Dean Baker notices The Washington Post musing about "McCain's emphasis on job creation and reducing regulation and Obama's focus on immediately easing financial problems." It would be difficult, Dean says, to really describe what John McCain is offering as a job creation strategy. "Senator McCain's economic proposals center on maintaining the tax cuts put in place under the Bush administration. The economy has sustained the slowest pace of job creation on record during the Bush years, creating jobs at annual rate of just over 700,000 a year (0.5 percent). By contrast, it created jobs at almost a 3 million annual rate during the Clinton years."Put anther way, we've actually spent the last few years looking at a pretty good test case for the success of John McCain's economic policies. After all, Bush's big plan was to cut taxes, which he did, and McCain's big plan is to extend the taxes Bush already cut, and then cut a few more for good measure. Meanwhile, Obama's economic policy is pretty much within the mainstream Democratic consensus, and his economic director is a former Clinton administration economist. So, via Paul Krugman, this graph comparing job creation under Bush and Clinton sheds some light on job creation might go:
Were there other things going on? Of course there were. For instance: Bush started a stupid war that sent oil prices skyrocketing. (John McCain, incidentally, would like to continue that war, and possibly start a few more for good measure. This is sort of a pattern with him.) But do administration policies matter? Absolutely. And the trend lines are pretty clear. As Krugman concludes, "you can offer various excuses and explanations, but how anyone can suggest that Republicans are more committed to and/or credible about job creation is a mystery. "
Were there other things going on? Of course there were. For instance: Bush started a stupid war that sent oil prices skyrocketing. (John McCain, incidentally, would like to continue that war, and possibly start a few more for good measure. This is sort of a pattern with him.) But do administration policies matter? Absolutely. And the trend lines are pretty clear. As Krugman concludes, "you can offer various excuses and explanations, but how anyone can suggest that Republicans are more committed to and/or credible about job creation is a mystery. " 
