A very long wait, if John Snow says the first Bush tax cut hasn't really taken effect yet. Wow, the trickle-down seems to have slowed to drip, drip, droplets. Maybe if John Snow was "downsized" then maybe John Andrew and the other jobless could find jobs faster. Clinton didn't have all this unemployment trouble that Bush I & II have with the economy?
Treasury Secretary John Snow and Commerce Secretary Don Evans are conducting a five city road-show through Wisconsin and Minnesota. On Tuesday, July 29th they started in Milwaukee, travelled to Green Bay, then ended the day in Wausau. On Wednesday, July 30th they started in Rochester and ended the day near Minneapolis.
Last Thursday, July 24th John Andrew was "downsized" from his job of 3 years at a software company.
Later the same day I heard that President Bush's economic team would be doing a bus tour through Wisconsin and Minnesota this week touting Bush's tax cut and its prosperous economic effects.
"What a bunch of BS. I'd like to give their PR tour a dose of reality," is what I thought. So I packed up the minivan and decided to follow their bus around the countryside and talk to whoever would listen about the real facts--that this economy stinks, and Bush's tax cuts are making it worse. John finally made contact with Secretary John Snow at a drive-thru of a Culvers in Wausau Wisconsin. The website contains the following play-by-play dialogue between John and the Treasury Secretary.
The back of my mind is buzzing--am I about to have an accidental conversation with Secretary John Snow in the drive- thru of a Culvers in Wausau, Wisconsin?! Is this happenning completely by luck and because the drive-thru cashier knows me on a first name basis?
"What's your story?" Snow says.
I tell him I was laid off last week & saw that he was coming & I thought it was important to come here and let him see the reality of what's going on in today's economy.
"What industry were you in?"
"Most recently the software industry."
"That's a particularly vulnerable part of the economy."
"Yes, well, I need a new job & it doesn't look good."
"Just wait," he said. "The first tax cuts haven't really taken effect. So just wait... the second tax cut... well, it' won't hit the economy for several months, but I'm sure you'll get a job."
"But, but... we've already lost over 900,000 jobs just since March first... a job at Wall-Mart just won't support my family."
"Just wait, I'm sure you'll find a job."
At that moment the car in front of me pulled ahead for their order and John stepped back from my window. The SS agents signalled for me to pull ahead.
"Just wait?!" I've got a $350 payment for this minivan, a morgage and two kids! Here's a guy who drives a few hundred miles to see you, four days after he's been laid off, and you tell him to "just wait?"
Boy I'd like to see those words on a PR banner behind Snow at the podium: Jobs and Growth: Just Wait.
(Snow later recounted his version of our conversation to reporters--1/2 way down.)
Snow was the only one of the three Cabinet officers who actually interacted with the demonstrators. They appeared at every stop along the tour, but generally were kept far from the Cabinet secretaries.
The small groups, who called their activities the "Read Bush's Lips ... No New Jobs" tour, filled a bus along the Wisconsin route with unemployed workers.
Treasury Secretary John Snow and Commerce Secretary Don Evans are conducting a five city road-show through Wisconsin and Minnesota. On Tuesday, July 29th they started in Milwaukee, travelled to Green Bay, then ended the day in Wausau. On Wednesday, July 30th they started in Rochester and ended the day near Minneapolis.
