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Greetings from the Pacific Northwest: The Bush administration is
actively manipulating the news market to weaken election opposition. Bush’s speech tonight is timed to
coincide with bad monthly economic reports and fears that weekend protests in
cities like Portland, New
York, New Haven, Conn., Cleveland, San Francisco, Denver and Anchorage would
further erode public confidence that “the country is headed in the right
direction.” Are we? - Karen Watters Cole Public Says Bush
Needs to Pay Heed to Weak Economy @ http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/07/politics/07POLL.html
EXCERPT: “The number of Americans who said they believe
the economy is worse than it was just two years ago has increased markedly
since the summer. The number of
Americans who approved of the way Mr. Bush has handled the economy — 41 percent
— was the lowest it has been in his presidency. Many people said they worried that a war in Iraq — which
most Americans view as inevitable — would disrupt an already unsettled economy. The poll found that
despite the emphasis by Mr. Bush since Labor Day on the need to move against
Saddam Hussein, support for such a policy has not changed appreciably since the
summer. While most Americans said
they backed Mr. Bush's campaign against Iraq, the sentiment was expressed with
reservations and signs of apprehension about its potential repercussions. Americans said they
feared a long and costly war that could spread across the Middle East and
encourage more terrorist attacks in the United States. They said they did not want the United
States to act without support from allies and did not want the United States to
act before United Nations weapons inspectors had an opportunity to enter Iraq.” AP/Port Talks Break Down Indefinitely @ http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Port-Labor.html EXCERPT: “A growing number of industry groups
are calling for White House intervention, including use of the Taft-Hartley
Act, which would force an 80-day cooling off period. President Bush hasn't said
whether he would step in to a dispute that some experts say could cost the
economy $2 billion a day. The port lockdown entered its second week Monday, with the
number of cargo vessels stranded at the docks or backing up at anchor points
rising to 200 and dozens more were still en route from Asia. Analysts and business leaders have warned the shutdown will
cause a noticeable increase in plant closings, job losses and financial market
turmoil. Already, storage facilities at beef, pork and poultry
processing facilities across the country are full, crammed with produce that
can't be exported. With nowhere to move their product, plant operators were
expected to begin shutting down Monday with layoffs to follow, said Mary Kay
Thatcher, public policy director of the American Farm Bureau Federation. In
less than two weeks, if the shutdown continues, manufacturing plants will be
grinding to a halt all over the country, farmers will be up in arms, and Asian equity
and currency markets could face a full blown crisis, said Steven Cohen, a
University of California, Berkeley professor of regional planning.” AP/President Bush intervening in port lockout @ http://www.kgw.com/business/stories/kgw_1007_nation_bush_port.95fd2d81.html EXCERPT: “The move could be a first step toward
ordering workers back onto the job under Taft-Hartley. But some senior officials take a dim view of forcing the
workers back to work, because the 1947 law
has a poor record of success.” |
