Bush and the Economy
Dear editor:
During his trip to Africa President Bush held a full fledged press conference for the first time in quite a while. Some of the inquiries faced by the president dealt with the state of the American economy, especially in the face of the latest Department of Labor reports. His answer to these questions left many reporters scratching their heads unable to understand his interpretation of our economy and the view of many economists.
While he finally admitted that he was “concerned about the economy” he also believes “that our economy has got the fundamentals in place for us to grow and continue growing, more robustly hopefully than we’re growing now. So we’re still for a strong dollar.” That answer leaves one to wonder what planet the president is on. Look at the true facts that deny the president’s viewpoint.
1) In March 2003 the U.S. dollar was worth 98 cents as compared to the Euro. As of the end of February 2008 that same American dollar is worth only 68 cents in exchange for the Euro. That’s a drop of almost 31% in just five years of Mr. Bush’s leadership. The falling dollar value has given a huge boost to crude oil prices.
2) Thanks to Mr. Bush’s war in Iraq and his tax breaks to the rich, the U.S. debt has climbed to $9 trillion with no end in site for the war, the cost of it and the resulting increase in debt. A great record for seven and a half years.
3) Unemployment is increasing.
4) Inflation has raised its ugly head and is heading upwards. Mr. Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve has told Congress “I don’t anticipate stagflation.” Wonderful words to support his president, but almost impossible to defend in the face of our problems.
5) Oil has surpassed $102 per barrel and the possibility of $4 a gallon gasoline is a very real possibility in the near future.
6) The sub-prime mortgage mess is a disaster with people losing their homes and their savings. The building industry is having its biggest slowdown in decades and home inventories are still growing. Mr. Bernanke has said that some smaller banks may go belly up.
All of this is in the face of President Bush’s statement that “our economy has its fundamentals in place and we’re still for a strong dollar.” For a man that has been in office for seven and a half years he obviously still doesn’t understand what fundamentals are and is responsible for this mess. Remember, you can delegate authority but you cannot delegate responsibility, and leadership starts at the top.
During his trip to Africa President Bush held a full fledged press conference for the first time in quite a while. Some of the inquiries faced by the president dealt with the state of the American economy, especially in the face of the latest Department of Labor reports. His answer to these questions left many reporters scratching their heads unable to understand his interpretation of our economy and the view of many economists.
While he finally admitted that he was “concerned about the economy” he also believes “that our economy has got the fundamentals in place for us to grow and continue growing, more robustly hopefully than we’re growing now. So we’re still for a strong dollar.” That answer leaves one to wonder what planet the president is on. Look at the true facts that deny the president’s viewpoint.
1) In March 2003 the U.S. dollar was worth 98 cents as compared to the Euro. As of the end of February 2008 that same American dollar is worth only 68 cents in exchange for the Euro. That’s a drop of almost 31% in just five years of Mr. Bush’s leadership. The falling dollar value has given a huge boost to crude oil prices.
2) Thanks to Mr. Bush’s war in Iraq and his tax breaks to the rich, the U.S. debt has climbed to $9 trillion with no end in site for the war, the cost of it and the resulting increase in debt. A great record for seven and a half years.
3) Unemployment is increasing.
4) Inflation has raised its ugly head and is heading upwards. Mr. Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve has told Congress “I don’t anticipate stagflation.” Wonderful words to support his president, but almost impossible to defend in the face of our problems.
5) Oil has surpassed $102 per barrel and the possibility of $4 a gallon gasoline is a very real possibility in the near future.
6) The sub-prime mortgage mess is a disaster with people losing their homes and their savings. The building industry is having its biggest slowdown in decades and home inventories are still growing. Mr. Bernanke has said that some smaller banks may go belly up.
All of this is in the face of President Bush’s statement that “our economy has its fundamentals in place and we’re still for a strong dollar.” For a man that has been in office for seven and a half years he obviously still doesn’t understand what fundamentals are and is responsible for this mess. Remember, you can delegate authority but you cannot delegate responsibility, and leadership starts at the top.
posted by Sam Schoolsky | 6:53 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home