Yet to come

I wish George would have told us in 2000 that the best days were coming in 2006. Then again, maybe he's referring to 2009.

President Bush flew to rainy North Carolina on Monday to make a campaign-style sales pitch: The economy is better than you think it is.

"This economy is strong, and the best days are yet to come," Bush told employees at a construction machinery plant near Greensboro.

Blasting "pessimists" who had attacked his tax cuts, Bush credited those cuts with triggering high growth rates and rising employment.

He again urged Congress to make the tax cuts permanent, saying the economy grows "when people are allowed to keep more of their own money."

Gee, where have I heard that line before? Oh yeah, from George Bush, right before Congress passed tax cuts that benefited nobody but the very wealthy and turned a federal surplus into the biggest federal deficit in history -- a deficit that left underfunded social programs that the very wealthy don't use, including public education. You don't hear administration crowing about No Child Left Behind much these days, do you? Being sued over it by the National Education Association, school districts in three states (including Texas) and teachers' unions in 10 states (again including Texas) will do that.

It's troubling that the administration can look at rising gasoline prices, skyrocketing energy prices and workers' wages that fail to keep pace with rising inflation and see success. It goes to show how badly the administration has fucked up everything else that this mess looks like a success story.

And even with Bush's going to the White House rose garden and now as far as North Carolina to congratualte himself for what he has been told to think is a success, nobody's buying it.

Despite positive economic numbers, polls show that many Americans believe the economy remains weak and some blame Bush.

In a Gallup Poll taken Nov. 17-20, 63 percent said the economy was fair or poor, while 37 percent called it good or excellent.

That 37 percent must be same the 37 percent who still say out loud that they think Bush is doing a good job.The administration is finding that it's hard to convince hungry people that they're full.