Bush, Republicans Find Strong Economy Doesn't Win Middle Class

[cal04]

Republican Representative Gil Gutknecht is talking up the strong economy in the closing days of a tight re-election campaign. The problem: Middle-class voters in his southern Minnesota district aren't inclined to celebrate upbeat economic statistics.

Gutknecht, a six-term House member, isn't alone. Republicans who planned to use low unemployment, cheaper gasoline and a surging stock market as a shield against discontent over the Iraq war and congressional scandals are discovering that there's little protection to be had.

(snip)
Worsened Under Bush

In the most recent Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, conducted Oct. 20-23 among 3,630 voters in five electoral battleground states, 48 percent of respondents earning between $40,000 and $75,000 annually said the economy has worsened under Bush, while 26 percent said it has improved.

Among those voters, 46 percent said Democrats would do a better job handing gasoline prices, compared with 19 percent who said Republicans would be superior. Nationally, the $40,000 to $75,000 group represents 21.6 percent of all income-tax filers, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aBlgJNUaeQic&refer=home

[Ms. Clio]

1. especially when the economy is not anything like "strong"

And a "surging stock market" does jack shit for most of us.

[Lasher]

4. The stock market is not surging either.

It is only the DOW Jones index of 30 industrial stocks that has finally been doing well. But since it is so narrowly focused, its performance can not be seen as an indicator of how the overall stock market is doing unless confirmed by other factors such as gains in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Such an affirmation is not present.

But since Republics like to bring up the subject these days, let's take a look at how the DOW is actually doing. The pre-Junior DOW high water mark was at 11,723 on January 14, 2000. It was at 10,578 when Bush took office on January 22, 2001. It didn't reach another all-time high until this month, when it closed at 11,727 on October 4. It closed on Friday October 20 at 12,011, which is an annualized growth of about 2.5% during the Bush administration.

And guess what, it was 15.9% under Clinton, 9.8% under Poppy, and 11.3% under Reagan. The index also did better under Presidents Ford, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge. Much better.

Since World War I, the only presidents with a worse Dow Jones Industrials record than the incumbent were Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter.

http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybem&story_id=99048945&ID=blackenterprise

[Ms. Clio]

17. very interesting information, thanks

just shows yet another failure by the Chimperor and his court.

[Lasher]

18. How about jobs and deficits?

How about jobs? Unemployment was 4.2% in January and February 2001. It has not ever been that low since and is at 4.6% today.

During The Decider's tenure, non-farm payrolls have added an average of 46,200 jobs a month. That's good, right?

Clinton: 237,000 a month.

Reagan: 168,000.

Carter: 215,000.

Bush's dad presided over a recession so bad it cost him his job. His record must be worse, right?

His average: 54,000 a month. That's 17 percent higher than Junior's.

http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybem&story_id=99048945&ID=blackenterprise&p=2

I get so mad I could spit when Dubya actually claims with a straight face that the tax cuts worked. They didn't, according to the very modest goal he set for himself. He promised that a total of 2.2 million jobs would be created between 2001 and 2004 as a direct result of his $2.1 Trillion tax cuts that were passed in 2001 and 2003.

During those 4 years the U.S. economy added only about 800,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department. To put that in context, about 2.1 million jobs were added to the economy annually over the previous two decades, including intervals of recession. During Bush's first 4 years, just a tenth of that number of jobs were created per year.

http://modernamerica.blogspot.com/2005/06/supply-side-economics.html

What about the deficit? King George II has been bragging about how the deficit is down. It's the fourth largest in history, and he's responsible for the first, second, and third largest deficits ever!!

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/11/fourth-largest-deficit/


http://zfacts.com/p/318.html

Over and over again we see a common theme: Junior can look good only if he compares his performance to his own collosal failures.

[AnneD]

2. I am right in that range.....

and yes, the economy is bad. Between taxes, inflation, energy, and gas prices-we have been raked over the coals. We moved in closer to our jobs, which costs more but saves on gas, time and wear and tear. I am glad I rent at this time. We wouldn't make it at all if we had a home with an ARM mortgage. Our raises have not kept up with inflation. I keep careful household accounts and I know how much less we have these days.

I have a 403b and a 401k. They have perked up a bit-but I have not fully recovered from what was lost in the first years of Bush's first term....It sucks.

[Mist]

3. The * admin's idea of middle class is $200K and above. Those in

that bracket are doing better...

[gratuitous]

5. Bush, Republicans find talking doesn't equal reality

Just because you say the economy is strong doesn't make it so. Now, if you're an officer at ExxonMobil (which is to say, the sort of person this administration might actually listen to), the economy looks terrific with those record-breaking quarterlies. But if you're one of the hundreds of millions of poor schmucks who actually have to fill up your tank from time to time, ehhhh, not so much.

[zbdent]

6. Notice the gas prices are going back up?

the Repukes got a reprieve when they went down, but now, the oil companies are noticing that they still need to make a profit ... right after they announced yet another "record profit" ...

[Lasher]

9. I don't think gas prices are going back up yet but they were never really down

They're down now but they were $1.46 in January 2001. Today they're $2.22, an increase of 53%

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

[zbdent]

13. Akron Beacon Journal would have the local prices in the Business section

Tuesdays through Saturdays ... local high, local low, local average, avg. week ago, avg. year ago ...

Once the prices got back down around to 2.10 or so, the listing stopped ... gas prices were now "helping" the Repukes ...

It got to the point where I was able to fill up for $1.97 a gallon (big f*cking deal ... in 2000, Repukes were afraid that, under Gore, prices might possibly hit that dreaded $1.49 a gallon ... :silly:)

prices back into the $2.15-$2.25 range ... and soon, (well, after 11/7/2006) to rise again ... and the Repukes will blame the Dems' win ...

[Arugula Latte]

7. What is WRONG with people!! Corporate CEOs got massive tax breaks!

Why oh why can't people just APPRECIATE the good fortune of the very, very, very wealthy? :cry:

[radfringe]

8. that's because it hasn't "TRICKLED DOWN"

[spinbaby]

10. Sure it has

Don't you feel trickled on?

[radfringe]

15. uh-huh

everytime I go to the store to buy groceries, or order heating oil, or fill up my car, or pay bills

I never had a big list of people for buying christmas presents - the type and amount of money I've spent on gifts has dropped each of these past 6 years... it's going to $20-$30 per person, and I'm trying to talk my partner into doing something like let's just pool our money for gifts to each other and get something for the house that we both can enjoy

[applegrove]

11. Nice to see people wise to the bull****. Warms my heart.

[Vickers]

12. Lies, damned lies, and "upbeat economic statistics."

:eyes:

[Jack Rabbit]

14. The usual figures are meaningless

They meant something to common people when an incoming tide raises all boats. That's not the case any more.

For over thirty years, the income gap in America has widened. The Clinton Administration succeeded in slowing the phenomenon, but failed to reverse it. It needs to be reversed.

What is ironic to the Republicans is that they are being bitten in the ass by something Ronald Reagan knew well and exploited masterfully. It was even one of those rare things about which he was right: It doesn't matter what the statistics say, most people gage the economy by personal circumstance. So, after Carter cited all the statistics in a televised debate, Reagan simply looked into the camera and asked the American people: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

The Bushies may cite statistics on job growth, but a former high tech employee who once made $70K a year who now stocks shelves at a discount chain for $10 an hour probably doesn't think of himself as fully employed, even if the labor statistics count him as such.

An incoming tide no longer raises all boats. It raises big ones and sinks the little ones.

[OnionPatch]

16. As a "middle-class" American

I get excited about a good economy when there are jobs, good paying jobs out there in my field and not just underpaid service jobs with no benefits. What Wall Street does or doesn't do means nothing to me if I can't find work in my field. If I have no extra money to invest in stocks, wtf do I care how they perform?

[Lone_Wolf]

19. "Strong economy"

and "Create Jobs" is just Republispeak for obscene corporate profits that mostly benefit the richest 1%...