It's bad economic policy from the White House. Demand management doesn't work. The president has never said anything good about the private technology sector (our growth engine), nor about new businesses and markets, although he has come around on saying good things about small business. He's a bad economic president, although I'm sure he and Karl Rove figure it won't be a big issue in 2004, because, at this time, the Rats have nothing better to offer. Plus, they figure token, ineffective tax cuts will shore up the base. And if it looks like an issue in 2004, they'll just implement huge increases in government spending to buy votes.
And yes, people have been saying that unemployment is a lagging indicator for the last two years. As long as policies don't change, it becomes a pretty good leading indicator, too.
Not true--the Democrats will implement that incredibly popular panacea for the economy: tax hikes. Don't laugh; at an April 15 town-hall meeting, Senator Specter inquired, "How many of you want to pay MORE taxes?" and most of the members of the audience threw up a hand--some two, and I saw one or two feet in there too. Although I didn't raise my hand, I never realized just how popular high taxes really are. Then again, this is a college town, so most of the questions read something like "What type of a bonehead are you for not vocally opposing an unjust war of aggression against a forward-looking, peace-loving man like Saddam Hussein?"