the libs who are now in charge of the american car industry do not want any cars the burn fossil fuel because as that stupid senator from nevada said,"fossil fuels like coal and oil are making us sick" and with govt controlled health care just around the corner they will not want fossil fuel used to cause more sickness and means more cost.
And you forgot of course the GOP policy of hand off and no regulation so many people will not be able to afford a Corvette anyway.
Can I ask why the word "libs" always makes its way into these threads? They have not been running the country in the last 8 years. And in the last 28 years only 8 of those were under Democratic WH control. When Clinton took office the DOW was at just at 3,241 points. When he left it was 10,588. It was just over 8,000 when the Shrub left office. Did the party in power do anything to stop the financial meltdown over the last 18 months? Not until the economy failed was anything done.
And what about now? The current party in power wants to bail out the Big three but the minority party, while still in power forced conditions on them meant to try Union Busting. None of those conditions were forced on the Wall Street crowd, just the main street crowd. Not one GOP vote on the stimulas package. Not one! So much for reaching across the aisle in an attempt to put partisan ploitics behind us and get the country what it needs to heal.
Here are some simple facts for those that want numbers:
As the Republican economic plan focuses once again exclusively on tax cuts for the rich, it is helpful to have a few simple facts at your disposal. Here’s a summery of 10 key economic measures under a Republican vs. Democratic presidency. Sometimes the facts just speak for themselves.
1. Jobs
Total Manufacturing
August 2008: 137.5 mil 13.4 mil
2000: 131.8 mil 17.3 mil
1992: 110.8 mil 16.8 mil
The Clinton economy produced about four times the number of new jobs (21 million) as the Bush economy (5.7 million). Manufacturing jobs have fallen precipitously under Bush after growing under Clinton.
2. Income
Real Per-Capita Income
2007: $26,804
2000: $26,905
1992: $21,497
That’s a decline under Bush following very steady growth under Clinton. Note that economists use the term “real” to mean that the figure has been adjusted for inflation.
3. Economic Growth
Real GDP growth
Jan 2001-June 2008: 2.3 percent
Jan 1993-Jan 2001: 3.6 percent
So much for the fiction that tax cuts lead to economic growth.
4. Budget Deficit/Surplus
2008: $389 billion deficit (projected by White House)
2000: +$236 billion
surplus
1992: $290 billion deficit
And so much for the fiction that tax cuts increase tax revenues.
5. Gas Prices
Average price of a gallon of regular unleaded
September 8, 2008: $3.64
January 20, 2001: $1.45
January 20, 1993: $1.06
6. Stock Market
Dow Jones Industrial Average
September 8, 2008: 11,511
January 20, 2001: 10,588
January 20, 1993: 3,241
That’s an annual return of 1 percent under Bush vs. 16 percent under Clinton.
7. Unemployment Rate
August 2008: 6.1 percent
Jan 2001: 4.2 percent
Jan 1993: 7.3 percent
After over a 40 percent reduction in unemployment under Clinton, things have taken a serious turn for the worse under Bush.
8. Poverty
Fraction of Americans living below poverty line
2007: 12.5 percent
2000: 11.3 percent
1992: 14.8 percent
After declining precipitously under Clinton, poverty is again on the rise under Bush.
9. Dollar
September 8, 2008: 0.707 Euros
January 20, 2001: 1.070 Euros
That’s a loss of a third of the value of the dollar under Bush.
10. Inflation
Annual rate of inflation
July 2007-July 2008: 5.7%
Jan 2001-July 2008: 3.1%
Jan 1993-Jan 2001: 2.6%
After nearly twenty years of stable prices, inflation is back with a bang as Bush leaves office.
Sources:
1.
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.ceseeb1.txt
2. Census Bureau:
Census Bureau Home Page
3. Bureau of Economic Analysis:
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) - bea.gov Home Page
4. Congressional Budget Office:
http://www.cbo.gov/budget/data/historical.pdf
US Treasury:
United States - Department of The Treasury - Homepage
5. Energy Information Administration:
http://www.eia.doe.gov
6. Yahoo Finance: finance.yahoo.com
7. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://data.bls.gov
8. Census Bureau:
Census Bureau Home Page
9. Oanda.com:
http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory
10. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://data.bls.gov