We all know that Bush has no real control on the economy. People like to say that to rip off and make fun of the liberals who think evrything bad is his fault.
Actually, many do believe that the president "controls" the economy, or has some major sway over it, which he does not. The press believes this also. The politicians here this crap so much that they feel they need to get in front of cameras and defend poor economic indicators and then when good indicators come out, trump it up like they had something to do with it.
This false association between presidential performance and economic indicators is hilarious on the surface, until you realize many feel the president has a master control panel with an arcade style control over the economy. Then , you realize how sad it is that so many are so ignorant of basic education.