Posted on 11/12/2006 7:45:33 PM PST by A. Pole
Talk about being in denial. President Bush thought that voters should credit him for a great economy, even if they opposed the war. Just look at the numbers: low unemployment, low inflation, record profits, taxes down, stocks up. But in exit polls, half the voters called the economy "not good" or "poor." Only 31 percent said they were "getting ahead" financially. Someone's not in the loop. Is it the public or the prez?
[...]
The new wave—the one the public sees but Bush does not—is a pervasive feeling of permanent insecurity, says Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker, author of the new book "The Great Risk Shift." By "risk shift," he means that employers and governments have left us more on our own, to fund our health care and retirement plan. Bush's ownership society doesn't look good if you're on the street at 61 and need a Starbucks job for health insurance.
At the top, the "working rich" are doing stupendously well. In 2004, the wealthiest 1 percent of households (with incomes higher than $315,000) copped 53 percent of all the year's income gains. Americans usually don't care how much other people get as long as they're doing OK themselves. But lately, they haven't been. Median incomes for households with people of working age (65 or less) fell last year for the fifth year in a row. Adjusted for inflation, these families are bringing in $3,000 less, the Economic Policy Institute reports. When the president tells them they're fine, he sounds out of touch.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
It all depends what's important to ya. I left a high paying job to do what I love.
Well lets see the Dems and the Liberal Media have been telling America that the economy is bad for so long well even if they weren't actually feeling it the perception that it was bad for everybody else was out there... Now the MSNBC wants to try and act like it wasn't part of that Chorus by suggesting that it was some fuzzy math... ? All of a sudden minimum wage increase will cause the economy to be record boom for everyone... Democrats to the rescue... They will steal the glory for the good///
Well....maybe if they'd let us FUND our OWN health care and get the government OUTTA healthcare the problem would dissolve....but, nooooo....DEMS think that SOCIALIZATION of healthcare is the way to go.....PULLEEAASSSEEE.
Side Note: I require bio-id compounded hormones (or else I'm a bad case of rheumatoid arthritis).....the insur company ONLY allows 30 day prescriptions for the ones they DO pay for....but, if I pay cash for 90 days worth, I save about 40%.....so...bye bye healthcare benefit - I don't need no stinkin' prescription drug benefit....I need the government outta my healthcare business.
The Rowback Begins!!
Economy is doing great, but you can always find some statistic that is 'counter-trend'... the stats on wage income are like that because they fail to include benefits and *benefits plus wages* are going much higher than wages alone! In other words, the reason that median incomes are stagnant is that MOST COMPENSATION INCREASES ARE GOING INTO BENEFITS.
Isn't it about time for the economy to perk up, so that in just a few weeks, the MSM will be telling us that it is the best one in 50 years?
It's always the same old story from the Liberals. We're always "worse off" unless there is a Rat in the White House, then a rising tide lifts all boats. Anybody whose finances are one long downward trend might want to consider a new approach.
I know how the Democrats will fix the problem: They will raise the families' taxes by $3,000.
Definitely Bush. It's his job to push these facts to the public's notice. The Dems badmouthed the economy and there was no one to tell them different.
Ah, yes, the supposed non-partisan Economic Policy Institute - home of Robert Reich and so many others who've never shed a biased report to the public.
I remember this stat recently, that when asked how THEY THEMSELVES were doing, a majority of Americans said they were doing alright, but when asked how they thought their fellow American was doing, a majority said that their neighbor was NOT doing so well. Really only one way to explain this. The MSM.
Poor use of the bully pulpit, overall, for certain.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h08.html
And here is a link to a report with 2005 data:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/acs-02.pdf
The drive-by media will never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
The EPI is a notorious mouth-piece for the Democrats
The main thing to keep in mind is that HOUSEHOLD income trends are weaker than per person income. As people can afford to live as single-person households, we have more households. So the same money is split more ways which drives down median household income.
You know that the MSM will only report such "news" when there is a Dimm in the White House!
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