Updated
The economy is on fire. Over 200,000 new jobs were added in March causing the unemployment rate to drop to 4.7%. President Bush commented on the good numbers today.
President George W. Bush hailed what he called an “economic resurgence” after new figures showed the US economy created 211,000 more jobs in March.
Bush also called on Congress to enact controversial tax cuts passed early in his administration on a permanent basis, while also restraining spending.
“These millions of new jobs are evidence of an economic resurgence that is strong, broad and benefiting all Americans,” he said in televised comments from the White House.
In a rare appearance to comment on economic data, Bush said Friday’s “non-farm payrolls” report showed the US economy had now added jobs for 31 months in a row.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent in March, he noted.
“It’s below the average rate of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s,” he said, adding that the US economy grew last year at a faster rate than any other any major industrialized economy.
“These gains are the result of the energy and the effort of American workers, small business owners and entrepreneurs. They are also the result of pro-growth economic policies,” he said, recapping the tax cuts.
“Tax relief has done exactly what it was designed to do. It’s created jobs and growth for the American people. Yet some are now proposing that we raise taxes, either by repealing the tax cuts or letting them expire,” Bush said.
“These are the same politicians who told us that letting America’s families keep more of their money would be irresponsible, wreckless and shameful. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.”
In spite of the economic numbers before her, Nancy Pelosi continues her “economy is in the tank” diatribe:
“President Bush should ask American families, millions of whom are struggling to make ends meet and going deeper in debt, if they believe that there is ‘an economic resurgence that is strong, broad and benefiting all Americans,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday…
“With tax cuts for the wealthiest few causing red ink as far as the eye can see, incomes falling, and our jobs moving overseas, the economic record of President Bush is dismal for middle-class families,” Pelosi said. “The Bush economy is going in the wrong direction: gas prices are sky-high and health costs are an overwhelming burden for too many Americans.”
Although Pelosi claims jobs are going overseas, there appear to be quite a few people gainfully employed in the United States. Friday’s statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor show, according to The Associated Press, “employers added 211,000 jobs in a springtime hiring burst that benefited almost all sectors of the economy and lowered the national unemployment rate to 4.7 percent
A good economy is bad news for the Dems, so they can not allow themselves to even acknowledge what the facts so obviously prove. However, if a Democrat were presiding over such a strong economy, both the Dems and the media would be shouting the good news from every proverbial roof top.
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Dr. Sanity writes about a dinner party conversation about the economy:
At a dinner party the other night, I thought I had accidently stumbled through the looking glass into wonderland when one of the other guests began to grumble about the “horrible” economy. As is reflexive with Ann Arborites, they then all bemoaned the insensitive Bush administration which had destroyed the lives of millions of Americans because of Republican economic policies–which we all know cause poverty and despair.
Jayson from Polipundit notes these, and other, interesting numbers:
BTW, the breakdown of last month’s net payroll gains:
187,000 – private sector.
24,000 – public sector.Yeah, nearly an 8:1 ratio in favor of the private sector.
Go figure.
Update: Newsbusters posted on how the evening news treated today’s economic report. Brian Williams at NBC said the economy is simply too complicated to accept the good economic numbers at face value. Elizabeth Vargas of ABC News acknowledged the 31 months of growth but spent only 25 seconds on the entire story. However, CBS didn’t mention one word about the great jobs report. Instead, anchor Bob Scheiffer spent time on the Bush/Libby “leak” story. No surprises here.
Update II: John at Power Line asks a great question:
One thing puzzles me: how can consumer confidence be soaring, while at the same time 59% said in a recent poll that they disapprove of President Bush’s “handling of the economy?”
Answer: see the first update.
Whats been the total net job output since Bush was annointed in 2000?
This many.
Are the Bureau of Labor Statisitcs just a bunch of reflexive Ann Arborites?
Just think where the economy would be if 9/111 hadn’t happened, and if the economy hadn’t been going south before the 2000 elections.
6% max? Take a look under 92-94, it was pretty sucky then. Might want to check 82-85 also, it really sucked then.
In fact, if you run that back about as far as you can, you end up seeing that there’s about a 10-year cycle, give or take a couple of years, of peaks and valleys. Major peakage, about ’75, 83. 93, 2003.
Of course, it doesn’t mean all that much in the great scheme of things. But go ahead and pretend it’s all Bush’s fault. Because it NEVER peaks on a Democrat’s watch… yeah, right! LOL!
J.
DDT
Try stepping back and viewing the same search (as well as total employed, total unemployed) since 1950. See where the patterns follow the elections, and admit that it usually takes 1-2 years of policy to effect a big change that lasts in our economy. Bush’s dip in unemployed occurred with the dot com crash (a Clinton induced phenomena) and the 9/11 effect on our economy. Couple with the multitude of illegal immigrants working, and a clearer picture emerges.
At what point does optimism become delusion?
Durable goods flowing through the economic pipeline
is what is driving the US economy. That’s “stuff”
for making stuff. New housing starts and re-fi’s
with cash-outs to buy bigger and better houses
and more ‘stuff’ to fill it with directly corresponds
to the need for workers to build, store and ship
all that ‘stuff’. When the money from the re-fi
depletes, it’s back to the plastic money for those
‘necessary’ purchases that contribute to more
manufacture and trade goods. Only a fool sees
‘growth’ of this nature as an eternal spring of
prosperity and wealth. There is an endgame, and
it is the arrival of the butcher’s bill when
the debt can no longer be supported on an individual, or national basis.
DDT – when I read the word “anointed”, it immediately told me everything I need to know about you, and to not attach any credibility to what you say or write.
Bush got more votes by every single count. Even the liberal publications that sent their own “teams” in for recount after recount all came up with more votes for Bush. Yet the liberal wacko talking points still include “Bush stole the election”. I guess if Al Gore rants enough about something, the stupidest among us will believe it.
I don’t care much for George Bush, but I am not so ignorant as to say he didn’t win the election.
2.9 million (-17%) manufacturing jobs lost since 2001. Total job creation: 7 million short of population growth, 1/2001-1/2006. Five year net new private sector jobs: 1,054,000; total new immigrants, same period: 7,900,000.
byranD – The manufacturing bust is a direct result of the Unions having too much power and the company Managements caving in to them during “good times” to avoid crippling strikes. Look at every business sector where a Powerful Union is involved and what do you see?… the businesses going banckrupt and the greedy Unions wanting more while producing less. Auto Industry, Airline Industry, Governmental Workers, Medical and Education. Wonder why the foreign Auto Companies and Wal-Marts don’t have the same problems? Because they have no Unions and the Union Bureaucracies that come with them. Of course Moonbats like you would never guess that in a million years.
DDT you actually made a mistake in your chart, but I’m not going to complain because it accidentally helps me with a point. You selected unemployment rates between 2000 and 2006. George Bush didn’t become President until January 2001. The 2000 stats were Clinton. But take a close look at those stats on the chart you linked. Notice that the unemployment rate started to climb before January 2001.
The downward trend of the economy began before Bush even took office. At the company I worked for back then, our business started to sag in January 2000 and by November we were shutting our doors for the last time after 10 years of business.
The Dems have to lie to everyone including themselves. A real view of the world keeps them out of power forever.
Oh and by the way DDT. Even though a President is inaugurated in January he doesn’t actually take control of the economy until October. That’s because the federal fiscal year ends on September 30.
So when George Bush actually took charge of the economy the unemployment rate was 5.4%, so his net is a decrease from 5.4% to 4.7% to date.
It is interesting to see the very wealthy on the left pushing the “economy is in the tank”. All that America shows us now is how spoiled we are. There is nothing that these people “need” but just what they want and have grown accustomed to. They don’t know the meaning of sacrifice and that pushes them to say that things are bad.
People who are firmly entrenched in the middle class or lower know that you shouldn’t have 20K in deb on credit cards. That you need to work as much as you can to take care of your family. That if you can’t afford that Mercedes you look at it and then buy the Toyota. That you don’t envy someone else because they have the ability to buy the Mercedes you look to how you can improve yourself and your income to eventually buy that.
This country has become spoiled and that is why we have this idea that the economy is bad. In any other point in American history this would have been a thriving economy driving an optimistic and forward thinking electorate. In this day and age people think the economy is a mess because they can’t afford that 60K car they wanted or the $1M house their friend bought.
I worked my butt of for a solid education, paid for it myself, paid for grad school and about to get my PMP certification. I teach my daughter that it is no ones responsibility to take care of her as an adult. My niece gets her allowance and puts it in 3 envelopes, 1 for her spending, 1 for saving, and 1 for gifts and charity.
They may do this out of love or genuinely wanting to help but it is not your neighbors or your governments responsibility to care for you when you are not willing to invest in your own future.
When most of us throw enough food in the garbage during 1 month to dwarf the amount of available food in some villages. Is it any wonder that people look at us as a bunch of spoiled children sometimes.
lakeside, government jobs ARE unionized but GROWING (d’Oh!). As for(largely) non-union jobs (1/2001-1/2006): “communications equipment lost 43% of its workforce. Semiconductors and electronic components lost 37% of its workforce. The workforce in computers and electronic products declined 30%. Electrical equipment and appliances lost 25% of its employees. The workforce in motor vehicles and parts declined 12%. Furniture and related products lost 17% of its jobs. Apparel manufacturers lost almost half of the work force. Employment in textile mills declined 43%. Paper and paper products lost one-fifth of its jobs. The work force in plastics and rubber products declined by 15%. Even manufacturers of beverages and tobacco products experienced a 7% shrinkage in jobs.” !Viva la Bush!
lakeside, OH! speaking of moonbats: you said: “Of course Moonbats like you would never guess that in a million years.” MILLION YEARS!! A MILLION!!! Why not a KA-ZILLION?? HOO-HA!(You so Funny!)
And yet my company that was a tech company that is supposed to be hurting has grown from 1300 employees in 2000 and doing 300 million a year in revenue is now at 15,000 employees and just topped 5 billion in revenue. My own work site has grown from 30 employees to over 200…and I’m hiring 4 new people this week.
These are professional engineering jobs in the tech sector…
“With tax cuts for the wealthiest few causing red ink as far as the eye can see, incomes falling, and our jobs moving overseas, the economic record of President Bush is dismal for middle-class families,” Pelosi said. “The Bush economy is going in the wrong direction: gas prices are sky-high and health costs are an overwhelming burden for too many Americans.”
Tax cuts for the wealthy: The GDP has grown an average of 3.2% annually since Bush took office. Despite 9/11, Katrina, Columbia, and Enron. I wonder if those tax cuts had anything to do with it? Why are the Democrats opposed to Americans keeping any more of their own money?
Incomes Falling:
Avg Hourly Wage
Oct 2001 = $14.47
Mar 2006 = $16.51
Difference = +14%
Rate of Inflation (same period) = 11.82%
So Avg Hourly Wage over the course of Bush’s Presidency has outpaced inflation. So the Falling Incomes meme is FALSE.
Jobs are moving oversees: Unemployment rate has been steadily decreasing for several years now. How does she make that argument with a straight face?
Gas Prices are Sky high: Which party again blocked drilling for oil in ANWR? Would increasing our supply decrease the cost any? I guess the laws of supply and demand don’t apply to Democrats.
Health Costs are too high: Which party blocked Social Security reform again? Which party is in bed with the trial lawyers? Next time you go to the doctor ask him how much he pays in malpractice insurance premiums and why.
The reason that San Fran Nan and her fellow libs keep beating the “economic sky is falling!” drum is that… it works. When people are constantly told (as we are, by the MSM) that things are bad and likely to get worse, they tend to start believing them. Another big reason that people think the economy is doing poorly is the rising cost of gas / energy and health care.
Adam raised a good point in that Americans are rather spoiled; things ARE going fairly well in our economy, but there’s always room for improvement. It would be interesting to see the results of a poll that asks something along the lines of “Are people who you know better off now than they were four years ago?” When people have to think about somebody besides themselves, they tend to be a bit more objective… and start realizing that the Smiths bought another new car, and the Jones family moved to a bigger house three months ago, and that John Doe won’t shut up about how much OT he has to work because his plant can’t keep up with all the orders they’ve been getting…
Anyway, what do we expect from the opposition party? “Our opponents’ policies are working well, but vote for US anyway”?
“…but there’s always room for improvement.’
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
President Bush should ask American families, millions of whom are struggling to make ends meet and going deeper in debt..
That’s because, Ms. Pelosi, it’s common for many people to use their credit cards as savings accounts. Not everyone of course, but a lot of people do this.
Adam, when you talking about us being wasteful, food is a great example – I ate at an Indian buffet this week, and they had a huge sign that stated “Please don’t waste food”. It makes you think a little bit…
Working for a large multinational corporation, I can say that all foreigners that I deal with daily would give up a promotion or a decent management position to work as an engineer in the U.S. and get paid in U.S. Dollars.*
* the exception to that is the Canadians, but right now the jobs in Quebec are going out faster than they came in – for my employer anyway…
What about the NATIONAL Debt? Remember that GDP includes Govt spending. It’s not hard to “finance” economic growth by borrowing from other countries to finance costly wars and tax breaks.
Inflation adjusted National Debt #s
Increase from:
1945 – 1980 = 0
1980 – 1992 = avg of 250 bil per yr
1992 – 2000 = avg of What about the NATIONAL Debt? Remember that GDP includes Govt spending. It’s not hard to “finance” economic growth by borrowing from other countries to finance costly wars and tax breaks.
Inflation adjusted National Debt #s
Increase from:
1945 – 1980 = 0
1980 – 1992 = avg of 250 bil per yr
1992 – 2000 = avg of
2000 – present = avg of 450 bil per yr
Please remind me – which one is the fiscally conservative party?
Correction to previous post –
What about the NATIONAL Debt? Remember that GDP includes Govt spending. It’s not hard to “finance” economic growth by borrowing from other countries to finance costly wars and tax breaks.
Inflation adjusted National Debt #s
Increase from:
1945 – 1980 = 0
1980 – 1992 = avg of 250 bil per yr
1992 – 2000 = avg of 90 bil per yr
2000 – present = avg of 450 bil per yr
Tom, foreign debt is one thing but it takes massive economic illiteracy to not believe that tax breaks don’t help the economy. They generally always do.
Here in the UK our economy is starting to creak after a few years of ‘tax and spend’ under labour. Taxes as an overall percentage of income have hit a high not seen since when socialism was considered a valid economic theory. Gordon Brown is the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I feel Jamie Whyte (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-2098994,00.html) says it best:
“Is Mr Brown so vastly superior to you in morality and intellect that, sitting in his office in Westminster, knowing nothing of your circumstances or preferences, he can decide better than you how to allocate your spending?”
bryanD
THE SKY IS FALLING !! crawl out from under your desk.
Andrew-
So under your “massively literate” economic theory, it makes sense to continue to borrow money to maintain targeted tax cuts – cuts that won’t result in increased tax revenue? Just keep digging, huh? Someday we’ll reach the other side…
I agree with you that tax breaks can help an ecomony, it just depends on 1) what the current effective taxe rates are for that economy (aprox 20% US and 28% UK), and 2) how those taxes are targeted. Bush and Co.’s last tax reduction proposal targets over 1/2 of it (That’s nearly $400 bil. over 10 years) to those paying taxes on dividends. The vast majority American investors hold their stock in 401k’s, Roths, and Traditional IRAs, and so get nothing from the dividend tax cut. This proposal is great for the top 5% and for Wall Street, but it won’t create jobs and help the economy. It will increase interest rates though.
You supply-siders are living in fantasy land if you really think giving $1 to the wealthy vs. a $1 to the poor will result in quicker return of that $ back into the domestic economy. It’s the carrot for those who already have carrots and it’s the stick for those who already have been beaten.