life: in which esteefee talks the economy and politics

[esteefee]

Because I can't go back to a Bush/Cheney administration, even if it's called Romney/Whomever He can Lure Into It. He has all the same advisers and backers and campaign strategists, and Cheney threw Romney a secret fund-raiser last week as if to underscore the point.

I'm assuming I'm preaching to the choir here, but I'm just so indignant, and you guys are my only audience. ~: Here are some fun facts to remind us of what we went through under Bush/Cheney:

1. Unemployment rose from 4.2% to 7.8%
   
2. We went from a budget surplus of $2.362 Billion to a deficit of -$1.4 TRILLION. Hey, Big Spender.
   
3. Household income went from climbing in the 80s and 90s at 1.3% and .8% to declining at -.1%
   
4. Poverty went from declining in the 80s and 90s (-.5% -2.2%) to rising during the Bush years at a rate of 1.2%.
   
5. By the time Bush left office, 6 Million more Americans were added to list of having no health insurance.
   
6. Wall Street collapsed into the worst depression since the Great Depression.

So yeah. Pretty much the worst presidency ever. (He left office with a 22% approval rating.) What a train wreck. I remember my gratitude, during the mortgage/banking disaster of 2008, that we finally had a *smart* president in office to deal with it, as untried as Pres. Obama was at that point for such a clusterfuck. And Obama did a great job stabilizing the banking industry, and the economy is on a slow rise, and he rescued GM and Chrysler from collapsing under their own failed practices, which I think was a catastrophe we didn't need.

But this post isn't about my <3 for the many things Obama has accomplished despite, let's face it, some serious hand-cuffing on the Hill and in the media. This post is more about what fresh hell is about to rain down upon us if Romney wins. Because he's been real cagey about his economic plan, which so far has consisted entirely of attacking President Obama.

Meanwhile, who is holding the reins? They don't want to make a big deal about it. In fact, they kinda don't want anyone to make any connection between Bush and Romney. There was no press release in which Bush endorsed Romney, just a "I'm for Romney" statement shouted as he got into an elevator. Instead, Romney appeared in a press conference with the elder Bush. Because he's, you know, respected.

But did you guys know: behind the scenes, the connections are all there. Per the incredibly hand-fed Washington Post article, in which they tried to squirm their way out of it through language, the truth still came out loud and clear:

"Many political operatives or lower-ranking policy officials from the George W. Bush administration are deeply enmeshed in the Romney campaign, including senior adviser Ed Gillespie; foreign policy adviser Dan Senor; economic policy advisers Glenn Hubbard and Gregory Mankiw; and strategists Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer. And several senior Romney staff members are veterans of Bush’s Republican National Committee, including campaign manager Matt Rhoades." [emphasis mine]

Yay. He has the SAME ECONOMIC ADVISERS! Wow. That fills me with such confidence I can't even tell you.

My stats are all courtesy the Rachel Maddow Show and this post was inspired by my indignation watching that particular episode.

Please, if you guys have any family or friends who are thinking of voting for Romney, and they aren't aware that this guy has the SAME ECONOMIC ADVISERS as Bush/Cheney, please paste the above quote and link in email to them and remind them of the train wreck that was 2000-2008. We really can't afford another four steps back. We're only now recovering from that jongaria*.

/tl;dr

*pidgin Greek for mess, pile of junk