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November 10, 2003
Don't Trust Bush's Math
It's the same math Arlen Specter used to come up with the single-bullet theory: it just doesn't add up. Bush is touting recent GDP growth and jobs growth as signs the economy is recovering. He's claiming it's specifically because of his brilliant tax cuts. Bush is wrong. The economy is in transition, yes, but it is not in recovery--at least not for Middle America. We're still losing jobs faster than we're gaining them. You need to look at the quality of the jobs, not just the quantity. Wal-Mart is now the largest employer in the United States, with over 1.5 million employees. (Note that 78% of their employees are women, with less than 1% in management. Talk about a thick glass ceiling!) The jobs we're losing are long-term, high-quality jobs with good salaries and benefits like manufacturing and white collar jobs. The jobs we're gaining are low-wage, low-benefits jobs--retail, food service, temp services. The replacement of a good job with a crappy one takes a toll on a family that once had an income of $40,000 a year with just one parent working. That same family has the same financial obligations--mortgage, bills, groceries--but now has two parents working at $7/hour, some working two jobs just to keep the house payments current. So who's watching the kids? The disintegration of the tightly bound middle class family is the direct result of this downward economic pressure caused by the economic policies of the neo-cons and neo-liberals (DLC Democrats), basically the people who sold us down the river with NAFTA and the WTO. While Bush and his cronies tout the jump in GDP, more factories shut down, more foundries close, and more multi-nationals shift jobs to other countries that allow the wanton destruction of both humanity and the environment. We do business with India on the same basis as we do England, while India continues to allow gross human rights abuses. We can stop the madness. But to have a voice we must tenaciously fight for economic justice, and not simply accept higher GDP as the gauge for the health of our country. If Wal-Mart is the leading employer, why isn't it also the model for good corporate behavior? Wal-Mart makes over $7 billion a year in profit, split among 4 Waltons. If you took just half of that you could give the full-time employees a living wage. And the primary owners would still be filthy stinkin’ rich! Given the current leadership, we have a Wal-Mart future. So it makes sense to take the issues directly to Wal-Mart: we demand a living wage, the right to unionize, better health benefits, and more women in management. Sign the Petition For Economic Justice at Wal-Mart. Thank you--you're changing the world. The Best site about Insurance - http://insurance.20fr.com ! Posted by: Insurance at August 26, 2004 07:38 PMThe Best site about Insurance - http://insurance.20fr.com ! Posted by: Insurance at August 25, 2004 06:01 PMvery good site!! Posted by: porn sex at July 25, 2004 04:56 AMGreat site. Enjoyed it. Posted by: scat in brazil at July 21, 2004 11:22 PMVery interesting!Thanks! Posted by: dvd video film at July 19, 2004 04:49 PMVery interesting!Thanks! Posted by: dvd video film at July 19, 2004 04:49 PMVery interesting!Thanks! Posted by: dvd video film at July 19, 2004 04:49 PMVery interesting!Thanks! Posted by: dvd video film at July 19, 2004 04:48 PMNice site! Well done ! Posted by: Aeneas at July 19, 2004 10:18 AMNice site! Well done ! Posted by: Aeneas at July 19, 2004 10:18 AMNice site! Well done ! Posted by: Aeneas at July 19, 2004 10:18 AMNice site! Well done ! Posted by: Aeneas at July 19, 2004 10:18 AMThank you for maintaining such a great site. God bless you! Posted by: pils spiel at July 18, 2004 03:30 PMThank you for maintaining such a great site. God bless you! Posted by: pils spiel at July 18, 2004 03:30 PMThank you for maintaining such a great site. God bless you! Posted by: pils spiel at July 18, 2004 03:30 PMThank you for maintaining such a great site. God bless you! Posted by: pils spiel at July 18, 2004 03:30 PMHmmmmm interesting zapraszamy po czadowe gry java na gry java, dzwonki polifoniczne sony ericsson katalog artystów dzwonki Polyphonic Ringtones Monophonic Ringtones get
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Not everyone in the media is "buying" the current optimism of the Bush admin. cadre and the corporate lobby. Lou Dobbs on CNN does not mince words stating that the US is exporting better paying middle class jobs overseas and the new jobs being created are inferior in pay and compensation. Unfortunately, Lou is now being mischaracterised as a "xenophone" for his criticism of "free trade" and the non-existent enforcement of immigration laws (which allow American workers to be undercut by illegal aliens). Posted by: John at November 15, 2003 05:55 PMWe REALLY need more coverage in the press of the fact that we are losing good paying jobs with benefits and gaining part-time and/or low-wage, low-benefits jobs!!! There are too many gullible people out there that are content to hear "the economy added 150,000 jobs last month" and "unemployment has gone down". It SICKENS me to watch Bush gloat over the recent economic statistics while middle-class people continue to suffer!!! How can we raise the visibility of this issue? How can we show people the truth??? Posted by: Victoria at November 10, 2003 02:37 PMPost a comment
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