Getting so much better all the time

I've got to admit it's getting better a little better all the time

-The Beatles-

The US economy is doing just great, thank you very much, and it’s all because of George W. Bush’s two trillion worth of tax cuts.  Just ask any Republican candidate.  The Dow passed 12,000 and that proves it, and incomes are up half a percent in September.  What more could you ask for?

The truth, perhaps.  That rising tide may float those who have boats but those clinging to rafts and bits of flotsam aren’t doing quite as well. That’s the funny thing about averages.  Indices like the S&P and NASDAQ which more accurately reflect the value of American business have not recovered. The cost of living is climbing steadily: insurance premiums, property taxes and health care are escalating rapidly and long time residents of my area are being forced out of homes they had thought to spend their retirement in and are moving into trailer parks, but on the average, when you take into account the growing ranks of billionaires, things look better.

”The story used to be a rising tide raises all boats, and now it just raises all yachts,'' says Edward Tufte, a political scientist at Yale “The benefits of a good economy are much more narrowly focused now on the top 20 percent.''

It’s the same story with employment figures: they don’t reflect the number of unemployed nor do they reflect the large number of people now working at low paying jobs who used to have good ones or who are working two jobs or who now work 60 hours a week “part time” without benefits.

None of this is news to you, of course – unless you’re a Republican and if you are, I have some other news for you:  there is no war on terrorism in Iraq, Bush has no workable plan to bring peace and stability to Iraq or the middle east, much less a recognizable form of democracy and has made the world a far more dangerous place for Americans.

I remember saying “hey, it’s a free country” a lot when I was a kid.  It really isn’t any more. Censorship and warrantless surveillance is growing. Journalists are being detained without charges for reporting the situation in Iraq. The government can legally make anyone disappear forever or torture anyone forever with immunity to due process. The legitimacy of our election process is in question.

I remember people bragging about having the highest standard of living in the world.  We don’t any more and not even close by many measures. We no longer have the best transportation system, the longest bridges, the tallest buildings, the most modern cities. Our literacy, longevity, infant mortality and general health are way down on the world scale as is technical and science education. We are one of the most superstitious nations on Earth and proud of it.

Remember this when you vote next week.  If you vote Republican, the crooks win.