For Nearly A Year After Recession Started, Bush White House Insisted That ‘We’re Not In A Recession’
For Nearly A Year After Recession Started, Bush White House Insisted That ‘We’re Not In A Recession’
Earlier today, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced that “the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy.” The group, which the White House has previously pointed to as the determinative body for declaring a recession, said in a statement that the “decline in economic activity” after Dec. ‘07 “was large enough to qualify as a recession.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto commented on the news “without ever actually using the word ‘recession.’” Instead, Fratto released a statement saying the White House was focused on what they “can do for the economy right now.”
It’s not surprising that Fratto would avoid the word “recession.” Though economic analysts and experts were predicting in late 2007 and early 2008 that the U.S. economy was likely to face a recession, Fratto declared on Jan. 8, 2008, “I don’t know of anyone predicting a recession.” This wasn’t the only time that the Bush administration dismissed the idea of a recession during the same period that NBER now says a recession was underway:
- “We don’t believe we’re going to have a recession though.” [Vice President Dick Cheney, 1/30/08]
- “I think the experts will tell you we’re not in a recession.” [President Bush, 2/10/08]
- “The answer is, I don’t think we are in a recession right now.” [Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear, 2/11/08]
– “First of all, we’re not in a recession.” [President Bush, 4/22/08]
– “The data are pretty clear that we are not in a recession.” [Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear, 5/7/08]
- “I don’t think we are” in a recession. [Director of the National Economic Council Keith Hennesy, 6/3/08]
– “I think we have avoided a recession.” [White House Budget Director Jim Nussle, 7/31/08]
– “I don’t think anybody could tell you right now if we’re in a recession or not” [Dana Perino, 10/7/08]
Less than a month ago, Fratto said that it was “irrelevant” for the White House to admit that the U.S. is in a “recession.” The recession is official now, but Fratto appears to still think admitting it is “irrelevant.”
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32 Responses to “For Nearly A Year After Recession Started, Bush White House Insisted That ‘We’re Not In A Recession’”
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Of course they did. Wouldn't we be surprised if they were upfront -- about anything?
December 1st, 2008 at 4:03 pmYou dont suppose this means that Chimpy LIED to us about the health of the economy do you? Afterall Chimpy is a good "christian" boy raised in a "christian" family. Certainly this news must have been concocted by the liberal media to make our Chimp look bad in the last 50 interminably long days of his residency.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:04 pmGot it!
December 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pm"We don't torture"
"We're not in a recession"
Just add those to the list of well famous lies.
"The check's in the mail"
"I promise I wont...." (you know the rest)
Bush White House; WRONG sbout EVERYTHING!
on 9/11; "No one could have imagined about using planes as missiles"
on Katrina; "No one could have imagined the levees being breached."
on Iraqi resistance; "No one could imagined they would take up arms against us."
Feel free to expand the list.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pmInteresting the use of the word "think" as the most common operative verb in the above quotes.
(With the exception of one of George's quotes... but then we all know he doesn't do much of that anyways...)
The use of the word seems to be a verbal vehicle to avoid making a direct statement, while giving the appearance of doing so.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:13 pmcaption:
"Blackberry, blackberry, in my hand...
December 1st, 2008 at 4:16 pmis there a recession in the land..."
Jan 20th is like waiting for Christmas when I was 5 years old
December 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pmAdditional W Idiocies:
December 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pmOuting a CIA agent during time of war.
De-regulating financial markets.
Refusal to consider tightening financial regulation, despite strident warnings of an impending catastrophy.
Refusal to believe in science when considering reulatory changes (EPA, Stem Cells, Climate Change).
Refusal to consider that a briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in America" actually had some significance.
Refusal to allow military commanders in Afghinistan to block Packistani border in Tora Bora, thus allowing Bin Laden to escape.
Refusal to allow Special Ops forces to capture/kill Bin Laden.
That's all I can think of now, I'm getting too angry to type.
Impeach. There's Still Time!
Bushco has avoiding using the word "recession" like it was radioactive, but had absolutely no problem using the word "crisis" (usually screaming it in all caps) when financial big guns started to fail.
I guess it's only a problem with the Bush buddies are directly affected.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:21 pmThe recession of the first Bush/Reagan years was never admitted to by the Republicans either, it was "only a mild downturn" according to Daddy Bush.
Typical Bush!t.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pmLess than a month ago, Fratto said that it was “irrelevant” for the White House to admit that the U.S. is in a “recession.
- - I'm sure the White House would think it irrelevant that the US has been in a moral recession for about 7 years too.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:25 pmHow dare these people claim we have not been in a recession.
Tell that to the steady stream of people who are making their way into homeless shelters.
Tell that to the people who are watching every penny they spend so they have enough to buy food.
Tell that to people who cannot stop talking about the problems they face trying to afford a doctors care.
I'm no longer angry at these idiots, I want them jailed.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:30 pmJanuary 20, 2009
The End of an Error
December 1st, 2008 at 4:31 pmAnd we should be surprised why??? Surely I'm not the only one here who's old enough to remember that Poppy Bush did exactly the same thing when he was President -- couldn't bring himself to admit that the country was in a recession. I still vividly remember a political cartoon from back then which showed Poppy Bush looking through a telescope at someone only a few feet away holding a sign which said "Recession" -- with a caption reading "Nope, still can't see it."
Let's face it, folks -- the apple didn't fall far from the tree at all when it comes to the Bush family. It's exactly the same circus in an almost identical tent -- the only difference is a considerably less competent ringmaster. What's that old quote by George Santayana -- "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"? Well, I'd say that it has certainly been proven true in this instance. We're facing many of the same issues we faced when Poppy was President (recession, failing financial institutions, a war in Iraq) -- only more intensely so, because we apparently didn't learn our lessons well enough the first time around.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:35 pmand let's also not forget not just the avoidance of the word recession (or even 'downturn' or 'slump', but also all the "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" happy sparkly talk from Bush,McCain and Greenspan at every press conference and TV appearance over the course of 2007/2008, or how Americans were just a bunch of whiners from Phil Gramm, or how the fre-marketeers held sway in the media and discounted the likes of Paul Krugman as fringe liberal loonies.
They didn't just deny the reality that hose of us on Main Street already understood, they projected their own delusions all the more.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:36 pmDog bites man again, I see.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:40 pmNBER just sounds like a bunch of "whiners" to me.
/snark off
December 1st, 2008 at 4:40 pmOn the other hand, the current (p)resident of the White House does grow (mercifully) less relevant every day.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:41 pmIn case anyone was still wondering whether the current mess was due to "too much regulation", I just ran into this article that highlights the Bush administration's willingness to bow to pressure from lobbying groups:
The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents.
"Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories," California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the housing implosion cost her a job.
AP IMPACT: They warned us, but US eased loan rules
The Bush administration will try to use the ever-handy "nobody could have predicted" excuse any day now, if they haven't already...
December 1st, 2008 at 4:48 pmThis coming in on the heels of Bu$h admitting he 'wasn't prepared for war' (absolute lie), and his being 'sorry' about the financial meltdown.
Let's face it, Bu$h's handlers scored a silent coup in 2000. They waltzed in thinking they could create their own reality, spoon feed the masses whatever they wanted us to hear, and basically do WHATEVER THE HELL THEY WANTED TO DO, WITH STILL NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
Yup, right here in the good 'ole U S of A.
Let this be a very hard lesson learned. Do not elect people that hate government to represent you in the government. Pretty simple really.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:48 pm"Economy? What economy? Sound and strong. We built too many houses. The economy just slowed down a bit but we're not in a recession." Echoes of an incompetent illegitimate unelected failed president!
December 1st, 2008 at 5:01 pmThis is emblematic of the way the Bush administration has responded to crisis after crisis. The National Hurricane Center told us that Katrina was bearing down on us for a week before it hit, and yet there was no credible planning for or respond to the disaster. Our intelligence services told us Bin Laden was determined to strike in the U.S. and had plans to hijack planes and yet there no credible response to the drum beats of war. Our State Department warned that planning for the Iraq War aftermath was inadequate, but they were not heeded. And now, the administration has relied on an economic determination which can only be made after the fact in order to shape their policy. By definition waiting until long after the damage was done to even begin to respond to the financial crisis in a manner fitting the scope of the crisis. In words of our leader, they're doing a heckuva job.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:12 pmIsn't time for someone to tell me that the "foundations of the economy are strong"?
December 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pmDuh, Shrub wouldn't know a recession from the hole in his a$$.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:32 pmThrey were not in a ressecion as much as there was WMD in Iraq.
December 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pmSh, Sh. Don't tell Dana P or George B or Henry P or Alan G or John M.
December 1st, 2008 at 6:46 pmThey might not understand.
On somewhat related news, Pres Bush is "remorseful" that the crisis is happening:
I'm sorry it's happening, of course," Bush said in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's "World News," which was airing Monday. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."
Bush sorry economic crisis has cut jobs, 401 (k)s
I am still trying to understand where Bush says he feels "remorseful". He talks about the crisis as if he had nothing to do with it whatsoever, and his own policies hadn't caused it.
Of course he is sorry it is happening. We all are. The difference is he bears responsibility for it. What a complete fool this man is.
December 1st, 2008 at 8:12 pmThe only people they fooled were themselves.
They didn't have to go without medication so they could afford their groceries.
They didn't fall behind on their car payment because they lost their job.
They didn't have to apply for a mortgage modification because their COBRA insurance payments were exorbitantly high.
It wasn't until Wall Street crashed that the recession affected them.
-AF
December 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 amAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
Most of us know when the Recession started. The fact that the White house and Phil Gramm did not know is irrelevant. The Bush administration has always been clueless on nearly everything.
The only reason they have caught on now is because their friends have asked for money. You know the bailout. Or as I think of it as the last final robbery of the American public before they close the door.
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:00 pmI am sitting here LMAO at these comments on the recession and the Bush administration. It is SO convenient to blame Bush for everything. As they say, ignorance is bliss.
I challenge you to check your facts. The recession began as a result of the subprime mortgage meltdown. Even you all can understand that. But just because the "meltdown" occurred while Bush was in office, does not mean his actions caused it. Subprime mortgages began in the late 90's when the Clinton Administration pressured banks (via Fannie Mae) to ease credit requirements for home mortgages to less qualified buyers. The move was an effort to extend mortgages to more or all Americans. And they certainly achieved that. Boy did they hand out loans!
Here's some documentation for you, lest you think I'm just blowing smoke up your ***
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&scp=1&sq=September%2030,%201999&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/business/19leonhardt.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5124&en=e0d85f3722f4ca36&ex=1363752000&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
We now have millions of people who bought houses they could not afford...and we (well, I) have to pay for their (the borrowers AND the banks) stupidity. Bush's mistake in this regard was that he did not instigate a push to re-tighten the lending requirements to previous standards. But of course if Bush had done that, he would've been seen as "mean," and I know you don't like mean people.
Obama is nice. He says everything we want to hear.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:14 pmGetinformed, You sound like a typical Republican. You are seriously tracking alllll the way back to the 90's??? So, if true, these people that were approved for loans that were less than qualified somehow managed to afford their houses for 15 years or so and NOW can not afford them due to job loss thanks to the 8 diabolical years of the Bush Administration. But, you can always blame a Democrat if you go back far enough.
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:23 amThat should have said 10 years or so ...
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:25 am