Hooverville
14,000
NEW YORK POST
Editorial
July 18, 2007 -- Less than five years after a recession and 9/11 combined to sink the Dow to the 7,700 range, the index crossed 14,000 yesterday, a record high, before closing at 13,971.
It's up 12 percent for the year.
Plus, the nation's economy is so strong that tax revenues have been pouring in, helping to cut the projected '07 deficit to $205 billion, less than half what it was three years ago. This year's red ink is just 1.5 percent of GDP; the 40-year average for the deficit is 2.4 percent.
So why isn't President Bush getting any credit? Bush has been hammered because of Iraq, despite signs of progress there. But he deserves enormous praise for keeping the economy chugging.
Democrats, of course, can't be expected to trumpet Bush's triumphs: On the contrary, they're following Al Gore's 2000 campaign playbook and resorting to populist, class-warfare themes.
All of them want to repeal his tax cuts.
Which would be a big mistake.
The verdict is in on those cuts: nothing but stupendous.
Yet given the war, the 9/11 attacks six years ago and the shock to the economy and Wall Street, this is a truly historic period of economic growth.
Bush should be commended. If not by Dems, then at least by Republicans.
nypost.com |
