Heard a Democratic congressperson attempt to spin the unemployment rate situation today by accusing folks of forgetting that President Bush was in office when the job losses started. That is true, no question.
But two thoughts here.
First, the rate continues to climb despite the actions taken by congress and both Presidents Bush and Obama and despite the promise that the “stimulus” would stop the climb before it passed 7%… it is now more than 10%.
Second, and I believe more significant, while presidents typically get much of the blame and credit for economic conditions, it is the US Congress that passes budgets and drives legislation that has a major impact on the economy (like the tax rates, the “stimulus”, “health care reform”, etc.).
Who controlled both the House and the Senate during this rapid climb in the unemployment rate? Democrats under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. So while they are pointing fingers back at Bush, they might want to take a good look in the mirror too, because they are at least as much, if not more, to blame for this current mess.
In fact, since 1972 the lowest unemployment rates were when the Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate:
Coincidence? Maybe… then again, maybe it has something to do with the how the two parties view this country: opportunity vs entitlement. Could it be that encouraging open competition and low government intrusion leads to more jobs while taxing to drive behavior and redistributing wealth leads to less incentive to create jobs?
Just thinkin’…
Small historical footnote: Back when the unemployment rate was around 4.5%, many Democrats were spinning that the rate under Bush was unacceptable, that the pain caused by his policies meant that people who wanted jobs could not get them, etc, etc… anyone else wish we had that problem today?
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