Wasnt that the whole thing with Reganomics, that it would eliminate the middle class by creating a service economy with only an upper class using the services, and a lower class supporting the upper class?
My parents complain about that being the way the country is going. How is the economy improving for middle America?

1) The economy is not working again. We’re shipping jobs overseas faster than we can make Impalas. The manufacturing sector is going under probably in large part due to the fact that American workers are no longer affordable.
2) A President has little power to restore fiscal responsibility. If the President submits a balanced budget it may be immaterial as it is the Congress that votes on it. The budget is largely NON DISCRETIONARY spending (65%) which means that the majority of the budget is mandated, entitlement spending.
3) Social Security is in real trouble. Too many years of raiding the “Trust Fund” and not paying back the IOUs that Congress left in the bank vault. However, again, the President has little if any power to change that.
4) Please tell me how we can free ourselves from dependence on foreing oil? I got it, let’s all just stop driving!! That’ll do the trick
5) Rally the world to win the war on terror…hmmm…kind of like we rallied the world to rid the war on drugs? Yep. You can’t make friends with people whose mandate from God is to eliminate you. Even if they are false in their quest, fanaticism wins the day. As long as a civilized nation state is bound to “play by the rules” and the terrorists are not, there is ZERO chance of winning a war on terrorism.
BTW, a largely uneducated populous has no clue about most of this…they choose to concentrate more on why their car stereo isn’t as loud as it could be or something to that effect rather than having the slightest clue about civics, civic virtues or political education. And that’s why Kerry/Edwards are going to win.

Kerry and Edwards don’t want to make health care more affordable. They want to increase the cost to taxpayers by concealing how much we’re paying for it and having it all come out of taxes. They want to provide it for everyone in a way that deceitfully makes it look free but robs people of choice and efficiency. I thought choice was an absolute value for these guys? Is it really choice that they support?

I should have said I partially agree. I think that dependence upon foreign oil shouldn’t be entirely mitigated; but is reduction bad? No. I think we should exploit our own oil resources.
Building and Manufacturing are both up.
As for fiscal responsibility, the president does control discretionary spending, something Bush has done a poor job of managing responsibly. But if, as you say, the president doesn’t control fiscal responsibility OVERALL, then surely you’re better off voting for the guy under whose term the economy has rebounded strongly from a recession left by his predecessor.
Social Security is a mess. I doubt any of us will see what we put into it when/if we reach retirement age. So stock up on your pension plans!
WoT: You propose lying back and just letting them run all over us? You’re a braver man than I.

Petie, we’ve had 4 straight months of consumer confidence index gains. Manufacturing and building construction indexes have risen. Bush’s tax cuts allowed the middle class to invest (though savings could have been better), jobless claims are down, employment is rising, wages are rising (Kerry spins this into the ground because he claims tax shelters have actually enabled the wealthy to pay less on the dollar, even though people are still getting higher wages).
Local economy is more the purview of the region, its resources and management, and ultimately, the state. If your parents are bugged about the economy, they really ought to be looking to Virginia lawmakers for the economic mess we’re in now.