I'm not a forecaster

New item: Concern about the economy is the number one issue on the minds of Americans, according to the latest Gallup Poll.


A reporter asked President Bush, because of this, when he thought the economy would turn around. He replied, "I don't know, I'm not a forecaster."


Undeniably true. Nor a president either.


I was pleased to see, however, that Bush correctly identified our neighbors to the north and our neighbors to the south as Canadians and Mexicans respectively.


Baby steps are good.

Would you prefer if Bush said, "Well, its hard to say. The economy was heading downhill during the last part of Clinton's Administration, and they did so much damage it might take a little time to fix it. The bull market started under Republican leadership and ended because of Bill Clinton. It will come around again, now that we are aggressively promoting a better economy and ending irresponsible programs that broke the back of the middle class." A Gore or Daschle would not flinch before answering like this (although with the names of the players changed and "working poor" substituted for "middle class").


If I opposed Bush I would appreciate this answer because it was politically weak. People say Bush should be nice and bi-partisan and everything because he doesn't have a "mandate" and no majority in the Senate, when the opposite is true; he should be acting like he won in a landslide and the Senate is no problem. He should have learned from Clinton - attack no matter what. He should have answered in a positive way, even if he had nothing to say. I find it kind of refreshing that he gave an "undeniably true" answer. I think the U.S. economy is too big to be managed by the Executive Branch of government on a short-term basis. That goes for Democrat or Republican Presidents. So a hint at the truth is kind of nice once in a while IMO. But the economy sure doesn't look too good right now I must say. And we already blew our refund check. I'm just glad it might have come from the Social Security surplus. :-)

folks heard the full blown B.S. on any and all subjects from wild Bill...can not seem to take a simple truth


in fact, ANY president has very little to do with how the economy moves....make that any one man...including Fed. Res. chairman.


from beginning of history there have been ups & downs in economy and, no doubt, these will continue


there are those that believe down turns can be of benefit by eliminating some of the fat, hype,etc (such as dotcoms)

"Would you prefer if Bush said, "Well, its hard to say. . ."

Yes. Please yes. Something that will allow us to see if he has a reasonable understanding or an unreasonable understanding of why we're where we're at and where we're headed. Give me the opportunity to judge whether he's full of BS. When Gore gives an answer, I can at least consider (if I don't fall asleep first) whether he's full of crap of knows what he's talking about. By answering in this way Bush gives the impression that the doesn't know anything and isn't smart or clever enough to try to give a politician's answer. It ain't confidence inspiring.


Good article about his re-election strategy in this week's New Yorker by Nicholas Leman.

Today President Bush said he is worried about the economy.


Listen guys (and gals), I didn't vote for Al Gore and in fact I'll never vote for another Democrat who runs for national office gain, but how this guy got elected baffles me. Dwight Eisenhower was a sharp guy who spoke poorly and therefore made some people think he was dumb. Ronald Reagan was a dumb guy who spoke well and therefore made some people think he was sharp.


This guy is an affable ignoramus who speaks like an affable ignoramus. I'd rather have the High Desert Poker Man on a bad day in his sleep deciding what to do about stem cell research than George Bush at his best (if there be such a thing). I disagree with HDPM on many issues, but I've seen more intelligent things posted on this forum by the man in one week than I've heard Bush say in his entire career.


At least let him get some handlers to fool us. Teach him to fake something. Anything. "I don't know" and "I'm worried about it" don't cut it.

"I'll never vote for another Democrat who runs for national office"


And you claim that Bush says dumb things.


vince

Today President Bush is saying the economy will "absolutely" pick up later in the year. What is he thinking? Didn't he learn anything from "Read my lips, NO new taxes?" Apparently not. Maybe the economy will pick up later in the year. Probably next year. But what a blunder to go from "How should I know?" to "absolutely." Perhaps Andy Fox is right. This may turn into a bigger blunder than appointing Ashcroft to AG as a reward for political incompetence backed up by cowardice, which cost the administration its ability to get things done in the Senate.

I didn't say he was the only one who says dumb things.

He is the only one who is the President, however.

"Read my lips, NO new taxes?" Well, there weren't any new ones, must more of the old ones.


"This may turn into a bigger blunder than appointing Ashcroft to AG as a reward for political incompetence backed up by cowardice, which cost the administration its ability to get things done in the Senate." And I thought I was being tough on the guy.


I'm wondering what they're going to do when interest rates get down to zero per cent.