Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Remember how we were all promised that tax cuts (predominantly for the rich!) were going to help us all? The economy was going to soar! It would be like the good old days; remember the Clinton years when the nation was out of debt and we did have a booming economy?

Well, the latest report released by the Census Bureau shows that those were empty promises. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi pretty much summed it up: "Since President Bush took office, 5.4 million more Americans are living in poverty, 6.8 million more are without health insurance, and overall median household income has declined by $1,300," Pelosi said. "Every segment of American society have seen their income decline under the Bush Administration, with the middle class and working families losing the most ground. And paychecks for full- time workers were down again in 2005."

Today's New York Times editorial reports that "Even the best number from yesterday’s Census Bureau report for 2005 is bad news for most Americans." The Times goes on to report that 15.9 percent of Americans had no health insurance in 2005 and 12.6 million were living in poverty.

From a personal standpoint, I feel the economic crunch all the time. A full-time job and occasional freelance work still doesn't pay the bills. And I live in an area with a relatively low cost of living. My financial situation is much worse today than it was five years ago.

Meanwhile, our government spends $244 million per day on the Iraq war. Probably a few people in this country that could use a few of those dollars.