"It's the Economy, Stupid" is the political slogan that Bill Clinton used in 1992 to bash the elder George Bush. He won the election and ever since considers himself the de-facto political authority on economics. He used this authority in 2012 at the Dem Convention, and Hillary (or any other Democrat) will try running on this theme in 2016.

The fact that Clinton left for Bush the Younger a tech-busted recession notwithstanding, consider this shocking stat: The Economy/GDP over the last twelve months grew by $243 billion dollars. How bad/good is it? Well, for all of 1992 when the economy was trillions of dollars smaller and the country had 70 million people fewer people, the economy grew by $348 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars. (Go here and click on 'Current-dollar and "real" GDP' under "Gross Domestic Product")

But Clinton cried in 1992 that the economy stinks. Yup, that's the same Clinton who told us at the Dem convention in 2012 that the economy is finally doing fine...

That's not all. The GDP over the last twelve months was weak despite the record low interest rates; despite the Fed's trillions of printed money, and despite the hiked spending levels. But in 1992 we had none of this, yet the economy grew by $348 billion, again with seventy million people less.

Ahead of 2014 and 2016 it's time for the GOP to retake the economy issue despite conservative attitudes toward George W. Bush. Illustrating the above numbers is a first good step. The next step is the following two stats that will make Dems go crazy:

A) The poverty level in Bush's worst year -- 2008 -- was better/lower than five of Clinton's. Obama's best year is worse than Bush's worst.

B) The average Unemployment Rate in Clinton's first term (6%) was worse than W. Bush's first term (5.5%), and the average UR in Bush's second term (5.0%) was only slightly weaker than Clinton's second term (4.4%).

Again, these numbers came about despite Clinton inheriting a booming economy from Bush Sr. and despite Bush Jr. inheriting a tech-busted recession from Clinton. Obama spun and Clinton lied in 2012 about the economic history of the last twenty years, and Hillary's main claim to the throne in 2016 is largely the perceived authority that the name "Clinton" has on the economy. The above GDP, unemployment, and poverty numbers tell a different story.