What Media Were Saying About Bush's Economy in 2004

SF Chron ^ | 8-11-2004 | David Lazarus

[TheRobb7]

Look at how the Media was Blasting GWB just 4 years into his term. Take a gander at the stats....I WISH we could a deficit that low....

[article begins here] Sometimes I sympathize with President Bush. Really.

Last week's dismal report on job creation -- a scant 32,000 jobs created versus 240,000 expected -- left our re-election-seeking president little wiggle room on the economic front.

"Economic growth is strong and getting stronger," Bush told a gathering of minority journalists after the jobs number was released.

It can't be easy to have to defend your economic policies when all evidence suggests that average Americans are worse off today than they were four years ago.

Here are just a few of the numbers:

-- When Bush took office on Jan. 20, 2001, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 10,587.59. It closed Tuesday at 9,944.67.

-- When Bush took office, the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent. It's now 5.5 percent, according to the Labor Department.

-- When Bush took office, U.S. consumer debt totaled almost $1.7 trillion. It's now $2.038 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

-- When Bush took office, bankruptcy filings during the previous year totaled almost 1.3 million, down 5 percent from a year before. By Dec. 31, 2003, bankruptcies had hit a record of nearly 1.7 million, up 5.2 percent from 2002, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

-- When Bush took office, the federal budget had been balanced for three straight years and was, in the 2000 fiscal year, running a surplus of $236 billion -- the largest in U.S. history. The White House is projecting a record budget deficit this year of $445 billion.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/11/BUGNE85QFS1.DTL&ao=all#ixzz1ucSWdD6L

[TheRobb7]

God Bless FreeperNation!

[death2tyrants]

The MSM were also going ape sh*t over $1.85/gallon gas. Now, at $3.70/gallon, all we hear are crikets.

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

For a good laugh click on the SFChrons “20 Utterly Inspiring Moms” slide show.

[Bullish]

But all they have to do is tell the idiots that he saved us from another depression. And of course,since idiots never check any facts, well....

[funfan]

I live 20 miles south of san francisco and I just paid $4.35
a gallon for gas yestereday.

[SuziQ]

Sure wish the economy were as ‘bad’ now as it was when George W. Bush left office.

[Freddd]

Now to today.

Obama has been alleged president almost 4 years, $trillions of dollars frittered away with nothing to show for it and the deficit quadrupled and real unemployment at 22%.

Oh but hey let’s keep bringing up Bush....

[Dilbert San Diego]

Well, we sadly all understand, that the media and liberals have different criteria for how these issues are looked at.

If a Republican is president, then deficits and the debt and unemployment numbers far below what we have now, are outrageous. And that’s just because, well, because the Republican president is not compassionate to the poor and all that.

If a Democrat is president, then the spin is that things would be far worse without great policies such as Porkulus. The media and liberals make up a narrative that this president inherited such tough problems, that just imagine how much worse things would be without this president and his enlightened policies.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TheRobb7.