Bad, Bad, And Ugly

Here it is put simply in a graph: the lost US decade under Bush as private sector job growth almost non-existent over the past ten years. Between May 1999 and May 2009, private employment rose 1.1% or the lowest 10-year increase in the post-depression period. In short, the the American job machine has almost completely stalled out. While the privates generated roughly 1.1 million additional jobs during this time, or about 100K per year, the public sector created about 2.4 million jobs. But even this gives the private sector too much credit: recall that it includes health care, social assistance, and education, all areas which receive a lot of government support. Depressing. The French yuf riot over this stuff - they're no dummies, they want the state jobs. Think the cost of Iraq not being felt?

"First of all, in a free market, there's going to be good times and bad times. That's how markets work. There will be ups and downs. And after 52 consecutive months of job growth, which is a record, our economy obviously is going through a tough time."
--Bush, March 14, 2008, in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

“If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down."
--Bush, September 26, 2008, in the Roosevelt Room before Hank Paulson, Nanci Pelosi and others.