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Well, John, dreams have always died hard in America. And the reason they die hard is because this country has been such a magnificent success for so many hundreds of millions of people for so many centuries. It really has. And Americans are a resilient people. They're an innovative people. They're a hard- working people.
-Pat Buchanan |
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BEN BERNANKE (Federal Reserve Board chairman): (From videotape.) The economic expansion that began in the middle of last year is proceeding at a moderate pace, supported by stimulative monetary and fiscal policies. We will continue to carefully assess ongoing financial and economic developments.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: America is recession-weary, now in its third year since the meltdown, and more bad news this week.
Item: Jobs vanish. Employment last month dropped 301,000 workers. Item: Banks busted. Ninety-six banks have shut down so far this year, on track for the highest number in 18 years.
Item: Markets wobble. The Dow fell 6.6 percent this year. The S&P has dropped 5.0 percent.
Item: Confidence plunges in June from 62.7 to 52.9 on the Conference Board index, 10 points in one month.
Item: Retail sales, manufacturing, automaking all down.
Little wonder that the fourth annual MetLife Study of the American Dream shows that the percentage of Americans who believe the U.S. economy will be the same or worse than last year is 67 percent, two out of three people, which is consistent with the position taken by the Federal Reserve Board chairman, Ben Bernanke, in his testimony to Congress this week.
MR. BERNANKE: (From videotape.) Even as the Federal Reserve continues prudent planning, we also recognize that the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Despite the hardships, optimism lives on. Seventy percent of Americans still believe they will someday live the American dream.
Question: Clearly Americans are resilient. We bounce back. What explains that resilience in America? Pat.
MR. BUCHANAN: Well, John, dreams have always died hard in America. And the reason they die hard is because this country has been such a magnificent success for so many hundreds of millions of people for so many centuries. It really has. And Americans are a resilient people. They're an innovative people. They're a hard- working people.
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