Bush Misery Index -- By the Numbers...

[Felix Mala]

Sheila Suess Kennedy
Winner's prize: Cleaning up after Bush

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080303/OPINION/803030314/1301/OPINION

Indianapolis Star, 3/3/2008

If conversations at my office and family gatherings are any indication, Americans are intensely focused on the upcoming presidential election.


Traditional print and broadcast media and Internet blogs are filled with arguments over the respective merits of the candidates, and detailed analyses of who is voting for whom and why.
Whatever their other differences, voters clearly can't wait to be rid of George W. Bush. However, before we rush to bid a not-so-fond farewell to the Bush administration, it may be instructive to examine the legacy of the past seven years.
Bush took office in 2001. During the previous eight years, gross domestic product had grown an average of 4.09 percent annually. Over the past seven years, GDP growth has averaged 2.65 percent per year.
The national debt was $5.7 trillion in 2001. It is $9.2 trillion now. In the three years preceding 2001, the government had managed to amass a $431 billion surplus; during these last three years, we've had a $734 billion deficit.
The Clinton administration created an average of 1.76 million private-sector jobs each year during its eight years in office; the Bush administration has averaged 369,000 per year.
In 2001, there were 31.6 million Americans living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Today, the bureau reports there are 36.5 million.

[Harry Monroe]

1. Just like in 1992

...It's the ECONOMY, STUPID!!!

Dems would be well served to remember that.