Originally posted by JaTo:
My rafting operation from Florida to Cuba hasn't netted me jack-sh!t, even with Bush winning a second term...



This proves, once and for all, that the United States is better than Cuba.


Originally posted by JaTo:
Consumer debt is a disease that MUST be curved. There are just FAR too many people that exist of off the supplemental income that high-interest debt provides and far too many do it for all the wrong reasons.



Agreed.

Originally posted by JaTo:
Ultimately, the sheer complexity and mostly uncontrollable nature of all of this at a personal level should reinforce one thought: these issues are outside the immediate and direct control of any citizen or group of citizens for the most part.



That's the problem. Ordinary citizens have lost political control in America. Corporate interests now control our quality of life. Both Republicans and Democrats have engaged in a three-decade long effort to change our laws and our economy to favor business interests. Labor and employment laws (such as overtime laws) are weakened or are not enforced. Minimum wage laws are not updated so that the minimum wage is ridiculously low. Rules for outsourcing jobs have been loosened. Huge numbers of foreign workers are granted work visas, further undercutting the work opportunities for American citizens. Unemployment benefits expire sooner. A larger portion of the income tax burden is put on the middle class. Military spending is up. Welfare and food stamp programs have been cut back. Bankruptcy laws may soon become nearly useless for consumers, etc., etc.

Bush has taken favortism for the wealthy to a new level of brazenness. But it was begun over thirty years ago and has been done with bipartisan cooperation.