I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. The U.S. Census Bureau has published its 2000 supplementary survey. The results? Relentless pursuit of the American Dream.
The employment boom of the '80s continued through the '90s. Median household income is up 5 percent; for black households, 17 percent.
More people have bachelors degrees. Half of households have computers, up from 15 percent a decade ago.
More people own cars, while use of mass transit — one of the goals of big government advocates — remains unchanged. Cars still mean opportunity.
The dramatic change in economic policy that followed the 1980 election carried into the '90s. Former Census Bureau Director Martha Riche points out that prosperity changes everything – more education, jobs, income, home and mobility has meant more freedom and opportunity.
So who's upset by this? The economic left, who always view individual prosperity and freedom with suspicion. And the intelligentsia, personified by the IMF, which urged tax increases on the congress. But on main street? It's the golden age.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, a missed chance on social security.