Yep. Worst economy since Herbert Hoover. Yep...

I was talking to a friend of mine last night who is a small business owner, and he was crying over "how bad the economy is going". "If things keep going this badly, I don't know what I'm going to do." he says. I just shook my head. What do you say to something that blatently wrong? To put things into context, He's a hard worker, built himself up from nothing, and he and his wife had repeatedly told me they owe all of their success to Bill Clinton, not their hard work, Clinton. feh.

Dean:

You're playing the chorus to last month' song a second time. Nonetheless it is a sweet melody. No complaints here.

As for me voting for Howard Dean, I don't recall endorsing him, do you?

I do recall betting you that Dean will be the nominee and you betting against it...

...you loser!

:^)

Unfortunately, the durable goods numbers came out today and they were way below what was expected. Still not terrible, but it's not all good news.

I do recall betting you that Dean will be the nominee and you betting against it...

...you loser!

Counting your chickens before any votes being cast...

We should just forget the primaries altogether and just crown him now!

Rosemary/Dean:

Seriously, the Dem primaries are incorporating a little noticed detail this year:

The primaries are NOT winner take all.

They break down CongDistrict-by-district; if you get at least 15% of the vote in a district then you get at least 15% of the delegates. So, a candidate like Clark could lose EVERY SINGLE PRIMARY and still show up in Boston with lots of delegates. Maybe even enough to throw the convention into a place of uncertainty not seen for decades.

Multiple ballots without a nominee! Whee!

If I was having more fun, I'd have to be twins!

Needless to say, the mentality that the President (any President) is "directly responsible for the economy" either way, good or bad, is the particular idiocy being illustrated/satirized here.

People who think the President of the United States is the "Economy God" need to grow up.

People who think he won't take credit (or get the blame) should pay more attention.

Don't wars always boost an economy? Give the man credit.

Ara, he gets the blame, why not take the credit, eh? Heh. It's what any smart politico would do.

I still want to see what it'll be like by (say) next June. I don't want to sound like Krugman here, but it's only one quarter after all; one good quarter is nice, three good quarters in a row is a recovery.

Tim, tell me you weren't dumb enough to mean that literally.

Casey, tell me you weren't dumb enough to think I meant that literally.

The Pharaoh makes the Nile flood every year, thus irrigating the crops.

I was considering Dean but I had misgivings about his stand on our national defense. His recent statements have confirmed those misgivings, unfortunately. I can't vote for him and I don't know who I'll give my vote to in 2004. My vote will be governed by 2 criteria: 1) our military defense, and 2) the Bill of Rights (including the Second Amendment). Everything else is negotiable.

Sorry, Tim, I've been seeing too many DU quotes lately, where people did mean it. That's why I was shocked to see that from you, since you have a functioning brain, and all. Even if you have lousy taste in music... Heh heh heh...

But like I said before, I'll feel better when we get more than on solid quarter under our belts.