March 20, 2001
"They call him the maestro, but today, not even the maestro could orchestrate a recovery. Fed chairman Alan Greenspan cut interest rates but still the market tumbled, raising fears not only of a bear market, but of an actual recession -- with predictable political reactions.
President Bush said the shaky economy proves the need for his tax cut. The Democrats say it's all his fault. The market would still be strong if he hadn't been so negative in his public comments.
On energy, the opposite debate is raging. Reacting to California blackouts, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham warned the entire nation faces an energy crisis that could change people's lives. Democrats counter that he and Bush are just trying to scare Congress into supporting new drilling up in the Alaskan wilderness. So tonight, two fronts: Is Bush talking down the economy? Is he talking up the energy crisis? Or is he telling the truth about both?
Every time we turn around, this guy is bad-mouthing the economy. Is that lifting our spirit or dumping on it in order to sell his tax cut?
....
the fundamentals are still strong. It's sort of like the glass half full or half empty. I mean, unemployment's still down to 4.2 percent, Labor Department says 135,000 new jobs created in February, retail sales are still pretty strong. Maybe the problem is that Bush really wants a look at the dark side."
