Democracy for Vancouver

The preznit met with the National Governors Association yesterday; many of the governors came to the gathering with the economy, the subprime mess and threats of longterm recession on their minds. Many had hoped Bush would support a second stimulus package, one that would spur the economy while rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

In his opening address to the guvs, Bush spent 522 words badmouthing the House on the Protect America Act/telecom immunity bullshit; 333 words on the wonders of his faith based initiative (Funded any non-Christian projects yet, Chimpy? I thought not.); and, a whopping 872 words on health savings accounts and tax credits for individuals who have to buy health insurance for themselves.

So how many words did he spare for the economy?

ZERO.

Meanwhile, the FDIC is preparing for the possibility of record bank failures:

U.S. banks set aside a record $31.3 billion for loan losses in the 2007 fourth quarter to offset weakening conditions in the housing and credit markets, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Tuesday.
…
The industry’s delinquent loans jumped 32.5 percent to $26.9 billion in the fourth quarter, the biggest quarterly percentage rise in 24 years, the agency said.

Meanwhile, earnings at U.S. banks and thrifts plunged 83.5 percent to a 16-year low of $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $35.2 billion a year earlier, the FDIC said.

And, down here in the economy the rest of us have to suffer through, we’re getting fucked by inflation on one side and stagnant wages on the other:

The Labor Department said Tuesday that wholesale inflation jumped by 1 percent in January, more than double the increase that analysts had been expecting.

Meanwhile, the New York-based Conference Board reported that its [consumer] confidence index fell to 75.0 in February, down from a revised January reading of 87.3…

Consumers have been shaken by a prolonged slump in housing that has pushed the country close to a recession.

A third report Tuesday showed that home prices, measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, dropped by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the steepest drop in the 20-year history of the index.

[emphasis added.]

I’ll use myself as a case in point: I’ve only had one raise (5%) during Bush’s presidency, and in 2007 I got a 10 percent pay cut. Things are improving, though: this year got ONE percent of that pay cut back. WOOHOO!

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 175 in January of 2001 and 211.08 in January of 2008 (what you could buy for $1.75 in 2001 would cost you $2.11 today). We have suffered nearly 21% inflation under Bush.

So now, with inflation and my pay cut, I’m making about 25% less than I did in 2001. And this year, for the first time, I have a $1000 insurance deductible, which I reached in about 2 months, while L. is set to hit his $2000 deductible with the MRI scheduled this Friday to rule out a brain tumor or aneurism as the cause of his migraines.

I can’t blame Dummy for our medical problems, but I can sure as hell blame him for how much harder it is now to keep up with the costs:

Inflation at the wholesale level soared in January, pushed higher by rising costs for food, energy and medicine. Prices rose at the fastest pace in 16 years.

Think we can make it another 328 days?