Thursday, April 15, 2004
Note: if I begin an entry with the words "real quick", interpret that to mean "real friggin' long".
Haven't really been hearing so much about the economy, have we?
The media has chosen to focus on the 9/11 commission and the war in Iraq, whereas before they'd been harping about how everyone thinks the economy sucks.
Bush has taken a lot of heat for his economic policy, which included tax cuts for all brackets (yes, that means the rich. Shudder gasp.). He's been accused of giving his rich buddies tax breaks while doing nothing to fight jobs being exported to India (I already covered that). They allege that the economy's still dragging, and that the strong economic growth we've experienced has been a "jobless recovery".
Ladies and gentlemen, we have vindication. According to preliminary numbers, over 300,000 jobs were created in March 2004.
For a long time, Bush supporters have been claiming that cutting taxes would stimulate the economy and lead to job growth. His detractors first said the economy wasn't growing. Then, they claimed it was a "jobless recovery".
So what's left?
If you're John Kerry, the solution is obvious.
Make shit up.
See, there's this economic indicator called the "Misery Index". It's a simple idea: it adds the unemployment rate with the rate of inflation, which is how much buying power your dollar carries.
Under this classic, universally accepted definition of the Index, and when compared to the previous 56 years, Bush's average Misery Index of 7.4 can only be beaten by Bill Clinton's second term. While I reject the idea that the government has much control over the economy and that Presidents should be blamed or credited with how well the economy does, there are certain things you can do to help the economy. Namely, get out of the way. Lowering taxes, avoiding regulation, and privatizing are the best ways to help an economy grow. With the exception of his ridiculous Medicare bill, Bush has done a great job of removing the government drag on the economy.
However, that doesn't help John Kerry get elected.
So instead of following the old definition of the Misery Index, Kerry has helpfully come up with a BRAND SPANKING NEW, BETTER THAN EVER Misery Index.
And, shock of all shocks, his new Index makes Bush look bad.
Kerry's new Misery Index uses college tuition (he only uses the increase in public school tuition, because including private schools would reduce the Index and thus fail to serve their purpose), gasoline (Uh, John Kerry wanted to increase the tax on gasoline by 50 cents a gallon. And again, I fail to see what the President is supposed to do about gas prices. We can't drill in America, because that'd be enviormentally bad for whatever reason.), and health care (If the government or employers pay for health care as they do now, of course prices are going to go up. Consumers don't have to pay for it, therefore they take all they can get. If someone else paid for my food, I'd be eating Filet Mignon steak every night.).
So, in other words, Kerry picked three areas in which prices went up, and decided to scream that they proved Bush is handling the economy badly.
Of course, pessimism of all things Bush is a way of life for Democrats. Consider this excerpt from a John Kerry op-ed in the Washington Post:
"The United Nations, not the United States, should be the primary civilian partner in working with Iraqi leaders to hold elections, restore government services, rebuild the economy, and re-create a sense of hope and optimism among the Iraqi people."
Let's put aside that the United Nations has no experience in rebuilding a nation with a hostile possibility, is not equipped to do so, and has no desire to do so. Read that last part again.
"...re-create a sense of hope and optimism among the Iraqi people."
Damn, that sucks. The Iraqis aren't optimistic about their future? Shucks.
Wait....wait a minute. I used an ABC News poll of Iraqis as a source for my previous post. Maybe it can shed some light on just how pessimistic Bush has made the Iraqi people.
"And the level of personal optimism is extraordinary: Seventy-one percent expect their lives to improve over the next year."
Way to stay on the ball there, John.
Whether it is the economy or the Iraq War, John Kerry has made a campaign out of painting the bleakest picture he possibly can of the last three years.
As I've shown you, it's nothing more than posturing to take the White House.
Bush has done a brilliant job of handling the economy. He's going out there and defeating gathering threats before they can pull off another 9/11. And he's allowing you and I to keep more of our money.
In comparison, Kerry has promoted his Bush-bashing platform while only giving lip service (and bad lip service at that) to coming up with alternate visions for America.
Don't let the Dems fool you. Things are looking up. Life is good in America.
It will only get better.
Haven't really been hearing so much about the economy, have we?
The media has chosen to focus on the 9/11 commission and the war in Iraq, whereas before they'd been harping about how everyone thinks the economy sucks.
Bush has taken a lot of heat for his economic policy, which included tax cuts for all brackets (yes, that means the rich. Shudder gasp.). He's been accused of giving his rich buddies tax breaks while doing nothing to fight jobs being exported to India (I already covered that). They allege that the economy's still dragging, and that the strong economic growth we've experienced has been a "jobless recovery".
Ladies and gentlemen, we have vindication. According to preliminary numbers, over 300,000 jobs were created in March 2004.
For a long time, Bush supporters have been claiming that cutting taxes would stimulate the economy and lead to job growth. His detractors first said the economy wasn't growing. Then, they claimed it was a "jobless recovery".
So what's left?
If you're John Kerry, the solution is obvious.
Make shit up.
See, there's this economic indicator called the "Misery Index". It's a simple idea: it adds the unemployment rate with the rate of inflation, which is how much buying power your dollar carries.
Under this classic, universally accepted definition of the Index, and when compared to the previous 56 years, Bush's average Misery Index of 7.4 can only be beaten by Bill Clinton's second term. While I reject the idea that the government has much control over the economy and that Presidents should be blamed or credited with how well the economy does, there are certain things you can do to help the economy. Namely, get out of the way. Lowering taxes, avoiding regulation, and privatizing are the best ways to help an economy grow. With the exception of his ridiculous Medicare bill, Bush has done a great job of removing the government drag on the economy.
However, that doesn't help John Kerry get elected.
So instead of following the old definition of the Misery Index, Kerry has helpfully come up with a BRAND SPANKING NEW, BETTER THAN EVER Misery Index.
And, shock of all shocks, his new Index makes Bush look bad.
Kerry's new Misery Index uses college tuition (he only uses the increase in public school tuition, because including private schools would reduce the Index and thus fail to serve their purpose), gasoline (Uh, John Kerry wanted to increase the tax on gasoline by 50 cents a gallon. And again, I fail to see what the President is supposed to do about gas prices. We can't drill in America, because that'd be enviormentally bad for whatever reason.), and health care (If the government or employers pay for health care as they do now, of course prices are going to go up. Consumers don't have to pay for it, therefore they take all they can get. If someone else paid for my food, I'd be eating Filet Mignon steak every night.).
So, in other words, Kerry picked three areas in which prices went up, and decided to scream that they proved Bush is handling the economy badly.
Of course, pessimism of all things Bush is a way of life for Democrats. Consider this excerpt from a John Kerry op-ed in the Washington Post:
"The United Nations, not the United States, should be the primary civilian partner in working with Iraqi leaders to hold elections, restore government services, rebuild the economy, and re-create a sense of hope and optimism among the Iraqi people."
Let's put aside that the United Nations has no experience in rebuilding a nation with a hostile possibility, is not equipped to do so, and has no desire to do so. Read that last part again.
"...re-create a sense of hope and optimism among the Iraqi people."
Damn, that sucks. The Iraqis aren't optimistic about their future? Shucks.
Wait....wait a minute. I used an ABC News poll of Iraqis as a source for my previous post. Maybe it can shed some light on just how pessimistic Bush has made the Iraqi people.
"And the level of personal optimism is extraordinary: Seventy-one percent expect their lives to improve over the next year."
Way to stay on the ball there, John.
Whether it is the economy or the Iraq War, John Kerry has made a campaign out of painting the bleakest picture he possibly can of the last three years.
As I've shown you, it's nothing more than posturing to take the White House.
Bush has done a brilliant job of handling the economy. He's going out there and defeating gathering threats before they can pull off another 9/11. And he's allowing you and I to keep more of our money.
In comparison, Kerry has promoted his Bush-bashing platform while only giving lip service (and bad lip service at that) to coming up with alternate visions for America.
Don't let the Dems fool you. Things are looking up. Life is good in America.
It will only get better.
Comments:
Post a Comment
