The President was rather blowing the trumpet at his recent press conference and rightly so. The twin deficits, so long a major issue since the dawn of the Bush era are now falling, the country has once again become the worlds biggest energy producer and this has reduced energy costs and boosted the economy which is growing strongly. America has put on more new jobs than the whole of Europe put together. There is a lot more to do, especially in the area of rising inequality between rich and poor. But it is a developing story of confronting crisis, knuckling down and can do.
The divided politics of the current government set up will inhibit major new federal driven programmes for infrastructure renewal and social relief, but the Republicans have to be careful not to be seen as blockers and spoilers because if they do their twin majorities on Capitol Hill will be the engine of defeat in 2016, not the springboard to victory. The announcement the that the youngest Bush is thinking about running is interesting. Emotionally this blog is strong on States’ Rights and small federal government. But it is economically savvy and it knows that economics is the ultra weak link in the Bush political dynasty. And in today’s world economics is everything.