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Sunday, January 08, 2006
Tee ball
GOP Newsline isn't even trying anymore. They quote at length and approvingly from a Rich Lowry column about hot great the economy is. The national economy is doing well, on the whole. But there are definite winners and losers. Lowry himself points this out:
It wasn't too long ago that the Democrats were comparing President Bush to the alleged mastermind of the Great Depression. Back in 2003, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that Bush had "the worst record on jobs since Herbert Hoover," repeating a talking point meant to get the names "Bush" and "Hoover" within close proximity. If Democrats were to evaluate today's economy in similarly ridiculous Depression-era terms, they would have to hail Bush as the new FDR.
It took 4 years of Bush-onomics for the nation to break even in job creation. While driving the deficit to new heights each year, Bush wasn't able to create a single net new job until the very end of his first term. Compared to his first term, Bush's second term has seen overwhelming job creation. Compared to the last president, Bush's job creation has been flat lousy. A great month under Bush is an average month of the Clinton economic miracle.
But here's the killer quote that GOP Newsline doesn't have the sense to elide:
MasterCard reported that holiday sales increased 8.7 percent over last year. Sales of electronics were up 11 percent, and home furnishings were up 15 percent. Purchases exceeding $1,000 increased by 13 percent. The Wall Street Journal noted that economic pessimists harp about median incomes declining, but "judging by these holiday sales, somebody must have money."
Somebody does have money -- the problem with the Bush economy is that the people who have more money today are the people who started out with more money yesterday. This is a government of the wealthy, for the wealthy, and by the wealthy. Median incomes are declining, according to the Wall Street Journal (The median income is stagnant more than declining, but the WSJ editorial board doesn't care. Their readers on the right side of the "decline".) But big ticket purchases are up.
You ask these people what 2 plus 2 equals and they answer "eliminate the death tax".
Median incomes are declining while the percentage of income going to the top 1% of earners is increasing. The bottom 90%, and particularly the bottom 50%, are getting screwed. They aren't out buying $1,000 gifts for Christmas. They are looking for sales at Target and hoping that this year they get a raise that covers the increases in health insurance premiums.
The people at Newsline don't care that much of America is doing worse now than last year. What kills me, though, is that they don't even have the sense to hide their indifference.
