Concern about the economy, the war in Iraq and growing dissatisfaction with the political environment in Washington all contribute to the lowest public assessment of the direction of the country in more than a decade. Just 24 percent think the nation is on the right track, and three-quarters said they want the next president to chart a course that is different than that pursued by Bush.
Dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq remains a primary drag on public opinion, and Americans are increasingly downcast about the state of the economy. More than six in 10 called the war not worth fighting, and nearly two-thirds gave the national economy negative marks. The outlook going forward is also bleak: About seven in 10 see a recession as likely over the next year.
Yet last week the economic news was upbeat. The U.S. economy grew 3.9 percent and the economy added 166,000 jobs. Shouldn't people be happy about those developments?
The answer is no they shouldn't. As I noted in the first installment in this series, job and wage growth for this expansion is poor at best. Simply put, if you hadn't had a meaningful raise for the duration of "greatest story never told" you'd be frustrated, too. But that poor job and pay growth only tell part of the story. The bottom line is the underpinnings of the Bush economy are terrible -- and they are starting to come home to roost in a big way.
Read Complete Story
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment