Pelosi: 'Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?'

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this morning on the House floor to ask Americans how they have fared under President Bush and the Republican Congress. Other House and Senate Democrats will ask similar questions this week. Below are Pelosi's remarks.



"Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the question that President-to-be Ronald Reagan made famous in a debate in 1980: 'Are you better off today than you were four years ago?'



"And the answer, for most Americans, is no. Under President Bush and the Republican Congress, most Americans have suffered.



"If you are a taxpayer, you are not better off. We went from a budget that was in balance – in 1999 the deficit was zero -- and on a path to a $5.6 trillion surplus, to one now that is half a trillion dollars in debt this year alone.

"If you are a senior, you are not better off because prescription drug costs for seniors have skyrocketed 44 percent in the last four years. And what do they get? A hoax of a prescription drug bill.


"If you are student you are not better off because the Bush Administration has underfunded the No Child Left behind Act by $27 billion since 2001, and wants to cut funding for higher education by $1.3 billion while college tuition has increased by 28 percent.


"If you are a worker, you are not better off because 2.2 million jobs have been lost and the unemployment rate is 5.6 percent, one third higher than the 4.2 percent when President Bush took office.


"And workers are not better off because wages have failed to keep pace with inflation, rising a mere nickel between March and April.


"If you are a consumer, you are not better off because gas prices have increased from $1.26 a gallon to a record $2.01 a gallon since President Bush took office.



"In the next few days, we will offer a further list of grievances of the reckless policies of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress.



"Clearly, we are not better off than when President Bush took office."



MORE!

Technorati Profile

Who was Hanan Saleh Matrud?

Why is this darling child's death less important than that of Nick Berg? People around the world are bemoaning Berg's heinous death, but this child seems to have been killed on a whim, and no one has investigated.

The report, titled "Iraq: Killings of Civilians in Basra and Al-Amara," also criticized UK authorities for failing to conduct investigations into the killings of civilians, citing the case of the death of 8-year-old Hanan Saleh Matrud last August near Basra as an example.

Saleh stood with other children about 70 meters from a British armored vehicle that stopped near the entrance of the alley which leads to her home.

According to eyewitness Mizher Jaber Yassin, a soldier aimed and fired a shot which hit Hanan in her lower torso. She died the following day.

Yellow Dog Democrats

It's the economy, Stupid!

This blog is primarily for Yellow Dog Democrats to discuss politics and get our message to the public. What is a yellow dog Democrat? It's a Democrat who would vote for a yellow dog if it were running for office against a Republican! Our history over the last thirty years has proven Republicans are ruinous to our economy and freedoms!

Radical Republican conservatives entering here do so at their own risks. This blog is not a democracy.
Thank you.