Byron York at washingtonexaminer.com recalls Aug. 1992 when, with the country in recession and President George H.W. Bush and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in the midst of a presidential campaign, the government reported a one tenth of a point decline in the unemployment rate.
York continues:
"Jobless Rate Dips a Notch to 7.7% in Mixed Showing," was the front-page headline of the August 8, 1992 Times.
"The nation's jobless rate improved marginally last month, edging down to 7.7 percent from 7.8 percent," the Times reported. "But the improvement was not enough to signal a stronger economic recovery or to help President Bush as he heads into the Republican National Convention."
Even though the number of jobs actually went up in July 1992 (as opposed to the decline of 247,000 jobs in July 2009), the 1992 Times reported that the economic news "gave no suggestion that the economic recovery was breaking out of its painfully slow pace or, more important, that the job growth was picking up enough to push the unemployment rate down significantly before the election in November."
Pollster Peter Hart told the paper that, "There couldn't be worse political news for George Bush."
Under the sub-headline "Stagnant Period Seen," the Times reported that "most forecasters" predicted "more of the same: an economy that is just muddling along."
The Times looked deep into the data to find "disappointing" numbers everywhere; many of the new jobs were in the service sector, there weren't enough construction jobs, some of the improvement was the result of a government program. (The Times appeared less enthusiastic about government stimulus back then.) . . .
Now let’s flash forward to Aug. 7, 2009 and look at how, with a member of The Times’ own Democratic Party in The White House and the country in recession, The Times reported the government's announcement of a one tenth of a point decline in the unemployment rate.
York reports that now:The front page of the New York Times is filled with hope about the nation's economic situation.
The lead story, "Job Losses Slow, Signaling Momentum for a Recovery," reporting a decline in the unemployment rate from 9.5 percent in June to 9.4 percent in July, begins by declaring that, "The most heartening employment report since last summer suggested on Friday that a recovery was under way -- and perhaps gathering steam."
"Employers are no longer in a panic," one expert tells the Times.
The paper reports that Obama administration officials "credited the stimulus package" for the improvement, and "some said" job losses would be far worse had the $787 billion stimulus not been passed.
The paper quotes President Obama saying his administration has "rescued our economy from catastrophe."
Put that together with earlier data that the economy shrank at a one percent annual rate in the second quarter, and the Times reports that the news has "convinced many forecasters that when the history of the Great Recession is written, these summer months will be the big turning point, when the economy started to grow again."
Of course, there's some "unsettling information" in the new economic data, but overall, the message of the Times story is: Good news -- the recovery is underway. …
York’s entire report’s here.
The NY Times continues to insist it doesn’t shill for President Obama and the Dems.
And millions of liberals and leftists say that’s true.
But hey, millions of them also say they believe President Obama when he cliams "I never heard any of that stuff" that spewed for years from the pulpit of the anti-white, America-bashing Rev. Jeremiah Wright as Obama sat among the congregants.
Go figure.
Hat tip: Realclearpolitics.com
Note the black man holding up the poster. This screenshot was used in reports by the MSM who painted the protesters as Nazis. Here's the thing, though - that black man is a Dingell supporter!