More Evidence Of Economic Disaster

Bush and his Republican cohorts (including McCain) are still trying to convince Americans that the country is not in serious economic trouble. They would have us believe the economy is just going through a "rough patch". To hear them tell it, all we need to do is give out a bunch of $600 checks and cut taxes for the rich again and everything will magically be all right.

But that's just not the truth. They are trying to hide the disaster they have made of our economy until after the coming election, because when Americans understand the real situation they certainly won't want to vote Republican.

Every week, more bad economic news trickles out. We are learning of stagnant wages and disappearing jobs, inflation (especially regarding food and gas), rising and record oil prices, a record number of home foreclosures that gets worse each day, higher-education being priced out of reach of many, and rising unemployment.

Frankly, Republican policies have not done this much damage to the American economy since the late 1920's, when they created the conditions that brought on the Great Depression. Now they seem dead set on repeating that history, by creating and nurturing a record gap between the rich and the rest of us. Never before has so much of the wealth been concentrated in so few people.

This week, the bad news is about house prices. During the Great Depression, house prices fell by a disastrous 30%. Since 2006, American home prices have fallen by 15%, and look like they could fall much further. Yale economist Robert Shiller, who created one of the most respected indexes regarding home prices, believes the fall in home prices could easily outpace that of the Great Depression.

With jobs disappearing, wages stagnant or falling and savings at an all-time low, the only thing many Americans had left was the equity in their homes -- now that is fast disappearing. There is simply no good news for ordinary Americans.

The worst thing that could happen to this country is a continuation of current Republican economic policies after next January. The upcoming election is extremely important. It could mean the difference between a recession and a depression.