America's economy is strong. Or it's in trouble. It just depends on who's talking. Trying to retool his message and right his listing presidency, President Bush is speaking out more frequently and forcefully on the economy. It's in good shape right now, his advisers say, and they want him to take more credit for it. The latest reports show healthy increases in economic growth, job creation, home ownership, retail sales and consumer spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at a six-year high. ``This economy is powerful, productive and prosperous and we intend to keep it that way,'' Bush says.
Across town, Democrats are peddling a different message: Soaring gasoline and health care costs are burdening ordinary people; mortgage costs and credit card rates are on the rise; jobs are threatened by outsourcing. As for those tax cuts treasured by Bush, Democrats argue they have benefited mainly the wealthy.
``There's no sharing in the prosperity that the president likes to herald,'' House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said. Friday's unemployment report, showing the jobless rate holding steady at 4.7 percent with a lower-than-expected job-creation rate of 138,000 in April, was seized by both sides to buttress their great-economy/troubled-economy arguments.
Each party accuses the other of ``cherry picking'' statistics to bolster its case. Nearly every major national issue - Iraq, energy policy, immigration - already is politically polarized. Thus it's no surprise the economy is, too. So much so that Republicans and Democrats depict it in terms that are 180 degrees apart. ``One reason the president can't get a lot of traction when talking about the good economy is because it's not good for everyone,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. ``If you're from a wealthier household, the economy is performing very well.
You have a job, your income is rising, your net worth is about as strong as it's ever been,'' Zandi said. ``If you're a lower or middle-income household, you're struggling. Your incomes aren't rising, certainly not as fast as inflation, so your standard of living is falling. You have debt and interest rates are rising,'' Zandi said. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 and a 2008 presidential prospect, talks about ``two Americas'' - one for the poor, one for the rich. Many economists suggest parallel economies exist as well.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5806194,00.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
