Think about it..



The Democrats now promise "A New Direction For America."

The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are back.
A new direction from there means what?

Unemployment is at 25 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?

Taxes are at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?

Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs.
A new direction from there means what?

The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
A new direction from there means what?

Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years.
A new direction from there means what?

Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?

Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01.
A new direction from there means what?

Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not
surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top dogs are
either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel.
A new direction from there means what?

Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British
Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being
exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the
anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks.
A new direction from there means what?

Just as President Bush foretold us on a number of occasions, Iraq was
to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just as President
Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are arriving from
the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in order to get
their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding planes and
heading to the United State s to wage war on us here.
A new direction from there means what?

Now let me see, do I have this right? I can expect:
The economy to go South
Illegals to go North
Taxes to go Up
Employment to go Down
Terrorism to come In
Tax breaks to go Out
Social Security to go Away
Health Care to go the same way gas prices have gone
But what the heck!

I can gain comfort by knowing that Nancy P, Hillary C, John K, Edward K,
Howard D, Harry R and Obama have worked hard to create a comprehensive
National Security Plan, Health Care Plan, Immigration Reform Plan, Gay
Rights Plan, Same Sex Marriage Plan, Abortion On Demand Plan, Tolerance of
Everyone and Everything Plan, How to Return all Troops to the U. S. in The
Next Six Months Plan, A Get Tough Plan, adapted from the French Plan by the
same name and a How Everyone Can Become as Wealthy as We Are Plan.

I forgot the No More Katrina Storm Plan.

Now I know why I feel good after the elections. I am going to be able to
sleep so much better at nights knowing these dedicated politicians are
thinking of me and my welfare.

Deane writes:
The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are back.
A new direction from there means what?


Higher earnings for America's middle class workers; real wages have been staying the same or even falling behind the last few years. Higher profits for corporations don't necessarily mean higher earnings for their employees, especially when healthcare costs are spiraling out of control way faster than inflation and employers aren't exactly making up for that.

Unemployment is at 25 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?

Unemployment is a kind of meaningless stat, because it doesn't measure the people who have stopped looking, are underemployed, or working part time. The number of real jobs created under Bush so far is about 5 Million, lagging far far behind both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan at this point in their terms.


Taxes are at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?


Probably higher taxes for wealthy people, so that our grandkids don't have to pay as much in interest payments over the next 50 years for the money we borrow today to avoid paying higher taxes now.

Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs.
A new direction from there means what?

The economy grows and expands all the time and federal tax revenues generally follow. Revenues would be even higher if Bush hadn't cut taxes on the most wealthy Americans.

The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
A new direction from there means what?


More accurate predictions that aren't way pessimistic so that the administration won't claim victory after "reducing" the deficit from the wildly-pessimistic predictions made originally.

Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years.
A new direction from there means what?

More affordable, realistic home prices for the people who today can no longer afford to buy a home? That could happen if inflation starts to get out of control again (thanks to large budget deficits of the last few years) and the Fed must raise interest rates significantly, which would probably put the home market into the tank for a while.

Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?


Keeping it low, which means lower budget deficits, trying to return to the balanced budget of the Clinton years.

Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01.
A new direction from there means what?

Realizing that, as the CIA has figured out, that al Qaeda wasn't even trying to attack us again after 9/11. One new attack in NYC was simply called off for unknown reasons, the CIA learned long after the fact. Meanwhile, we should shut down the "terrorist grad school" we are sponsoring in Iraq today, giving Islamic terrorists the chance to learn how to attack Americans and hone their methods.


Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not
surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top dogs are
either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel.
A new direction from there means what?


How about actually bringing him to justice? We shouldn't feel comfortable that he is still alive and free after he helped murder 3,000 innocent people on September 11, 2001.

Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British
Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being
exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the
anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks.
A new direction from there means what?


Implementing all the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which the Democratic House has just passed. We need to inspect all cargo coming into the United States, not just 5% of it. We need better emergency response in the cities like New York, which still doesn't have radios that can talk between fire and police on the same frequencies (a disaster that caused the deaths of a lot of rescue workers; known about since 1990, inexplicably not dealth with, even today).

Just as President Bush foretold us on a number of occasions, Iraq was
to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just as President
Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are arriving from
the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in order to get
their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding planes and
heading to the United State s to wage war on us here.
A new direction from there means what?


Shutting down the training ground we have sponsored to help them learn how to attack us, see above.

Andrew

Simple: A new direction ... away from incompetence.

Next question?

By the way, it's a direction that the majority of Americans started heading in, way before most politicians did.

Nice balance of points you two.

I'm with Sutton. Reason rules. If we have competence, then we will improve our lot in a generally solid way.

Getting that done, and avoiding the legislation of morality is what I'm watching for.

"Unemployment is a kind of meaningless stat, because it doesn't measure the people who have stopped looking, are underemployed, or working part time. The number of real jobs created under Bush so far is about 5 Million, lagging far far behind both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan at this point in their terms."

If you look, the vast majority of jobs gained under the Dubya watch are retail sector jobs ... stores, restaurants, etc. Blue-collar manufacturing jobs have shrunk. Now construction jobs are going down because the housing bubble has burst. High-tech jobs have not recovered from that bubble bursting.

The economic recovery that has happened the last three years has largely been a jobless recovery, incited by the Federal Reserve dropping interest rates down to record levels to encourage borrowing.

What is overlooked here is how much power the chairman of the Federal Reserve truly wields on not only our economy, but the economy of the world marketplace. Alan Greenspan was truly one of the most powerful men in the world for a good long time.

Deane - if everything is so great, then why did the Democrats take back the House and Senate? Why is the President enjoying low approval numbers?

Why are people unhappy about the direction we were going in?

Were YOU happy about the direction we were going in? Did you not feel like we were heading towards something kinda bad with our current President at the helm? I don't speak for very many people, but if I had fairly simple reasons for not liking where we were headed, I could not have been alone in that feeling. Was I just misinformed? To whom should I have listened? Have we made a big mistake in making our voices heard? What should I have done instead? Vote Republican? If all those stats you list begin to reverse course soon, do we then blame the Democrat congress? Just because they are in power when some shit hits some fan? Or should we glad that the direction we felt we were heading was altered, by us, by design, on purpose, as to avoid even worse stat reversal?

I went to " Question School " over the weekend.

How am I doing?

>>>"Deane - if everything is so great, then why did the Democrats take back the House and Senate? Why is the President enjoying low approval numbers?"

Because we now live in "me" world. It's all about "me". Our population is the exact opposite of what is was in the World War II era.

Most people are so focused on "me" and "my world" they don't know anything about the significance of what's going on in Iraq or anywhere else in the world.

This is what the Democrats have brought us to.

An additional reason is that their were a dozen or so Republicans involved in scandals of one sort or another. Now, before taking off on the "crooked Republicans", there are at least as many "crooked Democrats". It just wasn't their turn at bat.

Now you know CJ.

Rememder "Greed is Good"?

Well, for the record, if I voted with a purely " me " mindset, I would have voted for Bush. Not to sound overly-noble, but, I have enjoyed some great success in the past 15 years. If I didn't care about the " WE " aspect of things, I would have voted for Bush. But since I do care, I am a Democrat. I don't like his leadership. And poor leadership like that, eventually, will lead " US " down a path I didn't have faith in.

I would be willing to forgo a share of my happiness if I thought that sacrifice would be put to good use for the collective US. I saw more hope of that in Democrats.

And Deane, there is NO way I'm going to rail against crooked Republicans. Mostly because it looks like that problem has been as resolved as it could be and I'm looking to the future. Not the NOW or ME. And if you think there are as many crooked Democrats as Republicans, well, you are just plain nuts.

There are more. And I hate them for that.

It's just that I want MY team to be held to a higher standard. All I can do is hope they don't squander what little trust I have left in the whole system.

" Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01.
A new direction from there means what? "

Don't you feel the smallest bit like you are tempting fate when you say that? I know you're not the only one who likes to point to that stat. So it's a general question. But I couldn't say that with out some nearby wood to knock on. Do you really have so much trust in this administration that you believe we will go unattacked forever? That's a LOT more trust than I have. TONS more.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that if we were attacked, all other stats would go out the window.

Now, to be fair, I can't say that I believe that we will remain unattacked during ANY administration - Dem or Rep - but to flaunt that fact that is true, right now - but I don't believe forever - denotes a mindset that I don't relate to. The notion that " We're safe as long as AND BECAUSE Bush in in control " just doesn't ring true to me.

Give me more time, maybe I'll come around. But I still feel it's awfully soon to be making a victory lap.

So Deane-

When the American people make it clear in the election, and in every public opinion poll, that they want an end to the war in Iraq, Bush ignores them. When the central recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group is "new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts…that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly," Bush ignores them. When Republican Senators across the spectrum – from Susan Collins (ME) and Olympia Snowe (ME) to Sam Brownback (KS) and Gordon Smith (OR), and respected foreign policy expert Chuck Hagel (NE) – oppose his plan, Bush ignores them. (" … a dangerously wrongheaded strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp," says Hagel.) When the top U.S. military commanders in Iraq question the strategy, Bush replaces them.

A very stubborn "ME" oriented President is what is in our White House.

After the 2006 elections I gave Nancy Pelosi the benefit of the doubt when she said no to impeachment; the Democrats needed the chance to get things done, not drag the nation back into impeachment.

But I'm starting to change my mind: I'm starting to think the Democrats should impeach Bush after all, not for starting the Iraq war but for what he is doing right now. He's starting to look positively unhinged and dangerous for the country. His Iraq policy is just going to cause more and more problems for America and get more of our soldiers killed. I'm starting to think even Dick Cheney might be better.

There could come a point where even Republicans would support removal of Bush, if they see their 2008 hopes going down the drain. Once Bush gets so unpopular that he hurts them much more than help them, they might turn on him completely. He's got few friends left as it is. Perhaps if Democrats agreed not to impeach Cheney, 16 Republicans in the Senate might go along.

Andrew

No impeachment from Pelosi?? And the CONers are still pissing a moaning???
LOL!
Keep it up CONers... Your showing America everyday that your NOT the way....

Smart on the part of Pelosi, if you think about it. Again, if the Democrats show some civility and don't play the "Neener Neener" game, rubbing their noses in the Republicans face, it will probably bode well for them in two more years, seeing more gains in Congress and the ultimate gain in the White House.

Brianl, you're right. The Democrats have an opportunity to govern in a way that wins the hearts and minds of the voters in the next two years. They won't, however.

Well Deane the Republicans had the same chance for 6 years. It will be an interesting 2 years.

Chris, the Republicans did an extremely bad job and deserve what they got. I was happy with the election outcome, but now the reality is beginning to sink in and I realize it's going to be the same ol', same ol'.

You can sand the spots off a leopard, but it's still a leopard.

The reality is beginning to "sink in," Deane? The Democrats haven't been in office two weeks - but I have no doubt, you and Inspector Hannity made up your minds about them longer before that. The rest of us are going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Andrew

Deane- Glad you're happy with the outcome of the elections and I too am waiting to see what happens.

When the GOP swept into power during Clinton's reign and created their "Contract with America" it sounded good and forced Clinton to become a very good politician, which he was to begin with but now he would be tested.

I agree you gotta put up or shut up, but the put up will take time because as you know you still have negotiate. My hope is the Dems stay clear of retaliation legislation as some form of revenge.

The GOP would could get a big lift from their President, if Bush could stop pretending he's listening and take a different course of action based on the advice he's been given.

I am disappointed in McCain's support of additional troops.

DJ said>>>
You can sand the spots off a leopard, but it's still a leopard.

And the neo-CONers haven't changed either... EVEN after getting their asses handed to them????

CAN'T polish a turd no matter how much wax you put on it. Hell, look at DUHbya....

"Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01."

WRONG

1) Anthrax attack, winter of 2001 (still haven't caught that guy/gal yet)

2) Shoe Bomber (not successful, but almost, and still an attack)

And if it is a "coalition" in Iraq as Bush likes to pretend it is, then the coalition has been attacked twice devistatingly, in Spain and Britain.

But if an attack isn't in America it doesn't count, right? Talk about a "me" mentality, Deane...

The "no attack since 9/11" argument is about as convincing as saying that on September 10, 2001, there had been no foreign terrorist attack on American soil for more than eight years, so the CIA and FBI had been doing a bang-up job.

Andrew

Deane_johnson:
The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are back.
A new direction from there means what?

Unemployment is at 25 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?

Taxes are at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?


Two things, a Democrat was president for a great deal of that economic expansion. Funny how you cons forget to give them credit when it's due. Second, a vote for republican is ALWAYS a vote for corporate corruption and for the rich to get richer, how small does your paycheck have to get before you realize that???????