November 24, 2003

Some good news for Bush

The economy is beginning to produce some good news for the Bush administration. The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a respected independent purveyor of economic analysis, had this to say in its most recent report: “What we are experiencing is not only a genuine rebound in economic growth, but also one that is sustainable for the foreseeable future. In fact, ECRI's array of leading indexes of economic growth is pointing to resilient growth that will remain around or above trend at least through mid-2004. For the foreseeable future, therefore, it is highly unlikely that even an unexpected shock could tip the economy over into a new recession." Thus, ECRI underscores recent improvements in GNP, productivity and – modest though it is so far – in job creation. The lack of new jobs is still a major problem for the administration as there is literally no way that the economy can recreate the 3 million jobs lost in the recession before next fall. However, significant signs that job growth is underway are likely to undermine the Democrats’ already slim chance of unseating Bush. ECRI does temper its forecast with that little qualifier that growth should remain good "through mid-2004." If the economy should turn down again -- whether from an "unexpected shock" or some other reason, then Bush will be in very hot water. Barring that, the wildcard remains Iraq, where things are going from bad to worse.

Posted by tbrown at 12:39 PM

And if there is another 'unexpected shock,' don't tell Tommy Franks

Gen. Tommy Franks, who retired as Centcom commander just as the going threatened to get tough in Iraq (a prescient move in retrospect), says another major terror attack on U.S. soil could lead to suspension of the Constitution and rule by the military. Good grief. I thought our brass was duty-bound to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution, not just us, our subdivisions and our SUVs. Historian and blogger Juan Cole gives some perspective on just how feckless – not to mention scary – this is, and notes that Britain, which lacks a Bill of Rights, already is creeping toward fascism to prosecute its end of the "war on terror."

Posted by tbrown at 12:38 PM

Soros vs. Moon

The message boards of rightwing blogs have lit up like pinball machines since financier George Soros made the defeat of George Bush a personal goal. I mean, a billionaire Democrat? He must be nuts – or at least unAmerican. Even the Washington Post, which surely should know better, is whining about a very small fraction of Soros’ wealth going to Democrats. Well, you can say what you like about Soros, but he isn’t an evident lunatic, which is certainly something you can't say about one of the biggest moneybags of the right, the “Rev.” Sun Myung Moon. Blogger John Gorenfeld has a great point-by-point comparison of the two. Scroll down to his table(link via Atrios).

Posted by tbrown at 12:37 PM

The queen is now even less amused

If you treasure your yard, don’t invite Bush to drop in.

Posted by tbrown at 12:35 PM