Every now and then, I get the feeling that I am totally out of touch with the realities of our economy, the war on terror, the invasion of Iraq and much more.
For example, the administration was so bullish on the economy that the president actually held a news conference to herald the impact of his new tax cut on the economy. He thinks the economy is fine.
I thought the news that 556,000 people left the labor force last month was bad news. The Bush spin is that the labor force "thinned" last month, whatever that means. The fact is that 44,000 jobs disappeared in July; that's after 70,000 vanished in June. In the period since George W. Bush came into office, 2.6 million jobs have been lost. Food pantries are full, homeless shelters are overcrowded, consumer debt would scare anyone. Why am I not happy? The president is.
Maria Ramirez, a researcher in New York who was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said: "The job numbers, especially the unemployment rate, really looks a lot better than what the reality is."
http://www.madison.com/captimes/opinion/column/guest/54132.php