Monday, February 04, 2008

social democrats/fiscal conservatives take note

I've heard people talk about being a Democrat on social issues but more Republican on fiscal policy. I've even wondered how much I agree with some Democratic economic approaches. But you'd have to be lobotomized not to notice that the Republicans have been serving us a big ol' economic shit sandwich* for the past 7 years.

It's hard even to remember -- now that the price of a barrel of crude oil has hit the $100 mark and still hovers around $91 -- that, in the week after September 11, 2001, oil was still under $20 a barrel.
(from tomdispatch.com via 2millionthweblog)
In 1998, when the bubble was taking shape, crude oil cost about $11 a barrel and the United States produced half of the petroleum it consumed; but that was the last year in which the fundamentals were so positive. American reliance on imported petroleum crossed the 50% threshold that very year and has been rising ever since, while the cost of imported oil hit the $100 per barrel mark this January 2 for the first time, an all-time record...
(Michael Klare via tomdispatch.com)
In just seven years crude oil prices have quintupled. But your salary? Not so much. Have you checked out the profits of W's O&G friends lately?

*godbless you jk.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Republican party as we know it today is the Party of Fiscal Irresponsibility.

Friends of mine (yes, I try to befriend those who are less fortunate...cognitive-wise) who are afraid of a Demo in the White House point to their belief that he or she will raise their taxes and spend the money on (lazy/poor/brown/black/gay) people.

Attempting to point out that under the so-called "Conservative" government of late, the public sector has grown faster than the private (so much for small government, eh?), the deficit has grown to massive proportions, and our Chimp-in-Chief just submitted at $3-TRILLION budget, makes no difference to them. Yes, that's a 3, followed by 9 zeros, of my, yours and everyone else's tax money, to pay for the largest standing army in the world, for the largest managed health care (for seniors) that costs more and gives less than any other industrialized nation, and to line the pockets of industry; health, safety and the environment be damned.

For some reason, it seems the core Republican belief is "I got mine, so fuck you."

I don't get it.