What the hell??? This is the headline tonight in the NYTimes, saying Bush is planning this campaign. Boy, are the priorities of this administration bizarre, or what!

Let's think about this Bush Administration and terrible employment situation, you know, for WORKERS, not for the "improving" economics of the CEO's and stockholders. I opened my daily email from the Daily Misleader site today to find Bush's explanation for how "great" our economy is doing. I am copying it into this email for you for you may be most interested. Since I am working as a temporary/contingent worker in a large office, it especially strikes "home" with me. I have not been able to find a permanent, full time job for over two years. I have not ever received unemployment, so I literally am not counted.

As to the high approval ratings the media still report: most folks I know enough to converse with have nothing but horror for the Bushies. There are blind religious folks in this country who actually believe our "Christian" president and "family values" are finally coming back to save the country. Gaaaaack! These are same ones who totally approve of going to Iraq on the US crusades, oops I mean "war".

Tonight when I got the home page of my dial-up service, here is a title I saw from the NYTimes: Bush Plans $1.5 Billion Drive to Promote Marriage.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could just croak at this! Our country's hospitals are currently losing $2 billion a year due to indigent care and inability of the working poor to pay for emergency room medical attention. The week this news came out was the same that the Bushies announced a request to Congress for $87 "more" for Iraq. I guess it is all a matter of priorities, eh? Lessee, $1.5 Billion to promote MARRIAGE??? Now THAT is a real need, not taking care of the urgent health needs of our citizens. BLEAH!

Here's the email I promised:
============================
THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
< http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1265562&l=14380 >
============================
BUSH TWICE TRIES TO MISLEAD AMERICA ABOUT THE ECONOMY IN 24 HOURS

Within a span of 24 hours, President Bush twice attempted to mislead the American people about the economy and his tax policies. On Friday, the
president said, "Unemployment dropped today to 5.7% [which] is a positive sign that the economy is getting better."

But the president didn't add that the unemployment drop occurred not because
the economy was getting better, but because continued weak job growth led 309,000 people to stop looking for work. As one nonpartisan economist said, "Most of these dropouts would still be in the labor force working or trying
to work if the economy were doing better," The president made no mention that only 1,000 total jobs were created in December - a "shockingly low
number," where most economists had expected job growth to be around 100,000 to 150,000 for the month. 33 months after the beginning of the recession, this recovery is distinguished from all previous cycles of job contraction and resumed growth since 1939, according to the Economic Policy Institute, for not having fully recovered job levels to those above the pre-recessionary peak within 31 months from its start.

The following day, the president touted the same economic policies that helped create the unemployment crisis. Despite the bad economic news, he said, "Tax relief has got this economy going again," and bragged, "every American who pays income taxes got a tax cut." His use of the phrase "income tax," however, was tailored to divert attention from the millions of low-income American taxpayers (who pay payroll tax but not income tax) who received nothing. Bush's 2001 tax cut completel y excluded 31% of all families in America. Similarly, Bush's 2003 tax cut completely excluded 31% of all taxpayers - including one million children of military families.

Read the Mis-Lead -->
< http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1265562&l=14381 >

This was sent to me by my brother. Somehow it seems rather appropos to how many Americans see the country moving.

BTW, GET US OUT OF IRAQ!

Ok, on a more positive note, please check out this site for some uplifting stories and a great idea called "Modest Needs". This is a non-profit organization founded to assist folks with one-time grants of funds that will make a difference in their lives when a "small" amount will mean keeping their jobs or staying above the poverty level. It's meant to help people who are not able to get other assistance - the "working poor". From a pair of eyeglasses to the money for a car repair, this is quite a delight for me to find. Altruism lives, and hey, it's not even a religious group nor do the donors seek or provide their identity.