Bush to seek credit for economic improvement

[ze_dscherman]

John Snow, the US treasury secretary, on Sunday voiced his confidence in strong fourth-quarter growth for the US economy, drawing on evidence of robust consumer demand.


"We had a tremendous depletion of inventories in the third quarter, roughly $38bn of inventories that were used up, taken out of the pipeline, and they need to be replenished," Mr Snow told Fox News television on Sunday. "So I'm encouraged about the fourth quarter and beyond."


SNIP

In the first six months of this year, Mr Bush's agenda was dominated by the Iraq war. He made few visits to America's factory floors and discussion of the economy tended to be woven into speeches heavier on national security imperatives.

But since the end of August, as White House economists began to detect the stirrings of a more robust recovery, Mr Bush has been spending an increasing amount of time talking about the economy.


SNIP

The White House has been eager to advertise the connection it sees between the pick-up in the economy and the tax cuts championed by Mr Bush.


More: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1066565738914&p=1012571727102

[tokenlib]

1. He should do a photo op as a Wal-Mart greeter....

..since that is where a lot of his "job creation" is taking place.

[whirlygigspin]

2. watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat

Now, if we can just get some more smoke and a few more mirrors.
Presto! a new economy.

[progressiverealist]

24. agaaaaaain??? that trick never works! n/t

[Richardo]

28. Visual attached

[RuB]

3. The economy was bound to turn around eventually. But the question

in 04 has to be, "Do you feel safer today than you did 4 years ago?"
If the Republicans throw the, "No attacks on America since 9/11."
Democrats should remind them of the almost daily deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. Or are they not considered American's to Bushie and his cabal?

[dArKeR]

4. 36 months down 2 months maybe up - Let's see how the Media Whores spin

this. And where could we have been if Clinton's record was followed. I surely think the Media Whores should hold Junior accountable!

[radfringe]

5. Who is he going to blame

when this "blip" pops?

[leftyandproud]

8. We should be VERY worried about this..

What if this "blip" doesn't pop? What if unemployment drops to 5.5% or less? Like it or not, incumbents take credit for good economic times, regardless of whether or not they did anything to effect it. I'm afraid that Bush may sell his tax cuts as the cause for this recovery...Then we can expect MORE of them, and social spending programs will be SCREWED for the next decade.

as I said, we need to be very worried!! We can't let them sell tax cuts as the cure-all for everything.

[Born Free]

10. It's still not going to be as good as when he took office

There is no way he can get the 3 million jobs back before the election. The best he can do is get close to where it was when he started making the poor decisions that ran the country into the ground. We are still in the fix the bush teams earlier mistakes stage.

[BigLed]

17. While a part of me agrees

we cannot say it out loud. It is far more important to too many people to see jobs created to wish for a worsening economy just because it hurts shrub. It does us no good to say otherwise.

Besides, it seems to me impossible that this will last.

[Bandit]

26. We have to give credit where credit is due ~ I don't yet feel it is due

We should not hope that Americans suffer just to make Bush* look bad. I'm sure he will manage that on his own. I don't believe in their whole economic philosophy so I am convinced that it won't recover much any time soon. If I am proven wrong I'll admit it and become a supply side advocate. Right now as an employer I don't feel any benefit from this economy.

[BigLed]

15. Precisley

If he steps up to accept credit he can hardly turn around and say it was Clinton's fault if it turns out to be a blip. Based on Krugman's analysis I don't expect this surge to last through the election cycle.

[Mountainman]

23. They'l l just say that they didn't say it,

That sign you saw behind me (economy improves) wasn't put there by me.

[pinniped]

6. More like...

"In the first six months of this year, Pig BULLshyt's agenda was dominated by non-stop fund raising."

[AnnitaR]

7. Well, doesn't a military operation usually have a

positive effect on the economy at some point? You won't hear him saying that.

You also won't hear him saying that his bad economy is the only reason the Armed Forces are not seeing a DECREASE in enlistments. The only reason they are recruiting the numbers that they are is because the Armed Forces is the only place many, many people are able to support themselves/their families.

That sorry excuse for a human being is really pushing me to the edge of insanity!

[tokenlib]

9. Recovery? The new economy means a depressed standard of living..

Even after the economy "recovers" we face sad circumstances. The new service sector jobs have lousy wages and benefits compared to the traditional manufacturing jobs we are losing. The gap between rich and poor is growing. Some of us may get our pay cuts back eventually--but overall the cost of living and health care has thrust us downwards.

When the economic indicators "recover", there are millions of our fellow citizens who may never recover.

The unemployment rate may go down--but how often do you hear the underemployment rate?? Robust economy for whom???

Hope our candidates figure out how to make the economy an issue--even after the corporate media tells us the economy is off the table as an issue because of "strong economic numbers." And they have to do it in a soundbite.

[shockingelk]

11. Bush already took credit for jobs

I just spent a while googling for the quote, but on an NPR show, Morning Edition I think, there was a sound byte from Bush in which he said something to the extent that if it weren't for his tax cut, 2 million more Americans would be without jobs.

Anybody remember what the exact words were?

[shockingelk]

13. Here's the quote

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/08/20030802.html

"We are starting to see results from our actions. My administration's economists believe that if we had not passed tax relief, our unemployment rate would have been nearly one percentage point higher, and as many as 1.5 million Americans would not have the jobs they have today."

[Noordam]

12. Christmas Season is coming

and that will tell a lot. If you believe the shit * is putting out, people will be spending like there is no tomorrow. Only time will tell.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. I wonder how many of those jobs have to do with

the upcoming holidays when part-time work is easy to find. If Bush's recovery had a face, it would be wearing a cotton Santa beard.

[Ripley]

16. But when the next big dip comes, he'll be sure to

place blame on Clinton for the economic downturn.

[Tripper11]

18. This "job recovery" is nothing more than....

extra help needed for the holiday season. I wonder how many of these news jobs will still be around come the first week of January. The sad part is, the weeks these folks will work won't be enough to get unemployment again....slipping through the cracks, just like WhistleAss wants them to.

[Don_G]

22. Don't Forget The Extra Hiring

The business sector is doing to replace the Guardsmen being called up for duty in Iraq.

[M155Y_A1CH]

19. MI$$ION ACCOMPLI$HED............

.........again.

[CANDO]

20. Economic numbers earlier this week.....

showed that Americans added three times as much debt to their credit cards as was forcast by the experts. Could this be part of the recovery? We all know that the holy grail of capitalism is consumer spending, not tax cuts. So when they try and say the tax cuts did it, I say no, it was Americans adding 15 billion dollars of more credit card debt. They had forecast only 5 billion in credit spending.

[bushisanidiot]

21. Funny How Stock Market Isn't back up to where it was when Clinton Walked

out of the white house, and at that time AWOL was stompin' his little baby feet about how we were in a recession, but now AWOL insists we're suddenly in a 'recovery'. dumbass still lost america 3 million jobs, his enron buddies screwed thousands out of their retirement, biggest threat to national security happened on HIS watch, but we're supposed to believe that he's doing a better job than the dems did?? what a loser!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[underpants]

25. You seem to have forgotten that "The market is NOT the economy"

Remember how the Repubes said that over and over when Clinton was in office but now ANY positive news is highlighted.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. Anybody who thinks this is "recovery" needs a reality check...

There are still plenty of people who've been out of work for over 2 years. A lot of the shit-paying jobs that this new economy has created are being picked up by desperate people with families to feed.
I wonder how many of them are working 2 or 3 part-time fast-food gigs to try to earn 1/3 of what they were making before the crooks took over the White House?

I've heard so many different distortions of statistics lately that I'm resigned to the reality that "statistics" are no longer relevant.

My one comfort is that this conscienceless administration cannot hide behind its lies forever. Eventually people are bound to recognize and expel the crime syndicate from office.

[Don_G]

29. The Economy Is Artifically Propped Up Now

By Greenspan, Snow and the Wall Street money brokers. It won't last at all.

[Yavin4]

30. Greenspan Has Already Signaled That The Cheap Debt Era Is

coming to an end. All that's happening to the economy is that cheap debt is flowing freely, and the unemployed are now willing to take lower paying jobs to get by.

The key is coming next year when Greenspan starts raising the cost of debt.