CHARACTER? COMPETENCY? CREDIBILITY?
David Kusnet, www.tompaine.com: While these flubs are
still fresh in Americans' memories, the Democrats
should make sure that the voters don't forget their
rare glimpses into the outlook of an Administration
that stood by while the nation lost 2.9 million
private sector-jobs, family incomes declined by 1.7
percent, and 3.4 million families lost their health
coverage. For Kerry, other prominent Democrats, and
their allies, every stump speech, every TV spot, and
every web-site should include reminders that the folks
who brought us this job-loss economy have offered
words of wisdom that explain what they were thinking
when they did it.
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It's The Economic Team, Stupid
Twelve years ago, the blackboard in Bill Clinton's
campaign headquarters had the famous slogan: "It's the
economy, stupid."
For the past few weeks, John Kerry's campaign headquarters and the Democratic National Committee's office should have had signs saying, "It's Bush's stupid economic team."
Yes, Kerry's been running a great campaign, Democrats
from every faction have been rallying behind him, and
the latest USA Today/CNN Gallup poll has him beating
President Bush by 52 percent to 44 percent with a 50
percent to 42 percent lead on the question of who'd
handle the economy best.
But Kerry, the Democrats, and their allies have failed
to capitalize as much as they could on a string of
five gaffes on economic issues by Bush administration
officials.
In the best known blunder, Greg Mankiw, the Chairman
of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told
reporters that outsourcing American jobs to other
countries is "a good thing" because "more things are
tradable than in the past."
While Mankiw was talking about technical and
professional jobs moving overseas, his staff showed
they don't care any more about manufacturing jobs. On
page 73 of this year's Economic Report of the
President, there's a box headlined, "What is
manufacturing?" It helpfully suggests that making
hamburgers in fast-food restaurants may be a form of
manufacturing.
Maybe economic advisers are supposed to be academics
who aren't afraid to ask interesting questions or
offer unorthodox answers. But the Secretary of Labor
is supposed to care about workaday realities, like
jobs and paychecks. So it came as a shock when Bush's
Labor Secretary, Elaine Chao, dismissed a question
from CNN about disappointing job growth.
"The stock market, after all, is the final arbiter,"
Chao replied. "And the stock market was very strong
this morning in response to the news that we have just
received."
Just as Labor Secretaries are supposed to care about
jobs, Secretaries of Health and Human Services are
expected to be concerned about health care. So there's
a firestorm waiting to happen about Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy Thompson's recent revelation
that Americans already enjoy universal health
coverage.
As The Seattle Times reported on March 3, after
returning from a two-day visit to Iraq, Thompson
defended the Bush administration's plans to spend $950
million to help that country establish universal
health care.
Asked why Americans should help Iraq achieve universal
health coverage when we still don't have it here,
Thompson explained: "Even if you don't have health
insurance, you are still taken care of in America.
That certainly would be defined as universal
coverage."
Unlike Mankiw and Chao, Thompson, has actually run for
and won public office, serving 14 years as governor of
Wisconsin. So it's hard to imagine him trying to
explain to anxious auto, brewery, or electronics
workers that, even if they lose their jobs, they
shouldn't worry about the families' health care
because their kids can always go to the emergency room
at the nearest hospital.
While most members of Bush's economic team hardly
qualify as confidence-inspiring, the great exception
is Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan,
who's served since Ronald Reagan's administration.
Greenspan wasn't committing a gaffe—by definition,
nothing Greenspan says is ever a gaffe—but he did
create a stir when he told a House Committee that
growing federal deficits will force future cuts in
Medicare and Social Security. But he added that, in
spite of these looming problems, Bush's tax cuts
should not be cut back.
The venerable Fed Chairman was shining a spotlight on
what Bush and the rest of his economic team had denied
since Day One: that $2 trillion in tax cuts for the
wealthy would force comparable cuts in programs for
working Americans and retirees.
If, as the journalist Michael Kinsley famously
observed, public officials commit gaffes when they
accidentally tell the truth, then only Greenspan's
gaffe can be considered inadvertent truth-telling
about America's economic condition.
Thompson, Mankiw, and Chao were revealing little more
than how out of touch they are with the economic as it
is experienced by working Americans who worry that
their jobs will be downsized, outsourced, or
offshored, and, while they may find a low-wage job
flipping hamburgers, they'll have a hard time getting
health coverage for their kids.
Bush's Brain Trust tells them not to worry. Offshoring
jobs is good for the American economy; fast food
restaurants maintain America's manufacturing might;
and you can always take your kids to the emergency
room.
While these flubs are still fresh in Americans'
memories, the Democrats should make sure that the
voters don't forget their rare glimpses into the
outlook of an Administration that stood by while the
nation lost 2.9 million private sector-jobs, family
incomes declined by 1.7 percent, and 3.4 million
families lost their health coverage. For Kerry, other
prominent Democrats, and their allies, every stump
speech, every TV spot, and every web-site should
include reminders that the folks who brought us this
job-loss economy have offered words of wisdom that
explain what they were thinking when they did it.
Before long, Karl Rove and Karen Hughes may muzzle
Mankiw, provide daily talking points for Chao, and ask
Thompson to remember what it was like to run for
office. Before the political team sends the economic
team to the showers, the Democrats need to tattoo his
brain trust's blunders on Bush's forehead.
David Kusnet was chief speechwriter for former
President Bill Clinton from 1992 through 1994. He is
the author of "Speaking American: How the Democrats
Can Win in the Nineties."
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Published: Mar 11 2004