It's Friday, there's a lot to talk about so let's get right to it:
The unemployment numbers came out today--up to 5.5% from 5.0% with 49,000 lost jobs. Of the over 8.5 million unemployed Americans, 1.5 million have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.
Unfortunately the plan for economic growth proposed by John McCain is the continuation of the Bush tax cuts--tax cuts he voted against BUT now supports. The economies under both Reagan and George W Bush have been held up as examples of economic growth.
I am not an economist, but I can see and smell B.S. when I run across it. Both economies were achieved running up a huge national debt, and accompanied by financial mismanagement on a national scale.
Reagan's tenure was marked by a gigantic Savings and Loan scandal that helped fuel growth in the housing and real estate sector. Eventually the taxpayers payed the tab to take care of the financial industry. Sounds familiar doesn't it?
We need both vision and someone to chart a course for sustainable growth and job creation. We need a plan rooted in common sense and built on solid rock. Just last week in my weekly mass we heard a reading about the man who built his house on sand and the man who built his house on rock.
Barack Obama has sweeping plans to help create jobs in industries old and new. His plan is one that will use our technological advantages and our innovative spirit to create jobs that can not be sent overseas. He also has plans to help working families with tax breaks and by cutting costs for education.
One of the biggest problems we have when we compete internationally are health care costs. Two years ago in a published report, General Motors reported $1,500 in health care costs for EVERY car they built here in the U.S.
Barack Obama has a plan to help cover all Americans and help rein in costs in a way that is fair to our workers and restores international competitiveness. That is what it will take--not just cutting taxes.
The economy is much bigger than just tax policy--the leadership in Washington has yet to figure that out even after several years in power.
Barack Obama will build our house on Rock while McCain will continue to keep building our house on sand.
On to topic number two--the NBA Finals began last night. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Celtics fan. More importantly, I am a fan of sports played well and competition at a high level.
Whether you like the Lakers, the Celtics or hate them both you had to be inspired if you watched last night. Celtics star Paul Pierce was knocked down hard in the third quarter, spraining his knee. He had to be carried off the court--it looked to be a series-ending injury.
A few minutes later he bounced back out onto the court--athough a bit gingerly at first. He drained two three-point shots in a 20-second span and played lights out defense the rest of the game. The Celtics won game one.
Our guy Senator Obama has been knocked down all primary season and keeps coming back and hitting big shots, playing great defense and winning promaries. He's won the conference finals and now moves onto the finals--and we are all on his team.
The results of this contest are much more important than any sporting contest--so much is at stake. Let's get up and hit some shots, play some defense and help this team win in November.
Finally I want to comment on a quote I saw from Barack Obama. Asked what he will be doing on Saturday he mentioned going home "taking my wife on a date, and riding bikes with my kids".
I hope we all just take a moment to think about the sacrifices that Senator Obama and his family have made for all of us. There are days, and moments that he has missed as a father and there are days and moments his daughters have missed with their father. We all should appreciate and respect what they have done.
From one husband/father to another have a great weekend Mr Democratic Presidential Nominee. Your Saturday plans sound simple yet wonderful, so enjoy a piece of heaven--you and your family have certainly earned it.
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