Are YOU better off now, than four years ago?

[SeekingTruth]

Because I work in a field where I never have to be worried about being laid off, I am in the fortunate group that this question doesn't really pertain to.

So what I wonder, out of all those who can answer with a resounding "no", how many of these people are in the voting category.

I seem to pick up that if Kerry were to ask this question, he would not get the same response that Reagan did back in the 80's.

I understand that we are all worse off due to the war, attack on the environment and courts, but I wonder about the general feeling about the country.

Comments?

[simpsonsbuff]

1. how bout

there u go again. hehe.

[MsUnderstood]

2. To be honest

I am better off. I make more money than 4 years ago, I have a happy life, and because Gov Terminator isn't as conservative as he promised, I will soon be able to give my partner health benefits through my company.

However, my country is worse off. It is filled with hatred, war, terrorism, fear, death, disease, poverty, ignorance, and violence.

So I vote not for me, but for my country.

I don't have to be worse off to be a democrat.

[DenverDem]

3. What unlayoffable field are you in?

I may have to retrain.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

4. This nation is in the crapper.

any other questions?

[Worst Username Ever]

5. My prtfolio is WAY down, so that is not good.

But I was in college 4 years ago and a lot happens in 4 years just through the natural progression of life. I have a house and a job, so that is better than being in school and renting. But that has nothing to do with Bush*, that is just me working hard in a field that does not have a lot of layoffs. If the economy were stronger and there was no war, I would say that I would be doing much better.

[mhr]

6. Unemployed 51 Months - 2,500 Resumes Out The Door - No Hope Left

My CV includes the following:
BSEE
MBA
Commercial Pilot
Honorably Discharged Naval Officer

I have not had a serious inquiry from any company or organization in over four years.

So with the retirement savings about gone, the street is the next stop.

[cheshire]

7. My hubby is in building, It was and is the first thing Pubs hit. * is just

like Reagan to us only faster at f**king things up. Two parents on SS are screwed. One grandson that his folks have to pay for so much more for his education.

[WindRavenX]

8. personally, yes

I am in the process of obtaining my BA in Bio and English at a very excellent college, I am emotionally better off because I am out of Oregon...but as others have said, just because we as individuals may be better off than we were four years ago, that does not mean the rest of the country is.
And it doesn't take much time to look around and realize this country has pulled a 180 in the direction it was going under the Clinton years. Oh, how I long for those days when all we fretted over was a blowjob :cry:

[Ilsa]

9. My kids' school is definitely worse off.

They dont' have enough money to hire the teachers and specialists they need.

My city is worse off. They keep putting off raising taxes, but they know they are going to have to.

I don't know about the rest of the country except for what I read about in online news reports, DU, etc. But if "all politics is local", the I'd say * is in trouble. Problem is getting the rest of Texas to let go of their foolish pride and admit that the "home-boy" is a selfish warmongerer.

[marlakay]

10. Worse because I lost job when I moved but my choice

I also choose to work on campaign instead of find job when I got here a few months ago. I hope it won't be hard to get job during winter when its over but I feel strongly that this election is worth more than my fun money. My husband makes enough to pay our basics and we saved and traveled on mine.

[unfrigginreal]

11. "I understand that we are all worse off due to"...

Yet, you feel that being worse off due to war, the attack on the environment and courts is not that big a deal, eh? Why am I not surprised?

[SeekingTruth]

13. What I am getting at is.....

if a large block of people who are really hurting are some of those who do not normally vote, we must find a way to reach them.

It's sort of like this goddamn war. The only people who really are feeling it are those families with people directly affected by it. I am a miltary veteran and I feel terrible and great empathy towards our soliders and their families, but I have also went around asking people, "Does it feel like to you that as a country, we are in a war?" I am stunned by how many people say, "no". Stunned. I get so sick and damned tired of looking around and seeing these damned SUV drivers with yellow ribbon stickers on their bumpers.

And this is what I wonder about the conditions of the country. If it is not being "felt" we have to find ways to make it felt.

So Unfrigginreal, don't go around supposing what people think and mean.

[tritsofme]

12. I have personally been better off almost every year

since around 1981-2, but I am very lucky in that regard.

I can see the damage that is being done to my country, and it is not lost on me.

[vivalarev]

14. I am....

personally, im glad Kerry has not asked this question. I think its too general and to be honest, I know more pople who are better off now than they were 4 years ago. If people keep bringing up this question, I think it would be better if it were phrased differently. Why not just ask if the you feel the country is better off now than it was 4 years ago?

[guitar man]

15. Hell no

I have always tried not to think of myself as much as what is good for the nation as a whole when deciding who to vote for, but this time it's different. 4 years ago, I had a thriving business. I was walking down the hall in my sweats to go to work and was bagging some pretty OK cash. Fast Forward 4 years. The business is gone and I'm driving 90 miles one way for a 10 dollar per hour job and sleeping in an empty office since I can't afford to go home every night.

I never slacked off, just the opposite. For 2 years the bleaker things got, the harder and longer I worked until I finally realized that $hrubonomics had destroyed my client base and there was little I could do about it, so I went back to work full time. I can only hope that hope really IS on the way

[Kat45]

16. I'm not. I've been out of work for a year now.

Too many people are looking for too few jobs. I haven't even found anything to send a resume to in quite some time.