It's not storming. Really, it's not.

Bush faces challenge in selling U.S. on economy

It’s been storming a lot here lately, and between that and my schedule I haven’t been able to post much, but I’ll risk electrocution to comment on this, because it’s just so typical of how the current administration attempts to solve its problems.



Apparently, only 39% of Americans believe that Bush is doing a good job handling the economy. So how does the administration address this? By telling us how good the economy is. Again.

His advisors tell him it’s doing well, so, good ol’ boy that he is, he just has to share that good news with us. Shucks, don’t that just make you happy as flies on a heifer?

"The news at the macro economy level is generally positive," said Kent Gilbreath, an economist at Baylor University. "But, for millions of Americans, their personal economic news is threatening."

In July, nonfarm payrolls grew by 207,000, the biggest jump in three months, and wages, adjusted for inflation, rose at the fastest pace in a year.

Unfortunately, the rosy picture being painted by dubya and his gang doesn’t include most Americans. Things may look good on Wall Street, but those who live on Main Street ain’t seeing it. The fat cats are rakin’ it in, while middle America (you remember, the ones who voted Bush in on his “values” platform) is still living from paycheck to paycheck.

In Texas, which was hit hard by the recession, the job market has had a tepid recovery.

"We've seen some new jobs," said Bill Gilmer, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "But not what you would have expected with oil at $60 a barrel."

During the last spike in oil prices, in 1996-1998, Houston added 196,000 new jobs, Gilmer said. But in this oil boom, employment grew by only 42,000 jobs.

So while the oil companies are posting record profits, average Joes and Janes are paying record prices at the pumps, paying more for dwindling health care benefits, higher housing costs, and virtually all other costs of living because of rising fuel costs.

On Monday, Bush said, "The tax cuts are working. This economy is strong, and it's growing stronger."

Yeah, the tax cuts are working for his cronies. For most of us, the few hundred bucks we get don’t even begin to cover the higher cost of living created by his economic and foreign policies.

But tell us again and again how well we’re doing, and eventually we’ll believe it’s the truth.

Vaseline, anyone?