Many trusting their "lyin' eyes"

The politicians, pundits, and wealthy Republicans just can't understand why Bush's poll numbers are so bad, despite a booming economy.

Employers added 207,000 jobs in July, the biggest monthly gain since April. And job growth was stronger than previously reported in May and June, said the Labor Department, which added a combined 42,000 jobs to its earlier estimates.

Factory orders are climbing, and businesses are investing more in new equipment and software. Inflation is tame except for energy costs, and interest rates remain low. The economy expanded at a 3.4 percent annual rate in the spring, and analysts see the pace quickening this summer.

The labor report provided "yet more evidence that growth is accelerating," said Nigel Gault, U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc., a research firm.

Yet a CBS News poll released this week found that 52 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush's handling of the economy, while 42 percent approved. Those numbers were worse than his overall approval rating, which split with 46 percent disapproving and 45 percent approving. Just 20 percent of those polled said the economy is improving; 32 percent said it is getting worse.

The disconnect has not been lost on the White House. The president's radio address this morning will be devoted to good economic news. On Monday, he will sign a 10-year, $12.3 billion energy bill, emphasizing its economic impact. On Tuesday, the White House economic team will travel to the president's ranch in Texas to discuss how all Americans can prosper from economic growth, said Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman. And on Wednesday, over the protest of budget-watchdog groups, Bush will sign a $286 billion transportation bill that he says will boost economic productivity by reducing congestion, shortening commuting time and improving safety.

Duffy said that the White House is well aware of the president's polling numbers but that they are refuted by a surge in consumer spending, especially on big-ticket items such as cars and houses.

Right. Americans are supposed to be buoyed by Bush inviting his "economic team" down to the ranchette to discuss how to convince Americans that everything is glorious. And they expect Americans to be pumped by Republicans trying to spend their way into the nation's long-term debt. Americans are doing that to themselves, via those "big ticket items" purchased on credit; credit they may not be able to pay off if a husband or wife loses a job or healthcare. And we know what happens to them as a result of recent legislation, signed ecstatically by Dear Leader.

They may, therefore, be somewhat lacking in confidence in their own precarious state, certainly in their elected officals, and most definitely in Bush's "economic team."

But those dandies and policy dilattantes supposedly running the country are certain that jobs aren't a problem.

Average hourly wages for most workers rose 6 cents in July, to $16.13, the biggest monthly increase in a year, the Labor Department said. The figures are for production and non-managerial workers, who make up 80 percent of the labor force. Average weekly wages rose $2.02 in July, to $543.58.

The biggest job gains were reported by retailers, which added nearly 50,000 workers, or about one-fourth of the total. About 10,000 of those hires were made by auto dealerships, which were flooded with customers eager to take advantage of promotions.

So, Wal-Mart is hiring? That's encouraging. And I've always wanted to sell cars for a living. Particularly cars being sold based on a business plan which seems to be, "Yes, we're losing money on every car, but we'll make it up in volume." I wonder how the health care plan is at Buster's Chevrolet Emporium? Probably the same as Wal-Mart's.

But so what. Wealthy Republicans -- Bush's base -- are doing fine.

Ray Phelan, 68, a Republican accountant in Daytona Beach, Fla., said Bush is getting a bum rap on an economy that, as far as he can see, is booming. "The economy is great," he said. "I think the best thing the president can do for the economy is keeping a positive image out there."

With five weeks of vaction, I should think Dear Leader can project a positive image. The Bush/Rove plan has been to launch glorious war but require no sacrifice on the homefront (besides the loved ones of the more than 1,800 killed in Iraq to date), other than long lines at the Mall and the hefty credit card debt. But the carnage, remote as it is, does follow we civilians like a spectre, and the cost, so thoroughly disguised by the crooks and liars in the White House and on Capitol Hill, is becoming too bloated for its mask. People are wondering where all that money is going, if it isn't being spent to protect troops (amphibious troop carriers, in a desert?). What's the final cost going to be? Who's going to pay for it? Why aren't Iraqis showering U.S. troops with candy, even now, after purple finger day? Meanwhile, the Republicans have done an effective job in convincing millions of Americans that their taxes are too high and must be lowered, ever year. Those millions of Americans now have the sneaking suspicion that eventually they're on the hook for this adventure, and they're going to have to pay to really support the troops. And Halliburton.

And when these negative thoughts intrude on them while they're trying to decide whether to fill up the SUV or pay the minimum on their credit cards, it makes them cranky.

So, in spite of the amazement of Washington Post reporters and the sputtering indignation of Republican party leaders wheir wealthy masters who know, sure as the sun rises in the morning, that the economy is a-rollin', Americans just aren't getting it. The preznit can speechify on our awe inspiring economy, "the envy of the world." And he can make that speech in his weekly radio address without ever mentioning The War -- after one of the bloodiest weeks for U.S. troops in some time. But unlike Bush and his brave warrior, that war is beginning to bother a lot of Americans. As Bush's credibility has fallen, their awareness of the costs is rising. And it's time for Democrats to start reaching out to those increasingly bothered Americans.