The administration revised it's numbers for January job losses to reflect an actual loss of 22,000 jobs as opposed to the 17,000 jobs lost initially reported, and today's labor report includes another 63,000 jobs lost, the largest job loss in 5 years. Meanwhile, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average Index closed today at 11,893, the lowest close in 14 months (since October 2006). Home prices have taken the greatest downturn in over 20 years, and inflation is at rates not seen since 1981 (prices up 7.4% in the last year-). On the "plus side" (if you own stock in an oil company), the price of oil today closed at over $106/barrel. Also on the plus side; so many people have been out of work for so long that they are no longer eligible for unemployment, and the number of unemployment claims actually went down.
In the short-term this is bad enough. But in the long term, decreased employment, decreased property values, decreased purchasing due to increased prices of goods, and other fallout from the failed economic policies will result in lower government revenues, which means any projected Federal budget deficit for 2008 is, as I type, being revised upward.
Reagan was a strong proponent of "supply side economics" (which his GOP primary opponent, George H. W. Bush called "voo-doo economics"). Of course, Bush I left office to catcalls of "It's the economy, stupid!" There certainly were no such cries following Bill Clinton out of office. Shrub has been a strong proponent of deregulation (well, to be honest, complete lack of regulation and oversight of even things that should have been regulated and overseen) and supply side economics (give it to the rich and it'll trickle down.) We have now seen this plutocratic fiscal policy fail abysmally twice.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Let's not get fooled again. (Cue The Who.) Don't get fooled again!
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read more blogs!
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stephendedalus
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Mar 7 @ 4:56PM
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"Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice...uh...er...won't git fooled again!"
George "Dubya" Bush
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mordru
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Mar 7 @ 4:59PM
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Clinton road on the coattails of Reagan"s Economic plan.Todays bad economy can be traced to Clintons Economic plan.Follow the paper trial. 
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Nightowl001
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Mar 7 @ 6:01PM
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Sorry, Mordru, but I disagree. I believe American business and economics is too reactionary for it to take years to demonstrate basic changes in the economic health of the country due to policy changes, and certainly not spans of 6-8 years. I think the results of policy decisions hit much closer to the target than that. Reagan and both Bushes, all three, borrowed extensively, running up (respectively) the largest budget deficits in history during their terms, and it's easy to "look rich" when you're living on borrowed money. The problems show up when those debts have to be paid.
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mordru
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Mar 7 @ 6:08PM
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Speaking of debt maybe we should call in all the loans we made to other countries.OOPS ! 
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Jacksonboy
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Mar 7 @ 7:04PM
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Nightowl I have always found you to be a thinker and not just a Bush hater but I think you are giving him a little bit too much credit brother. First all job reports and inflation reports and pretty much all government reports come out one way and then are most almost revised later. Sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse. Let's remember that the last six years of the Clinton's term the republicans controlled both houses of Congress. If there was a balanced budget we must give them at least half the credit since they are the ones that passed them over several of his vetos while he claimed " the republicans are cutting too much." Now the present President Bush has given us with the approval of the congress two tax cuts with increased spending as did President Reagan. I don't like that at all. Doesn't sound like true conservatives to me.
The economy is faltering now because of predatory lenders giving out 100% and adjustable home loans and irresponsible borrowers who could not make the payments signing the loan papers. Let's don't blame Bush for that. Finally the greedy oil companies are sticking it to us all and it started while we had a republican President and Congress but wait the last 13 or 14 months we have had a do nothing about it republican President and a do nothing about it democratic Congress. The democratic controlled Congress has not done a dam thing about oil prices. It has actually gotten worse since they took office. It is all all of them screwing us not just the republicans.
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unionman154
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Mar 7 @ 7:50PM
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Right on Nightowl Bush is a prime example that anyone can be president.
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duwant1
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Mar 7 @ 9:21PM
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Nightowl001
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Mar 7 @ 10:54PM
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I also posted this as a topic in the polics/current events forum, and that would be the proper place to get into a discussion. I will say, however, that President Clinton vetoed 37 bills during his 8-year tenure, only 13 of which Congress even tried to override, and only 2 of which WERE overridden. Sounds like "Clinton 35, Congress 2," to me. Incidentally, neither of those were budget bills. One was the Securities Litigation Reform Act (1995 H.R. 1038, which I have read and do not understand, but it is not a budget bill) and 1997 H.R. 2631, which was an attempt to nullify the cancellation of and re-instate funding for 38 military construction projects. (In other words, Clinton actually told Congress he wouldn't let them spend that much money.)
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