Quit Yer Whining

Get that lazy spouse of yours out there working. LATimes (08.30.06):

"The Census Bureau's annual snapshot of economic health in America offered a yellow warning light for the middle class, as an unchanged poverty level and a widening erosion of health insurance coverage tarnished news that household income was finally beginning to rise." Middle-Class Workers Ailing in Census Checkup

The Administration is telling everyone who's still listening that this is just great. George's budget director, Rob Portman, said "the economy's ability to bounce back from the 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina a year ago 'is a testament to the strong work ethic of the American people, the resilience of our economy and pro-growth economic policies, including tax relief.'" They won't tell you that household income rose "partly because there were more households in which a second adult joined the workforce". They also won't tell you that "(e)arnings of full-time workers fell during that period". They will tell you that "(m)edian household income rose enough to wipe out the last two years of declines." They won't tell you that "from 2000 to 2005, the median household income fell 2.7%." They also won't tell you that the "richest fifth of households received 50.4% of all income, the highest level since the Census Bureau began compiling such data in 1967." And while you're at it, keep those kids of yours from getting sick. "The number of uninsured children increased by more than 350,000 in 2005, to a total of just over 8.3 million, despite a government program to provide coverage to low-income children." "But most of the increase in the ranks of the uninsured was among working-age people, particularly those in their mid-40s to mid-60s. Nearly 80% of the uninsured were U.S. citizens, despite a popular perception that many are illegal immigrant laborers."