20,000 Jobs Lost: The Bush-Wolf Economy Strikes Again

There's more bad news on the economic front in April:

Payrolls shrank by 20,000 workers, following a revised 81,000 drop in March that was larger than previously estimated, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Labor Department report also showed that income growth slowed in April. The economy's 0.6 percent expansion rate for the six months through March was the weakest performance since the U.S. was last in a recession in 2001.

So, why is this the "Bush-Wolf economy?" Because the causes of our current economic woes relate directly to policies supported by both of these guys:

*Continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels, including $120 per barrel oil from Saudi Arabia, etc., and a complete lack of leadership on developing a serious energy policy for our great country.

*A failure on many levels to position the United States to compete in a 21st century, globalized economy. Frank Wolf's been in Congress since 1981, and during that time -- as Jim Webb might say -- we've seen the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class get squeezed.

*The war in Iraq is costing the United States hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars. This money could have been far better spent to slash our debt, invest in our crumbling infrastructure, educate our children, and transition to a new energy economy. But no...that would be too intelligent from the likes of George W. Bush and Frank R. Wolf.

*Since Frank Wolf's been in Congress, the tax code has gotten consistently more regressive. Huge tax cuts for rich people and corporations like ExxonMobil, crumbs for the middle and working classes? That's Bush/Wolf economics to a "t".

*In general, the situation we're in now is the direct result of "trickle down," "supply side" economics and "free trade" agreements that are neither "free" nor "fair." It's the result of lax regulation, in this case of the mortgage industry. It's the result of policy choices which rewards companies that outsource jobs overseas.

There's a lot more, but I'm sure you get the picture. Our current economic problems are not an accident, they are a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of policies that Frank Wolf has supported for over a quarter century now. So, next time you pick up a newspaper and read about job losses, the US economy in recession, home values tumbling and energy prices soaring, you'll know exactly who to blame.