New Memo - Combating the GOP on Gas Prices, Incomes

Simon and Rob issued a new Memo today, looking at how the economy is playing out in the campaign. We were particularily keen to puncture the Republican idea that falling gas prices would help boost the President's flat economic approval pictures. As you can see from this graph, there doesn't actually seem to be much of a relationship between the two. Or at the very least, falling prices have no been enough to lift that rating. And we think this second graph might be the reason why the Republicans get such little credit for their strong growth and productivity gains. This is the e-mail that Simon sent out earlier today.

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Under George Bush, the American economy is not benefiting most families. And progressives must hold the administration to account in this election.

Today Rob Shapiro and I are releasing a new memo – Challenging The Republican Economic Record – where we compare how little the income of the average American family has increased over the last four years, with four years of comparable GDP growth during President Clinton’s terms. We find that the dismal Republican record has cost the average family $5,054 in income gains.

You can read the memo online here, or download a PDF version here.

This “prosperity gap” of more than $5,000 per family – not the volatile price of gas - helps explain why President Bush’s economic approval ratings remain low and why, throughout this campaign, Democrats must speak loudly and clearly about the economy.

Whether gas prices rise or fall over the next five weeks, progressives must hold conservatives accountable for their major failures of economic stewardship - stagnant wages and incomes; fiscal mismanagement, and misunderstanding globalization.

Best,

Simon Rosenberg
President
NDN

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