The Economic Legacy of the Four-Year Democratic Congress (American Thinker)

 

By Yossi Gestetner

From early 2007 through the end of 2010, the Democrats had strong Majorities in -- and control of -- the US House of Representatives and also the U.S. Senate. Both are chambers where laws and policies that affect the economy are created and shaped.

The following table shows how the Democrat Congress performed on average during its four year tenure, vs. the average of the previous four years, 2003 through the end of 2006, when Republican were at the helm:

Issue/Topic

Democrats

Republicans

Jobs by Year - Average

-1,583,000

+1,672,000

Jobs by Month - Average

-131,916

+139,333

Unemployment Rate - Average

7.48%

5.3%

Budget Deficits - Avrage

$1.143 Trillion

$285 Billion

Dow (DJIA)

0.13% (0.53 Total)

11.04%

S & P 500

1.29%

15.02%

FDIC Bank Closures - Average

79.2

1.75

Following are the numbers in more detail (2010 statistics will need to be adjusted with the close of December. However, the general picture won't change much anyway.):

Non-farm Payroll by Year:

2003 = 87,000;

2004 = 2,047,000

2005 = 2,496,000

2006 = 2,060,000.                   Four Year Total Republicans: 6,690,000 Jobs GAINED.

2007 = 1,078,000

2008 = 3,623,000 Minus

2009 = 4,740,000 Minus

2010 = 951,000                       Four Year Total Democrats: 6,334,000 Jobs LOST!

Take note that the 2009 Stimulus "Could have been worse" year, was indeed worse than the previous year, by 1.1 million more jobs lost.

****

Unemployment Rate by Yearly Average (calculated by dividing in twelve the total monthly Unemployment Rate):

2003  5.99;

2004  5.54;

2005  5.08;

2006  4.61;

2007  4.61;

2008  6.37;

2009  9.28;

2010  9.66

****

Budget Deficits (The Fiscal Years starts three months into the previous colander year, such as FY 2007 was drawn up during 2006 with a Republican Congress). Numbers are in Billions except when indicated otherwise.

FY 2004 = $412

FY 2005 = $318.7

FY 2006 = $247.7

FY 2007 = $162                      Total Added Republican Budget Deficits: $1.140 Trillion.

FY 2008 = $454

FY 2009 = $1.416 Trillion

FY 2010 = $1.294 Trillion

FY 2011 = $1.41 Projected by the White House, July 2010

Total Added Democrats Budget Deficits: $4.574 Trillion!

NOTE: If I hear a Republican say one more time that "we lost our way" on spending, I'll be tempted to jump ff the Tappan Zee Bridge in NY. I'll take a Republican Congress for the next 100 years, four times faster than a Democrat Congress.

                                                       ****

Dow Jones Industrial Average Annual Returns

2003 = 25.32%

2004 = 3.15%

2005 = 0.61% Minus

2006 = 16.29%                                    Total Four Year DJIA Republican Growth: 44.15%

2007 = 6.43%

2008 = 33.84% Minus

2009 = 18.82%

2010 = 9.12% as of the Close Friday 10/3/10.          Total Four Year DJIA Dem Growth: 0.53%

                                                   ****

S&P 500 Index Annual Returns

2003 = 28.72%

2004 = 10.82%

2005 = 4.79%

2006 = 15.74%                                    Total Four Year Republican S&P Growth: 60.07%

2007 = 5.46%

2008 = 37.22%  Minus

2009 = 27.11%

2010 = 9.81% as of the Close Friday December 3, 2010.       Total Four Year Democrat S&P Growth: 5.16%

                                                  ****

FDIC Banks Closures as reported by the FDIC

2003 = 03

2004 = 04

2005 = No Bank Failures

2006 = No Banks Failures                     Total in Four Republican Years: Seven.

2007 = 03

2008 = 25

2009 = 140

2010 = 149 and counting                    Total in Four Democrat Years: 317!

The author can be reached via email yossi@yossigestetner.com

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