Will we ever "turn the corner"?

Since 9/11 and through the Presidential campaign season, President Bush (and his mouthpieces like Rush, Hannity, Armstrong Williams, the WSJ...) told the American people that the American economy is "turning the corner".

From Patridiot Watch:

• "We have turned a corner, and we are not turning back," said Bush.

From a speech given on 30 July 2004:

• "When it comes to creating jobs for America's workers, we are turning the corner and we are not turning back."

3 months have passed since the election, the rhetoric has faded, and reality about the future of America's economy is beginning to emerge. Aside from my recent post which suggested that the war in Iraq is more about saving the dollar than the Iraqi people, the American macroeconomy appears to be in big trouble. The unabated flow of illegal aliens into this country has direct and undeniable damage to the labor market (not to mention our schools, health care, prison populations, law enforcement and basic infrastructure), while American companies simultaneously ship business and whole industries overseas.

The bottom line seems to be that the supply side of the American labor market has become so large that talented employees are not in high demand, and that the majority may not see salary increases that meet or exceed the inflation rate for the foreseeable future.

Here's an interesting story from the Chicago Tribune:.

• More than three years into the economic recovery, U.S. workers' hourly wages continue to decline, adjusted for inflation, with little hope of a dramatic turnaround anytime soon.
  
  
• Beyond the temporary factors contributing to a sluggish recovery from the recession of 2001, some believe that globalization, the movement of jobs offshore and the declining influence of trade unions could be putting pay envelopes on a permanent diet. Some companies have concluded that the past practice of boosting wages faster than inflation is no longer needed to keep employees from leaving. It may never, in fact, be needed again.

The Chicago Tribune article also references a recent piece in the Workplace Management magazine, which the CT describes as "a leading trade journal for human resources executives". That article, found here (free subscription required), says:

• If your salary-increase budget for 2005 is much higher than 3 percent, you’re probably overspending. New survey data indicate that increases at large companies will average 3.5 percent next year, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases below the 4 percent average that characterized budgets before the economic downturn.
  
• Across all sectors, wages followed productivity and profits down into the trough of the 2001 recession, but have not joined them in recovery. As the economic expansion now enters its fourth year, flat wages can no longer be explained entirely by lags in the labor market. The uncoupling of wages from productivity and profits in this business cycle now raises the question of whether the downward shift in pay marks the beginning of a permanent trend.
• The flat budgets and falling real wages of the past few years have now surfaced in low national savings rates, high personal debt and the 3.4 percent decline in median household income since 2000. Labor’s share of the profits generated in this recovery is the lowest on record. With corporate expectations for revenue growth and profitability now drifting down from the peaks reported earlier this year, pay levels and living standards may be stuck where they are for some time to come.

The article goes on from there, and it presents a very different picture than what George Bush and the Republican party offers on Meet the Press and what the Wall Street Journal tells us on its editorial page.

Remember, this article's intended audience is the people who make decisions which affect the future of many people, most Americans in fact. It would be wise to get an idea what is being talked about in the meetings to which most of us are not invited. Go read the article in its entirety.

Start demanding real answers from your Congresspeople about the immigration problem. Our Republic is collapsing, and the oligarchs at the top are doing nothing to stop it from happening. We the People have the ultimate power in this Republic, so long as the ballot boxes are opened every other November. We must set aside petty partisan politics, awaken ourselves to reality, and we must not be afraid to cast aside each and every member of Congress who continues to fail in his or her obligation to uphold the duty he assumed upon accepting the office of Representative or Senator.

In this column, Frosty Woolridge lays out the 10 reasons why we must stop illegal immigration now. Number one is the absolute most important, and it applies to every thing we do as human beings.

America has been on the brink of disaster many times before, and there we find ourselves once again. Never has it been said that our system of government can operate as intended without the watchful eye of the People, nor has it been said that liberty comes with a small pricetag. But the time for this generation to decide what it will leave for its kids is right now, and the time for debate is coming to a close rapidly.