Bush: ‘The Experts Will Tell You We’re Not In A Recession’

[marmar]

from Think Progress:



Bush: ‘The Experts Will Tell You We’re Not In A Recession’

In January, the U.S. economy lost nearly 17,000 jobs, “the first time in nearly 4-1/2 years that U.S. payrolls shrank.” The report of January’s losses came just after President Bush triumphantly declared in his State of the Union that “America has added jobs for a record 52 straight months.”

Today, on Fox News Sunday, President Bush was asked about the shape of the economy and said that his “experts” are suggesting that the U.S. is not in a recession:

WALLACE: Mr. President, what are the chances that we’re either in a recession or headed for one?

BUSH: I think the experts will tell you we’re not in a recession, and they will tell you that there’s a lot of uncertainty. And therefore, the question is what do you do about it.

While Bush’s advisers may give him rosy assessments, Americans are feeling the effects of the economic slowdown. According to a new Associated Press-Ipsos poll, “sixty-one percent of the public believes the economy is now suffering through its first recession since 2001.”

A recent ABC poll reached similar conclusions. Sixty percent “think the economy’s already in a recession” while “two-thirds doubt that a government stimulus package will soften the blow.” In total, 81 percent said the economy is “in bad shape, the most since 1993.”

And many “experts” agree. According to a recent survey of economists by USA Today, more and more economists are predicting a recession: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/10/bush-experts/

Even Bush’s Fed Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is privately saying that the economic situation is much worse than the Bush administration is stating publicly.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/10/bush-experts/

[Bicoastal]

1. I am SO a good leadering...guy! nt

[yourout]

2. Recession heading towards depression.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. I get depressed every time I think of what Bush has done......

.....without any significant opposition.

[Kutjara]

4. Presumably, these experts were drawn from the same pool....

...Bush used to tell us climate change was a myth. "Pierrot's Academy of Clowns," I'm guessing.

[michaz]

11. From a cesspool!

[spanone]

5. cheney was soooo eager to declare it a recession coming off the clinton years

he's pretty damned quiet now, ain't he


White House blasts Cheney for recession remark
From CNN White House Correspondent Major Garrett

December 4, 2000
Web posted at: 5:07 p.m. EST (2207 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House lashed out Monday at GOP vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney's suggestion that the nation was moving toward an economic recession.

"Mr. Cheney was part of the 'Whip Inflation Now' team and he was part of a Bush administration that had a pretty anemic growth record, but that doesn't mean he's qualified to talk about the state of the economy today," said White House Press Secretary Jake Siewert. The anti-inflation team served in the Ford administration.

Siewert said the Clinton administration found large deficits, unemployment and debt when it arrived, and has since turned all three around while increasing productivity and lowering interest rates. The U.S. economy remains fundamentally sound, he said, adding that the nation's top private sector economists in November projected economic growth for the coming year at a minimum of 2.5 percent.


http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/04/whitehouse.cheney/index.html

[JBoy]

6. Not surprising. He surrounds himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear.

America is safer.
The surge is working.
We're not in a recession.

[gateley]

7. "They'll tell you we're fucked." nt

[rpannier]

8. Yeah all the experts

Experts on dentistry
Experts on color spectrum analysis
Experts of air quality
Experts on collecting soil samples

Now experts on economics will tell you that we're in a recession

But experts in other fields are not as certain

[liberal N proud]

9. Only the ones that the bu$h regime has either paid off or threatened

The rest of the sane world is calling it a recession.

[blues90]

10. What does bush care ?

He will never be affected no matter what happens . None of these people do , even Chris Wallace could give a shit . This is just a moment for bush to sound sober and to spin things into another web .

[Kingofalldems]

12. Bush's expert: Pigboy Limbaugh

He's been repeating this for weeks on his show.

[sakabatou]

13. O RLY?

[treestar]

14. Delusional as usual

The Chimp has lost his grip on reality. If he ever had one.

[Generic Brad]

15. That must mean we're in a depression

Whew. I'm glad that's cleared up.