Most Say Nation Headed in Wrong Direction

The New York Times reports that 81 percent of Americans who participated in a poll say that this country is headed on the wrong track. With the war on terrorism flagging, more than 4,000 US troops killed in Iraq over the past 5 years, the mortgage mess, the credit crunch, gasoline prices approaching $4 a gallon, three months of job losses, the stock market declines, the $150 billion cash band-aid, and an economy that is on the brink of a recession... there's not too much to cheer about around here!

An excerpt from the article reads:

A majority of nearly every demographic and political group — Democrats and Republicans, men and women, residents of cities and rural areas, college graduates and those who finished only high school — say the United States is headed in the wrong direction. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said the country was worse off than five years ago; just 4 percent said it was better off.

The dissatisfaction is especially striking because public opinion usually hits its low point only in the months and years after an economic downturn, not at the beginning of one. Today, however, Americans report being deeply worried about the country[...].

Only 21 percent of respondents said the overall economy was in good condition, the lowest such number since late 1992, when the recession that began in the summer of 1990 had already been over for more than a year. In the latest poll, two in three people said they believed the economy was in recession today.

Read the entire New York Times article here.


plez sez: when over four-fifths of the respondents say the same thing, you can probably take the results to the bank. but did anyone have to do a poll to know that almost every demographic has been adversely affected by the policies of the bush administration? every demographic has been adversely affected by the war. every demographic has been adversely affected by the mortgage mess. every demographic has to damn near empty their wallets to fill their gas tanks these days.

this poll leads me to wonder what drugs those 19 percent who think the country is on the right track are taking. they must be taking that good stuff if they are oblivious or unaffected by the severe downturn in the US economy... or they're making a lot of money because of it!

Well, That Leaves plezWorld Out

The New York Times reports that a tentative plan has been reached on the Economic Stimulus Plan that George W. Bush asked for. The plan calls for roughly $150 billion to pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per household, and then an additional $300 per child for families with children. The plan also includes tax incentives for businesses to encourage spending (notice how the tax incentives are never spelled out). About that the rebates would go to 117 million households. About two-thirds of the total package would go toward the rebates, with the remaining one-third going toward business tax breaks.

Here's the rub, at least $300 would be paid to all workers who earned at least $3,000 last year, even those who did not earn enough to pay taxes. Workers who paid income taxes will receive $300 to $600, and couples will receive up to $1,200 — plus $300 more for each child. Payments will go to individuals with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000 and couples with adjusted gross incomes under $150,000. The plan does not call for any "extraneous spending" like extending unemployment benefits (people who don't work, don't make money) or food stamps (what do you think most people will spend their $300 on?).

Read the entire New York Times article here.

plez sez: no one asked me... but this economic stimulus crap is a farce! what happens two weeks after these damn checks are spent? is $150 billion (around one percent) really going to jump start a $13 trillion economy? let's get real... by not addressing the root causes of the economic collapse (weak ass dollar, credit crunch, mortgage mess, loss of manufacturing jobs to overseas companies, loss of high tech jobs to overseas companies, trade imbalance, NAFTA, $100 a barrel oil, inflation, tax burden placed on the middle class, etc.).

and frankly, this stimulus package does NOTHING for plezWorld since i'm left out of helping to "stimulate" the economy because i make too much money! DAMN! never thought i'd be able to say that! i'm in the middle class and pay out the WAH-ZOO for federal taxes, yet, i don't qualify for this pissy tax rebate!

i guess i'll have to sit out this recovery... see more feedback about this post over at Booker Rising.

Bush Band-Aid for Sick Economy

As the stock market continued to tank, as the credit mess continued to get messier, and as the housing market continued to go south... President Bush released a $145 Billion Plan with no specifics, no timetable, and no parameters. Well, he did go to his supply-side economics medicine cabinet and trotted out a request for tax cuts/incentives for businesses and his rich buddies, while also accepting the fact that normal people (i.e. the middle class that has been sustaining this sinking economy for the past 2-3 years) should also get a trifling token from the government trough.

The Washington Post reports that Bush laid out an economic rescue package only in broad strokes, saying the plan must be “built on broad-based tax relief” and “big enough to make a difference in an economy as large and dynamic as ours.” He did not use the word recession, but acknowledged that “there is a risk of a downturn.” The talking heads opined that his 1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) would come out to about $800 per taxpayer or $1600 per couple. In addition, he would want some additional tax cuts to spur growth. The plan is now to sit down with Congress and hammer out something more concrete in the coming weeks.

Glenn Beck writes an article for CNN.com where he lays out the areas that the Administration missed the warning signs of the impending recession: (1) slowing consumer spending (spending was down for Christmas, (2) increasing inflation (inflation rates are the highest in 17 years), (3) the credit crunch on the heels of the mortgage crisis, and (4) the housing slump where regional home values have been declining for the past 2 years! The stimulus package may be too late because so many leading indicators have already bit the BIG ONE!

And of course, the politicians have begun politicking. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York is quoted as saying, "I want to see money in the pockets of people who are having trouble paying their energy bills. That stimulates the economy. ... And then, if we need additional stimulation, we should look at tax rebates for middle-class and working families, not for the wealthy who have already done very well under George Bush." And Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin plans to vote for the plan even though he says, "I think it’s fine to send people their tax money back, but I don’t think it does much to generate economic growth[.] This wouldn’t be the first thing on my wish list."

Read the entire Washington Post article here.

Read the CNN article by Glenn Beck here.


plez sez: George W. Bush... a day late and a dollar short!

i don't know about your household, but if a check for $1600 shows up in plezWorld's mailbox, i can assure that it won't go to stimulate the economy (whatever in the HELL that means!). my wife will probably use it to finish painting the upstairs bedrooms and halls, and then we'll use the rest to catch up on some credit cards that got raped during the Holiday season. no one on my street will be using their $1600 to lower gas prices, or slow down inflation, or create jobs for single mothers facing foreclosure!

how many employers are going to hold off on next week's layoffs because of this news? NONE!

how many mortgage companies are going to wait for a couple to get their $1600 check in a couple of months instead of foreclosing on the property at the end of this month? NONE!

how many oil companies will use their tax break to ease the continued escalation of gas prices at the pump? oh, they'll just add that tax break to their growing coffers of windfall profits.

how many companies will see this short term band-aid approach as a compelling reason to stop sending jobs to countries that pay their workers a fraction of what they are paid in the U.S.? ha ha ha... i know mine won't! these companies get tax breaks and government handouts whether the jobs employ Americans or someone toiling away offshore.

just like the war in iraq, ole W aims his limp "weapon" at the wrong target. this may be one of those recessions that we'll have to ride out for the next year or so, because i assure you that this Bush Plan ain't the cure for what ails our economy.