Thought Theater

Today, President Bush, in the following video clip, tells us that we face "turbulence in the housing market and slow growth for our overall economy". At the same time, the number of U.S. homeowners in foreclosure or delinquent on their mortgage payments is nearly nine percent, unemployment jumped a full half percent to 5.5%...the largest increase in over two decades, oil jumped by over ten dollars a barrel today...after rising five dollars on Thursday, and the stock market lost nearly 400 points.

Perhaps I don't understand economics, but I have a hunch that the president's use of the words "turbulence" and "slow growth" are inadequate descriptors of what we are experiencing. Unfortunately, the indicators suggest the worst is yet to come. So what is the president's solution? He chose to admonish the Democrats for not making his tax cuts permanent (that would be the same ones that were enacted to fix a sluggish economy) and he called on Congress to pass legislation that would allow more oil exploration (now that we're nearing the end of eight years of a non-existent energy policy...save for Dick Cheney's secret meetings with oil execs).

As George Bush nears the end of his second term, it looks safe to say that he'll exit the White House with a legacy of starting an endless war with little more than a slew of suspect rhetoric and granting the wealthiest Americans one of the largest tax cuts in recent history. But there's more. His policies will leave the rest of the public facing unprecedented gas prices, staggering debt, rising unemployment, and millions of jobs lost or outsourced to foreign countries.

I know, you're thinking I'm being too pessimistic. Not to worry. George Bush, once he chose to admit the economy was in the midst of a "rough patch" (that's code for a deep recession) also gave millions of Americans a paltry stimulus check that might allow them to pay off some of the credit card debt they've amassed in order to survive the "fundamentally strong economy" the president insisted existed despite evidence to the contrary.

As I looked for the words to describe the president's anemic performance in dealing with the economy, I couldn't help but think about the highly touted stimulus package. Unfortunately, my mind chose to rearrange the words to better explain the reality of the president's embarrassing performance...a performance that should have culminated in an admission that we're dealing with a fully flaccid economy.

With a healthy sprinkling of sarcasm, and an abundance of antipathy, I think this administration has exhibited all the signs of a serious case of "ED"..which is rather surprising since its leader spent most of his eight years prancing around like the biggest cock in the barnyard. In my opinion, the last thing America needed was a president obsessed with puffing his feathers and stimulating his own package. Then again, once George Bush exits the White House, I suspect one would be hard pressed to identify many Americans who didn't feel violated.