Tell me this won't be his answer to everything: Unemployment is up to 6.4% (a nine-year high), in part due to a re-calculation by the government of those in the labor pool, but also in part because...uhh...there aren't as many jobs available. Most analysts are trying to stay positive, but one senses the wait-and-see mentality will soon devolve into a bunker mentality. When asked for comment:

President Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters the president is concerned with rise in unemployment but that he thought recently enacted tax cuts would help in the future. Fleischer said the numbers show a sign of slow recovery from a short shallow recession.

We had this discussion before about the tax cuts. I think my position was that if you must cut taxes (and I'm not saying one must), then really cut them. How can anyone believe that the extra $61 in my paycheck (or whatever it is) will help the economy "in the future"? If anything, people will save more money when times are tough, as opposed to blowing it on X-Boxes or cruises. As with all tax cuts, they come too late - they are political reactions that politicians use to say "Well, at least I did something." The point is that the President isn't to blame for the recession or the rebound. He's merely along for the ride like the rest of us. Nothing short of WWII-type spending could hope to actually pull the economy out of the doldrums - and hell's bells, this isn't much of a recession anyway. Hmm, did you hear that thunder clap?