Peter Howe on the Republican National Convention

In the September issue of The Digital Journalist, Peter Howe has an interesting take on the recent Republican National Convention. Howe’s article,
The Uncivil War, highlights some of the most disturbing and long reaching aspects of the political divide in America:

This column was late as usual, but the cause this time was somewhat more depressing than my neurotic inability to stick to a schedule. I was most of the way through what I had intended to write when I started watching the Republican National Convention. I was so disturbed by what I saw and heard that I deleted what I had written and decided to start again.

Howe points out that mere existence of opposition is sufficient to whip Republicans into a frenzy of sneering, mean-spirited attacks on all who would question them. Is this really how we want our country to be?

Rhinebeck Democrats

While this isn’t terribly political, I just wanted to announce the Rhinebeck Democrats Web site. Some time ago, I volunteered to take over delivery of the Demogram, the monthly newsletter of the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee. I started talking about publishing the newsletter on the Web and things just grew from there.

Please stop by and let me know what you think. I’m trying out the new 3.0 version of MovableType, a newer version of the same software that runs this site. And I’m impressed with some of the capabilities. Mostly, I’ve found ways to do things that I’ve been longing to do here for some time. That probably means I’ll be redesigning metrocat.org soon…

On the Economy

Between 1992 and 2000, the number of talented (and not so talented) workers in the High-Tech industry boomed. Along with an ever decreasing unemployment rate, this was both good for High-Tech workers and great for the country. Since George Bush and his team of crony enriching thieves stole the election, unemployment has skyrocketed in all sectors of our economy. However, the High-Tech industry has been especially hard hit.

Now you’re hearing about High-Tech companies hiring again. Unfortunately, between 160,000 and 300,000 High-Tech workers have left the industry to find jobs in other industries–usually at a miserable fraction of what they once made. On top of this, enrolment in Computer Science at major Universities is down 30% from last year And last year, enrolment was down 23% from 2002. While this is especially bad for High-Tech workers, it is crushing to our Nation’s economy.

While it may sicken you, an entry-level computer programmer makes on average 50 to 70 thousand dollars a year. A more experienced programmer can make between 70 and 150 thousand dollars a year. Compared with the sort of jobs these displaced High-Tech workers have been forced to take because of the recession and jobless recovery–which started when George Bush stole the election and pushed through his crony enriching tax cuts–this has had a crippling effect on State and local tax revenues.

Some of my former co-workers have seen their salaries cut by close to 80%. Ignoring the disastrous effects on their families, this translates to a more significant cut in tax revenues, because tax rates increase as your income increases.

At the best of times, the President and his administration have only a limited ability to alter the course of the economy. Provided he has the will to do so, the President can affect monetary and fiscal policy to create jobs. He can also sponsor policies and bills that create new jobs.

Unfortunately, George Bush and his Administration have chosen to adopt policies that favour large corporations in their quest to downsize and increase their CEO’s already obscene salaries, to cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans in the futile hope of spurring trickle-down investment (a concept resoundingly discredited during Regan’s administration), and to cut health-care and other benefits for those who have sacrificed to serve our country, Veterans.

Not one of these actions or policies has been good for the American people, and the evidence is clear these policies have not been good for the economy.

Leaving out all together whether George Bush and his Administration lied to the American people in order to bolster support for his personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein, whether George Bush personally endorsed using torture on prisoners in both Cuba and Iraq, and whether the Administration’s foreign policy has put our Nation more at risk of terrorism than before George Bush took office (according to the White House’s own revised estimate of terrorist activity during 2003), George Bush’s policies and actions have had disastrous results for the economy.

Note: I know I owe you some links to support these facts, but I’m heading out the door to work now. I’ll add the links later today.