Bushes morning press conference really upsetting me

"Thanks to my tax cuts our economy is strong and getting stronger, we just added blagh blagh blagh # of new jobs, but we need to make the tax cuts permanent."

It is kind of ironic to me that I was actually on the phone with an employment agency trying desperately to find a new job after my last job was cut while Bush is on TV talking about how strong the economy is.

I am seriously pissed off right now.

I lost my finical aid for college because of budget cuts and had to drop out one year before I would of completed my degree because my family and I could not afford for me to go back. Then I got caught up in temp worker hell and have been bounced around from job to job for the past 2 years trying to save money when I can so that I can afford to get back to school.

the economy sucks, I have been priced out of higher education and I can get a job that pays enough to cover living expenses and still have enough left to pay for college classes. The repubs manipulated the people of my state to vote neo-con and approve an amendment to the Michigan Constitution that denies me and my boyfriend the right to ever get married "or any other form of union for any purpose" (actual wording in the amendment).

Now I am out of a job just in time for the Holiday season, I can afford to finish my degree and this asshole is on TV tell everyone how great things are.

:mad: :mad: :wtf: :wtf: :grr: :grr: :nuke: :nuke: :banghead: :banghead: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:

aren't you listening to the president. Come on, get it together man, hehe :sarcasm:

:rant:

I just got laid off too. And although I'm probably in better financial circumstances than you are it still sucks!

I'm glad I'm not young. I can't imagine what it must be like to pay such exorbanant fees for college.

I was accepted and started going to college in 2000 so things were pretty good when I started going. Clinton was good for low to middle class families that wanted to send their kids to college.

As Bush took I saw year after year of it getting more expensive and the Aid money getting harder and harder to get.

My first year at Michigan Technological University cost about 6000 a semester that includes room and board. The cost last year per semester was just a little over 9000 a semester. My Aid package when i first started going was about 50/50 grants and student loans. My last year about 70% was from student loans. I wound up with 30,000 in loans and no degree.

Good to see that not everyone coming out of Tech is a conservative engineer!

My first year at Da Tech (1982-83) complete room and board was quoted at roughly $4000. ...not that room was much in Houghton at that point- as I recall, I paid $108/month my last year. Tuition was something like $550/quarter- yes, I predate semesters- so I guess the equivalent would be about $825/semester. Wow- nothing like a ten-fold price increase in 23 years!

they created a chapter of the college democrats back in 2003. From what I have heard from some of my friends that are still up there the group doesn't really do much and it is mostly facutly members and a few grad students from the Humanities department.

that the only way to land a good job these days is to outsource ourselves. Move to India or China. The wages may be lower, but the cost of living is too. I think this is what the neocons have in mind anyway.

all the jobs he created in china and india. He just replaces those two countries with america. Hey on the bright side, only 5% of america are now getting unemployment checks, isn't that wonderful? Of course theres no mention if the ones who aren't getting checks employed, but hey why ruin positive numbers by cluttering them up with facts?

I have applied for it but since I am talking one class a semester at a local community college and since my work history is full of one week gaps caused by the employment agency I worked for I am not sure if I am going to be eligible or not. Plus I have not heard yet if I am eligible or what my day to report is. I am still waiting on the unemployment office to tell me those things.

Was it a Pell? Those should be granted for 4 yrs at least. What about student loans? How long have you been in school?

I have been looking closely at this because my daughter starts college next year.

I was eligible for a Michigan Competitive Scholarship Grant which covered about 2000 but slowly degraded in value over time. Plus the state of Michigan did some massive budget cuts to higher education to balance the state budget, our state is controlled by a Republican senate and house, so each state college and university had to raiser their prices to make up the difference. Between all of that I was priced out of college.

I don't know how bad it is in your state but I have heard that this same thing has happened to other people too, so it is not an isolated incident.

Because it's only good for 4-5 years I think. You should check it out.

I had to leave my job in July for medical reasons. Hubby just finished college to "better himself" in October 04'. Hasn't had a raise since he took a $15 an hour job (all he could find). We have a mortgage and 2 kids and the vast majority of our savings are wiped out at this point. I still cannot work and am still undergoing extensive medical testing because the dr's can't seem to figure out what exactly caused my system to literally break down and the medical bills are piling up so bad my parents are now trying to help us pay for them. I feel guilty as hell that I am now dragging them into our financial downfall! They haven't had to worry about money for years but now even they are getting a little stressed. EVERYONE, without exception in my extended family has decided Christmas is just too tight for them and they have either said we cannot afford any gifts (even for the kids) or just for the kids only. I'm an adult, I can deal with no gifts but frankly, my kids are still young enough to think money grows on trees and their Christmas is going to be EXTREMELY slim. At least they will have 1 gift under the tree a piece. Not much but they need food in their bellies and a roof over their head more than Christmas gifts.

The economy sucks as far as I'm concerned. My grocery bills are higher than ever before, despite trying to scrimp on "luxury items" like fish and "healthy" food. Gas prices are killing us. The only saving grace there is that I am not driving a whole lot. And let's face it, the utility companies are gouging a whole lot of what used to be considered "middle class" right the hell out of their homes! We will be lucky to survive this very cold winter season since we are just above the qualifying income for heating assistance in our state.