I can almost see Bush hunkered down in the Big House with his puppeteers rubbing his hands together saying mission accomplished. Yes, the gap between the haves and have nots is now as wide as the grand canyon. But as Paul Krugman warns, be careful what you wish for because as gas prices rise and the heating bills start rolling in, Bush and the GOP across the board are going to see those have nots raise their ugly heads at the polls. Not going to be pretty for the red shirts.

  ”Americans’ Economic Pessimism Reaches Record High.” That’s the headline on a recent Gallup report, which shows a nation deeply unhappy with the state of the economy. Right now, “27% of Americans rate current economic conditions as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good,’ while 44% say they are ‘only fair’ and 28% say they are poor.” Moreover, “an extraordinary 78% of Americans now say the economy is getting worse, while a scant 13% say it is getting better.”    What’s really remarkable about this dismal outlook is that the economy isn’t (yet?) in recession, and consumers haven’t yet felt the full effects of $98 oil (wait until they see this winter’s heating bills) or the plunging dollar, which will raise the prices of imported goods.    The response of those who support the Bush administration’s economic policies is to complain about the unfairness of it all. They rattle off statistics that supposedly show how wonderful the economy really is. Many of these statistics are misleading or irrelevant, but it’s true that the official unemployment rate is fairly low by historical standards. So why are people so unhappy?

    The answer from Bush supporters - who are, on this and other matters, a strikingly whiny bunch - is to blame the “liberal media” for failing to report the good news. But the real explanation for the public’s pessimism is that whatever good economic news there is hasn’t translated into gains for most working Americans.