The BushCo Economy: Dueling Realities

Of all the cynical, deceitful things BushCo has done during W's five year Reign of Error, I think the blatant manipulation of and lying about the economy ranks high on the "egregious" list. Not because politicians aren't prone to spin the brightest face on any given situation, that's a given. Rather, because of the disastrous consequences such machinations are setting us up for.

I'm concerned because too many people really believe BushCo's bullshit, especially if they're currently doing well themselves. Maybe they successfully flipped a couple of houses before houses started flipping back and crushing their mortgage holders. Maybe they made a few bucks in the market. Contrary to what the cable propaganda machine tells us nearly every day, most "average Joes" are not in the markets, and a couple of record highs on the Dow don't mean squat to them. Certainly not directly, anyway, as is the case with the players who've made a killing off of the administration policies which are breaking the backs of individual "average Joes" and, many will say, the very nation itself.

The dueling realities presented in the daily headlines just don't make sense to any thinking person: Another massive layoff at some iconic American manufacturer. Record bankruptcies (whew...they covered themselves on that one just in time, eh?). The tanking dollar. An unimaginable budget deficit and unsustainable trade imbalance. Employment numbers which aren't even keeping pace with natural attrition and population growth. And now, of course...the bursting bubble of the housing market. But hey...the economy is the best it's been in decades!

I don't get it. I'm no economist, and I've never even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, but there is clearly something not right here. Even on the very Bush-friendly MSNBC, the morning economic report today spoke of more gloom and doom in the shadow of the worsening credit crunch and sub-prime mortgage implosion.

But hey...the economy is the best it's been in decades!

Keep repeating it. It seems to be the only real strategy the administration has. Just keep saying happy stuff...at least some people will buy into it, and those final 25% seem to be all the affirmation Bush needs. The fact is, BushCo has so bastardized the way the key economic figures are tallied and reported, no sane person could actually think this is the best America has seen in decades. Since when are record housing foreclosures, record backruptcies, record job layoffs and record deficits ever an indication of a GOOD, STRONG economy?

Since Bush took office, that's since when. If you're one of the 1%, the tax-cut-getters, the lay-offers, the war profiteers, well sure, everything appears to be doing great for you. But Bush's "Bill Gates in the room makes everyone's average salary rise" theory of economics is a complete farce. And the chickens appear to finally be coming home to roost. George just has to keep 'em waiting at the hen house door until after he leaves office and then the feathers can start flying.

Blaming the impending economic disaster on the new Democratic president is all the GOP has got, and they appear to be banking on that strategy for the 2010 mid-terms, and then of course, for installing yet another Walker's Pointy-head back into the White House in 2012, before the stench of George W. Bush will have even evaporated from the Oval Office carpets.

Hang on to your yarbles, that is if you've got any yarbles. Stuff your mattress with some fresh greenbacks and a maybe a brick or two of gold. Something you can trade for food or rent (no, that $120/mo iPhone won't be of much value in Bush's Armageddon Economy). Because if there is anything we should have learned from the Bush Administration since Usurption Day 2000, it's that when BushCo says things are great, that's when you should be most worried.

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imminent financial and economic disaster. The WH and the FED are doing everything possible to prop up the banks and the markets until they can get out of town. I believe the mass exodus from the WH in recent months is a good indication that MOST of bushco's loyalists are NOT quite so loyal when the whole damn THING is on the verge of collapse. Thinking people could see this disaster coming long ago and the VERY worst part of the disaster is that IT will be with 'US' for several decades at the VERY least. NEW THINKERS with integrity and reason are desperately needed as our leaders.

have been doing extremely well

the median income has slipped

millions have fallen from the middle class into poverty

more millions of unemployed have slipped entirely into limbo

the US has virtually become Mexico--an oligarchy with rigged elections and a wholly unresponsive, profoundly corrupt "government"

Definitely this is a horrible economy, we've never left the recession of '01. The surest measure of an economy is how many jobs are available, what kind of wages do they pay, are they permanent employment or contract work only, and are any benefits offered.

MSNBC/CNBC has some smokin' hottie on every day (Erin Burnett), and every day she seems to be telling us how things are heading straight into the shitter. Then the news anchor comes on and says "The government reports a strong economy with a 4% unemployment rate and 89,000 new jobs this month!" and people don't question it. First of all, 89,000 jobs (last month, I believe) doesn't even come close to keeping up with the growth of the job market, which requires roughly 150,000 new jobs monthly just to tread water. No one questions it. Maybe the sparkle in Erin's eyes has us seeing nothing but stars and unicorns and running naked through fields of wildflowers -- well, it does for me anyway -- but they just keep pumping out the bullshit and Americans keep buying it. Burnett even agreed with Joe Scarborough today when he said "Fortunately, this is the strongest economy in years because of George's tax cuts. And he told us to keep shopping after 9/11!" Erin said yup, it's good that we keep shopping. After just reporting that the housing bubble hadn't even fully burst yet and that the financial markets were quaking.

Drink the Kool-Aid.



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Only 28-percenters still believe this stuff.