Paul Krugman's column in today's Times, on what can happen between now and the Inauguration given Bush's track record, is no less than terrifying.

Quack, quack.

yes, and notice how the initiative is coming from Congress and not from Bush ... essentially we are leaderless; Bush makes virtually no effort to do anything about the economy: even knowing history, we're doing the Hoover thing all over again ... (not that this is anything new for the Bush administration: we've replayed Vietnam in Iraq)

if any more proof were required that Bush is one of the worst presidents in our history, his inability to respond to this major economic crisis provides it. Ok, he doesn't do "proactive," but even his reactions are pitiful

Unempoyment numbers will go up as a result of this. Making numbers look good is how Bush has been able to claim the economy is good, making Bilby an people like him feel all warm and fuzzy.

And one more thing. Here's the AP story (Jennifer Loven) that Benen quotes generously, except for the last sentence.

The White House says President Bush signed into law a bill that Congress approved to keep unemployment checks flowing to jobless Americans through the holiday season.

Bush signed the bill at the White House just before boarding Marine I Friday morning for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base and a flight to Lima, Peru, to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The Senate approved the bill following an earlier report Thursday saying that new claims by laid-off workers for jobless aid had reached a 16-year high and the number of people looking for work had surged past 10 million.

The White House had opposed broader legislation containing the benefits extension and urged passage of the new version.

Gee, I wonder why that last sentence was left out?

Unemployment numbers will go up because Bush signed a bill extending unemployment benefits? Hmmm...

It doesn't matter if he signed it. What did he put in the signing statement? "I won't pay a nickel of benefits...."

Unemployment numbers will go up because Bush signed a bill extending unemployment benefits? Hmmm...

That's right. They don't fall into the "discouraged workers" category as fast, so the unemployment rate will continue to count them longer. Discouraged workers are a category the BOL uses for people no longer looking for employment. Most people are put into this category when their unemployment insurance runs out, because the gov't doesn't actually know whether they are actually looking or not.

The White House had opposed broader legislation containing the benefits extension and urged passage of the new version.

Gee, I wonder why that last sentence was left out? - Bilby

Perhaps because Benen had already written, "provided it didn't come attached to additional stimulus spending".

When the history of this economic crisis is written, the common theme will be the time that was wasted as the administration insisted on trying every ideologically-driven solution first, and then after that failed, came back to what sane people were proposing in the first place.

"No, we refuse to include unemployment benefits, infrastructure spending, etc. in the stimulus package, even though all evidence indicates that's what will effectively stimulate the economy. Instead, we'll hand out checks to everyone, which will likely go toward reducing debt."

"No, we won't buy an equity stake of preferred stock in failing banks, and get written agreements requiring them to use the money we give them for lending. Instead, we'll buy "toxic assets" for inflated prices, and assume the Free Market Fairy will make them "do the right thing" and start lending."

The list goes on...

In hard economic times, people need at least a year of vacation on unemployment compensation to relax.

That's big of him, but I'm sure families out in the cold are of little actual concern to him. Most likely some economist type showed him how Christmas retail numbers would dry up if millions of unemployed were unable to buy at all this season. Go forth and shop, decreeth your savior Bush.