Would You Buy A Used Car From This Man?

by Steve Soto

"I think the system is basically sound, I truly do. ... I'm not an economist, but I do believe we're growing. I'm an optimist. I believe there's a lot of positive things for the economy."
--Bush as his sales pitch today

Eight years into a Bush/Cheney economy, we find ourselves far worse off than when the Supreme Court gave Bush the presidency:

*The government reports that inflation is heading up, and will get worse as higher energy prices infect more and more of the economy. Plus, the effect of those rebate checks upon consumer spending is all gone, as the checks went to pay down bills and pay for gas.

*The Fed chief testifies to Congress that inflation and slow growth are going to plague us for months. He cannot bring himself to mention the "r" word, even though reputable observers and research firms say we've been in a recession for months. He further undermines his credibility when he dimisses oil futures speculation as a partial cause for the run-up in oil prices.

*The president times his news conference this morning to distract attention from Bernanke's testimony. He says with a straight face that things aren't as bad as they look, because the economy is still growing, even though the same economy has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs this year and the GDP numbers Bush is touting will probably be revised downward in coming months to show that we have, in fact, been in a recession since last year.

The only good news today, and it is temporary, is that oil prices dropped for a day over worries that the economy is heading over a cliff. It was a distant memory that back in 2000 gas was a fraction of what it is now, and that we had trillions in projected surpluses. Yet John McCain wants to run on Bush's economic record. His problem is that things will be worse, and perhaps much worse at the time of the election than they are now.

It's a pretty simple message for Obama to frame: "Are you better off than you were in 2000, and do you really want to give the Republicans another four years to drive you into the poorhouse?" And it might help after all to remind voters of the Clinton economic record, the same record he disparaged during the primary season.

AP photo