How has bush being pResident effected you personally in a negative way

[retyred]

As for me, I lost a six figure tech job two years ago due to downsizing/outsourcing to India and was forced into early retirement because of my age (56) and future employment options. my early retirement pay/buy out has left me with about as much monthly income as what is available to me in the job market, so for me to go back to work now is not a viable financial option.



retyred in fla
“Good-Night Paul, Wherever You Are”
So I read this book

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

1. I am constantly enraged

and I'm sure it's taken a couple of years off of my life.

[adadem]

3. Me, too

Everytime he comes on the TV I have to turn it off or I start screaming at the TV...stupid and childish...but it releases the utter frustration I have with his stupidity.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

25. This is how bad it is:

My wife and I live in a one-room studio apartment, and she wanted to watch the State of the Union address last month. Rather than subject myself to that, I LOCKED MYSELF IN THE BATHROOM and read the liner notes in the booklets of my Iron Maiden CD's.

This shit has got to stop.

[aldian159]

29. I'm sorry, that's hilarious.

Also, loved the post about pot smoking, LOTR, and Black Sabbath.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

33. Thank you

Judgement-impairment and denial have been my best friends during the George W. Bush administration. If he gets re-elected I may have to become a heroin addict. Or I might start trepanning. Another enticing option is trying to get hit by a car and get maimed in such a way that I slip into a coma until mid-2008. I can miss the primaries that way too.

[aldian159]

35. Wow, a combination of "Requiem for a Dream"

and "Kill Bill." Cool.

BTW, what's Trepanning?

[bonemachine]

39. Trepanning

http://www.braceface.com/medical/Pages/Trepanning.htm


Trepanning is the medical process of drilling or cutting a hole into the skull in order to relieve pressure on the brain tissue, lift a compression fracture of the skull, or remove a blood clot on the brain. If a person had a concussion with depression of the skull bone, that depressed area would need to be lifted or removed and then the clot under the concussion removed to alleviate trauma induced symptoms.

[Chovexani]

40. OMG!

I smoked a bowl and listened to some Soundgarden. Do I know you? :)

I hear ya though. I scream and want to throw things whenever I see Whistleass's ugly boil-covered mug. I can't listen to that thug for more than a few seconds without going into apoplexy.

[mac2]

81. Bush is not a uniter but a divider of couples.

Bush divides families, friends, countries, etc.

He's anti-family. His programs destroy them.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

2. November 8, 2000 to well into 2001

were fairly physically painful for me.

[Skittles]

89. I've put up with that evil f*** for ten years now

first as governor, then as the thieving "president"

[soleft]

4. I lost an aquaintance in the WTC

My health may be affected eventually from what I breathed in.

My girlfriend hasn't been able to get a job.

Another friend was called up as a reserve and has been away alot while he and his wife have beent trying to have a baby.

I've encountered homophobia which is engendered by this administration.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

[DoctorMyEyes]

5. My husband has lost three jobs

in the last three years. He's been unemployed more months than he's been employed since the summer of 2001. The jobs he has had have been temp positions with no benefits paying less (WAY LESS) than he made before.

Prior to 2001 he had not been unemployed since the late 1980s.

Now his unemployment has run out. We do not have health insurance, we're sinking in debt, and are considering filing for bankruptcy. Three years ago we had outstanding credit, A1 and a high FICO (?) score.

[connecticut yankee]

6. Financially, Emotionally and Physically

Financially -- my IRA has decreased about 30% in value and I'm close to having to make my withdrawals.

Emotionally -- I'm depressed over what's happened to my beloved country. And the hatred spewed by the right-wing.

Physically -- I throw up everytime I see W on the TV.

[BayCityProgressive]

7. I lost one job

due to corporate downsizing.
I am now a server in a resturuant and it is never as busy as it used to be becuase Michigan has been hit so hard economically.
My college tuition has continued to rise every year since he became president and many scholarships have been canceled that were once offered through the government.
I am gay and it is obvious what Bush has been pushing as far as gay rights go.

[Don Claybrook]

37. Bankruptcy? Yeah, we're thinking about it too. My story...

I hate to even see that word typed out, but there it is: bankruptcy. I've been out of work since September. It wasn't a 6-figure tech job, but it was darned close. Unemployment runs out pretty soon. I'm sending resumes all over the country--I'll work anywhere, cheaper than I used to (anyone need a network engineer?). The credit card companies are calling every day, multiple times. Unemployment is enough to cover utilities, some groceries, and the car note. Lots of other debts are piling up. There's a palpable sense of dread between my wife and me. Lots of tension in the air. I even emailed my old boss from the company that laid me off. I asked for my job back at a reduced rate. I think I could've maintained more dignity by stripping naked and walking down the street.

Let's see...no health insurance. 2 of my 3 kids got the flu this winter, and we did home remedies. I had a crown fall off from a root canal that was done awhile back. Home dentistry dictates the liberal use of Super Glue. Another tooth is beginning to abcess, so I'm trying to save some money back to get it pulled. A root canal for this one just isn't an option.

The job I had was in California. I dearly love California and I miss it a lot. We moved to a less expensive state, because, well, it's a better place to be broke than in California, and it's not far from my wife's parents' place. It's nice here, there are wonderful people, but it's just not home.

I don't blame George W Bush for all of my problems. You can make a pretty good case that I overextended credit and wasn't a very good financial planner. But I can also make a pretty good case that the Bush Administration is presiding over the worst job market in my lifetime. I have 5 different Cisco certifications, 3 other certs, and tons of experience with any sort of network you can imagine, and I can't get a callback after sending over 200 resumes companies listing jobs. Those were targeted to specific jobs for which I was very qualified. Now I'm beginning to send resumes for jobs where I only meet half the criteria, and I've even sent a handful to companies not listing any jobs. But I'll send out another 200, and then 200 more after that--whatever it takes.

I hate this corrupt and ruinous administration more than I could ever put into words. I'm going to leave it at that and let the rest go unsaid.

Thanks...it felt good to unload.

[Mountainman]

78. I wish I could do something to help you

I can pray for you and work to remove this mis-administration. I have been there and back. I went through major depression and financial loss.

The thing I learned from the experience is to never give up. If you try to make things better there is no guarantee they will but if you don't try you can be sure they won't.

I'm adding you to my prayer list.

[SuffragetteSal]

87. Similar for me

Lost my job, sold my home, moved to a more affordable state from Calif...as they say here in Oregon - poverty with a view...

Bless my 30 year old daughter, she sent me $500 this month.

[wryter2000]

8. Stepsons out of work

Three out of four of my stepsons are out of work. Plus, if he does manage to sink Social Security, I'll probably never be able to retire.

[Qanisqineq]

9. my husband is fighting in a war * lied about

plus, just looking at him makes my blood pressure skyrocket

[Mari333]

66. ((Tolania))

me too. Cant look at him, want to slap the whole bunch..have to leave the room and shut off TV when they come on lying, makes me physically ill.

[sadiesworld]

10. I am currently unemployed.

My husband does well so we're fine for the time being. However, his job could feasibly be outsourced so it's pins and needles. I live with paint in my hair and under my nails. We are fixing up our house to sell so we can buy a smaller, cheaper place.

[silverlib]

11. Family income, health insurance, social security, and education

My husband is a fifty eight year-old carpenter. He worked only six months last year and received eight W-2 forms. Construction has slowed in our area due mostly to the tech industry fall, although the general economic conditions have also had an impact outside of this industry. He works on large buildings, much different than a housebuilding carpenter. Because of the age ceiling changes in Social Security, he will not be able to draw until age 66. He has a degenerative back disease, but would not meet the guidelines for disability. Can he last that long before his body wears out? Because of his unemployment, we were unable to contribute our usual amount in federal taxes, but apparently this administration doesn't find any significance in the income of the federal government relative to the income of the citizens. We also don't spend because we don't "have." This in turn, affects other's jobs. Consequently, although my husband just got about a six month job, we have been on COBRA insurance payments. Because of the lack of income and increase in expenses, my donations to charities has initially stopped, making me wonder how on earth this administration thinks that faith-based charities can support the needs of this countries working poor and unemployed. (Actually, I don't think they expect this need to be taken care of and just want the "monkey" off their backs.) I have a daughter in high school. Security in our local school district needs funding badly. There was one murder and one rape in our schools during the last twelve months. Students have classes with no books available. Teacher's pay over $500 a month on top of the provided health insurance for them individually to cover their families. Every "raise" they have received has barely, if at all, covered the rising cost of insurance.

Probably more than you wanted to know. ABB

[caledesi]

12. Major change to our lives since * became the pResident.

My husband lost his job of 18 years and is now working as a temp for $8.50/hr w/o no insurance. Meanwhile I am in the process of being diagnosed with MS WITH NO INSURANCE!

[jumptheshadow]

13. I closed a 30-year-old business this week

It was a wonderful place, where people from many different cultures met, interacted and developed friendships. Sometimes they even fell in love.

The place was a flourishing business in summer of 2001. Then 9/11 happened. People were scared to come to NY. Then, as we were recovering from that, Bushco plunged full-scale into the Iraqi war, stalling the global economy, scaring people again and generating so much international resentment that our European business took another hit.

Thank you, George Bush. You made a national tragedy an insurmountable burden.

[readmylips]

14. It has separated our family...

the bush blind supporters and the real democrat patriots of this family. The blind bush supporters are coming around and being less outspoken about their support for the criminal bush. The blind suporters have lost jobs and wealth accumulated during the Clinton years.

[LatteLib]

15. living in an environment of fear

I sometimes wonder if many Americans have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, including myself because every time he speaks publicly, he uses fear based language and the bushit* administration is so socially backward as well as lying us into an unnecessary war.
bushit* has been the most divisive pResident I have seen in my entire life. He has created so much hatred in our country by his people unfriendly/corporate friendly policies.
He is stealing our treasury.
I have good friends that lost their jobs and they are too old to effectively compete for new jobs in the same pay category.
My next door neighbor, a hard working woman that works 2 jobs and her teenage son works, lost their house due to foreclosure.
My parents and husband will be negatively affected by the horrendous prescription drug "entitlement" (as the cons refer to it).
I am sure there are many more negative effects that I haven't mentioned but, I don't want to think about it anymore because it is damn depressing.

ABB

[nickinSTL]

18. personal effect of Bush

Let's see, my fiancee has been out of work for about 2 1/2 years, despite being a computer programmer with 10 years of experience. She can't get an IT job ('cause they're all in India now) and can't get anything else ('cause anything else, she's 'overqualified')

I'm working 2 jobs to pay the bills, and owe almost half what I make a year in credit card bills (run up to pay for things like a cheap 2nd car and various needs like food/clothing).

Not to mention the FURY I feel everytime he or his minions open their mouths.

And if we're stuck with 4 more years, we may just leave the country (so, how're the economies of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand?)

[mac2]

83. Bush the Hun

That has allowed so much suffering. He is required to look after the common good...not destroy it forever.

[Fovea]

16. I am waiting for Stem Cell research

Though I don't know how I would afford it, once it does become available.

This is the most inhumane adminstration since James Buchanan.

[BiggJawn]

72. Me too.

I need a new pancreas, how about you?
BTW, like your avatar, that you? And what bike is that?

[Ramsey]

17. I am lot angrier

A lot more of the time than ever in my life I am very angry. It's hard to read the news, but I must know how the Bush administration is rapidly destroying everything in this country that I care about.

I am also spending a lot more money on political contributions than I'd like to, because I have to help get those asswipes out of office in any way I can.

[aldian159]

19. My dad lost his job very similar

to your circumstances, retyred. However, he's okay now, but it was a very tough 15 months.

My sister broke her wrist, and due to a lack of health insurance, my family nearly went bankrupt.

Until Bush, I had complete respect for the office of the Presidency. That's gone.

That's all, but that's enough.

[floridagirl4clark]

20. heartbroken

that we would needlessly kill 6,000 Iraqi civilians and over 500 servicemen so that Bush could show up his father.

[aldian159]

21. Yeah

Hopefully he gets what's coming to him, in this life or the next.

[lovedems]

22. Well, where do I start

My husband had an excellent state job working for the Illinois State Board of Education. He was a Network Admin. Part of his responsiblities were to include the database for NCLB. Due to the federal underfunding and the budget crisis our state is in, he had to be laid off.

His job allowed me the luxury of staying home with our 4 kids, we had terrific benefits, an outstanding pension plan and the salary allowed us to be frivilous at times.

Now that is all gone.

He is without a job, we lost our health insurance and with 6 could not afford cobra, we had to cash out his pension to keep paying the bills. ISBE paid our insurance 100% for 6 months and under normal circumstances, that would have been plenty of time for my husband to find a job without lacking insurance. However, there aren't any god damn jobs out there. We are still fortunate enough to have our beautiful home and that is our main priority right now. Those are the bills that get paid first.

I hate the fuckwad we call pResident. I hate feeling like I am losing my middle class status while the fucking CEO's take off with my tax paying money and ship jobs overseas.

Edit: I haven't even touched on what has happened to my step dad who has worked at Caterpillar for 35 years and his working conditions and how his once powerful union is now worthless. He is just as pissed as the rest of us.

[Gin]

23. Does being embarrassed that he is the president count? If so..

that's one way...some more are..he sickens and infuriates me...and I have never felt those feelings so strongly in my life. He will be out of our house come Jan. 05

[progressiverealist]

24. I am angry almost 100% of the time.

at least when I'm away from my wife and daughter. I am obsessed with Bush, his minions, and his supporters. I quit my church because I can't stand to be associated with the Republican party.


arrrrrghhhhhhh!

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

26. I forgot to add:

I'm smoking a LOT of pot. The upside to that though is that I've been able to find way deep metaphors for the Bush administration in my extended DVD versions of the "Lord of the Rings" movies and in the early music of Black Sabbath.

[Torgo4]

27. Made US Military Into Bad Guys...Occupation Forces!

8 1/2 years in Army.
7 years in Veterans Affairs!
Backed action in Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda (or appalled by inaction), Afghanistan!!!

Knew damn well we were/are DEAD WRONG to invade/occupy Iraq under pretense of 9/11--WMD! Instead we invaded "The Sopranos" household and killed Uncle Junior and AJ!
We expect them to give us a pass for lying our way into war and needlessly killing uncounted civilians???

Hussein is gone, no WMD...We need to vamoose post haste!

Enuff to make a former soldier a peacenik!

:hippie:

[leftchick]

57. former soldiers make the best peaceniks!

They have seen the HELL that war is unlike this misadministration full of chickenhawk neocons!

Welcome to DU Torgo! :toast:

[Mrs. Overall]

28. Unemployment--

my spouse lost his high tech job in October of 2001 and it took exactly a year for him to find work. During that time we lost our car, got behind on debts (which is still messing us up financially), and came within 30 days of losing our house. We also had no medical insurance. (I am so grateful we have work now and my best to those of you who are still looking)
My spouse is Italian, but he looks Middle Eastern, and I feel that all of the anti-Islamic sentiment and fear created by the * administration adversely effected my spouse getting a job. He had a beard and several people told him he looked like Bin Laden and "better not wear a turban if he valued his life." I finally got him to shave his beard and once his summer tan faded, voila, he got a job.

[paulk]

30. Three years ago

I had enough money in savings and mutual funds to pay off my house. My wife and I had started a business in '98, that , while not exactly thriving, at least was following our business plan to success. For the first time in my life, the future looked bright.

Now I'm having to refinance. My storefront has been in a storage locker since July. I did what I was supposed to - I had some good fortune through the mid nineties and I used that money to try and better myself. Right now I feel like my reward for believing in the American Dream has been a nice big steaming handful of shit. And I do blame GW Bush and his mishandling of our economy for this.

But it's not the material loss that I'm most angry at Bush about. My situation isn't that bad - I'm fortunate enough to have a roof over my head and food on the table. I've got the internet, so I can bitch about how much things suck. I can hold on until things improve. And that's the catch - as long as Bush is in the White House, I don't believe things will improve.

That's the number one thing I despise Bush for. He's taken away my belief that the future will be better than the present. As long as he's in office, everything I've worked for my entire life, both in the public and private realms, will be whittled away until there's nothing left.

I want some hope back in my life.

[Chovexani]

49. That's a really good way of putting it

All * is giving us is endless cycles of death and destruction. I feel no hope for the future with 4 more years of him.

I think we could all use some hope.

[Skidmore]

31. Wow....

My son-in-law company folded when my daughter and he just learned they were pregnant with their second child. His clients dried up as they lost their clients. They lived on loans from parents for months so they could hang onto their health insurance until the baby was born. He finally found another job but is worried he'll lose it soon because it is in one of the classifications in which outsourcing is taking place.

I work on a contract which expires in another year and a half and will likely not be renewed at the end of that period if circumstances continue as they are. I worry because I live in a rural area with not much employment to begin with and so very few options when the job goes. I don't want to lose my home and I know that will probably happen if employment opportunities do not materialize here. After a number of years, we had finally just worked our way into the middle class and then * happened. Now the income bar has been moved higher so I just feel like we can't succeed.

My children are from my first marriage to a Middle Eastern man. I worry about the safety of my son, who has a very obvious middle eastern surname and looks middle eastern.

I have never had such a visceral loathing for anyone as I do for *. I didn't know I could dislike someone so intensely. That is stressful.

I forgot, my retirement fund dropped until retirement is no longer an option.

[MuseRider]

32. Stomach acid

lots and lots of stomach acid. I was just getting my farm and breeding horses off to a good start, my attempt at a small business finally. No more, I can't afford to do anything. No breeding last year, none this year and I have all these damned horses. Just as my husband retired and we were set for a nice retirement we lost half of everything in his retirement fund. We are OK except for my constant anger and the bruises on my head from banging it against the wall. No major story here, we are very lucky compared to many but hopes and dreams are important, still we have a roof over our heads for now.

[retyred]

34. Vanity Kick

For the night crowd!

:kick:



retyred in fla
“Good-Night Paul, Wherever You Are”
So I read this book

[DemLikr]

36. I am WAY more cynical than I was prior to 2000, and that was

pretty cynical.

I also have come to believe that I belong to a minority in this country; a minority that pays attention to what is actually going on.

[BiggJawn]

73. If I was any more Cynical...

I'd be able to spit Hydrofluoric Acid and my bile would disolve rubber...
I sure wish I could hope that things will get better, then i accidently watch some Tee-Vee and that dashes ALL hope.

You should have said a "minority in a Nation of gibbering moronic idiots", and then you'd be close to where I am.

[Ilsa]

38. I stay pissed. Too much bad news

about others and things that affect my children (education) keep me madder than hell at *. Trying to keep my rage funneled into good political volunteer work.

[Pegleg Thd]

42. The bushit bunch

make me ashamed to be an American. I told my doctor today that I felt like I had wasted my entire working life trying to save people's lives and property only to have them stand by and have the slimy 5 select that bastard.
Now I find out I have an incurable health problem that will eventually lead to my demise.
I just want to survive long enough to see every member to this regime executed for treason and crimes against humanity.

[Ilsa]

47. I'm so sorry.

I hope for a miracle for you anyway.

I feel so much death from this misadministration.

[stevedeshazer]

41. Lost my high five figure job

Lost my 401k.

Jobs in my field outsourced to India.

Unemployment benefits gone.

Wife's public sector job reduced.

I'm 49, she's 55. Her public employee retirement is all that's left. The Republicans are trying to take that away, too.

[ImpeachBush2004]

43. Negative in every possible way..

I am always pissed and can't even watched the propoganized news.. His lies give me migraines... John Stewart is now the most reliant news source!!!

[Suspicious]

44. My daughters' schools....

Class sizes have grown each year; the teachers simply do not have the time for one-on-one with students who need a little extra. The school budget is so bad (and our district is considered a "wealthy" one), many programs have been cut - the very programs many children from less financially fortunate households need desperately. When I went to school, drivers' education was part of the deal; I am going to have to shell out $300-$500 this May for my daughter to attend a training program, because the school can no longer afford to offer it (not that I consider this a major issue, compared to the suffering curriculum, but what about the parents who simply do not have it?).

On the positive side, the atrocities of the current administration have opened my eyes WIDE. I have become much more aware of the world around me, I'm a budding activist - I feel involved in a way I never have before, and I feel I am contributing to a change that I'm sure is coming (for the better).

[Chovexani]

45. Ugh.

I haven't worked in a steady fashion in about 2 1/2 years, ever since I got downsized from a retail job (my department was consolidated and since I was one of the last ones hired...). I don't have any kind of insurance anymore, and as a result I've got half my braces still on my teeth cause I can't afford to get the rest off. My mom lost a lot of retirement money due to mutual fund shenanigans. Being pretty young, I can be fairly certain that what little money I've paid into Social Security is already pissed into the wind and I won't ever see a dime.

Worst of all is probably the depression. I have struggled with it off and on my whole life but ever since the 2000 theft I have literally been in the pits. I probably need to be on meds but I can't afford them (no insurance). 9/11 was the absolute nadir--my hometown, the place I've lived my whole life, was attacked and 3,000 people got killed. Several aquaintances died in the WTC. A spiritual mentor of mine survived it (and the previous bombing) but died a few weeks later of a stress-induced heart attack. That really devastated me. I have gotten better, but DU, political volunteering and role playing games are really the only things keeping me going right now.

I don't think I can take 4 more years of this.

[jbm]

46. mine is another 'small business' story...

I started a small business ten years ago and spent the first three years working in the company all day..and then waiting tables at night so I could use whatever profits the business made to pay off it's debts and grow. It took five years before I felt comfortable enough to actually draw a living wage from the business and devote all my time to it. We had two great years...and then they appointed Bush. We muddled through his first year ok,but by the end of 2002 I had cut out whatever unneccessary expenses we had and all that was left to cut was my salary(I've so-far been able to protect the jobs of my two faithful employees,BUT the only reason I was able to do that was because I gave up my salary entirely for a few months and went back to waiting tables part-time to cover my personal expenses).

To be honest,things are actually looking better right now,but only because the local newspaper did a human interest story on my little company and the publicity resulted in several new accounts. Our clients are factories,and when they have lots of employees we do well,but when they lay-off we suffer. The new accounts helped,but the last few years were so bad that I haven't been able to keep our equipment current and I worry that besides losing business to layoffs and shut-downs,I may now start losing business because of outdated equipment.

A few months ago I got a thing in the mail from the SBA with a big speil about how they had new programs designed to help small businesses that had been struggling through the tough economic times. I spent hours filling out the forms and few weeks later received a one paragraph response that thanked me for applying but I didn't meet the criteria. I have no clue what that 'criteria' may have been.

Anyway,if things stay the same and I'm able to keep nursing the equipment along we'll muddle through,but one more round of layoffs will leave me with no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

[kathee]

48. My nephews are in Iraq, fighting this illegal war..

My "liberalism" is equated with a lack of patriotism, my BRAIN HURTS because there IS nothing on the talk-show radio to listen to but CRAP here in Tx, People assume that because Im here in TX, that I simply ADORE Bush, and the whole damn state believes now that the word IS NOOKYALAR. Im screwed.

[Mari333]

68. (((hugs)))

I dont understand why people continue to diss military families against the occupation. I get called a liar , etc when I say Im against the occupation and my loved one is there. People are insane as they cover up for their king George.

[camero]

50. Unemployed March 26, 2001

The day I found out I had diabetes. Not one good thing happened since he got in office. Not one.

Well, except for the DUer who gave me my star. :)

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

51. Shit yes

My 401K went down $30,000 in value and has been stuck there ever since.

[Columbia]

52. I was sent to Iraq and am unemployed

[guitar man]

53. I had to close my business

I had a thriving recording studio/cd duplication business that went down the tubes thanks to fuckwad's failed economic policies coupled with our former freeper governor's destruction of the Oklahoma economy.

Now I am working a $10.00 hr. job 90 miles away in Oklahoma City. I thank God we were able to pay off our home before the bottom fell out or we would have wound up homeless.

Someone asked me the other day if I was going to vote for *bush.My reply: "I'd vote for Pee Wee Herman before I'd vote for that sonofabitch"!

[Vernunft II]

54. Do you still have contacts there ?

I´m running a record label and I´m looking for a CD pressing plant. I had a printing volume of 20000 EUR (~ 25000 USD) in 2003.

[AgadorSparticus]

55. Since 2001, the change has been like night and day.

I have one cousin, an engineer, has not had a real job for 2+ years. He is in his 40's and having to consider going back to school for a different career altogether.

My other cousin, works in construction and makes GREAT money. She can't figure out why, as a single woman no dependents, that she is barely scraping by. She does not live extravagently either. She is also a poster child for white collar sweatshop workers. Her company downsized a couple years back and she has had to do the job of 2 people since. She is on the brink of burnout. But she knows she has to keep her job because there is nothing out there right now.

As for myself, I have never lived with fear or helplessness in my life--until bush. We were brought up to believe the American dream. We have worked hard and I am grateful for the many blessings in my life. But it has been bad the past year. We've lost 2 jobs and are counting our blessings that we have this one. We now live in 3 month segments. Always looking out for the next pinkslip. Always working on plans B and C. My FIL lost his job. We are now supporting them as well. Thank god we are able to do so. I don't even want to think about the portfolio. We've lost around 50%. We are too numb or maybe too scared to cry anymore. We just put our nose to the grind and try to plow through it all.

Like so many on this thread, I get a visceral reaction too when I see bush's face or even hear his voice. I cannot physically, mentally, or emotionally stomach it. I'm thankful to know I'm not alone. I AM SANE.

[Robin Hood]

56. Since that Son of a bitch stole the White House.

I have only managed to work part time here and there. The longest job that I've had has been with a temp agency, and that has been at best part time for 7-8 bucks an hour.

In 2000 I got my Microsoft Systems Engineer certificate and was planning on making at least 60-65K a year. But since he has implemented the trickle down bullshit again and refuses to stop outsourcing, I have been bouncing around from low paying part time job to job.

I can't afford four more years of this shit. This fucker is breaking my balls. I'm unemployed right now. I am up looking for jobs as I write this at 2:40 in the morning, because my city's news paper up dates the classifieds section at 1:AM. So here I sit coming through crappy job after crappy job, sending out my resume for the 10,000th time, and planning my day for those jobs that don't want you to email them.

Fuck you George, it's time you felt my pain and got unemployed.

[Hekate]

58. Oh, hell yes: my anger & depression have affected my relationships

Thank God we still have my husband's job. However. He's a community college instructor, and California's economic woes are having a cascading effect on everything to do with education. Since last September the job's felt shaky and insecure. Believe me, we count our blessings -- and we fear joining the ranks of the unemployed in our mid-50s with our health no longer what it once was, especially my husband's. We've tried to be fiscally conservative, but so have a lot of other people and that has not spared them from a fiscal trainwreck.

Back it up far enough, and you find our state being screwed over ("gamed") by Enron & Friends. And as Ambassador Joe Wilson commented in a speech he gave here shortly after his retirement and about 6 months before the invasion of Iraq: "The Bush administration isn't just interested in regime change in Iraq," and then explicitly named California. So I was not surprised -- only appalled -- when the recall started against the governor who had the bad luck to be in office when Enron had their way with us.

Negative effects have been largely emotional as I've tried to keep abreast of events: surges of fury, roller coasters of fear, intermittent grief. I cannot bear to listen to any of the Bushites on tv -- my reaction is hugely visceral.

Depression finally led to medication, which has helped some. I can easily see why some people are driven to drink by this! I just don't drink enough, that's it.

I decided to volunteer in the peace community for the duration, as opposed to using my new degree to try to bring some money into the household. In Sept. 2002 peace marches started locally, and from that I met the Vets for Peace and was invited to be an associate member. I never thought I'd be in a vets group, but it turns out a lot of the guys (the real vets) never thought they'd be in a vets group either and yet here we are. VFP-SB is very creative and active, so it's been a good way to channel my energy into something positive. Ditto working for Dean.

So the upside is that I have made a bunch of new friends among some very fine people. Conversations in the gulag should be superlative.

The downside is that a lot of the time I still feel very depressed, angry, and fearful that my beloved country is being fatally damaged. The fear is such that I can't even take heart from the troubles the Bushites are currently having -- and this is quite different from the way I felt during Nixon's last year in office, when I was able to see that he was actually self-destructing. Bush-Cheney-Rove-Rumsfeld Inc. have been so overwhelming that I am afraid to hope lest I feel utterly crushed come November.

I just don't know how I could stand another four years of this.

Hekate

:scared: :scared: :wow: :wow: :argh: :argh: :puke: :puke: :cry: :cry:
(Did I use enough emoticons yet?)

"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war." ~Donald Rumsfeld

"But why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many,
what day it's going to happen, and how many this or what do you
suppose? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my
beautiful mind on something like that?" ~Barbara Bush

"I guess the 'nation's grandma' isn't the grandma of those her son sends into harm's way." ~Hekate

ARLINGTON WEST, SANTA BARBARA CALIF.
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Default.htm
click on the large photo of AW to go here:
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Arlington_west_121003.htm
and scroll down.

[SinkingInTheRain]

59. Other than personal anger no impact at all

My 401K is looking up and I have been promoted to a pay grade above 60k. I'd have to say the only impact has been a strong desire to elect a strong liberal to help distribute wealth to those that need it the most.

[KayLaw]

64. I'm sorry

I don't see the need for a liberal or the need for redistribution of wealth. Actually, one big problem with George Bush is that he's done so much of that already. I would be happy with any sane person of any party who would stop blowing money like there's tomorrow,wiping out our freedoms and constitutional rights, wasting our nation's goodwill and resources, show some human decency and responsibility, not start needless wars that accomplish nothing but mass killings, tell the truth at least occasionally, not destroy public education by means of unfunded mandates, speak intelligently, not respond to terror warnings by taking month long vacations, show respect to the families of the kids who died in Afghanistan and Iraq by attending funerals rather than spend every minute raising funds and campainging...you get the picture.

Sorry so long, but I guess I'm different. most of my life I've been an independent so I'm not as partisan as some. I only recently registered as a Democrat because I believe in freedom from a Big Brother, decency and responsibility. I would vote for a conservative but I can't seem to find any - just people who pretend to be or, mistakenly, believe they are.

[sweetheart]

60. Mortality of career

The "personal" aspect was being physically threatened by an irish tourist who heard my american accent in a scottish pub, and the guy fucking hated bush so much, it overflowed on to me. The danger to my personal safety and that of my family is directly charged to that shitbag *. It is potentially dangerous to be american abroad right now, all because of that shitbag... he's put this civilian in harms way and i wish every harm done to any person on him and his family 10,000 fold. The yakuza never forget bushfuck, and i don't either.

No british company will hire americans right now. Of course they'll not confess this in public, but yankee's are unwelcome. My book publishing contract was suspended... my editor: "The market is down and we can't release any new titles this year.".. maybe next yaer... The book was only part time anyways. I don't hate bush for the dotcom collapse, but am very well aware that he exacerbated it all.. as the whole decline started the instant he was even remotely possibly a presidency. He is a rotter that evil man.

I do take personally, myself intimately, every attack he's made on every minority population on the earth... from women denied access to proper family planning, to gay people, to that misguided jokester in south dakota that was put in prison for saying "burning bush".
Reading this litany of frustration (thread), i can't say i'm not mad
at him, but i don't see his photo and don't watch TV, as it would certainly make my blood pressure rise.

I am sooooooooooooooooo sicked by what destruction he has ravished on the world by his abusive hard handed destructiveness of all minority groups (read: anyone not a bush voter)... what a petty weak and evil man.

[rasputin1952]

61. Like everyone else...

Job loss and debt piled up quickly. Some weeks I worry that my son and I will be living in a refrigerator box under a box. Job prospects are incredibly poor in this area, and lack of financial stability does not leave the option of going too far in looking for employment.

I am optimistic that things will change after this cretin is tossed, but even then, it will take time...lot's of time to bring the country back on track.

O8)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

62. All of the above, and I lost my business.

[KayLaw]

63. Son's class lost two assistants

This is important as the class is for children with autism. A coupld of kids had to leave the classroom and go off to " centers " where they'll be warehoused rather than educated.

My husband has been lucky enough to receive a 1 % raise this year that has been wiped out many times over by the increases in our healthcare. Also, he used to moonlight as a computer tutor for the many retired people who live near us. Their CD income has dropped to diddly squat and they stopped calling.

[PA Democrat]

75. Program Cuts for the Disabled

I too have a child with autism. Last few years she had been doing really well at school in a small group learning support setting for about 60% of her day, mainstreamed for the rest.

This year the district eliminated the small group learning support classroom and cut speech therapy services to save money. My daughter was thrown into a full inclusion setting with disastrous results. The behaviors that we worked so hard to eliminate are all back, she hates school, hates herself, has run away, and is not sleeping at night, and thus the whole family is not sleeping. It has been heartbreaking to see how cost cutting has wreaked havoc on my daughter's life.

I've fought to get a partial reinstatement of services, but the harm done is irreparable.

And Bush's fellow neo-con's are actively working to completely destroy the rights of the disabled to a free and appropriate educations by gutting the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)setting back the rights of our children by 30 years.

I hate Bush. He is no Christian. He needs to stop thumping his Bible and start READING it, especially the part where Jesus said, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me."

[Suspicious]

90. CD income...

My father lives off the interest of his CDs like the retirees you speak of. He's a lifelong conservative, and he admits to having voted for Bush in 2000.

During a phone conversation a couple of nights ago, I asked him how it was going financially for him, with interest rates so low (my father was a farmer all of his life, and although farmers in this area are typically loathe to discuss their financial situations, it's never been a secret that my father and his brother did very, very well for themselves). My father took quite a serious tone, which is unusual for him, and he said another three or four years of this, and he will be wiped out. He will not be voting for Bush again. As a matter of fact, he was asking my opinion on the (D) candidates, and that about knocked me right over. He kids me incessantly about being a "wacky liberal", and there he was, asking me which candidates I liked and why.

I don't know how much he might have been exaggerating with regard to being wiped out, but it scared me. My father is the most fiscally conservative person I know, and the thought of him ever not having plenty to live on just never occurred to me.

[Mari333]

65. Sent our kid to Iraq as a soldier and almost sent the other one

I guess thats the worst of all right now. We can handle the other stuff like my mom going bankrupt and my sister losing her job. Thats stuff we are handling. Its the Nightmare of the kid in Iraq that my husband looks at me and says
"I didnt think I could hate, but now I do when I see anyone from the Bush admin on TV".

[LeftHander]

67. What George Bush has done for me

Because of GW I have become an activist. I found my voice in the community through published articles and community involvment. I figured it was time to stand up to the conservatives and the narrow minded religious conservatives and beat them using logic and compassion.

Because of GW Bush I have been on televison twice, the newspaper in guest opions and letters a half a dozen times, I have had articles published on CommonDreams.org and right here on DU.

Because of GW I have help raise awareness of the degradation and irresponsibility of privatization of water treatment in Milwuakee by bringing eye witness testimony of sewage slicks in Lake Michigan to the public. As he drove past me in his limo along Lake Michigan not a day after MMSD dumped 17 million gallons of sewage into the lake.

Because of GW I continue to scan the news and monitor local and national government. I write letters, make phone calls to my elected officials to let them know my stand as a constituent.

Because of GW I make myself heard and I take on the conservative local radio ditto head and columnist, Mark Belling published in our local papers.

I watched men like Dennis Kucinich and Paul Wellstone stand up for truth, justice and fairness time and time again with passion on C-SPAN and they inspired me to join them in reversing the course this faulty adminstration has taken. I watched with great saddness the speeches in the Senate after Paul Wellstone's death. the Republicans achive much through the deaths and sacrifice of others.

Because of GW I stood holding a "Honk for Peace" sign in the cold of winter at busy intersections along with others trying to stop a unjust war before it started. I marched with thousands of others in the biting cold wind in Milwaukee to stand for peace.

I asked publically "Where are the weapons?" a month after the invasion of Iraq and continue to ask that question.

George Bush opened my eyes to the damage caused by apathy. If you don't take a stand and work to leave this country in a better place for our children then men like George W. Bush, John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld will step in rape the country for there own self serving purposes.

Never again will I sit back take the United States for granted. I am part of this country and if the religious right and conservative republicans, freepers and NASCAR dads don't like it that's too goddamn bad because I'm fighting back.

[LeftHander]

69. IN a negative way....

I have a 50% reduction in salary.

I am at what I made in 1997.

And lost my consulting comapny I helped create.

[Mandate My Ass]

70. Here's a list

My husband (graduate degree) also lost a 6-figure/yr programming job. Other jobs in his field are offering half or less of what he was making in 2000. He now has his own business and works part time on the side. He works 12-14 hour days, 7 days a week and we're barely holding our heads above water.

My son is working but without health benefits. He is draft age so I spend most of my days in terror that he'll be drafted and sent to Iraq.

My sister has multiple degrees from Penn and Wharton and lost her IT job last year. Her unemployment runs out next month (thanks Congress for voting down that extension) and the only work she's been able to find is teaching computer skills to grade school kids for a pittance. She may have to move back in with my parents.

My parents are wishing my father hadn't taken early retirement. My father retired with hefty savings in the 90's from government but my mother just had a hip replacement and probably needs a knee replacement and the medical bills are piling up while benefits are going down.

My brother has a chemical engineering and an MBA from Penn and he is working a $10/hr job without benefits. He never made less than $75,000/yr since he graduated almost 20 years ago, until Bush was elected that is.

My job has been restructured so that I'm doing two people's jobs (resource pooling they call it now) and while I'm grateful to be working with decent pay and benefits, I just heard that a "salary study" is in now progress. Translation: they're going to cut my pay. When people complained about the impending salary cut, management basically shrugged and said the line of people trying to get in at any rate of pay is quite long so suck it up or don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.

Oh, and my 401K lost half its value.

[rhino91063]

71. Well a few things

I had to endure assiting the wounded from 9/11
I was out of work for 10 months
I have had to breath polluted air from the Midwest, I live in NJ
I risk getting mad cow disease
I no longer can visit my favorite part of Manhatten, which used to be the area around the WTC

[InkAddict]

74. Depends on which Bush you mean!

Life has been a long downward spiral for a long time courtesy of the Repugs. Remember when folks claimed IT to be the career of the future and Health Info Mgmt wasn't a way to case-mix-fund the hospital CEO's newest Porshe??? BAHAHAHAHWAWAWA!

How do I hate thee - let me count the ways!
1)I hate thee for wasting the education/careers of countless skilled American IT workers and killing the hopes/dreams of whole industries of American manufacturing workers in every SOTU
2)I hate thee for ignoring true and credible intelligence about OBL's plans and spreading color-coded fear across the land, and for showing the arrogance of going it alone, and refusing to view what they've wrought...truly a national embarrassment;
3)I hate thee for buying off/up the media so the mainstream won't hear the other side of the stories that show their continuing spite, incompetence, and false beliefs;
4)I hate thee for maliciously creating issues that have unrepairably divided my family into camps ala Civil War
5)I hate thee for failing to address my "reality-show" of caring for an elderly parent (on an $8 hr fill-in job) who can't remember and doesn't want to, can't hear even w/aids and won't speak, doesn't like fruits/vegtables cause they look funny, who now worships only GOD and baseball, but whose 50-yr life-long service to a single American corporation entitles him, period, while denigrating his only son's dignity.
6)I hate thee for underfunding protection for our nation's children, the homeless, the disabled, and leaving them a legacy of debt;
7)I hate thee for poking around publicly in an individual's life-style and violating constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.

I could go on, but I feel sick again!!! :puke:

Let's blanket it - oh heck, I hate thee because all the "errors of judgement," are foisted off somewhere else due to the generosity (?)of the Supreme Court ala Y2K in placing Whistle-Ass. I can't fix those sinecures, but I'm gonna fix their choice come November, because I can't live like this much longer. Sure hope the voting machines don't make my choice for me in spite of which button I push!
cause then I'll have to go to Plan B,C,D,... (which is?)

[Lindacooks]

76. Unemployment by Republicans

My husband lost his job because of Repuke budget cuts; he complained about the cuts publicly, Repukes complained to the Repukes on his board and they fired him. He's been out of work for 9 months now. We're trying to sell the house we designed and built ourselves, but nothing doing. Unemployment has run out, and I'm so filled with despair that it's hard to get through a day.

I hate Bush like I've never hated another person except Tim Pawlenty. And Steve Strachan, the Repuke legislator who complained to the board of WomanSafe.

[Greyskye]

77. So much for retirement

Pre-Bush, I was on track for an early retirement at the ripe old age of 49. That was only 7 years away. Now - my retirement funds have lost about 40% of their value, and I'll now probably be working 'til I'm 65 - another 23 years! :mad:

I have discovered a passion for politics, so my Dad (a political science major) and I finally have something in common to talk about. A mutual loathing for the current mis-administration.

[IconoclastIlene]

79. laughing stock

I could go through a dissertations' worth of complaints, however, the fact that this man is so inarticulate and lacking in any real communication skills, bothers me no end.

We have become the laughing stock of the world and somewhere deep down inside; I can understand where it comes from.

I detest being represented by a man whose command of his own native tongue is at best, reprehensible.

[mac2]

80. Our retirement and money not secure.

It could happen anyday. Get laid off and lose all pension and health care. Our money worthless, our protests ignored and even illegal, and war looming down our necks. At an older age, this is a worry.

I hate the area where we live. It's not near my family and friends. The people are clannish and rather RW. We have tried to get a transfer but with so few jobs and layoffs that's not an option.

Our local taxes went up 27% in two years. The local RW government continues to spend and expand. Are they living in Bush universe?

Stress since 2000 and fear...effects my health and well being.

[SavageWombat]

82. Well, let's see...

As state employees, my wife and I haven't gotten the raises we were previously entitled to since Bush took office.

During that time, property taxes have pushed our mortgage payment up by $300 a month, so I can safely say the loss of revenue to the states has eaten up any "tax break" Bush's policies may have given.

But I feel worse for a friend of mine, who lost his job of 12 years and, despite a college degree and managerial experience, been unable to find another. But it's only been three months for him, so we still have hope.

[mac2]

84. Who says politics doesn't effect them?

Get out and bring in the vote. Go door to door...and hand out fliers.

[mac2]

85. If all else fails.....

Become a math teacher. They are needed.

[leftofthedial]

86. laid off three times

one failed business

no longer feel comfortable traveling internationally

three-year (and counting) delay in building our new home

piecing together four jobs to earn half of what I used to make

major loss of individual freedoms

flying has become a major nuisance

have to explain hypocrisy and evil to my children

now own part of the collective blame for my country's fascist, unprovoked invasion of another country and the 10's of thousands of attendant deaths

the list is quite a bit longer, but I have work to do.

[lostnfound]

88. I had to lay off a bunch of people. nt

[Skittles]

91. my 401K STILL isn't where it was when Clinton left the White House

I constantly fear losing my job.

[Rich Hunt]

92. job losses

...most of my damn family losing their jobs.

Serious cutbacks at my place of employment.

Other crap I really don't want to talk about.