Fox Business’ Gary B. Smith thinks most of America would like to go back to a George W. Bush economy because he's so much better at handling terrorism than President Obama. Seriously.
On FNC’s Bull & Bears “business show,” much of a nearly nine-minute discussion was devoted to suggesting that the economy is suffering because Obama isn’t strong enough on terrorism.
Near the end, Smith waxed nostalgic for Bush.
SMITH: This is an administration that has let, quite frankly, terrorism get out of control. It’s let the government get out of control. At best, I think Obama can be classified as a caretaker president. He discounted Russia. He called ISIS the “JV team.” Look where we are now compared to where we are under George Bush. I think everyone, to a person, feels a lot less safer.
…Does that impact the economy? Absolutely. When people don’t feel safe, they don’t want to spend, they don’t want to go out. They certainly don’t want to travel to Europe and the Middle East. All that’s gonna drag down the economy.
Democrat Jehmu Greene shot back, “Ask any American if they want to go back to a George W. Bush economy or an Obama economy. Republican or Democrat, they will take this economy. No one’s wishful thinking about a George W. Bush economy, 2007.”
But Smith disagreed. “Well I think you would get better than half of America saying they would like to go back to that economy. …We have a labor force participation rate that’s the lowest it’s been in about 50 years Jehmu.”
Actually, the labor force participation rate is significantly higher than it was 50 years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Second, the decline that has occurred, which started around 2000, is largely due to retiring baby boomers, as U.S. News & World Report explains:
In a nutshell, the baby boomers have aged and are now finally retiring en masse. After bulging into the workplace in the 1970s, women are no longer the force in the labor market they once were. Younger people are opting to educate themselves rather than work. And a less-than-friendly tone toward immigrants is shrinking the supply for some high-skilled jobs.
Furthermore, manufacturing, home prices, the stock market, unemployment rates and job growth have all done well under Obama.
But rather than point out the truth, host Dagen McDowell piled on: “And crazy monetary policy and wages that are barely growing.”
Watch it below, from the January 2 Bulls & Bears.