Kerry: What has he done for the economy?

Twenty-two states reported a drop in payroll jobs last month, double the number for June, according to new Labor Department statistics. Among them were six of the states that could decide this fall's presidential election.

The declines in most cases were slight, but they drove home the frailty of the jobs recovery and highlighted risks to President Bush's re-election strategy. The White House has been counting on consistent, robust growth by now to restore confidence in the economy and counter grim news from Iraq.

Trust the Democrats to celebrate the misfortunes of fellow Americans.

Who cares that 22 states reported a drop in payrolls as long as six of them happen to be so-called battleground states, a fact self-declared liberals cannot look beyond because they think this somehow improves the electoral chances of their candidate who has done...exactly what, again for the American economy--or for that matter security, two issues foremost on the minds of voters this election?

In his two decades in the Senate, Kerry voted to slash funding for major defense weapons systems--upto $50 billion in Pentagon spending--which would have resulted in the loss of thousands of high-tech jobs.

Worse, Kerry channeled his contempt and loathing for the CIA by proposing cuts in intelligence funding--voted against the creation of good jobs and against training and equipping good people in critical language skills, which could have helped prevent the terrorist attacks of 9/11. (Now he is suddenly pro-intelligence).

Kerry also voted for NAFTA, which sent thousands of jobs overseas. (Now he assails Benedict Arnold CEOs and swears he will punish corporations that export American jobs.)

And just recently, he voted against President's tax cuts--cuts which even the most embittered Bush critic will agree have aided the recovery. Even on this issue, however, he has shifted toward Bush--threatening tax increases on those who make over $200,000--those who drive the economy--but sustaining Bush's reductions on middle-class Americans.

"What he's saying is that even though I'm criticizing Bush, I've got the same goal he does," notes Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan Washington group that focuses on deficit reduction. "Kerry does a good job explaining why deficits matter, but I think the actual numbers he's putting out don't necessarily match the rhetoric."