The recent low ratings on how President Bush is handling the economy and the gasoline price increases is difficult for me to understand since I look at the economy’s statistics on a daily basis. If you look at the macro economic numbers, the outlook is quite favorable. GDP is growing at an impressive annual rate of 4.8%. We are on track to add more than two million jobs this year. Average hourly earnings rose this year at the fastest rate in nearly five years. Per capita personal income has grown over 8%, or $2,100 since 2001. The labor market is strong and job growth has been impressive and unemployment is at a low 4.7%. The capital gains and dividend income tax rates of 15% have been extended until 2010 and this benefits the 60m million plus shareholders in the USA. Despite the erroneous idea that tax cuts increase the deficit, the numbers show the opposite. May 2006 tax receipts were up by $137 billion or 11.2% for the first seven months of fiscal 2006. These numbers are on top of the $274 billion increase or 14.6% in federal revenues for all of Fiscal 2005, ending 9/30/2005. Overall state revenues climbed by 8% in 2004 and nearly 9% in 2005.

      In regard to gasoline prices, it was George Bush who wanted an energy policy when he first was elected in 2000. The Democrats stopped every attempt to increase energy supplies. One can go back to 1995 and find that Bill Clinton vetoed drilling in ANWR after Congress had approved it. The Democrats voted against the last two attempts to begin exploration in ANWR and this is after being blackmailed by the Saudi’s, Venezuela, Nigeria and now threats by Iran to stop all shipping of tankers from the Gulf to other countries including the USA. No matter that Zell Miller’s book pointed out that ANWR holds upwards of 16 billion barrels of oil which is equivalent to more than 30 years of imports of Saudia Arabian oil. Are we stupid or what? The general public has no concept as to what causes the price of oil to fluctuate. Any one besides a Cool Aid drinker can look to the financial pages and check the price of crude oil on the NY Mercantile exchange. The buyers and sellers of crude oil are mostly speculators, hedge funds and other traders. They buy and sell depending on the outlook for future oil prices. When Iran threatens the world with their rhetoric, oil prices go up. Is this the fault of Geo Bush or the oil companies?

      I looked at the pages of an economics book by Paul Samuelson and his discussion of supply and demand and his charts show that if demand increases, the supply demand chart shows how equilibrium will travel up the supply curve and the price will go up. Doesn’t everyone understand that if demand goes up with a static supply of oil that the price will go up. China and India are both increasing demand. By increasing regulations and taxes on oil companies, the supply goes down or it moves to the left and the prices increase. Dum De Dum Dum. The public is blaming the wrong people, the ones restricting supply of oil are the ones to blame and the culprits are the Democrats and the hard core environmentalists.

Gary E. Marsella

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