I keep asking the same question, "Why are we less safe 4 years after 9/11?" I haven't gotten any answers yet and I doubt I will until Jr. is gone from office. Then, and only, then will we find out what the hell has been going on with national security for the last four years.
Posted by Ga6thDem at September 14, 2005 05:06 PMAren't "consumer confidence" and "consumer comfort" different animals? It's a little misleading in your writeup. I would imagine consumer comfort is a reflection of high gas prices.
Posted by gobill at September 14, 2005 05:08 PM-75% now believe that America is not prepared for a WMD attack.
This one's the killer. Dems should jump on this one and shove it all the way down the fuckers' throats.
Posted by buck turgidson at September 14, 2005 05:24 PMI concur with gobill. Consumer confidence is on the rise (http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerConfidence.cfm).
It is not the same thing as Consumer Comfort. Nice try though.
Posted by Hindu at September 14, 2005 05:39 PMI would imagine consumer comfort is a reflection of high gas prices.
Based on ratings of the economy, the buying climate, and personal finances, the index is derived as follows: The negative response to each index question is subtracted from the positive response to that question. The three resulting numbers are then added and divided by three. The index can range from +100 (everyone positive on all three measures) to -100 (all negative on all three measures).
The three questions used to calculate the index are:
National Economy: "Would you describe the state of the nation’s economy these days as excellent, good, not so good, or poor?"
Personal Finances: "Would you describe the state of your own personal finances these days as excellent, good, not so good, or poor?"
Buying Climate: "Considering the cost of things today and your own personal finances, would you say now is an excellent time, a good time, a not so good time, or a poor time to buy the things you want and need?"
Steve: The charts from Pollingreport say it all...the gap between approval and disapproval, on all subjects, is widening quickly....despite the rhetoric about rebuilding N.O., this gang can't do anything right and their performance going forward will only worsen as they have no expertise in anything beside lying, cheating and stealing....the whole bunch will be dismissed in shame in Nov '06'...but that won't help the poor victims of this Mis-Administration!
on Hardball, Chris pointed out that the WSJ poll also had the country split in half as to whether Bush had responded properly to the NOLA disaster. This is troubling for two reasons. First, it is clear, thanks to Knight-Ridder, that Bush himself directed/misdirected
the response to Katrina, not Fema or HomeSec, and therefore is 100% to blame on the Federal side, the side that could have made the difference if applied correctly and in time. And two, the public bought some the Admin's early "Blame the Locals" game. But other than that issue, every single other one shows the citizens of the USA now regard Bush as a loser, and a dangerous one at that.
But really, how far have we come? He was defeated by Gore in 2000, and narrowly won a suspect election against Kerry in 2004. The reality is that a relatively small percentage of citizens have turned against him, maybe 8-10%, of which many voted for him less than a year ago. What we need to attack, and be frightened of, is the core 25% that doesn't revere Bush as president, but rather support him idealistically in their need to justify their own racist and hate-filled "religion" based stench.
I heard an interesting proposal on how to pay for Katrina. Each State should give up one pork project in their state. Heck, how much would that Highway Bill put towards the Gulf?
Posted by muckdog at September 14, 2005 05:59 PMHell has frozen over. I actually agree with muck. Yes, take back the pork. Why does Alaska need a highway to nowhere?
Although, I also happen to think that we should not make the estate tax repeal permanent, and we should roll back those irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%.
Hurricane Katrina has exposed the part of America that we keep secret: the working poor, the polluted land. It is time for shared sacrifice and unity. It is a time to remember what made this country great and to reclaim that greatness. It is not enough for us to write out $50 checks to the Red Cross and take the tax dedutcion next April.
Right now, we look like a third world nation to the rest of the world. We also look like a country that is unprepared to face the growing dangers in our world. Terrorists are laughing at our fate. We all have a stake in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Posted by ann at September 14, 2005 06:20 PMMuckdog makes an interesting proposal. What if the entire Democratic delegations in the Senate and House were to band together and propose this one, radical idea? How far might that carry them with the American people?? Possibly right through to a solid majority in the '06 mid-term elections...
I'm with my Stanley Kubrick-inspired counterpart also - "jump and shove" down those f***ers throats, indeed. But we need to do the same to the benign, silent, DLC-suckups that still dominate much of the opposition party today.
Posted by activist kaza at September 14, 2005 06:21 PM"This one's the killer. Dems should jump on this one and shove it all the way down the fuckers' throats.'
Pursuing political gain at the expense of te US public is a really good idea.....want to think that through again?
Perhaps not, to few photographs of dead people from NOLA.
Posted by Bagley at September 14, 2005 06:57 PM"-75% now believe that America is not prepared for a WMD attack."
"This one's the killer. Dems should jump on this one and shove it all the way down the fuckers' throats."
Especially when Bush's whole campaign was based on how much safer we were after 9/11, thanks to his brilliance and that of his Administration.
Posted by Judith at September 14, 2005 07:20 PMBagley -- you said I was cute -- thanks! But just so you know the "googling" joke is very old. You're rebuke is also old -- except that it is what is generally attributed to the current admin. Pursuing political gain at the expence of everyone except the chosen few is all this admin. has done.
Given the depth(!) of your comments, IMHO you can't be one of those paid types (like dudu). My advice: read, learn, and utilize that preview button (below your comment, center) so you don't look illiterate -- or like a bad typist.
Night Bagley. I am going to bed. If you want to hypothesize about that -- go ahead.
Posted by dorita at September 14, 2005 08:20 PMyour -- shit
So we've established for anyone that cares about the truth that Consumer Confidence is rising, and it is different from this fuzzy consumer comfort index that was passed off as consumer confidence here.
Also that revenues to the US Treasury have risen since the Bush tax cuts were enacted, which doesn't really jive with the liberal propaganda orthodoxy that the "Bush tax cuts for the rich" need to be repealed to pay for this or that.
Won't even go into economic growth which is through the roof since the tax cuts "for THE RICH" etc etc etc blah blah blah. Won't register here.
Is there any appetite for real discussion on issues out there on the left? All it seems you all want is propaganda MREs.
Posted by Hindu at September 14, 2005 09:49 PMBagley...
Pray tell, bring up an issue for us to discuss if this torpor of left-wing foolishness hurts your brain. That is typically the discussion etiquette for most forums, unless, of course, you arean Ennui...
The Treasury is bursting at the seems now? Wow! The genie must have granted a wish, because how a multibillion dollar deficit can be suddenly changed to a surplus because some anonymous person on a forum made an claim without evidence sure sounds strange!
Well lookie here! We're taking in LESS money now! I will say that I am glad that the overall deficit is falling (who knows how long this will last), but it's hardly supreme recovery.
As for supply-side economics...it's too late, I'm too tired, and I'm woefully unprepared to deal with that. Suffice it to say, it works to a degree, but it's not a magic cure for all economic ails. Taxes and interest rates went way up during the dot-com boom, yet there was no slowing those scrappy investors. Taxes and interest rates now, and have been, pitifully low, yet the recovery is not exactly earth-shaking. Economics is more than just taxes, guys; when there's hope, nothing will stop a determined entrepreneur, taxes and regulation be damned.
Posted by DukeRevolution at September 14, 2005 10:17 PMAlso that revenues to the US Treasury have risen since the Bush tax cuts were enacted, which doesn't really jive with the liberal propaganda orthodoxy that the "Bush tax cuts for the rich" need to be repealed to pay for this or that.
Hindu,
Please identify a year where total federal tax receipts have ever decreased from the total collected the previous year. Look at the records. It hardly ever happens. You may find a handful. The most recent being during George Bush's first term in office.
In case you missed it a whole lot of "this and that", to the tune of about $1,000,000,000,000 and counting, has been paid for by the Bush administration by deficit spending. Did you miss that or are you just interested in propaganda yourself?
It's interesting that Tom Delay himself seems to think it's impossible to cut anymore out of the federal budget then has already been cut. The multi-billion dollar deficit has got to get closed somehow? I challange you to find a reputable economist who believes that this economy can grow its way out of Bush's deficits.
Posted by snark at September 15, 2005 06:21 AM"So is it too much to ask for Democrats to start talking up how we are going to pay for the Katrina rebuilding and the need to reevaluate the Iraq blank check and Bush tax cuts?"
Yes.
Posted by ran at September 15, 2005 08:02 AMIs there any appetite for real discussion on issues out there on the left? All it seems you all want is propaganda MREs.
Okay Hindu troll this is not a propaganda MRE.
Whether you want to face it or not, the bloom is off of the rose. The illusion of a competent president that 911 allowed the spin machine to maintain has been seen through. Consumer confedence, consumer comfort and other measure ments of confedence in this administration have a lineier decent to them .
All this talk about economic growth doesn't matter as long as the slack job market has the effect of keeping the gains in the upper income brackets.
Posted by rlp at September 15, 2005 09:20 AMHow much did they spend in Louisiana to build the highways to and from that floating casino?
Posted by at September 15, 2005 09:28 AMWon't even go into economic growth which is through the roof since the tax cuts "for THE RICH" etc etc etc blah blah blah. Won't register here....it's always fun to have economic discussions with rednecks who simply buy cheaper beer when their quality swill goes up in price. Sorry Hindu, wait until the September Michigan Sentiment index comes out with $3/gal gas factored in....you know my boy, the best indicator of economic growth is still the DJIA, which was at 10,629 when the idiot son took over in January 2001...well we now sit at 10,530, and the fed has printed gazillions of useless dollars...I wouldn't be too uppitty about the so-called economic revival, which is based more on US companies taking advantage of China's cheap labor pool, going into October. In fact, I would be worried about the prolonged USA-Canada softwood lumber dispute and its effect on the cost of rebuilding N.O....not really a time to gloat Hindu. Oh and btw: I'll bet dollars to donuts that you haven't received any benefit from the tax cuts as they were reserved for big monied players and not the kool aid bunch!
Posted by Goyo at September 15, 2005 09:30 AMsame old tired troll bullshit..they never get tired of hearing themselves..
Posted by at September 15, 2005 10:44 AMYou think anyone in this administration gives two shits about poll #s??? They control all three branches of government!!! So what the people don't like them, there is nothing, zip, nada they can do about it now.
Posted by dave at September 15, 2005 11:00 AM