Thursday, July 29, 2004

Posted here Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 2:42:02 PM     Before tonight's speech, one of the downsides of Bush's approach to 9/11 and terrorism has been a general militarization of the whole atmosphere. Instead of a precision incision orchestrated among the many friends after 9/11 we got blustery i can do it myself  mega war (the promise of the big blow in Baghdad fizzled in the first hours of the war) and grade-school bullying. Kerry's war posturing now is a direct result of Bush's escalation into that zone. It might take a long time, given the mounting world pressures (china, economy, migrations) to get past this defining moment. Just as the body can overreact to a bee sting, so we are killing ourselves by our reation to being stung. ********

Posted here Thursday, July 29, 2004 at 8:51:43 AM     And, the raw fact is quite shocking. I had no idea it was such a decrease. Note, during this time the wealth of the Forbes 400 went up. But the rich genrally were hurt, below the very top teir. (this article talks of income, not wealth). The details are worth a serious look. In many ways this is an xray of the country, and like an xray,  it shows the infrastructure but not the spirit. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/business/29tax.html?hp The overall income Americans reported to the government shrank for two consecutive years after the Internet stock market bubble burst in 2000, the first time that has effectively happened since the modern tax system was introduced during World War II, newly disclosed information from the Internal Revenue Service shows. The total adjusted gross income on tax returns fell 5.1 percent, to just over $6 trillion in 2002, the most recent year for which data is available, from $6.35 trillion in 2000. Because of population growth, average incomes declined even more, by 5.7 percent. Adjusted for inflation, the income of all Americans fell 9.2 percent from 2000 to 2002, according to the new I.R.S. data. It is clear that the high spending on tech in 98 99 led to a reduction in IT budgets in 2000 after y2k. The resulting break in the bobble is not Bush's fault, and would also have happened to Gore. The problem with Bush is his instinct on how to handle a problem, not the underlying economic or security realities. 9/11 was planned long before the election. I happen to think Kerry looks pretty good. Flexible, lots of freinds, knowledgeable, cagey, slightly detached and observant. That seems to me to have more to do with the election than issues that would have been difficult for anyone. The remaining issue for many is, can Kerry do anything about the corporate takeover of the country, the power of concentrtaed media, and issues like China. He has a chance, whereas Bush cannot handle these issues. ********