Bush says tax cuts fueled strong economy

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - President Bush defended his tax cuts Saturday, saying they had fueled a strong U.S. economy despite news this week of a slowdown.

In his weekly radio address, Bush reprised his campaign trail argument that if Democrats gain control of Congress, they will let tax cuts expire.
...
A Commerce Department report Friday, however, stirred fresh debate about the country's financial health.

The government report showed that during the July-to-September period, economic growth clocked in at an annual rate of just 1.6 percent — the slowest in more than three years. The subpar performance mostly reflected the deepening housing slump; investment in homebuilding was cut by the largest amount in 15 years.

..."Just because the president looks through his rose-colored glasses and sees a strong economy doesn't make it so," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061028/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

[truthisfreedom]

1. weakerst economy in 3 years, and bush pretends that killing frogs is

good for America.

[SharonAnn]

2. Then why is the deficit huge and national debt growing? He started with

a budget surplus.

[Cha]

29. Cause gross and laura bush

are fucking liars.

[acmavm]

3. Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, and Halliburton have done VERY VERY WELL

this year, and that's all that matters.

Get with the program.

:sarcasm:

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

4. Tax cuts will always tend to stimulate the economy

That doesn't mean they're good for the economy, though. Every single dollar of his tax cuts was borrowed. When 20% or 30% of our tax dollars are going towards paying the debt, is that really a good thing?

How does a 20% across the board tax cut sound? We could do that if we didn't have the debt to pay off. Talk about stimulating the economy!

[lostnotforgotten]

14. Don't See Much Stimulative Effect Here!

[PassingFair]

5. No Clothes, No Clothes!

Scream it, Nancy!

People in my office were talking about
Nancy Pelosi yesterday, like THEY NEVER
HEARD OF HER BEFORE!

And they LIKED what they SAW!

WHAT were they WATCHING?

Nancy has never impressed me much, not next
to pols like Boxer or Feingold or Dean, she
always seems to have a quiver in her voice,
and she always seems to be speaking too little,
too late.

But the 'pukes must be making an example out of
her in the media for some reason, because peeps
are TALKING. Whatever they are doing, it is
BACKFIRING ON THEM BADLY!!!!

I work in a fairly large "boiler-room" type
situation, seemingly apolitical, but EVERYBODY
knows MY political bent.

Yesterday 3 OR 4 people made A POINT of coming over
to my desk to ask me about Pelosi, and to TELL ME
ABOUT HOW DYNAMIC THEY THOUGHT SHE WAS!

WTF? I told them to get off their ASSES and
get to the polls if they wanted more of her!
Guess I'm not watching enough MSM...

[droidamus2]

6. Do I Understand

Let's see if I get a raise or my costs are cut and then I borrow a million dollars the reason for my improved financial situation is the cut in my costs. Of course you have to look at the million in the bank and ignore the fact that I owe a million with interest. If I could do like Bush and the Repugs and borrow 250-500 billion dollars a year I bet my 'economy' would look pretty good too. Even in this case the most recent GDP numbers don't show the economy doing all that good.

[54anickel]

7. Bwahaha! The GDP was even worse than reported Friday!

Check it out - a little whoopsie in the data they used.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2584150

[AnneD]

31. Hey 54anickle...

:toast: don't ya just love it when Bush talks economy. He sounds like Bagdad Bob and it is so obvious to the American public.

He bankrupted every company he ever ran and needed Daddy's friends to bail him out. Tax cuts to the wealthy are his way of paying back. What a schmuck :idea: or is it putz?

[54anickel]

41. Hiya AnneD. Actually he makes old Baghdad Bob seem intelligent & honest

I think more and more of the public is slowly waking up to the fact that the idgit 'n thief has truely f'ed them over big time.

[Nite Owl]

8. Sounds like they are pretty desperate

to bring up the economy. That issue has been handed over to the dems for quite a while now, people think that the dems would do a better job. People sort of know by now that their bank accounts are low or non existant and that they are working longer hours for less. It's pretty hard to make people think that they are better off after six years, that $300 tax break was gone long ago.

[area51]

9. "strong economy"

In what alternate universe do we have a strong economy? Jobs are extremely hard to come by, which is proof of a very weak economy.

[stevebreeze]

10. Gee the economy is doing worse then his pre tax cut estimates.

How could that be? WE were told how fast the economy would grow without the tax cuts and with them when they were trying to sell these turkeys. The economy is actually slower growing then they estimated without the tax cuts.

In fact this is the weakest post war recovery in every respect, except corporate profits. great article here. http://www.cbpp.org/8-9-05bud.htm

[lpbk2713]

11. I just went to Google Business News ....

Here ...


And what were the first two threads?

Housing slump sends chill through US ..... Weak home building drags down US economic growth ..... Worst in 30 Years

and

Chevron earnings surge to a record ..... Oil company posts a profit of $5 billion .... Now they can retire some more senior execs at $500 Million each.



Smirky omitted the minor detail of just WHO the economy was good for.

[lostnotforgotten]

12. Is This A Strong Economy?

[Ravy]

13. Repubs spending borrowed money spurs the economy too. (n/t)

[DeepModem Mom]

15. NYT/Reuters: Bush Tries to Shift Campaign Focus to Taxes

Bush Tries to Shift Campaign Focus to Taxes
By REUTERS
Published: October 28, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, struggling to boost Republicans at risk of losing control of the U.S. Congress, said on Saturday his tax cuts were spurring vibrant economic growth and accused Democrats of wanting to raise taxes.

"Cutting your taxes worked,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address. "Unfortunately, the Democrats are still determined to raise your taxes, and if they gain control of the Congress, they can do so without lifting a finger.''

In a campaign dominated by growing concerns about the unrelenting bloodshed in Iraq, Bush has had trouble gaining traction for his economic message....

***

Democrats contend Bush's cuts in tax rates on income and investments have overwhelmingly favored the wealthy.

They say Bush's economic policies have racked up huge deficits, while failing to help middle-class Americans struggling with lackluster wage gains and rising costs for health care and college tuition....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-bush.html

[Demit]

16. Oops! The NYT did it again.

I see they missed this little corrected fact about the economy: that 1.6 percent growth in gross domestic product figure they use, along with Bush's claim of a "vibrant economy," is actually .09 percent.


Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- An unexpected increase in auto production last quarter was a statistical fluke that will be reversed, making current U.S. economic growth even weaker, according to a former Commerce Department economist.

Last quarter's annualized 26 percent increase in motor vehicle production shocked Joe Carson, now director of economic research at AllianceBernstein LP in New York. Without the gain, the economy would have grown at an annual rate of 0.9 percent, not the 1.6 percent the Commerce Department reported today.

The reported increase in output came despite cutbacks announced by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and others. A drop in the wholesale price of SUVs and light trucks as the automakers cleared leftover 2006 models made production look stronger than it actually was, said Carson. The economic fallout from the auto-industry cutbacks will instead come this quarter, he said.

``Last quarter was weak even with the benefit of this mismatch and the fourth quarter will now also be weak because it's going the other way,'' Carson said. ``Whatever output you have this quarter, which will probably be down, will be discounted by a likely rebound in prices.''
...

<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alZ... >

[DeepModem Mom]

17. Thanks, Dem!

[Ravy]

18. My economy would be vibrant if I put 9 trillion on my credit card, too.

Every "good" economy message from the administration should be immediately countered with the fact that the money we borrow from China is spent here in the US-- spurring the economy.

[MiniMe]

19. Gee, I thought it was the housing boom and oil profits

Silly me.

[OhioChick]

20. Strong economy my ass........

From:August 30, 2006


Cleveland tops poverty list; Toledo in middle

CLEVELAND - Cleveland doesn't need numbers to know it's impoverished.

For the second time in three years, Cleveland sits atop the U.S. Census Bureau's list of poorest big cities, reclaiming the inglorious title from Detroit after a one-year hiatus.

Civic leaders, who showed off the city last week to the 2008 Republican National Convention site selection committee, were informed yesterday that the latest statistics showed that 32.4 percent, nearly one in three of Cleveland's 452,200 residents, were living below the poverty level in 2005, according to the American Community Survey.

Cleveland wasn't the only Ohio city near the top of the big-city rankings. Cincinnati ranked No. 8, with one out of every four Cincinnatians, or 25 percent, living in poverty, according to the survey.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/NEWS16/608300405

[Lefty48197]

21. Real Estate values are crashing with the housing bust

That's not a strong economy, stupid.

[TheFarseer]

22. I'll say it again

Tax rates are only a small factor in economic growth. No one is going to say "well, there's no sense in making money when I'm getting taxed at 39%, but at 35% that makes it worth starting a business and making money" A much greater factor is emerging markets like the auto industry in the 20's, computers in the 90's. Why not alternative energy now? Innovation drives this economy, not tax cuts. For example, a turn around on the farm economy seems possible for the first time in years - was it because of the bush tax cuts???? NO!!! It is completely because of ethanol, an emerging market. This was *partially* made possible by special targeted tax breaks, but that is far different from bush's blanket tax cuts.

[stepnw1f]

23. You Mean Weakest Economy.... only the wealthiest Benefit...

nobody else does.

[Fovea]

24. Bush's tax cut for the uber rich

during a time of war, and his huge military and para military expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in a rising tide that lifts all yachts.

For the rest of us, it's more like Jeffersonn Parish.

[smoogatz]

25. Ahem. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen--

I can create the illusion of prosperity, too, if you let me write $500 billion in bad checks every year.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Let's see what he says in two weeks, after the elections, when everything

goes into "correction status."

[formercia]

27. And a Trillion or so added to the National Debt

any dumb fool can live off a credit card.....

[survivor999]

28. Nope. It was Jupiter's orbit.

[dkofos]

30. More lies

I, for one, just don't believe ANYTHING this misadministration says.

[karlrschneider]

32. See this thread...it's now being called a 'fluke'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2584150

[NVMojo]

33. Bush: It's About Taxes; Dem: It's Iraq

(AP) President Bush defended his tax cuts Saturday, saying they had fueled a strong U.S. economy despite news this week of a slowdown.

In his weekly radio address, Mr. Bush reprised his campaign trail argument that if Democrats gain control of Congress, they will let tax cuts expire.

"Cutting your taxes worked," Mr. Bush said. "Unfortunately, the Democrats are still determined to raise your taxes, and if they gain control of the Congress, they can do so without lifting a finger."

Mr. Bush said taxes are a huge issue in the Nov. 7 election. He said the tax cuts orchestrated by his administration have left more money in the hands of workers, families and small businesses — money they have used to sustain a bustling economy.

A Commerce Department report Friday, however, stirred fresh debate about the country's financial health.

more...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/28/politics/main2135151.shtml

[LynnTheDem]

34. Gee, bush, that ain't what your GAO is saying...

GAO chief warns economic disaster looms

"it's time to steer the nation off the path to financial ruin"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2584719&mesg_id=2584719

[Straight Shooter]

35. More money in the hands of the top 1 percent.

So they could donate to the GOP which accepts unethical contributions from lobbyists that represent corporations who pay those fat cats, so they can have even more money because the GOP won't raise the minimum wage or provide health care benefits, et cetera, et cetera.

Reinstating taxes where they belong is not a tax increase, it's an economic form of homeostasis which is necessary for survival.

[brentspeak]

36. Cutting taxes sure worked for Bush's constituency, that's for sure

As for the other 95% of the nation...

[stray cat]

37. If its about taxes - its only for the top 1% of estate holders

Working Americans never get a piece republican initiatives.

[truthisfreedom]

38. "the slowest in more than three years. The sub-par performance..." (n/m)

[Monkeyman]

39. Nancy said something on this

http://democraticleader.house.gov

[Zensea]

40. Guess Bush forgot he can still veto bills if he wants

or does he think the Democrats are going to have two-thirds of the seats in the House and Senate?
or maybe he's so stupid he forgot he can veto legislation.

edit -- oops, if they are tax cuts only passed for a limited amount of time Bush is right. Damn.

[HuffleClaw]

43. Mr. Bush said taxes are a huge issue in the Nov. 7 election.

BWAHHAAHHHAHAHAHAAAAAa

[flordehinojos]

42. just another one of bush's plain right and out lies, or just another one of his

delusional fantasies. take your pick. neither is based on any sort of reality.

[DuaneBidoux]

44. Government spending and low interest rates have fuled the economy