The Last Two Years

By Randall Hoven - October 19th, 2008 - American Thinker

In December 2006, after six years of [Republican rule] and the last month before the Democrats took over both houses of the national legislature, a snapshot of our economy looked like this.

* Unemployment stood at 4.4%.

* Real GDP growth over the previous four years (under a Republican President, House and Senate) averaged 3% per year.

*A gallon of regular gasoline cost $2.30.

* The S&P 500 stock index stood at 1418, or 84% above its post-911 low and more than 7% higher than when [Republicans] took office.

* Every year of [Republican rule], real (inflation-adjusted) disposable income per person went up. By the end of 2006, the average person was making 9% more in real terms than before [Republicans took over].

In the last two years the economy has gone to hell, directly as a result of the stupid actions of Democrat passed legislation. Contrary to the MSM it is not the result of deregulation. It is stupid regulation. Democrats passed Sarbanes-Oxley and insisted on the ignorant mark-to-market accounting rules which, driven by the Democrat's CRA caused destruction of home prices, bankrupted our largest lending institutions.

I posted this just to make an historical record for the future evaluation of Democrat dominance which everyone says is about to happen. The starting point for evaluation will be 2006 since that is when Democrats took most power. Everything must be measured from that point.