Democrats shift to talking down the economy

The latest Pew Research poll shows that “For the first time in a long time, nearly half of Americans express positive opinions about the situation in Iraq.” There have been some noteworthy changes in public opinion on Iraq since Pew’s February poll. The percentage saying the military effort is going well or fairly well has increased 18 points. The increase was seen in Democrats, Republicans and independents. There was a 13 point increase is those who see progress in defeating the insurgents, and a majority of respondents now see progress in preventing terrorist bases in Iraq. And the number of those polled who see progress in preventing a civil war and in reducing the number of civilian casualties doubled. AFP also reports on the new poll that Americans happier about Iraq.

With the news out of Iraq improving, The Hill reports Democrats have decided to shift from their efforts to talk down Iraq to talking down the economy. Democrats appear poised to join with the media in promoting the idea that the country is headed into a recession despite a record 50 straight months of job creation. Rep. Rahm Emanuel told The Hill, “The executive branch gets credit for a good economy and a bad economy. That’s how it works.” It does? Can anyone recall President Bush getting any credit for good economic news during his term? Amazingly, CNN’s Lou Dobbs admitted yesterday that Bill Clinton would almost certainly be getting credit were he still in the White House. NewsBusters has been ably and diligently reporting on the media’s efforts to talk down the economy and to ignore positive economic news.

Of course, the positive news might not last if Democrats’ tax proposals get enacted. The New York Sun reports today on the standoff in the Senate over Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (NY) plan to raise taxes elsewhere in order to fix the AMT. Meanwhile, The Washington Post noted Democrat presidential candidates arguing over whether families making $97,000 are wealthy so they can decide who to raise taxes on.

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Tags: Democrats, Iraq War, Pew Research, polls, the economy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!