Matalin: ‘Arguably’ George W. Bush’s 2001 Recession Was ‘Worse’ Than Today’s
Matalin: ‘Arguably’ George W. Bush’s 2001 Recession Was ‘Worse’ Than Today’s
Economic experts ranging from the World Bank’s top economist to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan have said that the current recession, which began in Dec. 2007, is on course to be the worst since the Great Depression. But some conservative ideologues, like former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin, disagree.
Appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last night, Matalin said that she had “the perspective we’ve been through worse.” Matalin first claimed that Ronald Reagan’s 1981-82 recession was worse and then added that “arguably” the 2001 recession was worse as well:
MATALIN: I don’t want to say I’m panic-free, because my husband’s always in a panic, which is infectious, but I do have the perspective we’ve been through worse. Reagan had a worse recession, and arguably George W. Bush, I was there in that pre-9/11. We inherited a recession. We acted quickly, and the recession, in combination with 9/11, was shallow and short, and we went on to have 52 months of consecutive growth. I’m not doing talking points here.
Listen here:
Needless to say, Matalin’s claim about the 2001 recession is laughable. As Time’s Justin Fox recently pointed out, February’s job loss numbers mean that the employment decline of the current recession is now worse than in the 1981-82 recession:
Additionally, Matalin claims that she isn’t spouting “talking points” when she says that Bush’s 2001 tax cuts led to “52 months of consecutive growth.” But that is exactly what the Bush talking points are. As the Center for American Progress’ Joshua Picker has pointed out, overall monthly job growth during the economic cycle that began in March 2001 and ended in December of 2007 was “the worst of any cycle since at least February 1945.”
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Note to politcal operatives like Matalin: Stay away from things you do not know ANYTHING about! Step back, do not touch it and do not bloviate as you know NOTHING of which you speak.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:04 amShe’s not a political operative, she’s a political whore.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:07 amI don’t care if this recession is worse or better than any other one. They are all bad if you are unemployed. I just wish that the Congress would stop the endless bickering and work on doing something that can turn this around. (Like put some regulation on Wall Street). It is bad out here in the heartland, and it does not seem to be improving.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:07 amMary Moron: arguably George W. Bush, I was there in that pre-9/11. We inherited a recession.
If that is true, then Bush’s first lie in office was when he told us that the economy was so good in 2001 that we could afford a huge tax cut for the wealthiest people.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:08 amInstead of arguing who’s recession is bigger, maybe our elected leaders could get off their collective butts and do SOMETHING about it.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:11 amThis Dow chart is also helpful proof….
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/03/stock-market-another-lowest-since-day.html
March 10th, 2009 at 11:15 am“I’m not doing talking points here.”
Ha….hahaha….good one.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:15 amThese people will say anything.
http://www.pufferfishblog.com
March 10th, 2009 at 11:16 amGOP-er corroded mind talking points.
*George W. Bush INHERITED a recession 8 months into his presidency.
*Barack Obama CREATED a recession that began in 2007.
I thought these Bible thumpers considered lying a sin?
-GSD
March 10th, 2009 at 11:16 amOkay, let’s argue in Never Never Land and completely ignore the fact that most experts believe that the early 2000 recession was from 2001 until 2003.
Let’s say, for fun purposes, that Bush did indeed inherit a recession (although I remember it being a time of prosperity).
Well then, it appears that he royally fcked up any recovery, with tax cuts for the ultra rich, and a never ending war of false pretense.
You don’t have unemployment rates as Bush did during his “reign” by successfully defeating an inherited recession.
Let’s not forget, this economic crisis was started well into
March 10th, 2009 at 11:16 amBush’s second term. And where as he failed to recover from the hypothetical inheritance, I have full faith in President Obama, who truly inherited a gawd awful recession(depression), and is willing to take the steps and sacrifice to end it!
Y’know, I don’t think it’s absurd to think that we might not be in this economic mess if we had a media that imposed some kind of penalty on pundits who lost credibility.
Instead, we have a media that continues to employ people who say stupid stuff, and that stupid stuff gets into and pollutes the bloodstream of information, which in turn allows people like George W. Bush to contest for powerful elected offices.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:17 amOh, and if I may, Mary.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:20 amYou’re a mucking foron for lapping at the crotch of arguably the worst.
president.
ever!
Let’s also not lose sight of the fact that those “52 consecutive months of consecutive growth” were completely fraudulent, having been based upon misguided deregulatory policies, unwise monetary policy by the Greenspan Fed, egregiously lax underwriting standards with regard to mortgage underwriting standards and massive incompetence by the financial industry. This recession is not only worse than the first Bush recession, it was caused in large part by the policies that followed throughout Chimpy’s presidency.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:22 amI thought Mary was a campaign adviser. She thinks she’s an economist.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:25 amMary, Mary, quite contrary
March 10th, 2009 at 11:26 amHow does your garden grow?
Silverbells and cockleshells
And a whole bunch of stupid.
these puppets make rediculous claims that cannot possibly be supported so it becomes part of the discussion
once they make the obsurd part of the discussion it’s a small step to make it “one opinion vs another opinion”
that’s what they’ve done and it’s what they do, it’s their m.o.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:29 amShe is another one of the the Boy Emperors history rewriters…….if she was there for pre 9-11, where has she been since 9-11?
March 10th, 2009 at 11:32 amWhy is the black widow not spinning her lies in prison? Axis Mary was one of the masterminds who lied us into Iraq.
The tight little cabal of Bushie, the man who lacked the courage to veto and the honor. And so he cheated with signing statements.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:32 amI was wondering when Matalin would chime in with her version of spin. I am assuming that when she says “arguably”, it means she’s going to argue and everybody else will just laugh — sort of like when the wingnuts claim Obama is responsible for the economic collapse last September.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:32 amIf Mary Matalin is trying to sell the idea that the 2001 recession was worse than today’s then the right wing must be recognizing that George Bush owns this one.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:33 amAll I`m saying is this Republiscum Channel is a HOOT, a laugh a minute…….all of this coming from the party that will protect an unborn child to hell but once their brought into this world they get to live in HELL because of the Republiscum Party and it`s conservative dogmatic agenda.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:36 amShayne Says
March 10th, 2009 at 11:25 am
I thought Mary was a campaign adviser. She thinks she’s an economist.
_________________________________________________________
She’s a marketer, which means she places far more importance on what “sells” than she does on the truth. But who’s paying for her marketing skills these days?
March 10th, 2009 at 11:38 amWho`s Ogabe???????????????
March 10th, 2009 at 11:42 amMATALIN: I’m not doing talking points here.
You’re just full of shit , as usual ………….
March 10th, 2009 at 11:42 amMATALIN: … but I do have the perspective we’ve been through worse.
Oh. I’m glad to have your “perspective”. That helps a lot. It is very encouraging (who the hell are you?)
Reagan had a worse recession, and arguably George W. Bush,
Really? Arguably I should be emperor of the universe. Arguably.
I was there in that pre-9/11.
Oh, good. I was afraid that no one was here. I was on Mercury negotiating a treaty between the martians and the Vasudans (and getting a Romulan cloaking device on the side), so I WAS concerned that there was no one here in the “pre-9/11″ days. Good to know.
We inherited a recession. We acted quickly, and the recession, in combination with 9/11, was shallow and short, and we went on to have 52 months of consecutive growth. I’m not doing talking points here.
Funny. That whole paragraph sure SOUNDS like talking points. And when I type them out and hold them up to the light against the “actual” talking points, they are identical, but I suppose that is just a coincidence.
And — who the hell are you?
March 10th, 2009 at 11:46 amHippie_crusher Says:
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March 10th, 2009 at 11:38 am
When using someone elses (shitty) Op/Ed from Bloomberg News as you did , especially when it’s Kevin Hassett , a senior fellow at the neoconservative think tank American Enterprise Institute where he directs economic policy studies , it is proper form to include the link , jerkoff …………
March 10th, 2009 at 11:46 amAnd we know what an excellent judge of character you are. Did you move to Texas so you could be closer to your idol, W?
March 10th, 2009 at 11:47 amWho`s Ogabe???????????????
Must be native troll for Bush
Tell me troll, how does it make you feel to know Bush and Rummy allowed US servicemen to be poisoned for years by toxic burn pits
Pentagon knowingly exposed troops to cancer-causing chemicals, document showsJohn Byrne
March 10th, 2009 at 11:48 amPublished: Tuesday March 10, 2009
I think her real goal here is trying to frame the previous recession as Bush’s and this one as Obama’s. They are both Bush’s in the sense that he caused them both.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:48 amWho let the fascist pig in? American businesses have been suffering since NAFTA became enacted. Say what you want about Ross Perot, he sure had it right when he heard the “large sucking sound”.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:50 amHippie are you a TROLL that plagiarizes?……….I`m shocked, I am simply astounded,NOT!I know party first then the country with you guys,fearmongering is so Bush League!
March 10th, 2009 at 11:50 amDru P. Says:
Tell me troll, how does it make you feel to know Bush and Rummy allowed US servicemen to be poisoned for years by toxic burn pits
No, no. Those were “Tough Love Pits” — see, no one BUT conservatives love our troops, and those pits enabled our soldiers to have reason to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get back into the fight. Character building, and all, you know? Conservative tough love.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:53 amHow can these people say these things with a straight face?
Pretty soon we are going to have to start building more mental hospitals to hold all the Republicant’s who are slowly but surely going insane.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:54 amWow hippie crusher. But I thought Obama was really planted here by Castro thru a secret pact between Cuba, Nigeria and the planet batshtcrazy just so he can lift the ban on cigars (which will be filled with a special gas making all of us commies).
It’s really easy to make sh!t up. It doesn’t mean any of it’s true.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:54 amThe best plan for an enemy state to destroy our economy would be for their to use a “Manchurian Candidate” to cut taxes for the wealthy multi-national corporatists, deregulate our financial markets, so the global financial capitalists could game a huge ponzi scheme which would drain the country of capital, open free trading with a country with over a billion people willing to work for pennies and which manipulates its currency, and start a war with a third world oil producing country which drains the treasury and helps create a gigantic deficit.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:54 amIt is almost funny how the Republican spin meisters and their little buddies just keep projecting all of their plans out and trying to sell that it is the Democrats and Progressives who are doing their dirty.
But, their waaambulance cries of we had it bad too, you know. Only had a butler, maid and gardener 5 days a week and we had to make two with just three luxury cars just are real hard to feel sorry for.
March 10th, 2009 at 11:57 ammake do that is, not two
March 10th, 2009 at 11:57 amHey trolls out here, try reading Eliot Spitzers article on predatory lending and how the Shrub had the Office of currency Comptroller invoked a clause from 1863 rendering state predatory laws useless.Had this crisis would not have been as devistating as it is in my opinion, but I am no economist. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302783.html
March 10th, 2009 at 11:58 amDru P. Says:
Tell me troll, how does it make you feel to know Bush and Rummy allowed US servicemen to be poisoned for years by toxic burn pits
Or that they allowed 13 or our soldiers to be electrocuted because of shoddy work done by KBR. That was 12 too many. When the first soldier was electrocuted, they knew what the problems were and did NOTHING about it.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:02 pmWhat do you think of my plan HC? Your’s is way too subtle and complicated. I don’t think it could possibly succeed. My plan to destroy the economy is straightforward and simple. Thus my Manchurian Candidate could not fail to ruin the country.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:04 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
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Dru P. Says:
Tell me troll, how does it make you feel to know Bush and Rummy allowed US servicemen to be poisoned for years by toxic burn pits
Or that they allowed 13 or our soldiers to be electrocuted because of shoddy work done by KBR. That was 12 too many. When the first soldier was electrocuted, they knew what the problems were and did NOTHING about it.
This is the problem with outscourcing, exspensive labor shoddy workmanship!
March 10th, 2009 at 12:05 pmLooks like we need another awards show, sort of like the Oscars.
“The nominees for most deluded pundit are…”
“In the category of most ridiculous lies told on national TV, the nominees are…”
“We have a close race in the best projective Republican…”
March 10th, 2009 at 12:10 pmhabib Says: How does a neoliberal differentiate a talking point from a fact?
A good rule of thumb is if it comes out of a Republican’s mouth, it’s a talking point.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pmBesides being one of the ugliest women on earth, she is also disingenuous and stupid.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pmA repukian media skank tells lies? I’m shocked, how soon till this Bush Depression is called Obama Depression by this lying skank?
Not long, not long at all.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pmThe reichwingnuts all lie. I just watched on on MSNBC saying that it had been four and a half months since the election and the president hasn’t solved the banking problem and she refused to say that the Bush administration has any blame for it.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:13 pmIf they were FACTS they wouldn’t be talking points. Who dresses you in the morning?
March 10th, 2009 at 12:22 pmNo, habib, if something is offered as a fact, it is up to all of us to seek the veracity of the claim. If you can’t find authentication, then you ask for clarification. Or blindly accept the statement, which then becomes a talking point.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:23 pmApparently the Hippie Crusher got crushed. Since his drivel wasn’t even his own, we can honestly say it’s no loss.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:23 pmCan you point to a recent statement where a republican/rightwing talking head said something that couldn’t be disputed?
March 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pmneo-liberal?
I am not a neo-liberal… I’m a progressive, there’s a HUGE difference habib.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:26 pmTalk about grasping at straws. I don’t see how even the most gullible fool can buy Matalin’s talking points. Pathetic.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:33 pmhabib Says
March 10th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
In other words if facts are offered that you can’t dispute it’s automatically labeled a “talking point?”
____________________________________________________________
No, you’re confused. Try to follow along here:
FACT: A statement that is true. For example, “the earth is round” is a fact.
TALKING POINT: A statement that may or may not be true, but whether it is or not is often irrelevant to the speaker. A talking point is used to sell an agenda or an ideology. For example, “We acted quickly, and the recession, in combination with 9/11, was shallow and short” is a talking point.
It’s not “facts offered that we can’t dispute” that’s the issue. It’s talking points presented as facts with no evidence, or presented in the face of evidence to the contrary.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:34 pmGee, that was easy.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:36 pmThe recession in 2001 STARTED in the first quarter
March 10th, 2009 at 12:37 pmI can’t remember. Who was president when the recession began in 2001?
March 10th, 2009 at 12:42 pmSorry, I didn’t finish my sentence. The recession started in the first quarter of 2001, NOT during 2000. So Bush did not inherit a recession.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:42 pmWhat the hell is a “neoliberal”?
March 10th, 2009 at 12:45 pmWhy did Matalin feel the need to add the post script apology, “I’m not doing talking points here.” ? What drove her to toss that in? Is that a normal kind of disclaimer one adds to discourse? Or was it because she WAS doing talking points (sic), and had a guilty need to deflect appropos criticism of what she was doing?
Talking points try to impress an ideological position upon the listener. A talking point may involve facts — but its primary identifier is spin (towards an ideological position).
Usually it contains untruth, because the primary function of “talking points” is propoganda — they serve to attempt to convince listeners of a position and a direction to view it from. They are also repeated, often word for word (to keep the “message” with the desired spin), by many people and many outlets. They are “pat” responses. We also hear them over and over. A person offering their own original opinion is NOT a talking point. However, restating a talking point as if it were your opinion does not negate its talking point status.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:45 pmNo, that would be stating the obvious.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:48 pmHere you go habib:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_points
You seemed confused. Lump me in with Mickey Kaus again, though and the fur will fly!
March 10th, 2009 at 12:49 pmIgnoranceIsNotBliss Says:
What the hell is a “neoliberal”?
A liberal who likes to wear leather trenchcoats and talk in depressing angst-ridden gothic free verse?
(obtuse matrix reference?….. not my best moment…)
March 10th, 2009 at 12:49 pmA Libertarian.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:50 pmhabib Says:
“Needless to say, Matalin’s claim about the 2001 recession is laughable.”
So, this would be considered a talking point, right?
Noooooo…. that… would… be…. an… opinion…….
try again……..
we’ll… talk…. real……… slow……… for…… you….
March 10th, 2009 at 12:51 pmGuys, the simple FACT is that the recession of 2001 began in March: more than a month and a half after Bush took office. So the FACT is that he did not “inherit” a recession. http://money.cnn.com/2001/11/26/economy/recession/
If anything, employing the same “logic” currently being wielded against President Obama, Bush caused the 2001 recession because investors were frightened that the fiscal responsibility of the Clinton years and a new era of Voodoo Economics would take the reign.
The only difference is, the 2001 recession actually DID start under Bush’s watch, whereas the current recession began 13 months prior to Obama taking office.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:02 pmthat should be “frightened that the fiscal responsibility of the Clinton years would end, and…”
Its really sickening to watch the propagandists go to work.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:04 pmAny Righty who claims not to be doing x, is, beyond a doubt, doing exactly x.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:08 pmMatalin is an economic expert, right?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pmShe may be no better than the talking heads on CNBC who are paid millions to opine right from their collective ass.
Mary,
Where can we get what you’re smoking?
D
March 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pm“Are you saying that a recession can just start over night?”
I’ll leave it to the experts to decide when a recession starts. It just so happens that the most recent one began in December 2007 and the one before that began in March 2001. And George W Bush was the president for the start of both of them.
One cannot “inherit” something that begins on one’s own watch. Just as they did not “inherit” 9-11.
Your “can recessions start over night” query is simply a way for you to attempt to insert SPIN (such as your interpretation of why the recession began and who is ultimately to blame) in place of FACTS (economists date the start of the last recession at March, 2001).
The FACT that the economy was not in recession when George Bush took office exposes the lie, or, if you will, “talking point” that Matalin is attempting to disseminate.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:31 pmlet’s not forget that FAT budget surplus, either.
dubbie couldn’t (and didn’t) wait to hand that over to his frat buddies.
why do righties gravitate to people who wouldn’t give them the time of day in real life?? masochisitic and self-destructive if you ask me.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pmhabib, do you have any explanation for the fact that Republican presidents cannot get through a 4 year term without a recession? Coincidence? Alignment of the planets? Sunspots? Biorhythm? Bad luck?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:50 pmWHAT????
The 2001 “recession” was worse than THIS???
:O
What the hell is WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!!! Do they think they can just “say stuff” and it will suddenly become plausible?
In 2001, the DOW was in the 14,000s
Today its in the 6000’s.
:|
Someone buy Malkin an abacus.
March 10th, 2009 at 1:54 pmIn 2001 the average home sale took 90 days.
Today the average home takes a YEAR!
And most aren’t even selling at all!
What is WRONG with this woman?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pmhabib,
Do you have a point? What exactly are you arguing?
March 10th, 2009 at 2:05 pmOf course, he’s trying to blame Bush’s first recession on Bill Clinton. How original.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pmIn 2001 the average home sold for more than it was appraised at.
Today the average home sells for much LESS than it is appraised at, IF it sells at all.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:20 pmhabib doesn’t need a point. He gets paid his nickel a post without really saying anything.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:22 pm“DID YOU NOT SEE MY POST?”
No, I generally ignore all-caps screaming.
I just wanted habib to up and say what he’s really trying to get at: that It’s All Clinton’s Fault.
As for when the recession started- March or September, the undisputable FACT is that Bush did not “inherit” a recession and Matalin’s talking point that this thread is about is bulls$%t, but of course those with brains already knew that.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:39 pmunhinged?
March 10th, 2009 at 2:52 pmNo, Bush Sr.’s recession was caused by the Governor of Arkansas.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pmWhile Reagan’s recession was steep the recovery was fairly rapid because of massive budget deficits. But that also set in motion problems for later recessions. The 1991-1992 recession was not as steep but it didn’t snap back as fast because we already had large deficits tying our hands. The same pattern was repeated in the 2001 recession.
This time around Obama has said that he will not allow our current massive deficit tie our hands and he will deal with the budget shortfall once the economy has started to rebound by reimposing tax increases on the top 2% of income. When faced with nothing but bad choices you attempt to pick the least bad of the bunch. That is what I think Obama has done.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:18 pmUgh, come on, dude. This should be corrected. How can you say she’s arguing that the 2001 recession was “arguably” worse than today, when in literally the next sentence she says it was “shallow and short”, which, in terms of GDP anyway, it was.
Listening to it she’s obviously just stumbling over her words, and stupid talking points. The highlighted portion here isn’t even a complete sentence. She’s not saying what you say she is.
And just for the record, Mary Matalin makes me want to stab my eyes out.
March 10th, 2009 at 3:47 pmThe question is: which will be worse, the Bush Depression or the Great Depression? Stay tuned, Matalin, you moron!
March 10th, 2009 at 7:22 pmThe 2001-recession itself might have been shallow and “short”, but job creation remained abysmal for 46 months. Might have to check but it seems to me the longest period of consecutive joblosses since WWII.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:18 pmAlthough John Stewart got chastised severely for his schtick where he played the financial pundits saying how favorable the markets were , and now is the time to buy, buy, buy, etc.
He had a point well put.
March 10th, 2009 at 9:27 pm27 CageyCretin Says:
Hey guys. I read daily but don’t post much.
This post for me gets the gold award of the day.
Thanks CageyCretin.
(And all of yinz.)
March 10th, 2009 at 10:31 pmBush is the problem.
“Pelosi Dodges Drilling Question; Blames Bush for Economic Downturn” (Jeff Poor. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from http://www.freemarketproject.org/articles/2008/20080728144011.aspx).
“Is George W. Bush’s bad judgment in part to blame for the economic crisis?” (Irish McBean. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081022061306AAy21iO).
“Obama’s first economic lesson: Blame it on Bush” (Retrieved December 29, 2008, from http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/obamas-first-economic-lesson-blame-it-on-bush-1532677.html).
“Poll: Bush blamed for bad economy . . . Three out of four Americans, including large numbers of Republicans, blame President Bush’s economic policies for making the country worse off during the past eight years, according to a Los Angeles Times …” (Retrieved December 29, 2008, from http://www.topix.com/forum/news/george-bush/T8T846OET66ENGP4M).
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/george-w-bush-is-loony.html
March 10th, 2009 at 11:08 pm