January 30, 2006, Cause for Optimism All Around
In the clearest demonstration possible that they are not obstructionists, Senate Democrats, in a pathetic excuse for the first fillibuster of a Supreme Court nominee led by that pathetic excuse for a senator and presidential candidate John F. Kerry (D-Davos) failed in their efforts to prevent debate from closing by a vote of 72-25, all but assuring that Justice Sam "Rubber-Stamp-for-the-Executive" Alito can march in with the Supreme Court at tomorrow's State of the Union. On the sunny side of the ledger, (1) John Kerry's days as a purported national leader should wane rapidly and (2) if the Republicans complain of obstructionism from these Democrats, they can truly be accused of being the girliest of Girly-Men.
And business was good. The oil bid'ness anyway, with Exxon Mobil posting an American bu$ine$$ record $36 billion profit last year... yes, that's over $3 billion a month on revenues of nearly $400 billion (more than the GDP of Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country and an OPEC member!)
At least, those few of us who save now know where to put our money... I say that, because Americans' savings rate is now at its lowest level since 1933. Technically, Americans as a nation borrowed more than they saved, meaning "negative savings" was the order for only the third time ever, the other two times being in the mega-Depression years 1932 and 1933... I'm sure the President will mention this in tomorrow's State of the Union address... won't he?
Perhaps Americans don't see the need for long term savings, given Prime Minister Tony Blair's dire warnings about global warming. Naysayers! Don't they understand that anything approaching environmental responsibility will damage our economy-- and for God's sake, we can't afford to damage an economy where no one saves anything!!!
No, no... Strong economy. Strong people. Strong nation. Strong leader. Ein folk! Ein reich...