The lost decade.

The lost decade. As the baby boomers prepare to retire, their savings have been severely diminished by those who would have happily privatized social security right out of existence (WSJ):

Over the past 200 years, the stock market's steady upward march occasionally has been disrupted for long stretches, most recently during the Great Depression and the inflation-plagued 1970s. The current market turmoil suggests that we may be in another lost decade.

The stock market is trading right where it was nine years ago. Stocks, long touted as the best investment for the long term, have been one of the worst investments over the nine-year period, trounced even by lowly Treasury bonds.

Sharply reduced standards of living for America's seniors, due to significantly reduced investment returns during a crucial decade, will be another of the major long-term effects of the Bush-Cheney administration, its tax policy, its wastefulness, and its insane adventure in Iraq.

It is also worth noting that during the eight years of the Clinton administration, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 went up over 300 percent. Neither of these indexes includes major amounts of Internet stock like the Nasdaq, so the Internet "bubble" didn't affect them as much.

It doesn't matter if you look at the president as the metaphorical or literal portfolio manager of the American economy. The choice is clear. Another Clinton is running for president this year: that's who I want in the White House.