Economy May Work In Bush's Favor (More "Lucky Ducky" News)

[wellst0nev0ter]

By all rights, the Wisconsin job market of the past three years could have left Greg and Mary Beardmore embittered. Greg lost his job in 2001 when his dot-com venture went bust, found new work in office-furniture sales, only to be downsized back to the unemployment lines. Employed again after 14 long months, the former sales manager from Green Bay earns half his previous salary.

With her husband struggling, Mary lost her job in June as a facilities manager at Green Bay-based retailer ShopKo Stores, and was thrown into a job market she described as "a wasteland."

Now living on an income that is 30 percent of their cash flow three years ago, the Beardmores have kept their heads above water, Mary said, refinancing their mortgage, lowering monthly payments and taking heart in the swelling equity in a home that has gained $100,000 in value since they moved in eight years ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46543-2004Feb16.html

So basically, even if the present economy has gotten you sh**canned from your job, you are all right just as long as you own a home and were NOT among the 60 percent of the taxpayers that got only $300 in tax cuts. Very Pravda-like reporting.

I especially like this quote though:

Even Mary Beardmore -- a Bush voter in 2000 and still unemployed -- said she is willing to give the president a pass.

"You know, George Bush does not control the economy that much," she said. :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Skittles]

1. stupid, stupid people

utterly f***ing ignorant.

[Mithras61]

2. I get so G*D D**MED TIRED of hearing...

that the President doesn't have that much to do with the economy!

HEY STUPID! The President sets policy. Policy is what causes the economy to react, depending on what the policy is. The President has ENORMOUS impact on the economy!

[central scrutinizer]

4. stick with the script

Only Democratic presidents have control over the economy, even long after they have left office. Clinton is responsible for the current deficits and recession. But the Democratic Congress of the 1980's was responsible for Reagan's deficits and the Bush I recession. Didn't you get the memo? Why do you hate America so much? <sarcasm off>

[tom_paine]

12. Well said, central scrutinizer!

Sad for how absolutely 100% true your statements are...

[jab105]

22. It does get confusing...Reagan was responsible for Clinton's

economy...I mean Clinton's 8 years...and Bush is getting Clintons bad economy...but since its now been 3 years...awww shucks...the President just cant do anything with the economy...

Oh heck...

[JailForBush]

3. Teachers.Net Story!

I used to post on the chatboards at TeachersNet, which is essentially the world's biggest collection of bimbos.

One day I was arguing with some of the right-wingers about Enron, which they generally tried to excuse or dismiss. Then I read about some teachers organization in Texas that had invested its members' retirement in - you guessed it - Enron!

I mentioned this on the chatboard, and one of my opponents went into shock. The article was about her union!

I didn't show her an ounce of pity. If she doesn't care about children being screwed by corporations, then she deserved to lose her life savings. What goes around comes around.

[villager]

5. totally selective -- even CBS reports differently

On CBS radio today, they emphasized how their polling showed repeatedly that jobs were the #1 issue in Wisconsin, and they interviewed a self-described "independent" who was voting for Kerry, because of his worries about manufacturing jobs leaving the state...

[54anickel]

6. That is NOT a representation of Wisconsinites!

[rogerashton]

7. No, not much.

Basically, it is like this. Clinton got lucky, and was smart enough not to do anything to screw it up. Bush got unlucky, and was dumb enough not to do anything to make it even a little better.

Where this pair are being a little dumb is not thinking through about the house. If they continue living in it, the higher price won't do much for them -- the equity loan might get them through a major illness, at best. If they sell it, they will have to pay the same for a house of comparable quality. They can, of course, downsize to a shack and cut their debts a bit, but how does that make them better off? Well, better than being in a shack with huge debts ....

[reprobate]

17. And what will happen to them when the housing bubble bursts?

They'll be stuck with a loan and the house won't be worth enough to pay it off. There will be a whole passle of people in that situation when the rubber meets the road.

[Thor_MN]

21. I'd have to disagree on * doing nothing....

Trickle down will NEVER, EVER work. Why they turn to SUPPLY side economics when even they acknowledge that the problem is not enough DEMAND is mind boggling. Trying to stimulate production when there is already an excess of production is just plain moronic...

* has actively pursued a supply side policy and has screwed over the nation to enrich his donors.

The day after 9/11 I said that it was the best thing to happen to the Bush family since the Gulf War. It almost cost me a friend that I had roomed with for 9 years. I think now even he is seeing what a complete failure * has been in every single aspect of his life.

[RobertSeattle]

8. Pretty amazing

Half of America won't forgive Clinton because of a BJ and those very same people will then give Bush a free pass on AWOL, doing nothing to prevent 9/11, 2+ million net job loss, the huge deficits, and the lies about Iraq.

[KoKo]

9. They will be fine, until the $100.000 in equity is eaten up by a medical

bill, or a disaster they couldn't forsee, or maybe just ordinary living given how bad things could get, and when they go to sell their house and it's worth maybe $25 or 50,000 less than they owe the bank because everyone else is selling because they are still out of work and no one can afford the inflated price anymore, what happens to them? Does the bank seize it and auction the house and their furnishings when they have to declare bankruptcy? What will they have left?

This is the worry. Homeowners living on "equity refinancing" with no guaranty that there will be anyone who will be able to afford the inflated price that they were expecting to get for their home. It's all over America, the inflated houses. Driven up in price just because interest rates are low and almost nothing for downpayment is required. But, when that ends and interest rates go up and folks can't afford the payments, or the area one lives in loses so many jobs that no one can afford a house anymore, the Broadmores and the rest of us will have to hope that someone gives us the cushion that the Corporate Crooks have gotten when their investments went bad and bails us out like Poppy and friends have done with Chimpy. I don't have much hope of that, so we have to believe that this will will not end in disaster and pray alot, or whatever that something comes along that replaces the technology boom and saves us.

[lancdem]

10. Bush did not win Wisconsin in 2000

and he won't in 2004, either. Count on it. Bush needs more than the people who voted for him in 2000 to pick up this state.

[BadGimp]

11. I wish I had time to research these people and orginizations/companies

I wish I had time to research these people and orginizations/companies to see what they have been the source for in the past...

I smell propaganda and lies.

[JPace]

20. Smart rock!

sadly it knows a lot more than people
who vote for AWOL.

[JeebusH]

13. hey, Greg and Mary Beardmore are getting what they voted for ...

and deserves

[mumon]

14. Assorted lies from the piece...

"Wage growth has been nearly stagnant, but thanks to Bush's tax cuts, disposable income has risen."

Co-pays killed my tax cut. Actually, I didn't get one.

Oh, and the Alternative Minimum Tax is a tax increase on "lucky duckies" like me.

11 paragraphs into the story, they note that the polls show that Putsch is toast right now.

But in reality, the economic picture is decidedly mixed. And for Bush, as it has been for the economy as a whole these past three years, the housing market may prove to be a salvation. The homeownership rate -- at 68.6 percent of U.S. households -- hit an all-time high in the last three months of 2003.

So, let's see, 'cause there's a housing bubble, we'll elect Putsch?

Geez.

If voters are willing to take out large, long-term loans to move into new and larger houses, they must be feeling upbeat.


Either that or they know that Putsch fucked up the economy so much that they know interest rates are going through the roof after 2004!

But no matter how bad the labor market is, the vast majority of voters have jobs, and for them, incomes are rising,...

Bull. They just said earlier... "Wage growth has been nearly stagnant..." and anybody can see inflation in gas prices and healthcare costs has pretty much removed any "tax cut" "effect."

What utter Repugnant propaganda.

[Mel]

15. Mary deserves what she gets then

what I care about is the ones who don't. I know this much when Bush was selected I got the hell out of the stock market. I refuse to go back in until he's out of the WH preferably in prison, if there's such a thing as justice he would be.

[snippy]

16. Democrats need to repeat Bush's lies in some ads.

In 2001 Bush told us that his tax cuts would create 575,000 new jobs.

In 2002 Bush told us that his tax cuts would create 2,500,000 new jobs.

In 2003 Bush told us that his tax cuts would create 2,000,000 new jobs.

In 1993 the republican party told us that passing president Clinton's tax bill would destroy the economy and put millions out of work.

{Then show the video of Bush saying this}

"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."

Can your family afford to be fooled again?

[wellst0nev0ter]

18. LOL!

That's just classic! You have me rolling, hahahahaha! :)

[demgrrrll]

19. It is hard for people to realize that they voted for someone who has

put policies in place that have wrecked their lives.
I think some people would rather give Bush a pass than
admit a mistake. I would be more shocked if she had said
man was I ever a fool to vote for that jerk. That's a tall order for some folks. Haven't you known people who hang on to a losing proposition for dear life rather than admit they made a bad choice?
Same principle.

[0rganism]

25. This is sheer brilliance. Send it to the DNC and the various campaigns

I would LOVE to see this on TV.

[area51]

23. There's a name

for people like Mary Beardmore; it's "sucker".

[freeforall]

24. OK, I admit...

that economics is not my subject of expertise, but how do they figure that you're all right if you don't have a job, but own a home? Even if the value of the home has increased, if many people are unemployed, who will buy your home? Not only that, how the hell do they expect to pay the mortgage without jobs, or with jobs that earn less than subsistance wages?


Well, I guess you folks will have the satisfaction on November 3rd, when Bush has lost the election, to tell him: "It's the economy, stupid!" (that caused him to lose so badly - among other things)