You would think that with all the heat President Bush receives these days he would do something right. I mean, for goodness sake he practically single handedly began a war, raised our gas prices and let education drown in a sink hole; or maybe that’s just what people want you to think. Maybe our President has actually done some good. Surprisingly for most people, our President has made several positive contributions both in Iraq and in our own country. Are you surprised? I bet it’s not really because you think his administration is a mess or because he’s disillusioned, but because you never heard it; nobody ever talks about the good things. President Bush used to be perpetually under fire regarding the economy and now suddenly, the media has seemingly called a cease fire. Why? Because the economy is growing. According to U.S. News, within the last three months of 2006 our economy increased 3.5 percent. The Dow Jones pushed up 100 points and beat its own record twice just in Jan. For some, this is nothing new. They say 2006 began great too, but then it crashed in the middle. Raising oil prices, the housing market slump and decreased auto production put the economy in a seemingly irrevocable state. They assume it will just happen again. Looking, however, at the overall economic steadiness of President Bush’s administration seems to squelch a bit of the argument. According to a White House release, since Aug. of 2003, 7.4 million jobs have been created, not including the 111,000 formed this past Jan.. This has kept the unemployment rate at a steady low 4.6 percent. He has added jobs for 41 straight months, more than all of Europe and Japan combined and real wages have increased 1.7 percent in just the last 12 months. Since the beginning of 2001, productivity has had an amazingly strong annual growth of 3.1 percent, the highest since the 1960’s.
These numbers also only show what he has done and not what he is doing. At this moment, the President is also implementing several policies, including strengthening educational programs, that will ideally keep the American economy growing.
Let’s face it, our President has done a few things right, whether people are willing to admit it or not. I believe some people hate him because of a simple lack of awareness. Not many reporters like broadcasting the good; it just doesn’t sell as many papers. Unfortunately that leaves us, as Americans, often in the dark. Now that we are aware, however, we must give our President an overdue commendation, and perhaps judge his reported actions a little less harshly next time.
Hannah Baylor is the political director for the College Republicans. She is a first-year undergraduate student majoring in English. She may be contacted through the Op-ed section at QuadOpEd@wcupa.edu.