PRESIDENT BUSH'S BURSTING BEER BUBBLE

Everybody has been jawing about the housing bubble. But for Republicans, there's something more serious to worry about -- the bursting beer bubble.

"Joe Six-Pack" voted big-time for President Bush in 2004. But with the way the economy is going, "Joe Six-Pack" is rapidly becoming an endangered species.

President Bush has created an economy where profits boom, inflation grows and real wages go down. Struggling with high credit card debts and rising heating bills, Joe is buying fewer beers. Even Budweiser seems to have gone stale.

The beer bubble is bursting. The price of a six-pack is just too high. Recognizing this fact, the big brewers are considering a new package, a four-pack. But this move creates big political problems for President Bush and Karl Rove.

How will "Joe Four-Pack" answer the question, "Are you better off now than you were five years ago?"

How can a four-beer man feel better than a six-beer man?

He can't. And matters are getting worse.

In the last quarter, wages went up 2.3% but inflation leaped 3.9%, which means that Joe's paycheck went down 1.6 percent. In September, inflation ballooned up to 4.7 percent, which means that Joe's paycheck went down another 2.4 percent. For the last year, Joe has been tapping into his home equity, which means that his saving rate is zilch to negative. If the housing bubble actually exists and bursts, he's going to be in a lot of trouble.

Besides, he can't just throw in the towel and declare bankruptcy anymore. The Republican Congress has passed laws making bankruptcy far less attractive for working stiffs. When Joe realizes this, there's going to be real hell to pay.

This isn't just some short-term blip. Globalization is making low wages and pay cuts a long-term thing. Unfortunately, the world's supply of labor is going up faster than the world economy can expand. More than 700 million new workers have entered workforce from Russia, China and India. Most of them will compete worldwide for American jobs. This means that U.S. employers don't have to raise wages much. If Joe Six-Pack gets too ornery, the big boys in the corner office can ship his job off to India or China. (Nobody wants to live in Russia, not even Russians.)

If the Democrats were smart, they would go after Joe Four-Pack and promise to restore him to six-pack status. With a campaign like that, they'd cream the Republicans in the 2006 congressional elections.

And 2008?

The first time you see a picture of Hillary slugging down a Bud, you know the Dems have found a winning theme for taking the White House.