The Economy at Home and Abroad

Bush is touting his economic achievements both here at home and in Iraq. The facts are somewhat different.

At home, as a number of bloggers have pointed out, the stock market fell in the past year, and is lower now than it was five years ago when Bush took office. Most have pointed to the Dow Index, but the S&P-500 is even more telling. When Bush took office, the S&P-500 was at 1366. At the close of 2005, it was at 1248. That's an average annual loss of 1.73% (excluding compounding effects). By contrast, when Clinton took office, the S&P-500 was at 439, and it stood at 1366 when he left. That's an average annual gain of 26.4%.

Meanwhile, in Iraq the oil flowing is slowing. Oil exports from Iraq are now about half those that existed under Saddam.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -
Iraq's oil exports hit their lowest level since the war, according to figures released on Monday, heightening a sense of crisis as fuel supplies grow scarce and political leaders struggle to form a government.

Iraq exported 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in December, a senior official said -- less than any month since exports resumed in mid-2003 after the U.S. invasion and about half the level seen during sanctions under Saddam Hussein.

Your doing a heck of a job, Bushie.