President Bush's Polices Ride High on Economic Data
Economic gains, low inflation, higher wages, and tax cuts have improved the lives of consumers in the United States, according to President George W Bush during his West Coast campaign stops for fellow Republican candidates.
The message from both the president and White House advisors have not yet registered with the consumer according to the latest surveys.
In October 2006 President Bush's job approval rating held a wide spread with those in favor of his policies (at 12 percent,) but a narrower 8 percent spread was given to those consumers who disapprove of the president's job performance.
According to polls, those who gave thumbs-up ranged from 33 percent for President Bush by Newsweek and the highest of 39 percent by NBC, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN.
Those same media outlets put President Bush's disfavor with consumers between 56 and 59 percent.
According to the White House though the economy is strong -- a statement Wall Street analysts would agree with following record highs on the Dow Industrial Average (closed 11,850.21) on 6 October 2006.
Still, 67 percent of consumers say they are dissatisfied with the way they feel about the economy in the United States. Only 1 in 4 report being satisfied, a 10 point shift against the White House since summer holidays ended Labor Day weekend 2006.
From a sampling of Think & Ask readers queried by e-mail - six said they felt good about the economy and had no further comments, 10 readers said they fear inflation has hurt their finances (and they do not feel good about the economy,) and three reported being laid off in September.
Twenty-two, the largest measure of the bloc, felt that the United State's involvement in world affairs, primarily the Middle East, has caused more harm in the long term and that the economy would suffer as a result.
One respondent wrote, "Iraq is our biggest problem and we have no reason to be there anymore. We should cut our losses and focus on building a better image again."
Another wrote, "It is funny you e-mailed us this week because I was just doing our bills and realize for the first time in our 20 years of marriage we did not have enough cash to cover our expenses."
On the positive side however, one response read, "Our economy rocks man, everyone is back to work again. Bush's policies have worked just like he says."
The White House reports 6.6 million new jobs have been created in the past three years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lowered the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent, based upon its household survey in September.
The Bureau listed 135 million non-farm civilian workers for September, 7 million workers were unemployed.
The entire workforce is 152 million, up from 147 million in August 2003. Those who do not have a job, but want a job stood at 4.4 million (down from 5 million in August 2003,) putting the total estimate of those off the weekly payroll at 11.4 million in September.
President Bush said that the economy in the United States is growing more "than any major industrialized country" at 4.1 percent for the first half of 2006.
The president also said wages have grown 4.1 percent - "better or comparable to its 1990's peaks," he said.
"Real after-tax income has risen 15 percent," since President Bush took office, he said.
Productivity is up 2.5 percent in the past year, gasoline prices have dropped 74-cents per gallon in the past month, and employment has increased in 48 of the 50 states, President Bush said.
According to the White House's website, "The strength and continued growth of our economy is a tribute to the American worker and the president's tax cuts."
"President Bush's tax cuts have put more money in the hands of American workers, families, and businesses. To keep the American economy strong and growing, the President and Republicans in Congress want to make these tax cuts permanent," the White House reported.
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