The Economy:                                                                    Back
 
See what Lou Dobbs says about outsourcing 
 
An article from CNN Money 10/3/04 on Five key economic challenges for Bush
 
Political Promises George Bush Made:
 
   1. He said he would reduce the deficit.   He hasn't
   2. Secure Social Security:        He hasn't
   3. Create jobs:   He has but at a lower wage then the ones he lost. It now takes two jobs to replace the ones he lost.
 
   I mentioned earlier that giving an employer a tax break wouldn't create jobs unless he had an incentive. i.e. people were depleting his stock and/or using his services and he needed more employees to provide the service or create more products. Well it looks like I was right, after three years of tax breaks the one thing employers aren't doing is creating jobs. Give the middle class that same tax break and when they started to use the services or buy the products & the employers would have to hire people to meet the demands. 
 
Economic News since the election:
 
   11/3/04: CNN/Money: NEW YORK -- While the Republicans look likely to keep control of the White House and Congress, there is a big change already in the works for the nation's banks -- interest rates are headed higher.
   11/3/04: CNN/Money: GM, Ford sales fall in October. Nation's two largest automakers say demand for new vehicles dropped; Chrysler posts 2% gain.
   11/3/04: CNN/Money: DALLAS (Reuters) - American Airlines will furlough 450 pilots and 650 mechanics in the coming months as it tries to slash costs to dampen the effects of record-high fuel prices, Gerard Arpey, chief executive of parent AMR Corp. said Wednesday
   11/18/04: CNN NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The dollar hit another record low against the euro and fell to a 7-1/2 month low against the yen Thursday as expectations mounted that the world's economic powers will do little to halt the greenback's decline.
   11/19/04: (CNN) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress sent President Bush an $800 billion boost in the federal borrowing limit on Thursday, spotlighting how the budget has lurched out of control in recent years and how hard it will be to afford future initiatives.
   Republicans said they were being responsible because the increased borrowing will let the government pay Social Security benefits and its other bills. They blamed Democratic spending for the problem, and accused them of playing politics by opposing the measure.  People the Republicans have been in the majority in both the House & Senate for the last six years. How the Hell can they blame the Democrats?
  11/19/04: (CNN) WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 12 million families last year, about the same as in 2002, either didn't have enough food or worried about being able to feed everyone, the government reported Friday.
   The report originally was scheduled for release in late October, but was delayed, prompting the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to accuse the administration of withholding bad news. A department spokeswoman said at the time that researchers had questions and wanted additional time for review. I found this paragraph interesting. Do you really think they needed more time? Do you still trust George Bush? How many things will we allow him to cover up, delay for political reasons, or make excuses about?
  12/3/04: (CNN) NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Job growth slowed significantly in November, according to a government report Friday that came in far weaker than Wall Street forecasts and trimmed the strong number reported in the previous month. The report raised new concerns about the strength of the economy going into the important holiday buying season. It also suggested the much stronger-than-expected job gain posted in October was perhaps a blip and not the start of a labor market recovery.
   12/9/04: (CNN) Jobless claims rise unexpectedly 357,000 new claims filed last week, rising for second consecutive week to highest level since Sept. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing initial claims for jobless pay grew unexpectedly last week to 357,000, a government report showed Thursday, but an official said an increase in the week after a public holiday was typical. Analysts polled by Briefing.com had forecast first-time claims for state unemployment benefits would fall to 335,000 in the week ended Dec. 4 from 349,000 the previous week, which had been shortened by Thanksgiving Day. Why would they forecast a decline, then make an excuse when they get news of a rise. Didn't they take all of the facts into consideration when making their forecast? I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of excuses.
   12/23/04: (CNN) NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Sales of new homes took the sharpest plunge in more than a decade in November, the second report in a week that raised questions about the strength of the nation's real estate market. Sales tumbled 12 percent last month to an annual rate of 1.125 million new homes, the government reported, coming in well below most economists' forecasts. It was the weakest sales pace since July and the sharpest percentage decline since January 1994. People buying new homes are selling old homes, so this affects the entire real estate market and the economy in general.
   12/23/04: (CNN) NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The euro hit a record high against the dollar on Thursday while bond prices continued to fall after a slew of economic reports in thin pre-holiday trading. Greenback also slips against Japanese yen.
   12/23/04: (CNN) The changing face of poverty. Millions of Americans live in poverty, more families are suffering and hunger is seen growing. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
   According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
   American families are faring worse than they have in years. Last year 7.6 million American families -- or 10 percent of all families -- lived in poverty, a big jump from 2000.
   Fear and hunger walk hand in hand with poverty, and last year 12.6 million American households -- 11.2 percent of all American homes -- were afraid they might not be able to put enough food on the table, according to the Census Bureau. That's up more than 1.6 million households from the year 2000.
   12/28/04: (CNN) NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The dollar sank to its fourth-consecutive record low against the euro Tuesday as confidence grew that central banks would not intervene in the greenback's decline. And it keeps coming down. 
I'm back
   6/03/05: (CNN/Money) Slow growth signs and flattening interest rates have economists and investors seeing trouble ahead. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Not too fast and not too steep would normally be a good path to follow. Unless, of course, you are hiking in today's land of economics. Then that path, to some, looks pretty scary.