Hightower Lowdown

(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."