I'm sure by now those who care have figured out I'm a Kerry/Edwards supporter. Hopefully over the next few months you will check back to see what I have to say about them and the opposition.
In my daily email from the Kerry campaign they talked about our nation being better off than it was 4 years ago. A lot has happened since then. We have 9/11, 2 wars, the emergence of Al Quaeda as a serious terrorism threat to all countries it opposes, high energy prices, and a joke of a tax break.
We started off with the Florida fiasco, in which began a long decline in the stock market throughout the year and the recession was beginning. Many were losing their jobs so Bush gave his first tax refund which did nothing to stem the outsourcing of jobs and businesses laying off employees. Many took the tax refund only to be stabbed in the back the next year when it came time to file for taxes. I was one of those unfortunates who was laid off, filed for my taxes to get the refund to help stay in Dallas to better help me get a job vs going to my small hometown where telecommunications jobs were nil. So I was hoping on getting 300-600 dollars only to find out that I owed 714 dollars in taxes. It would of been 300 less had I not taken that refund back in August of 2001 and I could of easily of stayed in Dallas and found a job quicker. No I had to go live with my parents to be able to pay on my new truck that I bought to "support the economy" one of the last bits of Bush advice I was ever to follow. I spent 6 months looking for a job only to see one job outsourced, and 2 others they just made do with inside canidates. I could say that 6 months was horrible and depressing but I finally was rehired in another department at my old job. Another backstab I ended up making 6.50 a hour less when I started. Today I'm still 1.25 below the 23 dollars per hour I was used to making.
So 9/11 also happened in that time which was trying for all of us. There's nothing more than I want to see is Osama to see justice, American or Islamic. I would also like to see Afganistan as a stable country that's free of warlords and drug farms also. There getting there but it's taking longer since 90% of our deployed troops are fighting Al Quaeda in Iraq due to Bush pulling a coup on Saddam Hussein who did not like Al Quaeda and was a minor local threat that has been kept in check for years with overflights and a few cruise missles. Nobody cared about him. I wonder how many families would still have their sons and daughters had they of served in Afganistan en masse chasing Osama and his ragtag band there who are far less capable than in Iraq where there is a huge anti-american support base there willing to arm rebels.
Past these wars many Americans are struggling at home just to make ends meet. Now they have changed overtime laws that may strip millions of their overtime. A republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison here in Texas responded to my criticism with "I'd rather take overtime away from a few to give it to many others." There is no excuse to take away anything from anyone and the same law could of been worded to empower more Americans with extra money vs taking it away from a few.
Not only are we going to be making less with our new jobs but we are going to pay more for power and gas. And prices of goods and services will be higher to pay for those extra costs there too. Employers are not giving cost of living raises but they're charging the public more to make up for it's costs but I have yet to hear of a company passing any of that extra money to it's employees to make it easier on them. They dont do that so they can make their bottom line bigger.
Oil nearly hit 50 dollars per barrel last week, however the prices are not following the traditional supply and demand model either. Iraq's oil is commonly cited as the excuse for high prices. Iraq's oil is not counted in any statistic for supply and demand. Demand is only 85-90% of the supply and they increase the supply every day. All this supply is piling up at depots and other storage areas around the world. I'd rather it be in the ground where it's safe than a target of terrorists somewhere else. Bush could probably do something to quell the price gouging going on with our energy stocks but why when his family and Cheny's family are getting richer every day from the suffering at the pump and power payment office of the average American? Sure they had to dump their interests in those companies before running for office. Do you really believe they wont get it right back when they're done bending America over the oil barrel?
Lets not forget Bush's second tax break. I think it came to 14 dollars per month for me. I'm paying nearly 80 dollars extra a month in gas prices that are way overblown. Inflation counted we should probably be paying 1.20 or so per gallon not 1.91 or worse just for regular. If Bush was really interested in helping the poor he'd cut their federal taxes but a Republican would rather die before giving anyone down on their luck a real boost.
posted by Corey @ 12:34 PM
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