Editor,
Republicans claim the economy is operating on overdrive, and the proof they use to justify this absurd claim is the Dow Jones industrial average, which is at record highs.
Why don't the Democrats respond and tell Americans the truth about the incompetent economic policies of President Bush and his cadre? The Bush administration is not concerned with the prosperity of any Americans other than itself and those that donate money to preserve its power.
Bush praises the performance of the Dow. He is proud of five record closings during his six years in office. That is an average of 1.2 a year. I wonder what he would do if his performance equaled that of Bill Clinton. Would he claim he deserved the Nobel Prize in economics if he ruled over 277 record-breaking days? This is what Clinton accomplished. Clinton averaged 34.63 record days a year. How can the press and the Democrats let Bush get away with his miserable performance?
On Jan. 20, 1993, the Dow Jones industrial average was 3,241.95. On Jan. 20, 2001, it was 10,587.24. It grew 226.57 percent during the Clinton years. That is 28.32 percent per year.
When Bush took office, the Dow Jones industrial average was 10,578.24, and today it is 11,950.02. It has gone up by only 13 percent in six years. That is an average of 2.17 percent a year. A 2.17 percent growth rate is pitiful, and it is embarrassing when compared to Bush's predecessor.
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The Dow would need to climb to 23,987.51 points in the next 27 months if Bush were to have the same rate of growth as Clinton. That is an average increase of 447 points per month.
Bush's lackeys constantly ridicule the Clinton administration and claim Bush is doing a better job, as though it were a competition Bush were trying to win. Two hundred seventy-seven record highs to five - I wonder who will win this competition?
If the Dow breaks another record, I wonder if at the next press conference we will hear "We Are the Champions" emanating from speakers and shouts of "Republicans are No. 1."
Isaac Padilla
UNM student
