The Stock Market and Republican Talking Points

[JDPhD]

Today the stock market closed higher than the close on the day when Bush took office. If it stays higher, the GOP will start making the following argument:

"Despite the the Internet bubble which falsely inflated the economy during the Clinton presidency...

"Despite the bursting of the Internet bubble at the end of the Clinton years...

"Despite a world wide recession that began hitting in the mid-90s and continued through the early-00s...

"Despite an American recession that began while Clinton was still in office...

"Despite the attack of 9/11 and the resulting economic shockwave...

"Despite the the expenses of the War on Terrorism...

"Despite the SARS epidemic, the recent US flu epidemic, and the threat of Mad Cow disease...

"Despite the the chill placed on the economy by terrorism, war, and disease...

"We now have the strongest economic growth in 20 years and a stock market that is even HIGHER than when Bush took office...

"And we have Bush and his tax cuts to thank for saving us and our economy from these disasters....

"Yes, times were tough for a little while, but Bush's leadership pulled us through, and things would have been so much WORSE if the Democrats had been in power....

"The Democrats would have raised taxes and increased regulation, thus further harming an already struggling economy....

"Under the Democrats, we would never have recovered from 9/11 and the recession would have been much longer and deeper and may have even collapsed into a full blown depression...

"Thank God for Bush. He brought us through the night, and it is 'Morning in America' again!"

I'm warning you, it is coming. If they aren't already saying it, they will.

It will be a challenge for our nominee to craft a message--around stagnant jobless rates, a rising deficit and debt, and a falling dollar--to match it. In comparison, just about anything we say will sound like doom and gloom.

[Lefty48197]

1. I get a kick out of listening to Republicans

when they say really stupid things like "the economy was in a shambles when George Bush took over". Losers like Ed Gillespie, Tom DeLay, Trent Lott and all the rest love to say crap like this just to see how much lying they can get away with. They have no shame.

[ComerPerro]

2. Here are the main points to consider:

First, the dollar is shit right now. They can't deny that.

And second, fuck the stock market. You know why stocks are selling? Because Bush added to the deficit in order to give the rich billions in tax cuts. Now, with all of this free cash dumped on them, and the chance to buy stocks for pennies on the dollar, they are jumping at the chance to buy up the entire economy. In the long run, this will make them richer than the are now.

But will companies share the wealth with their employees? Will they hire more people and pay decent wages?
Probably not. Instead, you will CEOs getting bigger salaries.

[Demeter]

3. How About This?

Thanks to the hyperinflationary, dollar-weakening policies of Greenspan and the Bush Administration, the stock market bubble is roaring back, proving that even a dead cat will bounce once if dropped from a high enough place.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

4. And my reply to that would be...

The stock market doesn't get me a job or pay my rent. And until that situation changes the Economy still needs fixing. That's what Doomed Bush Sr.

Bush also has another achillies heel. It's called offshoring. Add that to his newly announced immigration policy. And you'll see just how angry those angry white males (that make up his constituency) can be.

Food for thought. ;-)

[10376173]

5. No way dude!

The Dow was almost 12,000 and it's 10,592 today.

The Nasdaq was over 5,000 and it sits at 2,100 today.

The Shrubs got along way to go to catch up to Clinton

[JDPhD]

6. Just a few facts we have to deal with.....

Though the markets did reach still unmatched highs during the Clinton years, they had already begun their decline while he was in office (the Nasdaq had already lost almost half its value). On the day Clinton left office, the Dow closed at 10,587.60 and the Nasdaq closed at 2,770.38. Today the Dow closed at 10,592.44 and the Nasdaq closed at 2,100.25. And they are still headed up. This is something we will have to deal with.

[KAZ]

9. Hmm, interesting.

NASDAQ is still down 24% from 01/19/01.
S&P is still down 18% from 01/19/01.

So NAS has to go up 32% to equal '01 and S&P has to go up 19%

This thread is relevant how?

[KoKo]

11. So? Maybe in the midway of Bush's second term the Dow/NADAQ will get

back to the level it was? And, all of us who got trashed when the "Bubble Burst" because the "Fat Cats" got the word and sold leaving us holding the bag of their troubles will have made up what we lost 6 years before? And the Mutual Fund Swindles and the Accounting Crooks who are still cooking books because they didn't get rooted out and no Government Reform went into place will still be riding high on our back?

Oh....give me a break here! If they sell it you will buy it, I guess.

[denverbill]

7. The market doubled during Clinton's first three years.

And went from 3000 to 11000 during his full tenure.

And Bush is going to brag that the market hasn't lost ground during his first 4 years? Wow. Some talking point.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

8. It's called lowering the bar...

In 2000 Bush Jr. was a master at it. I suspect he's going to try to be again.Remember the debates when "anything other than coming off as a complete moron" was considered a "victory" for him? :puke:

[KoKo]

10. So how many Americans really own stock? Well....401-k's I guess, but

individually, the "Stock Market" just isn't back to where it was in Clinton's last year. Sorry.....but those stocks folks owned then that they bought individually and held aren't back to what they were at Boom Time.

Things aren't what they were and CNBC's and WSJ, etc.'s hype doesn't talk about that because they want the "youngsters" to be hoodwinked.