Bush Claims Credit for Economic Upturn

[psychopomp]

Financial Times

(snip)

The 41st president led the US to a swift and relatively bloodless victory in the Gulf in 1991 but recession and his perceived indifference to economic hardship cost him a second term in 1992. By contrast, the 43rd president's foreign policy may yet prove to be a liability with American voters but the economy could come to his rescue.

The signals of an upturn in the US economy are already feeding into Mr Bush's campaign platform. On Monday he flew to Ohio to deliver a Labor Day speech on the economy, offering no new policies but what is essentially a fresh message: he claimed credit for the nascent recovery.

"We acted to come out of that recession. . . We acted with tax relief," he told a group from the International Union of Operation Engineers, which represents US and Canadian construction and maintenance workers. While noting problems in the manufacturing sector and noting the need for more jobs, he said: "It was a shallow recession because of tax relief."

Speaking in the drizzle to a modest crowd, Mr Bush listed economic output "rising faster than expected", consumer spending "also on the rise" and companies "seeing more orders" and concluded: "The economy is beginning to grow. . . There are better days ahead."

-more-

IIRC, we are due for a bump, not a full-fledged recovery. Is this another "Mission Accomplished" SNAFU?

[Nottingham]

1. What Freakin Upturn??????????????????????????

Does every reporter have his Head buried in the sand!!

:bounce:

Unemployment 6.2%
Huge Deficits
Lower Dollar
Interest rates rising
Gold Up

Wake Up People this is not good!

[madrchsod]

4. interest rising

and this is going to force out first time buyers of the least expensive housing. so alot of low cost housing is going to sit empty or will be sold for a loss. the housing markt is starting to implode,interest rates are approaching 6+% thus stalling refiancing for debt reduction,home improvements and major purchases. unemployment is closer to 10 to 12% for many.20% for the young and minorities. there is no recovery untill all those jobs bush lost are regained,but that will never happen. we are fucked untill we decide to take back our government.

[phatkatt]

24. Hey, the economic situation of him and all his friends has turned up!

That's all that matters in his pea-brain.

[Cha]

2. Lyin' sack of Shit! There he goes Lying to our faces again!

I would get a little mad if I were unemployed and that POS told me there was an economic upturn.

[ixion]

3. recovery?

uh, yeah, riiiiight. All you have to do is check the job boards to get a status on this 'recovery'. :eyes:

[psychopomp]

6. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

This reminds me of GHWB being amazed at a supermarket scanner. These Bushes are out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.

[aquart]

5. He found a number that went up?

That must have taken work.

[Robin Hood]

7. And I take credit for the sun shining in my neck of the woods tommorrow.

Now bow down and kiss the ring.

[PartyPooper]

8. The thing that disturbs me the most at the moment

is that 2/3 of the electorate can't even name a single Democrat running for president! What does that tell us?!?

Sadly, Bush will be a shoo-in...unless the American people wake up to this nightmare!

:evilfrown:

[oldleftguy]

9. Proof of an emaculate conception...

is the only proof he needs for an economic turnaround. The sad thing is folks will beleive him.

[depakid]

10. Actually, he can take some of the credit-

Most of the short term growth reported is due to massive and unsustainable increases in military spending necessitated by the war in Iraq. Of course, this is extremely wasteful spending- it's not like investing in infrastructure, social services and health care, which will circulate dollars in local communities and lead to greater returns down the road. For the most part, the opposite is true- especially when you factor in all the tax cuts for the wealthy. Come next year, the economy may well dip into another recession and he'll have a lot more to take credit for.

[ferg]

11. party on credit cards today, deal with the bills later

Say, after the election.

With the massive borrowing binge, it's surprising that the economy is doing as poorly as it is. With $500 Billion of borrowing a year, it should be booming.

[belab13]

12. Thanks for nothing

Defense spending is the ONLY reason the GDP went up and that can't last for ever. This country is gonna be in a world of hurt when the interest rate/ debt linkage gives way to bankruptcy and foreclosure. We're staring another great depression in the eye. I'm an unemployed homeowner with 4 children and I'm biting my nails everyday waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[FloridaPat]

13. A lot of these economic indicators are up because

military spending is included. I keep hearing about the indicators, but I haven't heard which ones. GDP includes military spending. Interesting turn of events - you increase military spending beyond the ceiling - most of it goes to a relative few (Halliburton, Carlyle Group) - then you claim things are getting better.

Remember, this guy couldn't tell the truth if they put it on a teleprompter. Maybe the Dems will keep a copy of this and show it next year.

[userdave2061]

14. Nice Jersey Tom uddered

If any good economic news is to be heard it would be the residual result of the job Bill and Al did in the 90's. Spread the word.

[Old and In the Way]

15. Dead Cat bounce.

[TreasonousBastard]

16. Oh, fuck him.

JUST FUCK HIM!!!!!!

(I can't take it any more)

[Not a robought]

17. What?

Oh wait, I forgot to turn on my bushspeak inverter. Now it all makes sense.

[w4rma]

20. Yup. Whatever Smirky says, it's usually the opposite.

I can't stand that pathalogical lying SOB.

"Bush Doesn't Want Blame for Economic Downturn"

[cthrumatrix]

18. Latest poll I saw...79% of tax returns used to pay bills or save.....

so I guess the other 21% did go to buy things... they are short on stats when they don't look so good.

[dawg]

19. I think the economy is thoroughly screwed

Any statistical bounces we are experiencing now are due to two things: $400 per child tax-checks and increased defense spending. Both are unsustainable and will have been washed out of the economy before next fall.

Increased interest rates will take money out of the consumer's hands, and mortgage refinancings (which has been a major source of cash for consumer spending) are drying up. Health care costs continue to skyrocket, leaving many middle-income families (such as my own) medically impoverished.

Detroit has wrung all the sales out of the American consumer it could using every incentive in the book. That well of consumer spending is about to run dry. Credit cards are maxxed-out, and the rates are getting ready to rise.

And to top it all off, gas prices are close to record-highs. If we have to spend lives and fortunes in Iraq, the least we should have to show for it is cheap gas. But alas, this is not the case.

Call me a pessimist, but I don't see any significant improvement in the economy before next year's election. And there is an outside possibility of a major downturn.

[ewagner]

21. Talk it up

I agree with your assessment and wondered if the Administration is so incredibily stupid as to believe their own rhetoric.

It occurs to me that the Neocon economists know one thing for certain. They learned after 12/12/2000 that they could successfully "talk the economy down" so as to lower expectations. So, if you can "talk the economy down", the opposite must also be true: "you can talk the economy up".

Bush's* speech yesterday had one ominous segment. He talked about how he is "optomistic" about the economy. There is little doubt that his "optomistic" message will become the preferred spin for every right wing talk show host and every AEI and Heritage foundation talking head from now until the election. The "optomistic message" will be contrasted with any Dem who dares state the truth about the sorry-assed state of the economy who will then be portrayed as a "doom-and-gloomer".

If any business leaders actually buy this load of crap, they might try to increase production, hire workers, etc., in order to be the first to capitalize on the non-existant "recovery". Whatever increases the economy may incur will be credit card increases and not sustainable (just as you mentioned.)

What do you think?

[bvar22]

26. If I were a rich, greedy sociopath, I would be optimistic too.

bush* and his few friends in the top 1 percent are doing quite well, thankyou very much.

This economy is wonderful for them. A tad more welfare for the rich, a few more wars, and increase in armaments spending, a few million formerly skilled labor middle class jobs sent overseas for slave wages, a few more environmental restrictions removed....and the NeoCon plan to LOOT AMERICA will be complete.

[losthope]

27. Recovery???????

I feel that the stock market may be going up ever so slightly giving
the impression that the economy is on the rise. This because those who have any money to invest are taking advantage of the lower capital gains taxes. The rest of us are being ignored insofar as the economy is concerned. Let's hope that the majority of people who don't have the extra cash to invest will get off thier tails and vote in the next election. This is my opinion and opinions are like assholes, everybody has one.

[whyaduck]

22. Hahaha

Good one.

He is kidding, right?

[ProfessorGAC]

23. There Is No Upturn

This is random variation within a very depressed state of economic growth. Calling this an upturn is putting earings on a pig and taking it to the prom. You can call it your date, but it's still a pig.

All 6 major economic indicators are still between 3.6 and 5.2 standard deviations from the mean of the last 30 years! Each are in a bad direction (not all positive or negative, since that depends on the variable. Unemployment positive is bad. Growth down is bad.)

This moron is taking credit for a non-existent event. The economy is statistically identical to where it was for the last 6 quarters. The change does not exist.
The Professor

[kodi]

25. truth be to tell he also cured my hemerroids

the guy is amazing.

bush tallng us that his tax cut cured the recession is like a doctor saying he cured a patient's high blood pressure by blood letting.

[Ganja Ninja]

28. He must be referring to gas prices going up.

I give him credit for that.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

29. if there is an upturn....it comes at the expense of our dead soldiers

defense sector is cause upturn (slight)

[Trajan]

30. During 8 glorious years of the Clinton Presidency ....

The GOP INSISTED that "Presidents do not affect the economy" ...

They CANNOT have their cake and eat it too: .... either they DO, or they DONT .....

This present upturn, which the Boy Prince apparently wants to wear as a fucking BADGE: ... this upturn is occurring DESPITE Dumbya's mishandling of the economy: .. the PEOPLE spend us into success: ... the PEOPLE are spending money: ....

The problem with the tax cuts were NOT the stimulative effects on the Middle Class, which DO work because they are demand side, but that the GREATER part of the tax cut will NOT stimulate anything more than the bankers glee: at the expense of the solvency of the US government ..... and hence the solvency of the citizens of the united states as a whole ...

His HUGE deficits, a hallmark of the FALSE prosperity of a GOP administration, are already putting pressure on the lending markets, driving up interest rates in the key areas ....

THAT chicken wil come hom to roost, unfortunately ....

AGAIN: ... ANOTHER GOP administration DESTROYS the american dream to satisfy their need of having it all at the expense of all ....