PrintDecember 9, 2010
The Economic Legacy of the Four-Year Democratic Congress
From early 2007 through the end of 2010, the Democrats had strong majorities in -- and control of -- the U.S. 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. (Statistics for 2010 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.
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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
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Budget Deficits (The Fiscal Year starts three months into the previous colander year -- e.g., 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 off the Tappan Zee Bridge in NY. I'll take a Republican Congress for the next hundred years four times faster than a Democrat Congress.
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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%
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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%
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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 e-mail yossi@yossigestetner.com.
