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November 4, 2006
Is It The Economy, Stupid?
I wonder if this is really a viable card to play. Seriously, when was the last time the economy really stunk for everyone? Post-9/11? Okay, the GOP effectively controlled the federal government at that point and got a pass. Was it during any time in the Clinton years? After '94, the GOP controlled the Congress.
If you go back to 1992, you'll find a recession while the Democratics controlled both the House and Senate. But that was, in historical terms as I remember it (and I welcome correction), a fairly mild one.
Was the last really bad recession in the Reagan years? After the October '87 stock-market crash?
My point is, who remembers? For Americans who make more than $100,000, doesn't it seem that things have been pretty good for while? That's what this Administration has been telling us since 2002. Yes, lots of white-collar jobs have disappeared. And sure, manufacturing jobs are almost as extinct as snail darters. But the stock market's gone up to about 80% of where it was, in real terms, during FY 2000. Also, the economy has generated a ton of low-wage, health-sector jobs.
I don't see the economy as a plus for the GOP. Maybe in the board rooms. But not on Main street.
Posted by shertaugh at November 4, 2006 5:14 AM
Comments
I heard the President on the radio last night at a rally in Missouri boasting that "the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in five and a half years!" So it's the lowest its been since Bill Clinton left office?
Posted by: Mark Chilton at November 4, 2006 7:48 AM