rise from obscure candidate to really obscure candidate in less than a year, at this rate.
To spread the benefits of recession evenly as possible, Lieberman proposes raising taxes on evil capitalist pigs who soil the economy with new jobs, lowering taxes on "workers" who will no longer have jobs once Lieberman gets through with curing the recovery and ridding the economy of evil capitalist pigs. America is a dangerous breeding ground for wealth and opportunity, but Democrats like Lieberman aim to cure that. Many Democrats dream of a permanent cure for recovery, duplicating Castro's stunning success of marching back to the Stone Age in just 2 short generations, an impressive milestone which swells liberal hearts with pride. (Think I'm kidding, eh? Check out the daily wave of desperate Democrats fleeing U.S. shores for Castro's paradise to escape John Ashcroft and his right-wing policies of keeping America safe!)
Having ruined a perfect recession, Bush is now vulnerable to even more lovey-dovey, mushy hate speech from Old Europe Democrats, the French and Saddam. Despite its poor performance, support for the ousted recession still runs deep in Democrat ranks, especially within the Dean-Kerry-Lieberman 'unSunny Triangle,' an area which runs Leftward from Lieberman, already well Left-of-center, to Howard Dean, 80 miles Left of Lieberman, then north to Kerry, between Lieberman and Dean.
Meanwhile, Breck Girl and '04 wannabe John Edwards on Tuesday said he will vote down Bush's funding request for reconstruction and support for U.S. troops in Iraq, saying our troops will be safer so long as somebody like the Breck Girl stands up to this evil man in the White House.
A powerful voice on military matters, with years of experience chasing dangerous ambulances up and down North Carolina's dangerous streets, the Breck Girl accused the President of lacking any plan for Iraq, or that he has a plan, but that the plan that he doesn't have is too big or costs too much, or that the plan that he doesn't have that costs too much actually doesn't cost enough, since we need more troops in Iraq, or that the plan that Bush doesn't have sends too much money to foreigners, or that the money is only going to Halliburton, an American company, but Halliburton just got a $1 Trillion tax cut, charges the Breck Girl, so $87 bill would seem chump change.
"Our troops will not be safer and this mission will never be successful unless the president dramatically changes course." Bush better outsource U.S. foreign policy to the French and Kofi Annan, if he wants the Breck Girl's support! This is series!
"It is clear to me President Bush is not going to change direction unless somebody stands up to him and say no," said Edwards, in between quickie dabs of make-up, lipstick and nail polishing.
Edwards' rival Howard Dean might charge the Breck Girl with inconsistency, voting FOR war in Iraq, then voting against postwar reconstruction and peace-keeping. Much as I disagree with Edwards on this, I don't think that's a fair charge. Edwards, in a spirit of bipartisanship, voted for war in October when he didn't think the vote for war would affect his standing in polls of early primaries, dominated by solid blocs of Fedayeenies still fiercely loyal to Saddam. (No chance the 9th Circuit Court will rule Saddam unconstitutional.) That solid bloc of Fedayeenis is mad as heck at the Breck Girl for giving Bush authority to wage this horrible war that we won. Howard Dean has catapulted to the top of the pack based on fierce opposition to this horrible war that we won. So the Breck Girl changes his vote, or hints he wishes he could. In other words, Edwards was following polls back when he voted FOR war, he's following polls today. Nope, no the inconsistency there.
Besides, where's Saddam, anyway? Democrats demand. Why haven't we nabbed him yet? Democrats charge the White House with incompetence. Bush is stupid! Al Sharpton or Dennis Kucinich would have Saddam by now, new set of silicone breast implants and all! Bush is stupid! Democrats also charge the White House with secretly knowing Saddam's whereabouts, pretending not to find him, holding back till just the right moment -- just before the November elections! Bush is evil! Bush is nefarious!
Aren't you glad these guys aren't in charge?
Anyway, that's...
My two cents...
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