Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?

[nageov3t]

?

 

[Buz2b]

Easy.

 

[charrison]

Higher pay, got my first house and less debt. Things are going quite well here.

 

[CombatChuk]

My tuition at College went up 20% not too happy about that...

 

[LordMagnusKain]

Originally posted by: CombatChuk
My tuition at College went up 20% not too happy about that...

my pell grant for college went up 33%, i'm quite happy.

 

[alphatarget1]

my tuition went up by almost 50% $1100 > $1600 but I got an internship this summer...

 

[tnitsuj]

you man financially right?

In that case yes without a doubt.

 

[dmcowen674]

Wow, well goodie for you Rich Neocon Elitists. :roll:

 

[UltraQuiet]

Originally posted by: charrison
Higher pay, got my first house and less debt. Things are going quite well here.

Pay more than doubled, bought another house, a lot less debt, etc.,etc.

I'd be voting for the same person whether that happened or not.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Wow, well goodie for you Rich Neocon Elitists. :roll:

Dave..you really need to work on that envy and bitterness. It doesn't become you. Your situation is no ones fault but your own.

 

[burnedout]

Earn 15K more per year, earned a bachelors, and have halfway completed a masters.

 

[Red Dawn]

Definately better off but it has nothing to do with who is President

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Definately better off but it has nothing to do with who is President

Yep, out of MA into a much nicer place. My neighbor is a cow. That's a good thing. They don't try to run you over.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I guess you all just mean money-wise...

The whole world is unambiguously worse off now than we were 4 years ago. Four years ago it was safe to go to work, easy to travel between nations without an anal-probe, and it wasn't legally questionable to simply be muslim or an immigrant. I seem to recall that gas and oil production hadn't hit production barriers yet either.

But that really doesn't have very much to do with GWB, and has everything to do with terrorism and 50 years of a false sense of security crashing down around us all in the course of about 8 minutes.

But to say you're actually better off now is to have a short memory folks

 

[conjur]

What got me the most was the gov't's cut of Medicare funding (passed by Congress and signed by Clinton).

I'm now at less than half my salary from my old job. I'll vote for Kerry but it's not really about my economic status. It's more about the safety of our nation, our respect in the world but mostly about the secrecy and deception waged by this administration. Will Kerry's administration be better? Probably. No guarantees. There will still be our biggest issue with our government: special interest lobbying.

I don't normally agree with this website but a paragraph really speaks truth:

http://www.wsws.org/public_html/prioriss/iwb12-18/budget.htm

What is required is the launching of an independent political movement, directed against the two big business parties and the profit system as a whole, to defend jobs, living standards, social services and democratic rights. This means building a new party fighting for social equality and uniting all sections of the working class--white, black, Hispanic and immigrant--in the struggle to establish a workers government.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Wow, well goodie for you Rich Neocon Elitists. :roll:

Dave..you really need to work on that envy and bitterness. It doesn't become you. Your situation is no ones fault but your own.

My situation has no bearing on how I feel about those that flaunt their good fortunes at the expense of those not so fortunate.

I was in just as good of a situation as the ones boasting now and I did not boast then. In fact when I was doing my best is when you can clearly see I helped others as best and as most as I can and the height of my Volunteering for many things all the time. I even have "awards" (Plaques etc) proving this to be true and you can ask Donna as well. I did many projects including building Habitat for Humanity Houses, Junior Achievement and the list goes on.

When I was in such a good situation I did not flaunt as the Elite in here are and I would be bashing those that do just as much as I am now. You folks didn't know I had done such things because I am not in the habit of tooting my own horn. That's part of my problem, I should toot my own horn like many of the Elite do but I won't do it at the expense of those less fortunate and never will.

Oh and I'm not bitter, more like determined. I have not given up, I am still trying. Just the last 2 weeks I have sat through two 3 hr interviews. The first one with a Fortune 50 Company for an $8 hr job and yesterday a Fortune 500 Company for a $10 hr job. If I had given up I would not have even bothered.

 

[arsbanned]

Absolutely not. We were doing extremely well under Clinton and have watched our success melt away under Bush.

 

[Train]

I make exactly $1,000 less in salary vs 2000, which is hardly noticeable, but with the lowered taxes, I think it may be even. Throw in my reserve pay and im up a decent amount.

My bills are higher though, I live in a much nicer place so im paying about twice as much as I was in 2000. Car payment is the same. Gas is definetly higher, but I live a tad closer to work. My health insurance is pretty good, probably the best coverage I've ever had. If only I could pay off these student loans faster I'd be pretty damn happy. I quit smoking, and figuring a pack is nearly $6 here in Michigan now, I'm saving about $12-18 a week right there.

So I guess overall im pretty much the same as I was in 2000, but it took a while to get back to where I am now, in the last 4 years ive been in several different industries and the military, pay has been up and down, and nothing was very secure. Finnaly got another steady 9 to 5 and will probably be here a while.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Train
I make exactly $1,000 less in salary vs 2000, which is hardly noticeable, but with the lowered taxes, I think it may be even. Throw in my reserve pay and im up a decent amount.

My bills are higher though, I live in a much nicer place so im paying about twice as much as I was in 2000. Car payment is the same. Gas is definetly higher, but I live a tad closer to work. My health insurance is pretty good, probably the best coverage I've ever had. If only I could pay off these student loans faster I'd be pretty damn happy. I quit smoking, and figuring a pack is nearly $6 here in Michigan now, I'm saving about $12-18 a week right there.

Congrats all around especially kicking the habit :thumbsup:

 

[prometheusxls]

Was in college 4 years ago. The economic slump was a pita and I counldn't find work after graduation. Am doing Ok, now. Still not voting for Bush like the last time.

 

[Corn]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: tnitsuj

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Wow, well goodie for you Rich Neocon Elitists. :roll:

Dave..you really need to work on that envy and bitterness. It doesn't become you. Your situation is no ones fault but your own.

My situation has no bearing on how I feel about those that flaunt their good fortunes at the expense of those not so fortunate.

I was in just as good of a situation as the ones boasting now and I did not boast then. In fact when I was doing my best is when you can clearly see I helped others as best and as most as I can and the height of my Volunteering for many things all the time. I even have "awards" (Plaques etc) proving this to be true and you can ask Donna as well. I did many projects including building Habitat for Humanity Houses, Junior Achievement and the list goes on.

When I was in such a good situation I did not flaunt as the Elite in here are and I would be bashing those that do just as much as I am now. You folks didn't know I had done such things because I am not in the habit of tooting my own horn. That's part of my problem, I should toot my own horn like many of the Elite do but I won't do it at the expense of those less fortunate and never will.

Oh and I'm not bitter, more like determined. I have not given up, I am still trying. Just the last 2 weeks I have sat through two 3 hr interviews. The first one with a Fortune 50 Company for an $8 hr job and yesterday a Fortune 500 Company for a $10 hr job. If I had given up I would not have even bothered.

I don't see that anyone has bragged at the expense of anyone else. All I saw were people answering the OP's original question--and the point of this thread. Lets review that for the truly clueless morons again:

Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?

Justin has you pegged to a "T". You are jealous, bitter, and happen to be the only moron who started flaming people because of their honest responses to this thread. As a matter of fact, I see you've become quite the braggard--about things that I'm sure you've never done. And no, sorry, I'm not gonna ask Donna. :roll: Why do I not believe the "stories" of your supposed good works? Simple, they do not fit your personality:

Everything you do is meant to bring attention to yourself. Your blatantly dishonest "discussion titles", your idiotic trolling (this thread is a prime example), saying "goodbye forever" in 3 seperate threads no less, and of course what *really* got you into trouble to begin with--Distributed Computing.

So sorry I don't believe you Dave, but maybe you'll find another sucker to feel pity for poor old Mcowen who suffers at the feat of the eilitist neocons. :roll:

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Corn

Justin has you pegged to a "T". You are jealous, bitter, and happen to be the only moron who started flaming people because of their honest responses to this thread. As a matter of fact, I see you've become quite the braggard--about things that I'm sure you've never done. And no, sorry, I'm not gonna ask Donna. :roll: Why do I not believe the "stories" of your supposed good works? Simple, they do not fit your personality:

Everything you do is meant to bring attention to yourself. Your blatantly dishonest "discussion titles", your idiotic trolling (this thread is a prime example), saying "goodbye forever" in 3 seperate threads no less, and of course what *really* got you into trouble to begin with--Distributed Computing.

So sorry I don't believe you Dave, but maybe you'll find another sucker to feel pity for poor old Mcowen who suffers at the feat of the eilitist neocons. :roll:

"about things that I'm sure you've never done" "Why do I not believe the "stories" of your supposed good works? Simple, they do not fit your personality"

You're entitled to your opinion but there is proof of those things and you obviously do not know me personally to "know" my personality.

As far as the 3 seperate threads, you have no idea where I was headed, simply because I had no idea where I was headed. You try getting cut off from a life you had and knew for 14 years in an instant and see where you land. I was fortunate to land where I have but it may not last either, it is well documented of how many applications and long interviews I have been going on for $10 hr and less and still nothing to show for it.

Anyway, instead of thinking you know me personally and spewing drivel, you're welcome to come down and meet anytime. I've met many fine folks from on here.

 

[phantom309]

Economically about the same, but I am one of the few IT people I know who's had the same job since 2000. I know other people in IT who are making less now than they were in high school, and some who graduated with CS degrees who simply never found jobs at all.

IIRC our Bush tax cut amounted to a couple hundred bucks.

I'm really a lot more concerned about our vanishing civil rights, the pointless war in Iraq and the incredible arrogance and stupidity of the current administration. I'm concerned that Americans have become lazy, obese pigs whose whole view of the world comes from a television set - and who would happily kill thousands of people in the Middle East in order to drive their damn SUVs for another year.

 

[Shelly21]

I'm better off, higher pay, I just feel sorry for a few friends who wanted to leave their job for a better one and now, have no job.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Corn

Justin has you pegged to a "T". You are jealous, bitter, and happen to be the only moron who started flaming people because of their honest responses to this thread. As a matter of fact, I see you've become quite the braggard--about things that I'm sure you've never done. And no, sorry, I'm not gonna ask Donna. :roll: Why do I not believe the "stories" of your supposed good works? Simple, they do not fit your personality:

Everything you do is meant to bring attention to yourself. Your blatantly dishonest "discussion titles", your idiotic trolling (this thread is a prime example), saying "goodbye forever" in 3 seperate threads no less, and of course what *really* got you into trouble to begin with--Distributed Computing.

So sorry I don't believe you Dave, but maybe you'll find another sucker to feel pity for poor old Mcowen who suffers at the feat of the eilitist neocons. :roll:

"about things that I'm sure you've never done" "Why do I not believe the "stories" of your supposed good works? Simple, they do not fit your personality"

You're entitled to your opinion but there is proof of those things and you obviously do not know me personally to "know" my personality.

As far as the 3 seperate threads, you have no idea where I was headed, simply because I had no idea where I was headed. You try getting cut off from a life you had and knew for 14 years in an instant and see where you land. I was fortunate to land where I have but it may not last either, it is well documented of how many applications and long interviews I have been going on for $10 hr and less and still nothing to show for it.

Anyway, instead of thinking you know me personally and spewing drivel, you're welcome to come down and meet anytime. I've met many fine folks from on here.

Sorry dmcowen674, but they are right. I would have loved to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are a logical, reasonable person, with insightful and thought-provoking points to share. And the truth is, you just might be, in real life. But here on P&N, you come off as a pompous buffoon who adds nothing to the majority of the topics you participate in, but rather jump into them only to spout off about "Rich Elitist Neocons," no matter what the current subject, and no matter how irrelevant it may be.

You show yourself here to be an unthinking, partisan hack, who lacks the ability to reason, but still possesses an unfathomable ability to spit vitriol and hatred. You are about the only person here on the board who makes me long for the ability to filter out certain comments based on the owner, as the majority of them are completely useless to the advancement of intelligent discussion. Many other people in here show themselves to be completely ignorant, but also give the indication of only being ~13 years old. You, however, do not have that luxury of an excuse.

In short, you may be a decent, hardworking, charitable individual in the real world, but your posts here only indicate that you not anything more than a complete and utter jackass.