Does anyone else find it odd that just within
a few short months:
Stocks have went to hell in a handbasket.
People living alone have received $700.00 + gas bills.
Companies are laying off employees by the thousands.
And now all of a sudden Bush’s one goal in life is to
reduce Taxes ?
And the Senate miraculously and within days passes the new bankruptcy laws? While it normally takes them years to do anything about anything
There’s just something strange about this whole situation.
Coincidence? hmmmmmm
Well, stocks doing less well (by no means have stocks in general gone “to hell in a handbasket”) and layoffs are probably symptomatic of some sort of economic slowdown. The price of natural gas has risen recently, due to a variety of factors, just as the price of other resources has fluctuated at various times throughout history. The tax cut and bankruptcy laws changes were proposals that Bush was campaigning on several months ago. And of course, since I can’t think of any reason that it could all be more than coincidence, that’s what I’m leaning towards.
Really, I can’t think of any reason that these items would be related. However, if you can, I invite you to try to make the case, which could then be evaluated on its merits, rather than just assuming that the null hypothesis can’t be true. What would be a better explanation?
Most people who read Great Debates probably know that I’m not a huge fan of G Dubya, but there’s so basis for saying that he’s deliberately screwing things up. Yes, energy costs are going up and the stock market isn’t skyrocketing any more, but those things happen. It’s called an economic cycle. And of course Bush is trying to manipulate the economic news for his own benefit; all politicians do that. He needed to rush the bankruptcy bill through congress to satisfy is big campaign contributors, and it would never have succeeded if it was subjected to much debate.
No need for secret conspiracy theories, of course many of these items are related!
Gas prices, high gas bills, rising unemployment, and the decline of stocks are all related through the normal functions of the economy. It’s as if you said: “Hmmmmm, dark clouds, less sunlight, water droplets falling from the sky. Does anyone actually believe these things are a coincidence??”
Of course they’re not. As for Bush, he’s been interested in tax cuts for a long time, and now has new incentives with the changing economic climate. The Senate and bankruptcy laws… well, they could be related because creditors believe they’ll need to squeeze debtors more in hard economic times when a buck of profit might be more difficult to come by.
I fail to see the need for a conspiracy theory to explain this.
[Jesse Ventura voice]
Now pay no attention to the night skies last night. Venus was at its peak brilliance last night. You probably thought you saw something up in the sky other than Venus, but I assure you, it was Venus.
[/Jesse Ventura voice]
Hmmm, what I find most “coincidental” is the trend for all of these actually started while Clinton was in office. Maybe the true conspiracy is lies in his acts of sabotage prior to leaving office. Which means … Al Gore actually threw the election.
Of course Gore threw the election. He knew that the economy would truly suck, and that whichever party held the White House would be blamed (justly or otherwise). Thus, Gore let Bush in, setting him up for a landslide by Senator Rodham in 2004.
(DISCLAIMER: this post is 100% information free. It may contain traces of irony, but not enough to satisfy your MDR).
So let me get this straight. Al Gore wanted to lose the election, so he carefully made sure that 500,000 more people would vote for him than for Bush. Then he went to Palm Beach County and convinced the election board to use an illegal butterfly ballot that would confuse a bunch of old ladies. Then he went to the Supreme Court and bribed the five most conservative judges so that they would choose not to count every vote. Yup, makes perfect sense.
