GOP husband, Democrat wife both displeased with economy
By Andrea Hopkins
REUTERS
September 9, 2006
CINCINNATI – David and Donna Pfirman have had plenty of political debates, but the Republican husband and Democratic wife agree on one thing: The economy keeps getting worse, and neither will vote Republican in November.
“Under this current administration, my income has dropped every year – and I'm not working any less,” said David, 37, who has been selling cars for Toyota in Cincinnati for 12 years. He said his income has fallen to $48,000 from $75,000 six years ago as the sluggish economy keeps more car buyers at home. Donna, 36, has been luckier, but only barely. She has a government job and gets a 4 percent annual raise – enough to keep pace with inflation, but not enough to offset her rising health insurance premiums.
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While unemployment is near a five-year low, wage increases have been erased by surging prices for gasoline, tuition, health care and housing, leaving median household income 5.4 percent lower in 2005 than in 2000. Interest rates are also rising and the housing market cooling, leaving many voters struggling to pay for their adjustable mortgages.
Although David Pfirman blames the Sept. 11 attacks for much of the economic downturn, he said he'll vote for Democratic Senate challenger Sherrod Brown over Ohio's Republican incumbent, Sen. Mike DeWine, and he's already looking ahead to the 2008 presidential election with nostalgia for an economy that once was. “This sounds kind of funny being a Republican, but I liked Bill Clinton. . . . Everybody I was working with was making money hand over fist, and ever since then we have not,” he said. “I'd almost vote for his wife, if she ran.”
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