Boy, talk about it being hard to please some people.

From an MSNBC/WSJ poll this morning - "Approval of Mr. Bush's handling of the economy ticked up to 38% from 34% last month....." (This may be members only, there's a similar article is here.)

Meanwhile.....Prices Drop by Largest Amount in 56 Years

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its closely watched Consumer Price Index dropped by 0.6 percent last month, the biggest monthly decline since a 0.9 percent fall in July 1949....Outside of the volatile food and energy categories, prices were up 0.2 percent, a modest gain that should help relieve fears that this year's surge in energy costs could evolve into more widespread inflation problems.

(Gee, I wonder who stokes those fears?) Could it be, oh I don't know maybe..SaTaN?!? Or is it just the media? :-)

Also, GDP for the most recent quarter was 4.3% and has averaged 4.1% for the last 2 1/2 years (Excel file). During the Clinton "boom" years of the late '90s GDP was avergaing about a 4.3% increase per year. And we all know that was built on WorldCom, Enron, an internet bubble and a bunch of other corporate lies. GDP has increased every year since President Bush has taken office in 2001.

Unemployment ? Despite devastating hurricanes that brought an entire city to a halt and devastated a region the size of England, it's humming along at a historcially healthy 5.0% with steady job growth. Since May 2003, the economy has added nearly 4.5 million new jobs. Again, this takes into account an estimate of 400,000 jobs lost from Katrina alone.