The Democratic National Convention on Monday night offered a simple message about the economy: "It was better under the Democrats,” reports the New York Times. “Again and again...[Bill Clinton] said voters faced a choice. If they liked the status quo, he said, stick with the Republicans. If not, he said, ‘take a look at John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democrats.’”
The Democrats are basically saying, “the economy will be peachy under the Democrats and horrible under those greedy Republicans.” If only it were that simple. The economy is such a clumsy, wild, flailing, confused beast; it can’t be easily and effortlessly tamed by either party.
It’s often unpredictable and difficult to make sense of. Republicans counter with the image of “Mr. Kerry as a pessimist, unwilling to acknowledge that the nation is in a strong recovery and employment is on the rise.” But like the Democratic message, the Republican message should be taken with a grain of salt; despite all the newly created jobs, unemployment remains the same.
I think the only feasible solution for voters is to closely examine the plans of both candidates, instead of relying too much on simple partisan dichotomies and contradictory statistics.
One positive part of Kerry’s plan: “rolling back the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $200,000 a year. Democrats assert that the shift is a simple matter of fairness, diverting government resources from those who do not need help to those who do.”
Makes sense, and would help ease the "middle-class squeeze.”
Respond to this posting
Back to top