RUSH: Remember the exit polling data in the 2012 presidential election. The first wave, and there was a question, that when I saw the results of the exit poll, I said this election is over and Romney’s been beat and there’s no hope. It was that well over 60 percent of people that voted blame Bush for the economy. Okay. This morning on the Fox Business Network, Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo, Sandra Smith was filling in as hostette. She spoke with Fox Business Network overseas editor Ashley Webster, a male, about a new poll on American attitudes about the economy. Sandra Smith says, “We now turn to a new poll that shows that Americans are feeling more pessimistic about our economy now than they did right after the recession.”
WEBSTER: A new survey by Rutgers University reveals that 71% of Americans believe the recession exerted a permanent drag on our economy. Now, this is far greater than another Rutgers survey taken all the way back in November 2009. That was just five months after the recession officially ended, showing only 49% thought the downturn would have lasting damage. More people, Sandra, believe the recession has permanently damaged this economy.
SMITH: Hmm. Maybe that’s all the talk about the new normal.
RUSH: Right. Well, as usual, my friends, I am required to read the stitches between the fastball here. Why did I choose this sound bite? What is it about this sound bite that’s so urgent that I wanted you to hear it? Well, right here it is. “Most people, Sandra, believe the recession has permanently damaged this economy.” Who do most people blame for the recession? That would be George W. Bush.
Why do most people blame George W. Bush? Because the Democrats had literally no opposition for four or five years, maybe more, as they set this premise up. So even after six years of the Obama presidency with specific Obama policies, which have done great harm and damage to this economy, we have a poll here that says most people think Obama couldn’t fix it ’cause it’s permanent. That’s how bad Bush’s economy was.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, on this poll where the recession’s been a permanent drag, the Rutgers poll, you don’t even find Obama’s name. Obama is not mentioned in the poll questions. He’s not mentioned in the results, even though it was his recession. But, no, this is the Bush economy, and it was so bad, it’s now permanent. That’s what many people think. Not even Obama could save us, folks, it’s so bad what Bush did.