Economy Booming, People Bummed

The New York Times asks a question it could easily answer by reading its own pages.

AFTER enduring three years of a deteriorating job market and one economic false start after another, Americans finally have reason to think that the long slump of the early 21st century has ended. Employers are hiring again. The stock market has risen more than 40 percent since early last year.

And how have the American people celebrated? By becoming a lot grumpier about the economy.

Since January, more than a million jobs have been added to the payrolls, yet the percentage of people who say the economy is in good shape has dropped, polls say. Fewer people now than at the start of the year are willing to say it is improving. George W. Bush's marks for economic stewardship have reached the lowest level of his presidency, according to recent Gallup and CBS News surveys.

The reason that Americans don't think the economy is good is that the New York Times, among others, don't tell anyone that the economy is good. Only bad news is reported, and even exagerated. Outsourcing is highlighted more than job creation. You've heard about so-called job losses, but did you know that more people than ever are employed full-time, with at least 15 million self-employed?

Anyone who relies upon the Times for news is very likely to be ignorant of this, along with all the successes we've had in the war on terror. Good news does not fit the Times political agenda, so it isn't reported.