Economic Anxiety Puts
Pressure On Politicians

From Correspondent Jill Dougherty/CNN

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 17) -- Never mind Wall Street's boom or shrinking unemployment. The voters are feeling economic jitters in an election year.

"People are having to work two jobs just to get a house," says one voter.

"I think we're heading back to where we were back in the '30s if things don't change really quick," says another.

They're calling it "economic anxiety," lurking as it is just below the surface of a growing economy.

Both parties are trying to get a handle on it -- without getting burned.

The Republican strategy: blame it on the president.

"We've got an economic stagnation here that's got the American people caught in what I call the 'Clinton crunch.' Their incomes are falling while their taxes are rising," says House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas. (85K AIFF or WAV sound)

The White House replies: the only "Clinton Crunch" it has heard of is the sound of job records being broken.

"We announced today that the United States economy has created 8.4 million jobs in three years. and I am very proud of that," Clinton said in a March 8 speech in Northridge, California. (128K AIFF or WAV sound)

"Americans are anxious about economics for a good reason. Their incomes are going down, their taxes are going up," said Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour (68K AIFF or WAV sound)

The White House rejects that. Wage stagnation, they say, is a 20-year problem that actually has improved somewhat during the Clinton presidency.

Taxes, they say, did increase for wealthy Americans, but not for average citizens.

Four years ago, unemployment was at 7.5 percent. Now it's 5.5 percent and the deficit is half what it was four years ago.

If there's any crunch, White House aides say, it's coming from the Republican Congress:

"We've got a Republican Congress that wanted to get rid of the earned income tax credit, raise taxes on working families by about 26, 27 billion dollars, cut education, cut job training," said White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta (128K AIFF or WAV sound)

As one observer sees it, it's not just voters who are anxious.

"Democrats are afraid that President Clinton will be blamed if people don't get a job," said political analyst Michael Barone. "The Republicans are afraid that the Republican Congress will somehow be blamed. I think both parties have a real problem with it."

President Clinton is trying to strike a difficult balance, stressing the good economic news -- while acknowledging the difficulties many Americans face. But when it comes to charges of a "Clinton Crunch," aides say, the president will be happy to debate it.

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