I awoke early this morning to a migraine. Which generally signals a very fast barometric pressure change. I got up and stumbled to the bathroom for water to take my Imitrex, and while I was peeling the backing off the pill's packaging, a DELUGE of water began hitting the roof. Almost as if God passed by and dumped a huge bucket on top of our house.
It rained so hard I could barely see across the street. This morning my rain gauge reads 3 1/4 inches. I had 1 inch in there yesterday from the weekend watering and rain on Sunday. So 2 1/4 inches last night. Very, very good.
NPR this morning had a discussion on the Presidential elections and the economy. How it's really all public perception and not the economic indicators themselves that get a President booted or re-elected. The first George Bush, for example is one who was not re-elected, even though the economy was very strong. Booming, in fact. But the average voter joe didn't feel that way, and so Clinton was brought in.
The second George Bush may very well have this problem. The economy is on it's way back. There is no denying that. But there are many many people still out of work. And many others with jobs that are having a hard time making ends meet. Gas and dairy are hard to buy, and property taxes are going up all over because revenues are taking a while to come back. I know we are one of those families. By my rough calculations, our property taxes are going to go up about $300 next year. The county is raising them to unify the 911 system and to bring in more law enforcement and emergency services. The school is raising them as well. And I lost 3/4 of my job this year. I have a friend who was laid off from a job that she'd had for 30+ years. That was a year ago. Her insurance is running out and her severance and unemployment have run out. She is supporting her two young grandchildren. She's off the rolls now. Not counted. Not working, either. I think if most of the unemployed have found jobs by that Tuesday in November, Bush may have a chance. But that might be like trying to turn a semi truck on a dime. There's not much time left.
But John Kerry is not really offering anything much, either. To be truthful, there is not much to offer. He can't say he'll pull the troups out of Iraq. We can't do that. We went in there and destroyed the country. Now we have to clean up the mess. We are in for billions and billions of dollars for many years. What's done is done. He really can't make many promises about schools and social services, like most Dems do. There is no money. He knows it and we all know it. He can't really promise a bunch of jobs. Free trade is sending our blue collar jobs overseas. So for now, he's just repeating over and over that we shouldn't make permanent the tax cuts to the rich. Since he's married to a Heinz, that's a bit interesting.
8:04:06 AM 
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