Sounds like bad economic stewardship to me.
From the NY Times.
Bush Wants to Create More Jobs, but How?
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
Published: September 28, 2003
WASHINGTON
REPUBLICAN senators returned from their summer recess after Labor Day to find a memo in their in-baskets from Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who holds the No. 3 spot in their leadership. "The top issue continues to be the economy/jobs," he wrote. "Let me repeat that. The top issue continues to be the economy/jobs."
That same week, President Bush went to Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis to lay out what he called "a comprehensive plan for job creation all across America." The president said he would not "be satisfied until every American who's looking for a job can find a job."
The president must hope the economy, recovering strongly in other respects, begins to produce more jobs soon. But his program seems unlikely by itself to do the trick, as even some conservatives admit.
Its central feature would make permanent the tax cuts now due to expire later in the decade. Even if, as the president says he believes, lowering taxes mostly for affluent individuals is the best way to stimulate the economy in the long run, the new jobs would not be created for many years.
The other parts of the plan are mainly staples of the Republican agenda not directly related to job creation and, in any event, unlikely to have much effect on employment before the election. They include reducing government regulations on business, protecting companies from class-action lawsuits, exploring new sources of energy and allowing companies to put less money into their employee pension plans.
"Basically, he's just crossing his fingers and hoping for the best," said Bruce Bartlett, a Republican economist who worked in the first Bush administration.
Jobs have also been the issue of the month for the Democratic presidential contenders. Last week, days after he announced his candidacy, Gen. Wesley K. Clark made job creation the topic of his first formal issues paper. At their debate in New York on Thursday, the 10 candidates tried to outdo one another in demonstrating their commitment to reducing unemployment.
Since George W. Bush became president, the country has lost 2.7 million payroll jobs. Even the most optimistic White House economists do not believe that so many new jobs can be found between now and January 2005. So this will almost certainly be the first presidential term since Herbert Hoover's in which fewer Americans were at work at the end of the four years than at the beginning, even though other presidents experienced recessions deeper than Mr. Bush's.
The president's political advisers see this jobs picture as his biggest liability going into the election year.
In February, the president's Council of Economic Advisers forecast that 510,000 new jobs would be generated this year. In fact, through last month, 437,000 jobs had been lost, 93,000 in August alone.
THE latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, in July, found that 38 percent of the respondents believed the economy and jobs to be "the most important problem facing this country today," almost four times as many as those who cited the war in Iraq, the second-most-common response. A poll last week by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News found that 52 percent of those surveyed were not pleased with the way Mr. Bush had handled the economy.
"They are biting their fingernails," said a prominent Republican economist about the people he talks to regularly at the White House.
A Republican strategist who meets often with top administration officials said they were "more concerned about the economy and the lack of job creation than they are about Iraq."
Democrats see an opening. "The jobs issue is the key," said Representative Robert T. Matsui of California, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Mr. Bush seems determined to avoid the fate of his father, who was defeated for re-election in 1992 at least in part because he seemed insensitive to a weak economy. This president talks about jobs at every opportunity. In a recent 21-minute speech at the White House on the environment, he mentioned jobs or the economy more than 20 times.
The president has suggested creating a new assistant secretary in the Commerce Department devoted to manufacturing, the economic sector with most of the job loss. The department plans to issue a report next month on steps that could make the business climate more attractive to manufacturers.
Given political and economic realities, that may be the only course available to Mr. Bush.
Interest rates are already at their lowest level in 40 years. Mr. Bush cannot expect the Federal Reserve to drive them lower.
Three straight years of tax cuts, the president's tonic for whatever ails the economy, have not improved the jobs picture but have led to the largest budget deficit in history. Further tax reductions between now and the election are not in the offing.
For the sake of protecting manufacturing jobs, Mr. Bush has already imposed stiff tariffs on imported steel, and his administration has begun scolding China and Japan about the high value of their currencies. Additional steps to restrain imports are not likely.
A Democratic president at this stage would probably propose an employment-intensive public works program. But such programs run counter to Republican philosophy, and the large budget deficit probably rules them out anyway.
"Essentially, the choices have already been made," said William C. Dudley, director of domestic economic research at Goldman Sachs.
The tax cuts Mr. Bush worked so hard for might have led to more jobs more quickly if they had been aimed more at low- and moderate-income households, Mr. Dudley said, because those people are the most likely to spend their tax savings.
"But," Mr. Dudley added, "that ship has sailed."
From the NY Times.
Bush Wants to Create More Jobs, but How?
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
Published: September 28, 2003
WASHINGTON
REPUBLICAN senators returned from their summer recess after Labor Day to find a memo in their in-baskets from Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who holds the No. 3 spot in their leadership. "The top issue continues to be the economy/jobs," he wrote. "Let me repeat that. The top issue continues to be the economy/jobs."
That same week, President Bush went to Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis to lay out what he called "a comprehensive plan for job creation all across America." The president said he would not "be satisfied until every American who's looking for a job can find a job."
The president must hope the economy, recovering strongly in other respects, begins to produce more jobs soon. But his program seems unlikely by itself to do the trick, as even some conservatives admit.
Its central feature would make permanent the tax cuts now due to expire later in the decade. Even if, as the president says he believes, lowering taxes mostly for affluent individuals is the best way to stimulate the economy in the long run, the new jobs would not be created for many years.
The other parts of the plan are mainly staples of the Republican agenda not directly related to job creation and, in any event, unlikely to have much effect on employment before the election. They include reducing government regulations on business, protecting companies from class-action lawsuits, exploring new sources of energy and allowing companies to put less money into their employee pension plans.
"Basically, he's just crossing his fingers and hoping for the best," said Bruce Bartlett, a Republican economist who worked in the first Bush administration.
Jobs have also been the issue of the month for the Democratic presidential contenders. Last week, days after he announced his candidacy, Gen. Wesley K. Clark made job creation the topic of his first formal issues paper. At their debate in New York on Thursday, the 10 candidates tried to outdo one another in demonstrating their commitment to reducing unemployment.
Since George W. Bush became president, the country has lost 2.7 million payroll jobs. Even the most optimistic White House economists do not believe that so many new jobs can be found between now and January 2005. So this will almost certainly be the first presidential term since Herbert Hoover's in which fewer Americans were at work at the end of the four years than at the beginning, even though other presidents experienced recessions deeper than Mr. Bush's.
The president's political advisers see this jobs picture as his biggest liability going into the election year.
In February, the president's Council of Economic Advisers forecast that 510,000 new jobs would be generated this year. In fact, through last month, 437,000 jobs had been lost, 93,000 in August alone.
THE latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, in July, found that 38 percent of the respondents believed the economy and jobs to be "the most important problem facing this country today," almost four times as many as those who cited the war in Iraq, the second-most-common response. A poll last week by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News found that 52 percent of those surveyed were not pleased with the way Mr. Bush had handled the economy.
"They are biting their fingernails," said a prominent Republican economist about the people he talks to regularly at the White House.
A Republican strategist who meets often with top administration officials said they were "more concerned about the economy and the lack of job creation than they are about Iraq."
Democrats see an opening. "The jobs issue is the key," said Representative Robert T. Matsui of California, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Mr. Bush seems determined to avoid the fate of his father, who was defeated for re-election in 1992 at least in part because he seemed insensitive to a weak economy. This president talks about jobs at every opportunity. In a recent 21-minute speech at the White House on the environment, he mentioned jobs or the economy more than 20 times.
The president has suggested creating a new assistant secretary in the Commerce Department devoted to manufacturing, the economic sector with most of the job loss. The department plans to issue a report next month on steps that could make the business climate more attractive to manufacturers.
Given political and economic realities, that may be the only course available to Mr. Bush.
Interest rates are already at their lowest level in 40 years. Mr. Bush cannot expect the Federal Reserve to drive them lower.
Three straight years of tax cuts, the president's tonic for whatever ails the economy, have not improved the jobs picture but have led to the largest budget deficit in history. Further tax reductions between now and the election are not in the offing.
For the sake of protecting manufacturing jobs, Mr. Bush has already imposed stiff tariffs on imported steel, and his administration has begun scolding China and Japan about the high value of their currencies. Additional steps to restrain imports are not likely.
A Democratic president at this stage would probably propose an employment-intensive public works program. But such programs run counter to Republican philosophy, and the large budget deficit probably rules them out anyway.
"Essentially, the choices have already been made," said William C. Dudley, director of domestic economic research at Goldman Sachs.
The tax cuts Mr. Bush worked so hard for might have led to more jobs more quickly if they had been aimed more at low- and moderate-income households, Mr. Dudley said, because those people are the most likely to spend their tax savings.
"But," Mr. Dudley added, "that ship has sailed."
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