Monday, September 12, 2005

The Bush Baby Boom

When all is said and done Little George Bush will not be remembered for his response to 9/11, the Iraq war, the two Supreme Court justices he appoints, or even hurricane Katrina. I predict in fifteen years Little Bush will be remembered as the president that ushered in one of the most important Baby Booms in American history. I have no statistics to back this up yet. But the anecdotal evidence for it is overwhelming. On my block alone there were 7 new babies in the past 18 months, after not seeing any for years. I have never seen so many pregnant women as I have this summer in Pittsburgh, and even the nurses I have interviewed at local hospitals have said they noticed it too. So if it is true that we have had a baby boom in the past two years, WHY?

Low mortgage rates for over four years. Thank you George W.

When home mortgages remain at such low rates, more people buy homes and more people upgrade their homes with home equity loans. And people who own homes and have larger homes can more easily raise children. Like bowerbirds who decorate their nests to attract mates, Americans who own homes can attract mates or influence mates to have children. First comes love, then comes Alan Greenspan’s mortgage rates, then comes baby in the baby carriage.

All this burgeoning home ownership has happened under the auspices of Little George Bush, whose 2000 campaign hinged on his promise to increased home ownership. And he kept that promise. So don’t be surprised if this baby boom goes down in history as the Bush Baby Boom. Since there is nothing that stimulates the optimism necessary to have children like owning your own home.

Wars, hurricanes, and gas prices are all quickly forgotten. But our kids stick with us for the long haul. In a decade or so the only Katrina anyone will know will be the cute girl who sits in the front row of the algebra class in Biloxi or Huntsville or Dallas. The big question though, is if Little George will keep good on his other promise to repair public education, so all these new kids have a chance to compete in our new high-science “flat” world, as Thomas Friedman calls it. If not, in twenty years today’s cute little babies will be working for the Red Chinese… cooking American takeout. Chop Chop.

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