doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
Wednesday January 29, 2003
“Found” journaling is finding a word, like placing your finger on a word in a magazine, and writing about it. I write for 10-15 minutes about whatever comes to mind from that word, continuously writing even if it wanders, and post immediately. It’s not about grammar or syntax. It’s about writing and practicing writing.
State
Ok…I admit it. I wandered around to a few of my favorite Xanga sites before writing this morning. Everywhere I turned, I saw this word. State of the Union, State of the Nation, State of the State, state of the economy, on and on ad nauseum.
I don’t talk politics too often here even though I’m pretty involved in them locally. I don’t feel that I’m going to change any minds out there and to rant and rave will only close some avenues that were previously opened.
I did watch the State of the Union address last night. I was not impressed. I felt that on one hand, party lines were being drawn. On another, our President was trying to appeal to to our more environmental side (when he comes from the most polluted state in the nation!!!) and was trying to appease us with his talk of hydrogen cars.
What wasn’t discussed was the state of the union. Does he understand that tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs? That no income tax reduction will help them because they don’t have an income??? Does he understand that layoffs are ongoing? Small businesses are closing left and right. Educational facilities are in dire straits and there is no end in sight. Government programs are being cut and we’re not talking wasteful spending but actual programs that really assist people.
The state of our union, our nation, our nation-state, is bleak. I don’t see an economic upturn in the near future and as far as I can tell, neither do most economic analysts. Our President is the only one who seems to think we’re heading out of this “recession.”
Maybe I’m more sensitive to this because I was recently told that my job may be cut. I work for a college. It’s public sector. Those jobs are usually pretty safe even during economic difficulties. It’s one of the reasons I choose lower paying public sector jobs. There is normally job security. Now, though, our universities and colleges are being asked to cut so much money that layoffs are huge. The local university has layed off so many people that even lower-paying jobs are filled…because people are taking on 2 & 3 jobs to pay the bills.
These are scary times. People are worried. I’m worried.
So, Mr. President, what is the state of our union?
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Well I’m with you and not Dread!! But I don’t live in America, so there ya go. Over here in the UK I see our world being dragged to the brink of a war that nobody I know (or rate as sane) wants. I see your arts, education, social security and health spending being cut, and I see people in third world countries struggling to be able to afford essential AIDS medications because $hrub caved to special interests groups and blocked cheaper prices to poor countries.
And if the tax cuts had gone to the people who needed them, rather than the wealthiest members of the population, maybe I’d be feeling more sympathetic, but all I see is a “president” selling out to the special interests groups who got him elected ~ ie, industry.
Great rant!!!
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I don’t know about that dreadpirate.
Branwyn, I confess I didn’t watch the speech last night. I suppose I should have, instead of playing on Xanga and Ebay.
I’m sorry about the worry with your job. My company’s been doing layoffs for 2 years, and I’ve survived every one, so far! There’s always a chance I’ll get cut too. Pretty scary.
Enjoy your day, chickadee.
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I’m not American, but I do follow US politics a bit, and I remember reading the comments of some state leaders (not sure if they were governors or congresspeople or senators or whatever, but some kind of political person) about how cutting federal income tax on dividends could pose a problem for state income tax, because state income tax is based directly on the federal taxable amount. This means that state tax revenues may also decrease, and that means less funding for things like education.
Being a student of economics and accounting, I fully understand that more money in the pockets of the people means more investment, and more investment means more business, and more business means more tax, and around and around it goes, but the world doesn’t operate in a perfect economic sphere. Not everyone acts as Economic Man and does what is most economically profitable. It’s that human element that screws everything up. While I think Dread has a point about the tax cuts, I think that it’s somewhat overlooking that human element. It has to be about more than just making the economy better. There is a LOT more to quality of living than a higher GDP figure.
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It was a long one broken by applause, Perhaps you missed, ”
Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job.
After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, and stock market declines, our economy is recovering yet it is not growing fast enough, or strongly enough. With unemployment rising, our nation needs more small businesses to open, more companies to invest and expand, more employers to put up the sign that says, “Help Wanted.”
Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the best and fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place.”
The above is taken from the NYTimes transscript of the speach.
If you think that you have it bad, that you live is Hell… move out of the US to any other foreign country then gt back to me in about a year or so. I know what you will tell me.
Sail on… sail on!!!!