kellinator | A political post. Deal.

I haven't made many political posts in the months since the election for various reasons I'm not going to get into here, but I couldn't pass this one up. Thanks to

tick_wonderdog for the story.

BUSH: HOLDING THREE JOBS 'UNIQUELY AMERICAN'
Tues Feb 8 2005 9:27:01 ET

Last Friday when promoting social security reform with 'regular' citizens in Omaha, Nebraska, President Bush walked into an awkward unscripted moment in which he stated that carrying three jobs at a time is 'uniquely American.'

While talking with audience participants, the president met Mary Mornin, a woman in her late fifties who told the president she was a divorced mother of three, including a 'mentally challenged' son.

The President comforted Mornin on the security of social security stating that 'the promises made will be kept by the government.'

But without prompting Mornin began to elaborate on her life circumstances.

Begin transcript:

MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.

THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?

MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)

Yeah, that's really funny from someone who has never had to worry about how to pay the bills and doesn't cut his vacation short for little things like tsunamis.

Something I've been thinking about a lot recently, even before Time's cover article on "twixters" and why my generation refuses to grow up (sorry, I couldn't find a link) is the declining standard of living in the United States. When our parents were our age, if you didn't want to go to college, you could still get a decent job and have a house and a family. Now one of the reasons I'm so ambivalent about the question of children is because I have serious doubts that I'll ever be able to afford the things I think a child should have -- specifically a good education like the one I got. (Not that a college degree, or where it's from, really means much anymore. My brother's degree is from a vo-tech community college; mine is from a Top-20 university. He made nearly twice what I did last year. Which is my fault for not being interested in the fields that pay well. But I digress.)

We can't leave these issues to the politicians of any party. They're all rich and greedy anyway. If we want to deal with this, we have to do it ourselves -- and unfortunately, I have no clue of how to do that.