Agree 100% with your thinking. The (4) group is also the most dangerous. They know practically nothing about how the economy works. They think of their 401Ks as a kind of bank account. ("Gee, I put money in -- it's supposed to get some kind of return.") They don't understand how the capital and bond markets work. They don't know how interest rates are set -- or by whom. They don't understand how tax rates affect government revenues -- or that cutting taxes increases revenues. They don't care. All they do care is that the money keeps rolling in. All that they know is that they did well under Clinton. They credit Clinton with giving "good economy". They will be hard on Bush. They will blame everything that's happening right now on him, even though the economic downturn started 2 years before Clinton even left office. His economists were clever. They hid the downturn in fudged productivity numbers. GDP was flat or declining.
It really infuriates me that the Democrats pretend to be for these working people all the while stalling economic reform in favor of political advantage. After all, what good would it be for them to have a strong economy in 2002. I just didn't see this with the Republicans during the Clinton era. The chairman of the Budget Committee (D) Sen. Kent Conrad (a former North Dakota state tax commissioner) pretended to understand NOTHING of government economics, even that social security HAD accounts and said:
"I think those who have been driving the car, grabbed the wheel and proceeded to run it right into the ditch have the first obligation."
"I think it defies logic and defies truth"
"I do believe they have an affirmative obligation to come up with spending cuts or new revenue to prevent us from raiding the Medicare and Social Security trust funds."
From Townhall.Com: "Implicitly, Conrad wants to impose higher taxes on a shaky economy."