The Almighty Dollar

With the economy in the dumps and everything in sight seeming to be overpriced or at least that is what it seems like, gas hits the $4 dollar mark officially today. This comes the day after Associated Press reports that unemployment rate has reached 1986 levels. There are more people with no jobs and many more with underpaid positions who can not afford the $4 per gallon gas to get them to their low paying jobs.

Of course we can thank Republicans for raising the minimum wage since 1997 to $6.50, since they were so eager to it. I wonder how big this mess would be had they fought Democrats on this measure. Another field that Republicans have been wrong about is Health Care.

Interesting enough the relationship between Quality of Health care and Quantity of Money Spent on that Health care does not have a logical correlation. One would think the more money you throw into the system the better results it should have. Doctors in the U.S. make money from prescribing treatments ergo they prescribe people with pharmaceutical drugs at higher rates. The end result does not prove any more satisfactory- just more money in the bank for the prescription drug companies. This simple minded strategy and Republican thinking has proven to be flawed. It seems MORE is not always better.

Tell that to the Bush Administration who are hell-bent to privatize our Education system. They have done everything in their power to sabotage the American Public School System. Beginining with the "No Child Left Behind Act" they standardized public schools across the board. They teach to the test per se. Their end goal is to make the public education system horrible so they can push privatization of the system. It seems that private is not necessarily better. A study found last month that public schools are just as good as private schools. I do not expect this to hold up if Republicans have their way.

So, if you happen to find yourself a bit depressed about not finding a job because of the economy, don’t worry. Your student loans were not that bad of an investment if you went to a public institution of higher education. Hop into your car and spend the $4 to drive yourself to the local drug store so that you can continue to pop those pills that help "treat" your depression. At least be happy . . . the cure may be just around the corner, this November.