Somebody needs to say it...

R E C E S S I O N !!!!!

There I've said it.....

Evidently the UK has no problem admitting it, whats wrong with our government?

KEMP'S NOTE: Come on Scott, you know what's wrong with our government... it start with 'B', ends in 'H' and has (the) U.S. stuck between a rock and a hard place...

Even more proof that he just doesn’t get it*

*as if we needed anymore…

Since the site IS named after him after all, how about a post dealing with everyone's favorite recovering alcoholic & drug addict/born-again/boy-president…

“President” Bush held a presser this morning on the South Lawn of the White House and announced that the economic stimulus checks will start being sent out this Monday… with approximately 130 million households in line for $600-per-individual, $1,200-per-couple and $300-per-eligible-child rebates

Said Bush; “If you've already filed your income tax return, your rebate is on the way. […] We want to make sure everyone who is eligible for a check gets one. […] This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we are seeing at the gas pump and the grocery store... and will also give the economy a boost to help us out of this slowdown.”

Let's ignore 2 other things for a moment; the fact that all the economists that AREN'T joining the lemmings in going over the cliff say the checks will have only a modest impact on the economy (and that's only if people spend the money) and the fact that this president refuses to accept reality that the US is in a recession and would rather desperately (or idiotically?) cling to the concept that we're in a “slowdown” instead.

Instead, let's concentrate on what he said this morning; “This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we are seeing at the gas pump and the grocery store...”

Um… correct me if I'm wrong, but when the economic stimulus package was first announced, Bush said that the rebate would be a 'shot in the arm' for the US economy… but now, weeks after the aforementioned statement, he's changing gears and is saying the money will help people pay their rising bills for gas and food.

Granted, he added “... and will also give the economy a boost to help us out of this slowdown”, but; will it? Can these checks actually do both things that Bush says they can?

If people use the rebates to buy groceries and gas, isn't that more akin to paying down debt than it is to buying items such as cars, high-price electronics and the like?

Bush's economic rebate does absolutely nothing but cover a smidge of the extra cost of record high fuel, food, & healthcare costs for this year alone… and likely won't stimulate anything (except Bush's ego).

The man just doesn't get it…

…and he never will.

(And a question from Scott; once this paltry amount is spent, what's next to help Americans pay for the rising costs of gas and food for the rest of this year AND the years to come? Nothing, we’ll be back to square one.)

$600 doesn't go as far as it used to

Foreseeing that a check ranging from $300 to $1,200 ain’t gonna do enough to turn around the US economy, a slew of Democrats are calling for another stimulus package.

“President” Bush has already rejected that idea, saying; “And thirdly, I, you know, I think we ought to, in terms of pro-growth packages, I think we ought to, again I repeat, give this one a chance to kick in. The experts tell me that this pro-growth package is going to add some — you know, a percent, percent-and-a-half to the economy here in the latter part of this year.”

(Won’t it be nice to eventually have someone in the Oval Office that can speak in complete sentences?)

My first question is what experts is he citing? His own? Because almost every other economist says the stimulus package isn’t going to do enough in putting this country back on the right track.

And speaking personally, the check I will be getting will not even come close to covering the increased price of food, gasoline, utilities, and medical care since Bush took office.

Increasing unemployment insurance and putting together a public works spending package – as suggested by House Speaker Pelosi – or expanding and repairing the “deteriorating infrastructure needs of our country” as Sen. Dodd wants could help a LOT more people in a LOT more ways than the current package will

Too bad the American public doesn’t have access to Bush-licensed rose-colored glasses, because a recent Zogby poll shows a scarce 28% “believe the government’s economic stimulus rebate plan will help”, and they’re right, because the majority of people will probably do what my wife and I plan to do; save their check or pay down debt and NOT put in back into the economy.

Where’s your economic messiah then Dubya?

Need more proof?

In case you weren't already convinced that we are heading, if not already there, for a recession this bit of information should further convince you... assuming you have control of your own brain.

The Labor Department reported today that “407,000 new applications for unemployment assistance were filed last week” (the highest level since September 2005) which is an increase of 38,000 from the prior reporting period and a staggerinly sharp increase from this time last year when there were only 319,000 jobless claims.

But remember, the economy is still basically sound, "inherently strong" or "apparently struggling"... depending on which conservative lemming you listen to...

Checks to the rescue

During a week that saw NRCC chairman Tom Cole write an article in the New York Times Magazine where he admitted that article “President” Bush may not be welcome at GOP campaign events all across the country due to his staggering-low approval numbers, “President” Bush is still trying to spin the already-here (or looming) recession… this time using the economic stimulus package as the savior.

“President” Bush visited a small business in Virginia yesterday and while there discussed his plans to help the recovery, saying; “There’s a rough patch right now in our economy, but I’m confident in the long term we’ll come out stronger than ever before. One of the most decisive actions a government can take is to give people their money back so they can spend it, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. In the second week of May, a lot of folks are going to be getting a sizable check. And I’m looking forward to that day, and I know they are as well.”

Soooooooooo, let me get this straight; to make the economy “stronger than ever before” we have to wait until May when people spend their rebate checks??

And they can’t pay off debt or put them in the bank, they have to spend the checks on goods and services...

Um… who wants to tell him?

...

...

Noone? Fine, I will; poll numbers don’t support your wish there George as a recent CreditCards.com poll finds that almost half the American public plans to either save their rebate checks or use them to pay off debt… while a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll shows that 53% plan to “use their rebates to pay off bills” or “put the money in savings.”

Uh-oh…

It’s STILL the economy stupid

More than sixteen years since the phrase was coined, it’s turning out that it’s still the economy in this election cycle.

A new CNN/Opinion Research Poll shows that a majority of Americans are “very concerned”' about the rising rate of inflation, despite the news that the February CPI (Consumer Price Index) was a smidge less than the increase in January, though it’s still up 4% so far this year.

Of those polled, 65% reported to be “very concerned” about the rising rate in recent months, with 26% reporting they were “somewhat concerned.”

The poll also looked into the loss of employment, and those results reflect similar fears, with 59% of those polled saying they were “very concerned” about the loss of employment… news that comes after a two-month fall-off in.

Despite fears, the White House refuses to remove their rose-colored glasses and, while they acknowledge an “economic slowdown,” they say that help is on the way (the Fex cut interest rates again this afternoon) and that,in the long-run, the economy will be fine.

I wish I could believe that…

Regardless of what the White House or the polls say, and regardless of my opinion about a recession, it’s time for all three presidential candidates to realize that the economy is shaping up to be the deciding factor this election cycle… terrorism, national security, education and even the Iraq war are being put on the back burner while thousands of Americans worry about their homes, their jobs, their stocks and, in turn, their futures.

Perhaps the candidates should stop slinging mud at each other in an attempt to sully their opponents and instead talk about the issues.

Or is that merely a pipe-dream?

He STILL doesn't get it...

Hours after a government report showed a decline in payrolls for the second straight month, and hours before stocks hit their lowest levels in over a year, “President” Bush said earlier today that while “it's clear our economy has slowed”, the long-term outlook is good… “I know this is a difficult time for our economy. […] But we recognized the problem early and we provided the economy with a booster shot.”

I’ve asked this (too) many times… what color is the sky in your world Mr. Bush?