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Like a Cloud, Economic Woes Follow Bus Tour
The New York Times ^
| August 4, 2003
| ELISABETH BUMILLER
Posted on 08/04/2003 12:33:05 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
CRAWFORD, Tex. - President Bush slipped speedily into vacation mode this past weekend at his furnace of a ranch in Central Texas, where he spent Sunday fishing, clearing cedar and going for a walk with the first lady and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. But before the president ducked out of public sight, he made sure to address one of the biggest re-election anxieties of Karl Rove, his chief political adviser: the nation's continuing loss of jobs and the uncertainty about the economy.
"This week, three members of my cabinet Treasury Secretary John Snow, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao visited business owners and their workers in the Midwest," Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address on Saturday. "They received reports that the economy is picking up."
Well, yes and no.
Anyone on the trip, which was a very un-Air Force One-like, two-day, six-city bus journey across Wisconsin and Minnesota (Ms. Chao dined on Tuesday night at Burger King), could see that the cabinet members charged with promoting the president's tax cuts also heard a lot of anger from workers about foreign competition and laid-off relatives and friends.
"Right now I am very disillusioned with the Republicans' policies," said Michael Retzer, a Republican and a consultant to a supplier for Harley-Davidson. Mr. Retzer told Mr. Snow at a Harley plant near Milwaukee that he did not see how the tax cuts would stimulate the economy when so many consumers would spend the extra money on goods made overseas.
Later, in the kind of confrontation with a disgruntled citizen almost never seen on the president's trips, Mr. Snow tangled with an unemployed software programmer at the drive-through at Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers in Wausau, Wis.
"He said, `But your tax cuts haven't done anything for me,' " Mr. Snow recounted the next day to reporters, as the bus traveled through Minnesota. "And I said, `Well, now, let's just take a second and talk about that.' "
Here in McLennan County, Tex. which includes the nearby city of Waco, the one-stoplight town of Crawford and the president's 1,600-acre ranch the number of people unable to find work jumped to more than 6,000 in June 2003 from more than 4,000 in June 2000, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"That's pretty much a general slowdown that mirrors the rest of the country," said Cheryl Abbot, an economist at the agency's Southwest Regional Office in Dallas.
Although the McLennan County unemployment rate jumped from 4 percent in June 2000 to 5.7 percent in June 2003, it was still lower than the national unemployment rate in June of 6.4 percent. But the jobless rate for Texas that month was 7.5 percent, and more than 800,000 people in the state could not find work, up from 527,000 people in June 2000.
An unscientific series of interviews with Crawford businesspeople and churchgoers Sunday revealed plenty of support for Mr. Bush, whose presidency has brought a surge of tourists to the once-shuttered main street but uneasiness about the economy and nervousness about his policies.
"You look at the tax breaks he's cut for everybody and I wonder how he's able to do that," said John Dutschmann, 32, a sales manager for a concrete products company who had just attended services at Crawford's First Baptist Church. Mr. Dutschmann, a Democrat who supported Mr. Bush in 2000, said he was still behind the president, although he had trepidations about the economy. "We just put our trust in him, and we hope he knows what he's doing," he said.
Paul Stripling, 67, a Republican and executive director emeritus of the Waco Baptist Association, who had also attended services at the First Baptist Church, said that Waco had not felt the economic crunch as much as other parts of Texas and that Mr. Bush "is doing the best he can with a very precarious situation."
Brent Duncan, 40, a hotel owner who was talking with other parishioners after services at Crawford's United Methodist Church, said that his business was doing well he is building a hotel in the nearby town of McGregor and that he would probably vote for Mr. Bush in 2004. But Mr. Duncan, who described himself as a conservative Democrat, said that his support was not guaranteed.
"Let's see who the Democrats put out," he said.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mr. Bush has little on his public schedule this week, although Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld is to make an appearance Friday.
But next week, as part of a monthlong campaign to try to convince voters that sunnier economic days are just around the corner, Mr. Bush will meet at the ranch with his economic team, then take his economic message around the country in day trips from Crawford. His tone will be upbeat, which was evidently the tenor of the report he heard from his cabinet secretaries after the Midwest bus trip last week.
As Mr. Snow put it, "I'm going to go back and tell the president, `Mr. President, I ran into a lot of people who asked me personally to express my gratitude to you for worrying and thinking about us.' "
Mr. Snow did not say if he would mention the man in the drive-through at Culver's.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: economicteam; globalism; johnsnow; recession; thebusheconomy
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To: Willie Green
Dear President Bush and members of the 108th congress of the United States of America:
We the people of China would like thank you for your representation within your government without any taxation. We appreciate the free education granted to us via the tax dollars of the citizens of the United States and we also appreciate the business you provide us via those same tax dollars. We are so happy that you are willing to represent us, the people of China, without taxation all the while discontinuing your representation of the citizens of the United States, while taxing them and giving us their tax dollars. As much help as you have given us, exporting all of your jobs here, giving us billions in aid, making sure your citizens give up their jobs for us, free education, we almost think that your families are from China. As far as your displaced citizens, we know that you would prefer that they were slave labor like our citizens, whom we have displaced with their own tax dollars, that we would like to start a relief fund and help provide for their unemployment benefits as you continue to provide for us and ignore your own citizens. Soon I am sure it will be the United States of China as we are all proud here to have you on board. Mr. President, we are so happy you are just like your father, ignoring your own citizens and giving the rest of the world all of your money. We in kind will continue to ship Ginseng Root to the United States to help feed the unemployed until the eventual collapse of your country.
Sincerely,
Xiang Dauo.
To: Willie Green
Willie Green, The New York Times, AFL-CIO, Democratic National Committee... peas in a pod.
3
posted on
08/04/2003 12:35:37 PM PDT
by
Texas_Dawg
("...They came to hate their party and this president... They have finished by hating their country.")
To: samuel_adams_us
The sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!
4
posted on
08/04/2003 12:36:21 PM PDT
by
BushCountry
(To the last, I will grapple with Democrats. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at Liberals.)
To: Texas_Dawg
More like feces in a toilet bowl...
5
posted on
08/04/2003 12:38:46 PM PDT
by
kaktuskid
To: Willie Green
"Right now I am very disillusioned with the Republicans' policies," said Michael Retzer, a Republican and a consultant to a supplier for Harley-Davidson. Mr. Retzer told Mr. Snow at a Harley plant near Milwaukee that he did not see how the tax cuts would stimulate the economy when so many consumers would spend the extra money on goods made overseas. A Republican... and he's opposed to tax cuts and has no idea who the economics of tax cuts work? I'm really sure that guy's a solid Republican. (/sarcasm)
6
posted on
08/04/2003 12:39:27 PM PDT
by
Texas_Dawg
("...They came to hate their party and this president... They have finished by hating their country.")
To: Texas_Dawg
"how" they work...
7
posted on
08/04/2003 12:40:23 PM PDT
by
Texas_Dawg
("...They came to hate their party and this president... They have finished by hating their country.")
To: Willie Green
The President went fishing? For what, bass? Did he catch any? What'd he use? Spinnerbaits? Soft plastics? Man, what is with these reporters???
8
posted on
08/04/2003 12:40:54 PM PDT
by
Huck
To: Texas_Dawg
A Republican... and he's opposed to tax cuts and has no idea who the economics of tax cuts work? I'm really sure that guy's a solid Republican. (/sarcasm) Sounds like a pitchforker.
9
posted on
08/04/2003 12:42:06 PM PDT
by
Huck
To: kaktuskid
Willie Green is just that guy in the corner of the room ranting about nothing in particular but just wants to make people think he cares or knows more than them about something. Everyone just kind of looks at him and thinks, "Awww... now that's too bad", and just goes back to what they are doing back on Planet Earth.
10
posted on
08/04/2003 12:42:09 PM PDT
by
Texas_Dawg
("...They came to hate their party and this president... They have finished by hating their country.")
To: Texas_Dawg
Texas_Dawg hates a prosperous American Middle Class, blames Americans first, tells them they don't work hard enough and have to accept the same wages and benefits as Mexican and Chineses peons.
11
posted on
08/04/2003 12:42:14 PM PDT
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: samuel_adams_us
There is now a much more widespread expectation of strong economic growth. As many as 52% of respondents expect FY 04 gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 6.5%. A significant 37% even expected the GDP growth to hit the 7% figure. This is much higher than the growth recorded in recent years. Some research agencies have already put out GDP projections of 6 to 6.5% for FY 04.
This are the latest figures relating to the GDP for next year. If we hit over 6% (low end) the country will be at full employment. It always happens in a booming economy (Bill Clinton's 20 million jobs). I know it is hard to tell someone who is unemployed to have a little patience, but soon, real soon, it will be an employee market again.
Also, American companies are in a business cycle where they must upgrade their I/T to survive. They held back too long due the to terrorist threat and their aging equipment is degrading. Look for renewed spending as the cash flows in. Below is the listing for the fastest growing jobs.
Job Search - Job Listing - Fastest Growing Jobs [1998-2008]
- Data Communication Analysts +106% change
- Computer Security Specialists +106% change
- Computer Engineers +103% change
- Computer Systems Analysts +85% change
- Computer Support Specialists +85% change
- Page Layout Workers +76% change
- Chiropractors +70% change
- Paralegals +68% change
- Medical Assistants +62% change
Monster Job Search for I/T jobs produced over 5000 hits, actually closer to 10,000.
|
Jobs 1 to 50 of more than 5000 |
|
Page 1 of 100 |
|
|
12
posted on
08/04/2003 12:44:29 PM PDT
by
BushCountry
(To the last, I will grapple with Democrats. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at Liberals.)
To: Huck
13
posted on
08/04/2003 12:45:27 PM PDT
by
Huck
To: BushCountry
Florida create 100,000 new jobs last month alone.
14
posted on
08/04/2003 12:45:42 PM PDT
by
BushCountry
(To the last, I will grapple with Democrats. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at Liberals.)
To: BushCountry
I have a job, it's my friends I care about, I come from the older generation, a true american who lists his priorites like this:
Family First,
Friends Second,
Job Third.
You remember my type, true patriot.
To: Willie Green
I read it twice, didn't see any mention of railroads, what happened?
To: Willie Green
Texas_Dawg hates a prosperous American Middle Class, blames Americans first, tells them they don't work hard enough and have to accept the same wages and benefits as Mexican and Chineses peons. Not really. I just believe in responsibility and not looking to the federal government to guarantee me a job at everyone else's expense, like you do, Willie. Funny... if Mexicans and Chinese people are all "peons" why are you so worried about them being more suitable for your beloved manufacturing jobs?
17
posted on
08/04/2003 12:52:29 PM PDT
by
Texas_Dawg
("...They came to hate their party and this president... They have finished by hating their country.")
To: Willie Green
Why should we believe anything written in the NY Times?
18
posted on
08/04/2003 12:52:32 PM PDT
by
My2Cents
("Well....there you go again.")
To: Texas_Dawg
and not looking to the federal government to guarantee me a job at everyone else's expense, like you do, Willie.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Texas_Dawg agrees with Kofi Anan and George Bush that American Trade Policy should subvert domestic prosperity for the greater benefit of the rest of the world.
19
posted on
08/04/2003 12:58:38 PM PDT
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: My2Cents
if you have any doubts about the legitimacy of this article you should see the coverage of the tour & the media bus on C-SPAN this past weekend. On the factory floor many people thanked the secretaries for the tax cuts; in the bus the press ganged up together and mocked the cabinet secretaries, joking to each other such as, "if they said it three times then they must think we are going to believe it". the press was their typical reprehensible self, while talking amongst themselves on their private bus accompanying the secretaries, and were not sparing any of their liberal hyperbole despite the fact C-SPAN cameras kept rolling.
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