Spin Confronts Reality

On Tuesday night President Bush will stand before the Congress and the nation, to deliver his annual State of the Union address. We will hear a fairytale of immense proportions. The economy will be roaring strongly, terrorists will be hiding in their caves, Democracy will be blooming in Iraq, the drug plan will be providing indispensable help to our seniors, the Gulf Coast will be teeming with life and vitality due to the efficient federal assistance in rebuilding, our military will be the strongest in the world – capable of fighting forever, and on and on. Ahh – if only his words had some semblance of truth.

The facts are clear. Our economy is struggling and leaving tens of millions of Americans behind. According to the non-partisan National Journal, since President Bush first stood before Congress and the nation in 2001, the median income in this country has decreased, the jobless rate has jumped from 3.9% to 4.9% and the number of families living in poverty has increased from 8.7% to 10.2%. Our trade deficit has doubled. Inflation has gone up. Personal bankruptcies have gone up. Consumer debt has gone up. College tuition has gone up. And, the price of gas has gone up. All the while, this Administration has turned a $128 billion federal budget surplus into a $319 billion deficit.

Today, almost 6 million more Americans do not have any health insurance than when President Bush took office. In total, over 45.5 million Americans, or over 15% of our total population, have no health care coverage at all.

Whatever Chimpie will say this year will not match the facts evident in Americans lives. He will be effusive in praising our troops, while at the same time he imperils their lives in the needless Iraq travesty. Why has he shamed our country throughout the world? Why does he spy on Americans? Why does he pull the rug out from under our college students, our veterans, our elderly, our disadvantaged? Why does he forsake America for the rich, the powerful, the corporations, the oil companies, the crooked lobbyists, the polluters, the crooked Enrons', and his other friends?

Why did anyone vote for him?
Posted on The Human Stain