A Shorter Kept Promise Than a Las Vegas Wedding Vow...


Nine days after assuring us that more than 2.6 million jobs would be created this year, the president had to eat crow for breakfast. Not to be outdone after Mr. Bush's confident promise of job creation, his chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, N. Gregory Mankiw (see Monday Feb 16th blog below) said the president was even understating the figure, which in Mankiw's estimate would be closer to 3.5 million new jobs. Crow tastes better when eating with a friend...

The White House backed away Wednesday from its own prediction that the economy will add 2.6 million new jobs before the end of this year, saying the forecast was the work of number-crunchers and that President Bush was not a statistician.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan, asked repeatedly about the forecast, declined to embrace the prediction which was contained in the annual economic report of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Unemployment and the slow pace of job creation are political liabilities for Bush as he heads into a battle for re-election. Despite strong economic growth, the nation has lost about 2.2 million jobs since he became president.

The jobs forecast was the second economic flap in recent days for the White House. Last week, Bush was forced to distance himself from White House economist N. Gregory Mankiw's assertion that the loss of U.S. jobs overseas has long-term benefits for the U.S. economy.

Asked about the 2.6 million jobs forecast, McClellan said, "The president is interested in actual jobs being created rather than economic modeling."

He quoted Bush as saying, "I'm not a statistician. I'm not a predictor."

Well, you don't read the papers either Mr. President, but that doesn't excuse your lack of leadership. Must have been another "intelligence failure" that caused this problem too - in this case from your CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR. Oh, don't bother saying it, we know his job is not in jeopardy either. Congratulations, you have just given 8 million people searching for work right now another reason not to vote for you.

And by the way, we know you have trouble reading or remembering numbers - but try remembering these, will you? ... more than 535 dead and more than 14,000 battlefield casualty evacuations. That shouldn't be too taxing for you.