ince the last time Congress voted an increase in the minimum wage, they managed to increase their own salaries seven times. In the most recent article by author/journalist Molly Ivins she put it clearly and bluntly, "Anyone who doesn't think this is a country where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer needs to check the numbers - this is Bush country, where a rising tide lifts all yachts." I know he goes to church and claims to be devout and compassionate and I'd love the opportunity to be able to look him in the eyes and ask, "Sir, why is it that in this country where one in four jobs pays less than the poverty-level income, Republicans, again, have buried the prospect of increasing the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour - It's been this way for nine years!" Or how about, "Mr.President you have proposed cutting housing programs for low-income people with disabilities by 50%. Why?" As was pointed out in Mother Jones, Bush's tax cuts (extended through 2010) save those who earn between $20,000 and $30,000 on average $10 a year. However, those making over one million are saved a further $42,700. Mr.Bush, what's the logic? How is this fair or equitable? Or good for the country?

Remember when the president came into office he pledged to focus on domestic issues and proclaimed that his foreign policy would be "humble." There would be no foreign entanglements as in the two-terms of President Clinton. Sadly, September 11th changed all that. He told newsman Tom Brokaw in a 2003 interview "The Bush doctrine is actually being defined by action, as opposed to by words." Three years later I would ask "Mr. President have you been forced by events to completely rethink your policy and change the, sort of, swaggering Commander-in-Chief style?
I don't envy you the pressures you face; the global pressures facing you and this country, from the continuing turmoil in Iraq and the Middle East, the genocide in the Sudan, the growth and regional ambitions of China, terrorism, North Korea ...and the list seems almost endless. If you have a moment free, I would relish receiving an e-mail from you with a few lines on how you think history will view these two terms under President Bush.
(The e-mail address is Michael@MichaelJacksonTalkRadio.com)