US continues march towards depression

Senate OKs $800B debt limit hike

• A divided Senate approved an $800 billion increase in the federal debt limit Wednesday, a major boost in borrowing that Sen. John Kerry and other Democrats blamed on the fiscal policies of President Bush.

  The mostly party line, 52-44, vote was expected to be followed by House passage Thursday. Enactment would raise the government's borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion — more than eight times the total federal debt that existed when President Reagan took office in 1981.

Well, the GOP earned a mandate in the recent election, and it looks like they thought it was a mandate to do what THEY want, not what we want them to do. I thought conservative and Republican voters were looking for fiscal discipline, stronger border security, and judges who read the Constitution as intended. If Arlen Specter gets the judiciary committee chair, it looks like a 3 pitch strikeout for conservatives before the new Senate even takes effect in January.

What happened to this? Does Bush think we're all going to go back to sleep for 4 years until it's time to show up and vote for the next Republican?

• US President George W. Bush said Thursday economic growth and spending discipline would cut his record budget deficit in half, as he has promised.

  Bush has vowed to halve the 2004 budget gap of 413 billion dollars -- the shortfall between government spending and income -- by 2009 with a curb on spending, except for defense, and pro-growth policies.

This election was my first vote for President, and I pulled the Bush lever because I thought Kerry would be a disaster for several reasons, though I feared Bush wouldn't be much better. Looks like I was right.