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Cooking More Numbers from Here to the Moon

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY
by CS Symington

Dear BuzzFlash,

As a Texas resident quite familiar with mr. bush for far longer than any good American should have to suffer, the Jan. 13 Reader Commentary entitled "Bush Plans to Cook Employment Numbers" by Vern Stevens caught my eye. Whether or not it's legal makes no difference, junior's offer to give amnesty to thousands of undocumented workers from south of the border will "allow" him to include thousands of "new" jobs held by these formerly illegal workers. And so, in addition to the skewed Labor Dept. reports that allow him to include jobs that are not yet created (as reported by the NY Times and shared with BuzzFlash by Stevens), he will add to those numbers jobs held by non-Americans (just in time for the election). Isn't that convenient?

And for those who believe the economic picture is indeed rosy, I refer you to the Hedonic Price Index (http://www.stat.go.jp/english/iaos/paper/triplett.pdf), the method by which this administration can deceptively calculate GNP and sell it as real. Although it's not new (it's been around since the 80s), it has never been used quite like it has been by this administration, desperate to hide what is really happening to our economy.

One final and very important note, Salon.com, January 12, has an interesting article entitled "Halliburton on Mars: Take me to your CEO" by Joe Conason http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/01/12/mars/index_np.html), recommended reading for understanding why bush suddenly has an interest in the space program. Needless to say, the title of the article says it all. To quote from the article:

"In 1998, a handful of top firms, including Halliburton, Shell and Schlumberger, showed up for a NASA "workshop" at Los Alamos, N.M., to discuss the prospects..... They appear to have been awaiting this week's announcement, according to this old clip from Petroleum News, which reported:

"The earliest drilling opportunity would be 2007 ... Deeper drilling, into the multi-kilometer range, might occur as part of a 2014 Mars mission which would put astronauts on the planet to assist."

And so, the cooking goes on at the expense of the American taxpayer. One can only hope the taxpayer wakes up and fires the incompetent cook in the kitchen.

CS Symington

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY