The media is screaming about the recent rise in the unemployment rate, accompanied by a <a href=
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010907/ts/employment_aug_graphic.html>graph showing an apparent precipitous rise in the rate. Careful observers will note the standard statistical trick of fudging the graph range (here 4.2 to 4.95 percent) to expand the vertical graph and make the trend worse. Anyone remember the almost 8 percent unemployment in 1992?

The current Democratic election strategy, on which the mainstream media has naturally fallen right in lockstep, is to portray the economy as a mess. The reason they give? Oh, the TAX CUTS of course. This despite the fact that the economy began to tank months before Bush even took office.

Right now the Democratic party has one job: make sure the economy still stinks in 2002. "Screw the American people, we need to take back our power base." Look for delays and obstruction of any possible solution, like a capital gains tax cut. Look for continual harping from all media sectors on the horrible state of the stock market, industries, etc. This despite the second largest Federal surplus in history. Look for stonewalling on attempts to reign in the ever-expanding Federal budget. Heck, if that happened, the surplus could increase, and how would that look?