A stand on Global Warming
There is a good test of senatorial courage coming this week. For the first time, senators will be asked whether they are prepared to do something serious about global warming. The question comes in the form of a bill by John McCain and Joseph Lieberman that would impose mandatory caps on industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases thought to be heavily responsible for warming the earth’s atmosphere. The bill is a long shot. But it will provide the first true test of the sincerity of senators who say they care about the problem and have faulted President Bush for not doing enough. …
But Washington hangs back, fearful of asking the country to make the investments in cleaner fuels, cars and power plants needed to start bringing emissions down.
This fear has been engendered in part by Mr. Bush, who remains stubbornly positioned at the rear of a parade he ought to be leading.
More pay, fewer hours, fewer jobs
There’s a Catch: Jobs by Bob Herbert
The number of Americans living in poverty has increased by three million in the past two years. The median household income has fallen for the past two years. The number of dual-income families, particularly those with children under 18, has declined sharply. The administration can spin its “recovery” any way it wants. But working families can’t pay their bills with data about the gross domestic product. They need the income from steady employment. And when it comes to employment, the Bush administration has compiled the worst record since the Great Depression.
The jobs picture is far more harrowing than it is usually presented by the media.
Gains in Wages Expected to Give Economy a Lift
Hourly wages have already surprised most economists by growing more quickly than inflation since 2001 in spite of the worst decline in employment in 20 years.
The wage gains have not been enough to overcome the economy’s problems, however. Many families still have less income than they did a year ago because companies have reduced their workers’ hours, and health care costs have risen rapidly.
Dick (Gephardt, that is)
Anyway, the Dick G mini-surge must be real, because several reporters have said so. And as we know, that’s enough to start a trend. …
In any event, the market is briefly bullish on Dick.
This is a long summary of various media reports on Dick. mjh
Bush and the Environment
NRDC: The Bush Record on the Environment
The real story on this administration’s dealings on environmental issues, from NRDC’s scientists, lawyers and policy experts.
Never trust anyone under 30
Back on Campus, Bush Gets Passing Grades
A survey of college students, conducted this month for Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, found that 61 percent approve of Bush’s job performance. That is significantly higher than what most polls of the general population have reported. The most recent Washington Post-ABC News survey placed Bush’s approval rating at 53 percent.
The students also preferred Bush to a generic Democratic presidential candidate, 39 to 34 percent; 18 percent said they were undecided.
Campuses, contrary to image, are not bastions of liberalism: 38 percent of the students identified themselves as independent or unaffiliated, 31 percent said they were Republican and 27 percent said they were Democrats.
Among those who called themselves Democrats, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) led with 17 percent, followed by former Vermont governor Howard Dean, with 16 percent. …
Despite the students’ support for Bush, many reported significant qualms with his policies: Eighty-seven percent said the administration has been “hiding some things” or “mostly not telling the truth” about the situation in Iraq.
So, most students believe Bush is lying to them AND they approve of that. Young Republicans. mjh