Is Bush to blame for bad economy?

By huge margins, Americans think the economy is in lousy shape – and they blame President Bush. This fact, more than anything else, makes it hard to see how the Democrats can lose this election. But is the public right to be so disgusted with Bush's economic leadership? Not exactly. We really do have a lousy economy, a fact of which Bush seems spectacularly unaware. But that's not the same thing as saying that the bad economy is Bush's fault. On the other hand, there's a certain rough justice in the public's attitude. Other politicians besides Bush share the blame for the mess we're in – but most of them are Republicans. First things first: pay no attention to apologists who try to defend the Bush economic record. Since 2001, economic conditions have alternated between so-so and outright bad: a recession, followed by one of... [read full story]