"NOTHING LIKE 1992" UPDATE

From the Washington Post:

Political veterans got a sense of déjà vu as President Bush walked into the Nuthin' Fancy Cafe in Roswell, N.M., last week and told reporters that it was their duty to grow the economy -- by buying a plate of ribs.

"When you spend money to buy food, it helps this lady's business," the president announced. "It makes it more likely somebody is going to find work."

The moment was similar to one staged by the president's father in November 1991 -- when he, too, faced reelection during a time of stubborn unemployment. Then-President George H.W. Bush walked into a J.C. Penney in Frederick, Md., and bought four pairs of "USA" athletic socks for $15.

Back then, Pat Buchanan, who challenged Bush the elder for the Republican nomination, mocked him for an economic plan consisting of "going up to J.C. Penney and buying four pair of socks."

It's a good thing the current president's would-be rivals are distracted in New Hampshire, or we would surely have heard taunts that his solution for the 2.3 million jobs lost on his watch is to buy a platter of baby backs.

Put bluntly, Bush's buy-baby-back-ribs strategy of job growth is about as effective, and applicable to those currently unemployed, as the job training programs he proposed in the State of the Union address.

Let's start printing those "JOBS NOT RIBS" bumper stickers and mousepads...

(link via hesiod)