Posted on 08/21/2007 4:54:20 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Fred Thompson calls the Bush economy ''the greatest story never told,'' lauding four years of growth, low unemployment, low inflation, high profits and rising productivity. All the Republican presidential candidates pledge to follow in the president's course. Think about this for a second. Americans are being terrorized by inadequate levees in New Orleans, by collapsing bridges in Minneapolis, by an aged water valve in Manhattan. Schools are aged and overcrowded, roads are gridlocked, airports overwhelmed, mass transit outmoded. Our parks are in decline for lack of upkeep. Millions of children go without health care or preschool. The costs of college are soaring, even as they are being privatized, with parents and kids forced to take out staggering levels of loans. Yet conservative candidates for president and for governor call for cutting government spending.
We witness a record inequality not seen since the Gilded Age, which ended in the Great Depression. Virtually all of the rewards of this economy have been reaped by the wealthiest 10 percent. The remaining 90 percent have been losing ground, struggling to meet rising health-care and energy costs with stagnant or declining incomes.
A CEO now makes some 500 times more than an average worker. These are the extremes of wealth and income that Republican reformers like Teddy Roosevelt thought posed a direct threat to democracy itself. Yet conservative candidates for president vow to make things worse, mounting the ramparts to oppose any tax increases on the wealthy, even while pushing for repealing the tax on the wealthiest estates and lowering even more taxes on the unearned income enjoyed by the affluent.
We've witnessed the worst corporate crime wave in modern history -- CEOs plundering their companies, cooking the books, cashing in options, even as employees lose their life savings, as they did at Enron. Old limits on credit creation have been trampled, allowing Wall Street to create the bubble that is now bursting. For 25 years, conservatives have deregulated everything from telephones to global banking. And yet to a person, conservative candidates call for deregulation, and rail against the "undue burdens on companies."
We've witnessed wholesale looting of public funds, no-bid contracts to Halliburton and others, billions in cash lost in the deserts of Iraq with no records, the worst forms of crony capitalism squandering scarce public resources. And yet to a person, conservative candidates call for more privatization, outsourcing intelligence assessment -- not just contracting but the monitoring of contracts.
Our corporate trade policies have shuttered our manufacturing base, while piling up the worst trade deficits and global debt in history. We now have a $250 billion annual deficit with China. We have a deficit in high-tech goods with China, while our leading exports to that country are wastepaper. We're now borrowing or selling off assets at a rate nearing $2.5 billion a day. Companies have used this globalization to drive down wages and break promises on health care and pensions. And every conservative candidate without exception touts the benefits of corporate defined ''free trade.''
Some suggest that doctrine blinds the right to reality. I suspect it's more due to interest overcoming principle, class ruling nation. This economy is terrific for the few -- including the few who provide funds for politicians. The nation may be in trouble, but the wealthy are secured behind gated communities with private beaches, parks, schools, pleasures. Their interests no longer coincide with those of the nation's working and poor people.
To date, the election debate understandably has focused on Iraq. But next year, economic fears are are likely to grow. It won't take a recession to put the economy front and center in the political debate. Most people think we're already in one.
mailto:jjackson@rainbowpush.org
Jesse’s biggest problem, IMHO, is that he’s becoming irrelevant. Al Sharpton too.
Old Token Socialist Alert!
Yes I agree, what stocks does Mr Jackson hold. What Rainbow/PUSH coalition corporate filings are available for the public to review? What church does this man preach at? Who funds his lifestyle? If Mr Jackson could answer any of those questions, I would at least listen to him.
Old satan cranking up his lie machine!
LLS
Race Baiting 101 School is alive and well.
Let’s see, where to start. How many decades have the levees in NO been substandard, but they had the $$$$ to build the Superdome. How many $$$$ from the highway trust fund were diverted to build bike paths or beautification projects? Enron? On Clinton’s watch! And I love the one about nearly all the benefits of economic growth have gone to the top 10%. JJ and others of his ilk rarely get confused by the facts.
Consider the billions of taxpayer dollars that have already been spent on New Orleans, built bridges to nowhere, supported bureaucracy laden failing schools and fought a war on poverty all with hardly any positive results. Why would dumping more money into these failed projects be any different?
Only a Socialist would use such a term.
that Republican reformers like Teddy Roosevelt
TR was a NY Republican, like Nelson Rockefeller, in name only. He jumped to the Progressive Party, remember?
thought posed a direct threat to democracy itself.
...with no small boost from class-warriors like yourself, Jesse.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I wonder how much money this semi-literate millionaire pays someone else to write articles like this for him.
How many jobs has Jesse Jackson created? Anyone who takes their financial advice from Jesse Jackson is as stupid as he is.
My exact thoughts while reading "his" commentary.
Where’s my Bud franchise ?
Hi Jesse. You’re a socialist piece of pig-shiite, and no one gives a rats ass what you think.
“Americans are being terrorized by inadequate levees in New Orleans, by collapsing bridges in Minneapolis, by an aged water valve in Manhattan. Schools are aged and overcrowded, roads are gridlocked, airports overwhelmed, mass transit outmoded. Our parks are in decline for lack of upkeep. Millions of children go without health care or preschool. “
None of which started in, nor was caused by, the Bush administration. Lets get real here.
During the economic boom of the early Clinton years (which were the result of the economic policies of his predecessors) government spending exploded. Yet all this infrastructure is crumbling.
Why is it crumbling? Because fixing things before they break doesn't get politicians reelected. It doesn't leave them with a legacy of creating new projects, building new things, and providing new benefits.
The levees in New Orleans were not in the state they were in because the government did not have the resources to improve and repair them. They were in the state they were in because the state and local governments were corrupt and incompetent. They ignored warnings, misappropriated funds, and ignored the potential for disaster even in the face of several close calls prior to Katrina.
Schools are aged and overcrowded, roads are gridlocked, airports overwhelmed, mass transit outmoded.
Failure of state and local governments to plan ahead and address problems before they become critical. Instead they expand and create new programs to appease special interests or buy votes.
Liberal politicians rarely solve problems. They blame others for problems and then demand more power and more money to address problems that are the results of their incompetence and dishonest politics.
Our parks are in decline for lack of upkeep.
Why? Because we kept building more parks and expanding facilities at them far beyond what we could afford to upkeep. Blatant government incompetence and blatantly bad fiscal policy due to politicians desire to be able to say they built something.
A CEO now makes some 500 times more than an average worker. These are the extremes of wealth and income that Republican reformers like Teddy Roosevelt thought posed a direct threat to democracy itself. Yet conservative candidates for president vow to make things worse, mounting the ramparts to oppose any tax increases on the wealthy, even while pushing for repealing the tax on the wealthiest estates and lowering even more taxes on the unearned income enjoyed by the affluent.
Bush's tax breaks increased government revenues by stimulating the economy. Jackson's argument is a lie.
We've witnessed the worst corporate crime wave in modern history -- CEOs plundering their companies, cooking the books, cashing in options, even as employees lose their life savings, as they did at Enron.
A corporate crime wave that started and grew under the Clinton administration and was cleaned up to a considerable extent under the Bush administration while minimizing longterm damage to the markets.
How many boldface lies by Jackson does it take before people start calling him a liar?
I guess the answer is nearly an infinite number, especially when they are lies that the mainstream media repeats over and over again in their own ignorance and dishonesty.
Jesse Jackson is a con man who hides behind the shield or political correctness and the race card to make it so that the government fears to prosecute him.
Of course Liberal politicians and the liberal media aid him in this and help protect him, because he pushes the uninformed toward supporting their goals.
...as does the Reverend Jackson, who wants funding cut for the Iraq War, cut for faith-based charities, and cut for school-choice voucher programs such as those implemented at state levels.
You'll also note that the Reverend Jackson no longer defends (or even mentions!) pro-life views, even as the Black community is devastated by abortion.
At first I thought Jessie was writing about Chicago. Actually, he should be; it’s long past time to clean up that cesspool.
INEQUALITY: A definition: "I don't perform well on my job, nor have I any responsibility with money.... so give me yours."
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