Friday, September 17, 2004
Taking Lemons And Making Lemonade
Last week in Cincinnati, Vice President Cheney was trying to gloss over the dismal economic numbers for Ohio, one of the hardest hit states in the Union. According to the Associated Press, "Since President Bush took office in January 2001, Ohio has suffered economically, with 229,600 jobs lost and an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent, slightly above the national average." In an effort to present a rosier picture than the numbers would allow, Cheney told a crowd of supporters that the economic indicators are artificially low because they do not account for the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of commerce conducted on eBay.
"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," the vice president said. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay."John Edwards didn't let this spurious argument even get out of the gate before he used his wit to reveal the inanity of the claim yesterday:
"He said people are selling a lot of stuff on eBay. When we count the bake sales and lemonade stands, we'll have a roaring economy," Edwards told a union hall rally. [emphasis added]As publius noted, the Democrats appear to be fighting back with more fervor and direction than in the somewhat rudderless month of August. Maybe the recent infusion of Clintonistas has re-invigorated the erstwhile docile Kerry/Edwards war room. Did somebody say closer?
