There'll be a crush of cameras at the front door of the White House on January 20 as scores of media outlets scramble to record the moment that the new president walks in. But, wait--who're those people who'll be sliding in quietly behind him? They're the ones who'll spend the next four years whispering in the president's ear, sitting in strategy sessions, running presidential councils, filling agency slots, and pulling the levers of executive power.
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RUDY, MITT, AND FRED IN FANTASIA
(Watch the video of this commentary here!)
Gosh, I want to go to GOPland. What a wonderful place it is: sunny skies every day, bluebirds of happiness everywhere, and an always-booming economy that's spreading wealth to everyone!
At least that's the picture that the top Republican presidential contenders paint. Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson are all millionaires, and in their fantasy bubble, there's a golden economy with low inflation, high employment, free trade, Wall Street wealth, and endless economic growth. As the bubbly Mitt Romney put it, "Well, I mean, the market is a wonderful thing...the sky's the limit."
Meanwhile, back down here on earth, America's workaday majority is living in a different world. On the very day these Pollyannas were enthusing about low inflation, George W's own energy department reported that the cost of home heating oil will jump 22percent this winter. No inflation? Have any of these millionaires bought a gallon of milk recently or paid a health-insurance premium?
Has their happy bubble not been pierced by the news that 2.2 million more Americans were added to the uninsured rolls last year? That's the sixth straight year that the ranks of the uninsured have grown, leaving 47 million people in this country with no health coverage--the highest total on record.
And sure, there's high employment. But at poverty wages! Most Americans have seen their incomes fall in these guys' "boom economy."