White House Basks in Recent Economic Data

[rodeodance]

I keep hoping to find it (as they bask in it).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051222/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_s_economy;_ylt=AuF55zrWIvBeh_y.18jFjQ.yFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
White House Basks in Recent Economic Data

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -
President Bush, working to retool the Republican message for 2006, is trying to shift public attention to something in short supply during his almost five years in office: a run of good economic figures.

"We're heading into a new year with an economy that is the envy of the world, and we have every reason to be optimistic about our economic future," he told a news conference this week.

Bush's pivot to highlight the economy started at the beginning of the month after a government report revealed that 215,000 jobs had been created in November. Bush went before reporters in the Rose Garden to personally welcome the news. A few days later, he visited a plant in North Carolina to salute those numbers and others, including a third-quarter growth rate that was the highest since early 2004 and a jobless rate that was being kept to 5 percent.

Hoping to keep a spotlight trained on the economy while Bush mounted a concentrated defense of his Iraq policies, the White House press office started issuing a "week ahead" schedule listing upcoming appearances of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Treasury Secretary John Snow and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. Last week, for instance, House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Gutierrez teamed up at a suburban Chicago mall to promote holiday-season shopping. On Monday, it was Snow's turn to Christmas-shop for the cameras.......

[Voltaire99]

1. The end of the housing bubble...

...is going to come as a very painful surprise to the true believers in Bushland.

[progressivebydesign]

25. Yawn.. still pushing that meme around here folks? n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

27. You must not have noticed that housing sales have stalled, and....

...that the housing industry is going to cut way back on new home starts which cause a loss of 800,000 jobs.

That's the latest "meme"...to which "meme" were you referring?

[Yavin4]

29. It's Not A Meme. It's the Truth

From 2002 through 2004, we had negative interest rates. Cheap debt makes asset values rise. Home values are super-inflated, and the Fed will keep hiking rates until housing prices drop.

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Haha

Come on face up to the nightmare you created.
All this spin, you must be born gifted in this arae.

[SkiGuy]

3. Hey, WH, since you're basking

would you like to pay my heating oil bill?

[katinmn]

24. We beat our previous record of personal bankruptcies by 1.6 million!

Whoo-hoo!

We went from 1,618,987 million case in 2004 to 1,782,643 in 2005. That's an impressive increase.

You're doing a heckuva job, Junior!

http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=5471&id=1&mylocation=News&chksrc=NNow4251
USA Bankruptcy Filings Hit New Records in Run Up
to New Bankruptcy Law Implementation

Dec 7 2005
Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts grew 10 percent in fiscal year 2005, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts—rising to the highest number of bankruptcies ever filed.

During the 12-month period ending September 30, 2005, 1,782,643 bankruptcies were filed, up from the 1,618,987 bankruptcy cases filed in fiscal year 2004.

Filings for the 3-month period from June 30, 2005 to September 30, 2005, also were the highest number filed for any quarter in the history of bankruptcy, totaling 542,002. The large number of filings is due to the many individuals who filed for bankruptcy before October 17, 2005, the implementation date of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

More at http://www.uscourts.gov/Press_Releases/bankruptcyfilings120105.html

Use the link provided.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. Personal observations while doing some last minute shopping yesterday.

Easy to find parking spaces at the stores or mall.

Two large mega stores going out of business, selling everything at 50 to 75% off.

No crowds. No lines at the registers.

The sales everywhere are unbelievable. They're close to giving away most of their stuff.

So, to paraphrase a Richard Pryor routine...I can just hear gwb saying, c'mon do you believe me or your lyin' eyes? MKJ

[WePurrsevere]

11. It's very similar up here. Normally the parking lots are packed &

store employees are struggling to keep the shelves full.

When we went a couple of days ago we found a space easily and went checked out in the same time as usual. It was really weird looking around and knowing it was the Sunday before Xmas when we've seen it busier on "normal" weekends. Also overheard by a friend of ours was a conversation between two local Wal*Marts employees. One was commenting about how much stuff was still on the shelves and the other was saying "yeah, you should see what's still in the back. People just aren't buying much." Now before anyone says this is something to do with it's being Wal*Marts I need to mention that Wal*Marts up here is one of the few big stores folks can shop at without driving at least 50 minutes (or maybe 30 if you can cross the border easily into Canada, which is a royal PITB lately) and there has not been a decent selection otherwise locally for a very long time (even before WallyWorld came here).

[MadisonProgressive]

18. I think people are hurting so badly that many people are just giving

money for Xmas. They need it to pay the heating bill.

[SoCalDem]

26. I parked right in front of Target on Tuesday

spent $350..(no Xmas gifts)..was the first person in line at the register.. In and out in less than an hour.. the store was crowded, but not what i expected.:...

[stanwyck]

15. Which is why this "basking" will backfire

for the millions of Americans who are worse off economically than in years past, these rosy economic views are nothing but reminders that only some are prospering. Halliburton. Enron (yes, they're still around), and Bush's pals.
Many are unemployed or under-employed.
And millions have no health insurance or retirement benefits.
So. When Bush goes all gooey about how great things are....we're left to wonder.
For who?
And, I agree, there has been no Christmas crush at the mall.
I've had the last two weeks off work. I've sailed into the mall, no problem parking, and no lines at the counters.
Great for me. Bad for the economy.
And our family, as well as my co-workers and friends, have all agreed on a "smaller"Christmas this year.

[bluedog]

19. same here in St pete fl

2 weeksends in a row.....parking lots NOT packed.....stores NOT jammed.....cashiers standing around.......thought something was out of whack .when I actually got someone to help me in the store......

[remfan]

5. The longest infommercial in history

Sometimes just reading the LBN headlines is enough to see how lame this administration really is. This one just jumps out at you. It looks totally out of place and has PR hack written all over it. It may as well read "Look Over Here! Shiny Object!"

Kind of ironic that in the run-up to the 2002 mid-term that the Dems were trying to focus the country on the economy and the Repugs were trying to focus the country on the Iraq "threat".

[EFerrari]

6. Basking?

LOL! I'd say they're pretty much done on this side.

[liberal N proud]

7. What is that term I am looking for - Cooked Books - Yeah that is it

They are cooking the books folks. These numbers are not the real economy, explain how rosy the economy is to those who have been out of work for two years, or are working at McDonald's now vs the good paying factory job they had.

[MiniMe]

8. Taking credit for it "looking" good? Then they better take responsibility

for it when it goes to hell in a handbag!

[union_maid]

9. This should be a huge mistake on their part

If Democrats who don't buy it are vocal enough this should help us. Talking up a good economy when people are not actually feeling good about it at all is not a winning strategy. Democrats have to be vocal about understanding that these statistics don't translate into a healthy economic outlook for average Americans, though.

[WePurrsevere]

10. Who's economy is improving? It sure isn't ours nor many we speak to. Until

the everyday person sees this economic fantasy, that the Repubs are trying to spin, as real to them, and sees the evidence of it in their own wallet, most are not going to buy it.

The term "cooked books" was used by liberal N proud and that's basically it. Much like with statistics you can manipulate the wording, drop bits and juggle the numbers to make it reflect what you want.

[stanwyck]

16. The economy is improving

if you're a Bush pal who is reaping in the windfalls of the military industrial complex.
But, as you note, for the average American, the economy is dismal. We're actually moving backward.
I had better benefits, health, retirement, vision, dental, profit sharing, twenty years ago when I began working. The last few years have seen the average American losing ground economically.
But, hey, Halliburton and the oil execs. are raking in the dough.
So. To Bush, the economy is swell. Everybody he sees at the cocktail parties is swimming in gov't contract moola.

[WCGreen]

12. Economists in the know are worried about the vast amount

of equity people have taken out of their homes... The run up in value not only in homes located in "hot" areas such as New York, Boston, LA and FLA, but in cities across the country has enabled homeowners to spend large chunks of their nest egg...

Even if there is no housing bubble pop, the slow down in appreciation caused by the steady increase in interest rates will take a tremendous amount, some claim up to 7% of money available for consumer consumption, of ready cash out of the economy...

Only time will tell if wage increase can off set the evaporation of "free" cash from homeowner equity loans....

[applegrove]

13. Yup - as long as the middle class & working class fight inflation with

lower paying small businesses and less salary - and shop at places that sell Chinese goods - the market will continue to roar.

Again - I say - what the hell are the rich giving up in this time of war and sacrifice?

[AnneD]

14. I think the correct title was...

Hogs Wallow in Slop. Pork Belly Futures Look Bright.

[feminazi]

17. this is BS

"Administration officials can point to the creation of some 1.8 million new jobs in the past year."

ok, that's 150k/month. i thought we needed about 250k/month to keep even with new people entering the workforce? that would be 3 million jobs for the year which means that the economy barely created half as many jobs as needed.

"Bush fired his first treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, in December 2002 after O'Neill questioned the need for a fresh round of tax cuts. Lawrence Lindsey was forced out at the same time as director of the president's National Economic Council after suggesting that a war with Iraq and the aftermath could cost $100 billion to $200 billion, which turned out to be a little on the low side.

So far, Snow has proved wrong forecasts of an early retirement and is serving as top cheerleader for Bush's handling of the economy."

hmmm, i thought they tried to replace snow at the beginning of the year, but they couldn't get any takers for the job. anyone else remember that?

[daleo]

20. The rest of the world doesn't envy the U.S. deficit

Nor the fact that there doesn't seem to be enough money to rehabilitate New Orleans.

[librechik]

21. are they sunning themselves on that huge deficit boulder

which turns all their successes into lies?

I thought so.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

22. Read the entire article. Nutshell:

215,000 jobs created in November. (woo-hoo! One month! Right before X-mas. And all $7 an hour!)

4.3 quarterly growth (woo-hoo! One quarter during wartime!)

5% unemployment (woo-hoo! It's a bullshit number always underreported by 4-5%.)


Bask in this!

[Rainscents]

23. Come Jan 1st, all credit card bill go way up.

Between this and heating bill, people will be in world of hurt.

[agincourt]

28. The jobs were probably created by the hurricane damage,

borrow 30 billion to throw in the US economy to recover from a catastrophe and sure economic data will look nice. Dupes anyway.