Democrats pants ablaze! (liar, liar, pants on fire!)
J. Francis Gardner: Real truth behind Democrats' claims
The autumnal election campaign just moved into high gear, but the malarkey level from Democrat presidential wannabes is already hip deep. "No Republican president has balanced the budget in 34 years," Howard Dean mused.
"Bill Clinton led the greatest period of economic expansion in history and we ought to be proud of him," gushed John Edwards.
"This is the worst economy since the Great Depression," opined multiple candidates.
Such jaw-dropping displays of economic cluelessness ought to make Americans fighting mad. Not because they're phony but because they're insulting. Make no mistake, none of these Democrats believe such bunk. But they're hoping Joe Six-Pack will believe it.
As the financial news from Wall Street continues to improve, the electorate can expect a steady diet of hokum from a shrill political left. This column offers the beleaguered voter an Economics 101 Primer to help wade through all the hooey.
The stock market: At the crest of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s, the Dow Jones industrial average broke 11,000 — a historic high. It began to tank in spring 2000 when the bubble burst. It reached a nadir of approximately 7,600 in fall 2002 after the double whammy of 9-11 terrorism and corporate malfeasance scandals. Since then, the Dow has roared back to break 9,600.
The economy: The third-quarter growth rate for gross domestic product is predicted to be a dazzling 5 percent. This will translate into an annual growth rate of 4.3 percent for 2003. By comparison, the GDP growth rate for 1999 was 4.1 percent.
By definition, an economic recession consists of a negative GDP rate during two or more fiscal quarters. The recession of 2001 lasted three quarters and averaged negative 0.8 percent per quarter. Truly one of the mildest recessions recorded.
Note to Edwards: Clinton occupied the White House during the greatest period of economic expansion in history and he ought to thank his lucky stars he was around for the ride.
Unemployment: 57,000 new jobs were created in September, ending an eight-month span of job losses. The jobless rate held steady at 6.1 percent, down from a nine-year high of 6.4 percent in June. The average unemployment rate during Clinton's presidency was 5.2 percent; Bush the Elder: 6.3 percent; Reagan: 7.5 percent; Carter: 6.5 percent; Ford: 6.7 percent.
Note to campaigning Democrats: Unemployment during the Great Depression: 25 percent.
The budget deficit: Approximately $400 billion, depending on who is running the numbers. This represents government's tendency to spend more money than it receives (via tax revenues). Financial experts are dutifully predicting more deficits over the next 10 years. Funny thing, these are the same experts who were predicting a decade of budget surpluses five years ago.
Truth be told, deficit or surplus predictions are rarely worth the paper on which they're printed. The reason? The economy is a fluid creature, constantly changing.
Note to Dean: No Republican president has ever balanced the budget. No Democrat president has ever balanced one either. Presidents don't balance budgets. Legislatures balance budgets ... if they want to.
The national debt: Somewhere north of $5 trillion. The culmination of 50 years of budget deficits. Don't point fingers at Democrats or Republicans. Citizens can rightly blame themselves — for failing to hold elected representatives accountable for profligate spending practices.
When it comes to debt reduction, Americans talk a good game, but we are more interested in continued government pork and entitlement money than in any theoretical clean slate in Washington. Link