Bush Boom!

That ought to be "Bush? BOOM!"

The staggering economy, wheezing beneath the weight of incompetent economic policy, a plummeting dollar, and skyrocketing oil prices (making Cheney and his cronies RICH! RICH! RICH!), is affecting us here in south Florida, too.

As any Floridian probably knows, the real estate market is in a deep rut -- houses are on the market for not months but years and sellers are having to adjust prices downward to attract even a few nibbles from buyers:

With the plummeting Florida economy and bleak signs it will worsen, the state government's chief economists are estimating that property values for homes and businesses will start to tick down statewide in 2008 for the first time in recent history.

The devaluation of existing properties -- nearly 3 percent -- would mark a major about-face for Florida's real-estate-based economy, which saw double-digit increases in value from 2003 to 2006.

... that could have far-reaching effects on citizens' tax bills and government services:

• The state's schools would receive $233.7 million less than expected. That would force legislators to cut spending on the classroom, add more state money to the school's piggy banks or raise property-tax rates.


• Local governments might argue that they'll have to raise tax rates as well to pay for police, fire and administrative services.

But today, we're learning that some of the area's larger businesses and employers are feeling the pinch, too.

Office Depot:

Delray Beach-based Office Depot said late Thursday it plans to reduce fiscal 2006 third-quarter earnings by two cents a share and fiscal 2006 fourth-quarter earnings by three cents. For its 2007 fiscal year, the company will reduce first-quarter earnings by a penny and second-quarter earnings by 2 cents.

As a result, related amounts of about seven cents a share will be recognized in future periods, beginning in the second half of 2007 and in decreasing amounts in years from 2008 through 2010.

Miami investment banker Ladenburg Thalmann:

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, an investment banker in Miami, lost $2.1 million, or 1 cent per share in the third quarter. This compares to a profit of $570,000, or zero cents per share, in the third quarter of 2006. Revenue grew 2.7 percent to $10.45 million.

I know the Corporate Media refuses to report the causes of the economic downturn, but anyone with an ounce of sense knows that the flagrant pandering by Republicans in enacting tax cuts over and over again has been ruinous for the American economy. The simultaneously isolationist and interventionist U.S. foreign policy has played a significant role in destroying the dollar, which for the first time in my lifetime (almost 42 years) is worth less than the Canadian dollar. Oil prices approaching $100 a barrel have led to $3/gallon gas in Florida and -- get this -- $5/gallon in at least one California town.

And all of this mess can be placed squarely at the feet of the Bush crime syndicate. They took an unprecedented federal budget surplus and a thriving economy and, in less time than it took to build, dismantled all the economic accomplishments of the Clinton Administration and made our economy worse than it's been in decades. In Florida, we're held hostage by a Republican-dominated legislature, which believes that giving people tax cuts will get people to vote for them -- in other words, they're nakedly motivated by greed and power rather than the good of the people.

We must get the Republican Party out of power, in Washington, in Tallahassee, everywhere. They are hell-bent on destroying America in every way. Let's not delude ourselves further. Republicans want nothing more than absolute and permanent power. So, we have work to do.

Let's get to work. Before it's too late.