Just a little something I'm pulling from the Election Exchange at CNN.com because I feel compelled to respond to the obvious implied challenge.
What part of $56 a barrel for oil, 4.6% unemployment and the Dow at record levels don't you understand? If the Democrats put as much effort into doing their jobs as they do complaining about problems that don't exist, unemployment would be at 3% and the Dow would be at 12,000.
Chris Cox - Calabasas, CA
Well, Chris, let's hit both ends of your argument, one at a time, 'kay? First of all, $56 a barrel for oil? In 2000 dollars, it's well over $60 a barrel, while in 2000 it was under $20. Hell, before we invaded Iraq it was still under $40. $56 a barrel for oil isn't exactly a glowing achievement, genius.
4.6% unemployment? Unemployment numbers are tricky, since all they tell you is how many people are employed, not how well they are employed or how much they earn. That 4.6% would be a lot more impressive if it weren't contrasted by an income gap that constantly looks more and more like an income chasm. A report in Time this month shows that more than half of Americans earn less than $30,000. Half of the people in America are earning borderline poverty wages or less. And that's not even getting into the health care epidemic and the trend toward a service-based economy, both very real problems that you can bet will be haunting us well into the future, and which are directly tied to Republican lawmakers who feed at the corporate trough. 4.6% unemployment? Big shit. More people are poor, and the very few rich are getting richer at the expense of those they manage to fool into thinking they might someday become rich.
12,000 Dow Jones? You tell me what that means to an American making less than $30,000 a year, Chris. Exactly jack squat. That's what it means. The wealthy are becoming more wealthy? Yippity fucking shit. The economy is a closed equation, Einstein. They're getting richer by making others poorer.
Okay, your second point is that things would be even better if the Democrats would just "do their jobs." In what capacity, Chris, are they not doing their jobs? Which branch of government do they control (at least before November 7th) that they should be running better? Frankly, I liked it better when things were split... you could blame the Democrats for some things and Republicans for other things. Now everything is going to shit, and the Republicans responsible are stuck trying to blame a guy who hasn't been in office in 6 years. It comes off as a little desperate, you know?
This kind of head-in-the-sand political opinion is completely irresponsible. Chris, either you are an extremely wealthy person looking to become even more wealthy on the backs of others, or you're an easily-manipulated tool of the greedy rich willing to vote against your own self interests. Either way, I have about as much respect for you and your opinions as I do for an
asshole willing to pull strings for the corporate, indentured-servant-exploiting, abortion-forcing, rape-condoning government of the
Northern Marianas Islands.
