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Sun 13 Jun, 2004 09:51 am
Survey: Bush not getting credit for new jobs
By Ron Fournier AP Political Writer
Posted 6/12/2004
WASHINGTON - The economy gained 1.2 million jobs in the last six months, a potential political boon for President Bush, but a development barely noticed by Lonnie Steele and hundreds of other voters surveyed by The Associated Press.
"I don't think he's created anything," said Steele, 57, an undecided voter from East Flat Rock, N.C. "I know a number of people who are educated people, and they are working two or three minimum-wage jobs just trying to put groceries on the table and keep their families alive."
Steele is not alone. Voters are too focused on the war in Iraq and other news - and too busy trying to make ends meet - to heed the upbeat economic news from the Bush administration. Few voters seem to be giving Bush credit for the new jobs or other signs of financial recovery.
An Associated Press survey of 788 registered voters conducted Monday through Wednesday showed that while they may be gaining confidence in the economy and Bush's performance, 57 percent said the nation has lost jobs in the last six months. The Labor Department has reported just the opposite - nearly 1.2 million jobs gained in half a year.
"The message hasn't gotten out," said Andy Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "It takes a while for national changes to get down to the people level."
The Nov. 2 election may hinge on whether the economy continues to improve and voters notice. The race is a dead heat, with Bush at 46 percent, Democrat John Kerry at 45 percent and independent candidate Ralph Nader at 6 percent, according to the AP poll conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
Kerry's advisers say they're not surprised that many voters don't know about the new jobs. "It's because the quality of jobs that have been created are inferior to the jobs that have been lost," said one, Tad Devine.
Responded Bush spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish: "That's just not true. Two-thirds of the jobs that have been created are in sectors with higher-paying salaries than the national average." She cited Bureau of Labor Statistics figures showing the average salary for non-supervisory workers at $15.64 an hour.
But the BLS also reports that a bulk of the new jobs - 978,000 - come from the private services sector, where the average hourly salary is $15.24. Of the sector's professional and businesses services jobs created in May, nearly half are temporary help, the bureau said.
"The jobs are being created for college students at McDonald's," said Barbara Mulkey, a Democratic voter from rural Floyd County, Ky. She said jobs had been lost, then didn't budge in her opinion of Bush when told she was wrong.
Daily Herald Online Edition 6/13/04
When he characterizes working at McDonalds a manufacturing job it's hard to take him seriously.
edgarblythe wrote:When he characterizes working at McDonalds a manufacturing job it's hard to take him seriously.
I keep seeing the dems say that,so would you please provide a link to something that actually supports that claim.
I have never heard Bush make that claim.
I think the reason that Bush is not getting credit for new jobs is because there were so many jobs lost that they would have to have sustained record breaking numbers of job creation to make up for it to make a difference. The same with the economy.
Instead the recovery has been slow at best and not felt at all levels. When we keep hearing about these new jobs, people like look around and ask, "where?" When they tell us the economy is improving and it is in some areas, we think "well, I must be left out of the improvement." They are still trying the trickle down theory and the American Public is not going to buy the same trick twice. At least I hope not.
I don't know when those conservatives on fox and other financial shows realize that just because big businesses like halliburton and other companies are doing better does not mean the whole country is doing better when they are still working at barely minimum wage with less benefits like insurance for health care and retirement benefits. That is why the trickle down theory does not work. Just because big businesses have more revenue does not mean that they are going to spread it around the economy by raising wages or having more benefits for their employees. Usually the opposite is true and this creates a two class system.
I am so sick and tired of the word "commuisim" being thrown about by conservatives to use to try to keep their trickle down theory going. In a communist society the government is run by people who owns the businesses and things not by the people like in our country. (or at least in theory that is the way our country is supposed to be) So of course "big government" does not work for the people or their economy.
Was not the Reagan success followed by a recession? Didn't Bush 1 have a recession? We know Bush 2 had a recession though he can blame clinton all he wants, the fact is that during the clinton years we had the longest period of economic growth in the nations history because he was smart about the economy and didn't run it on idealism.
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