LAT : GOP Always Falls Down on the Jobs

[Manix]

<snip>
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has monitored the ups and downs in unemployment since the 1940s. The figures show that presidents can and do have a significant effect on the job prospects of working Americans.


Simply put, these statistics indicate that high unemployment has been a chronic problem under Republican presidents. From 1947 through 2001, five Republican presidents produced an average unemployment rate of 6.3%, while five Democratic presidents produced an average unemployment rate of 4.8%.


http://tinyurl.com/oqg2

[mhr]

1. Sent Article and Link

to my email list with the following preamble:

Hi All,

The LA Times presents an interesting study, linked below, of the US
economy and which political party is to blame for high unemployment.

In a nutshell, if you want to be and remain employed, VOTE Democratic.
If you don't like working, VOTE Republican.

Anecdotally, one can share that in recent discussions with sales people
in Dallas, TX, they have said to a person "when republicans are in office,
our sales and commissions go to crap" and "when democrats run the show,
the good times flow."

The correlation is clear. Unemployed people don't buy as much as those
with jobs. Since most Americans need steady income to survive, it is clear
that most Americans will be voting Democratic!

Enjoy
------

I also forwarded it to my elected representatives, republicans all.

[e-mail],
[e-mail],
[e-mail].

We need to keep the pressure on these folks!

[realFedUp]

2. LA Times link and author

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-bartells26sep26,1,7850840.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

GOP Always Falls Down on the Jobs
By Larry M. Bartels
Larry M. Bartels directs the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

September 26, 2003

President Bush appeared in Ohio, Missouri and Indiana this month to tell Middle America that the U.S. economy was now "looking up." But a Labor Department report that employers shed another 93,000 jobs in August intensified public concerns about a "jobless recovery" and persistent unemployment. "We've got a short-term problem," the president acknowledged, but he added that tax cuts and economic growth would spur job creation.

The question that looms large 14 months before the 2004 election is how much, if any, of the current unemployment problem should be blamed on President Bush. The president's supporters point out that the economy was already in a recession when he took office and that employment trends were significantly affected by long-term changes in technology, demographics and foreign trade. Critics respond that Bush, as his father did, has paid too little attention to domestic economic problems and done more for the wealthy than for the jobless.

Citizens wary of contradictory partisan claims would do well to look at the record. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has monitored the ups and downs in unemployment since the 1940s. The figures show that presidents can and do have a significant effect on the job prospects of working Americans.

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