Unemployment Could Bite Bush in the Butt

[RamboLiberal]

I'm posting this just cause I love the headline. May this be true.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_3967.shtml

Only in their nightmares did economists at the White House imagine that their boss would begin his campaign for re-election facing such a frustrating employment picture.
Two years ago President Bush's economic team projected that the nation would add more than 3 million jobs by the end of 2003. Instead, employment has dropped by roughly 2 million since then, bringing total job losses to 2.8 million during the president's three years in office.

So it was last week that Bush set out on his inaugural 2004 campaign trip with the not-welcome task of explaining why people are still having trouble finding jobs.

"I fully realize, in Ohio, there are still troubled times," Bush said, campaigning in one of the states most crucial to his second-term aspirations. "The manufacturing here is sluggish at best and, therefore, people are looking for work."

With little more than 10 months left before Election Day, the president is still waiting for the 2-year-old economic recovery to start producing significant numbers of jobs.

[mhr]

1. The Washington Post Justifies The Jobless Recovery

Here is today's WP editorial and my letter to the editor.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50822-2004Jan26.html?na ...

The Jobless Recovery
Washington Post Editorial
Tuesday, January 27, 2004; Page A16

AS THEY AWAIT the results of the New Hampshire primary, Democrats should take a lesson from the nation's central bankers. Out on the campaign trail, the candidates (with the honorable exception of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut) have been blaming the "jobless recovery" on President Bush, the trade system and the new phenomenon of "offshoring" service jobs to India. In rather less arresting tones, meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has been trying to explain why this blame is exaggerated. As Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday, the United States has lost jobs to foreigners before, yet it has always created others. The Fed committee that sets interest rates meets today and tomorrow, and will demonstrate one of the reasons why the new protectionism is misguided.

Snip ......

It's true that the shift of service jobs to countries such as India, like other trade-related dislocation, adds to the temporary pain of structural unemployment. But, as Mr. Greenspan says, new jobs will be created. If a U.S. firm shifts employment abroad, the savings flow back to the United States in the form of lower prices for consumers and higher dividends for shareholders; the consumers and shareholders will direct their new spending power at things that create employment. Meanwhile, the fall in prices will allow the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates lower, boosting the job-creation engine. At its meeting today and tomorrow, the Fed is almost certain to keep short-term interest rates at a rock-bottom 1 percent because forces such as "offshoring" are keeping inflation in check despite a rebounding economy. Offshoring, like trade, creates winners and losers, which is why open trade should be accompanied by social safety nets. But the winners will outnumber the losers, because the adjustment creates new efficiencies. Each worker can produce more, meaning that he or she can be paid more. Do the Democrats really mean to oppose that?

Snip ......

WP Editors,

The WP editorial from the Tuesday, January 27, 2004 edition titled The jobless Recovery is one of the most insensitive and callous missives printed.

To suggest that a jobless recovery is good mystifies me. To further suggest that the Bush Administration is not culpable is mind boggling.

I have been unemployed for 43 months. I have sent 1,430 resumes out the door. My resume is posted on 105 job boards. I have over networked all known acquaintances. Regrettably, I have not had a serious employment inquiry in two years. Past colleagues are having similar experiences.

Some would claim that one must not have enough education or experience. I must assume that a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering are irrelevant today. An experienced Naval Officer just does not rate any consideration. Honorably discharged veterans are of no consequence. And, experienced commercial pilots are too trivial to mention.

Sadly, the Washington Post editors are truly out of touch with the economy. If a dose of reality is needed, come spend a week with me. After experiencing the umpteenth pot of beans, the Spartan accommodations, the threadbare clothes, the ever diminishing savings account, and repeated job rejections, one just might come to the conclusion that a jobless recovery is not good or justifiable.

Sincerely,
MHR

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. One thing all jobless people can do

is vote (at least those who still have a home!). Good luck to all those who are looking for work. Work for a campaign-ABB-may it lead you to employment that will pay you a living wage.

[Sagan]

4. But, MHR....

Aren't you experiencing increased dividends and savings on consumer items like the WP says you will?

I'm sorry for your situation. The sooner the Chimpistas are gone, the better.

[redqueen]

5. Kudos to you

for taking the time to tell them what's going on in the real world.

[lovedems]

7. I love Mr. Greenspans theory that outsourcing jobs will mean

consumers pay less for the product. He obviously has somebody else do his shopping because Levi's aren't any cheaper, neither are Nike's, you can't buy a cheap 12 pack of Pepsi or Coke anymore and I don't shop Amazon but I am sure their prices are comparable to Barnes and Nobel and they don't outsource!

Mr. Greenspan is one of those rich mother truckers who is equally out of touch with Main Street.

Oh yes, those jobs will be replaced Alan with low wages, no benefits, no over-time and no vacation.

I hope a democrat wins and replaces you. Lucky for you, you won't have to stand in an unemployment line.

[HawkerHurricane]

8. Even if Greenspan was right...

Cheaper prices for products, and no income for me, means I'm not buying any products anyway. Give me an steady job, and I'll pay the higher prices.

[Skittles]

10. Gawd, are they still hawing that "trickle-down" fairy tale ???

disgusting

[depakid]

11. The Post's Editorial Board is no better than the WSJ

Actually, it's even worse than the Journal, because it's totally out of touch with it readers. ZERO credibility in my book- actually negative credibility- if it comes from the Post, I presume it's false!

[displacedtexan]

2. Bush: Everyone's fine... except you.

My favorite part:

"It's not good enough to tell people things are good," said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "There's got to be a fair amount of time _ say four to six months before the election _ for good news to sink in."

Keep telling people over and over that the economy is getting better. If it works for advertisers, it must work for presidents, right?

[lastknowngood]

6. The numbers on unemployment come from

the shrub's appointees and his corporate sponsors. They will lye about the numbers even more to fool the sheeple.

[Merrick]

9. sure

the GDP is rising as a Trillion dollar defecit is accrued and all those people who WERENT laid off just work harder.