The economy grew at 4 percent annual rate during the first half of 2006, and this means that our economy is maintaining solid growth, and performing in line with expectations. Our solid economic growth is creating real benefits for American workers and families and entrepreneurs. Since August 2003, we've added more than 5.5 million new jobs. The unemployment rate is 4.8 percent. Productivity growth is strong. Behind the numbers are stories of hard-working Americans who are realizing their dreams. The entrepreneurial spirit in this country is strong, and that's good for America.
Sure, when the expectation is the American workers will have to make do with less so that Bush and his friends can have more. A November 2005 report by the nonpartisan group United for a Fair Economy found that the quality of jobs, measured by income, health insurance, and retirement benefits, declined from 2001-2004. Black and Latinos have seen their standard of living fall even more. In 2004, over a million people fell below the poverty line. Bush's job creation record falls below what one would expect in a "normal" economy.
And as for unemployment, well, that 4.8% rate doesn't reflect people who have dropped out of the work force because they cannot find appropriate jobs. From March 2001 to November 2005, the report cited above shows that employment lags well behind that of the last six recoveries.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Beginning number of jobs (November 2001: 130,883,000
Ending number of jobs (June 2006): 135,343,000
Total Jobs Created: 4,460,000
Compound rate of establishment job growth: .71%
This is the lowest compound rate of establishment job growth in 40 years. The second lowest compound rate of job growth occurred in the 1990s. That rate was 2.01%.
Oh, and one more thing? That 4.8% jobless rate that Bubble Boy is crowing about is up 0.2% from June.
But let's go overseas now. What does Bubble Boy think about Israel's failure to subdue Hezbollah?
The first reaction, of course, of Hezbollah and its supporters is, declare victory. I guess I would have done the same thing if I were them. But sometimes it takes people a while to come to the sober realization of what forces create stability and which don't. Hezbollah is a force of instability.
Yup. Just give the people long enough and they'll realize that Israel really won. Sort of the way he thinks if you give the American people long enough, they'll realize that things in Iraq are just going swimmingly.
And now, having refused to use diplomacy with Saddam Hussein, now we're to believe that he's come to Jesus and decided diplomacy isn't so bad anymore:
Other part of your -- oh, the peacekeepers. Diplomacy takes a while, as you know. You watched the unfolding of the U.N. resolution necessary to get a ceasefire in the first place -- it took a while. And we will continue to work with friends and allies to make it clear to them now is the time to address the root causes of the problem, and that's being Hezbollah's state within a state, particularly in southern Lebanon. And we'll work with nations to step up to the plate and do what they voted to do at the United Nations, and that is to provide robust international forces to help the Lebanese army retake the south.
Oh, and about that pesky court decision that came down declaring his sweeping NSA warrantless surveillance program unconstitutional?
I would say that those who herald this decision simply do not understand the nature of the world in which we live. You might remember last week working with the -- with people in Great Britain, we disrupted a plot. People were trying to come and kill people.
This country of ours is at war, and we must give those whose responsibility it is to protect the United States the tools necessary to protect this country in a time of war. The judge's decision was a -- I strongly disagree with that decision, strongly disagree. That's why I instructed the Justice Department to appeal immediately, and I believe our appeals will be upheld.
I made my position clear about this war on terror. And by the way, the enemy made their position clear yet again when we were able to stop them. And I -- the American people expect us to protect them, and therefore I put this program in place. We believe -- strongly believe it's constitutional.
And if al Qaeda is calling in to the United States, we want to know why they're calling. And so I made my position clear. It would be interesting to see what other policymakers -- how other policymakers react.
HE believes it's Constitutional, and that makes it so? This last statement is what justifiably caused John Aravosis head to explode yesterday. The idea that a judge who has more grey matter than this buffoon ever had "doesn't understand the nature of the world in which we live" just shows how delusional this guy is. And by the way, there isn't a person in this country, liberal OR conservative, who opposes Al Qaeda calls to the United States being put under surveillance. But mass fishing expeditions through the calls made by ALL Americans doesn't fall into that category.
John is right -- Bush is like the wino on the street corner, brandishing his half-empty bottle of Thunderbird and screaming, "You can't do this to me, I'm the fucking king!" HE believes the economy is fine, and that makes it so. HE believes Hezbollah is in defeat, and that makes it so. HE believes that his wiretapping program is Constitutional, and that makes it so.
It used to be that mad kings were deposed. This one has an entire army of lapdogs in the Senate and in the media perfectly willing to allow him to continue to destroy an entire country rather than confront him on his delusions.
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