WASHINGTON - The Democratic nominee for the Senate from Illinois took the Bush administration to task Saturday for celebrating improving economic statistics while middle-class Americans are getting squeezed. Barack Obama, a state senator from Chicago, said in the Democrats' weekly radio address that his experience on the campaign trail shows him that ordinary citizens are measuring the health of the economy differently than President Bush.
"The new jobs being created in Illinois pay an average of $15,000 less than the jobs that we've lost — and fewer offer real benefits," he said. "Health insurance premiums and the cost of a college education have skyrocketed since the beginning of the Bush administration."
Obama cited the examples of a couple in Galesburg, Ill., who lost their jobs at a Maytag plant that is relocating to Mexico, and that of an another couple from Alton, Ill., who will soon lose their jobs because Hawk Motors is moving overseas.
"Now, it wouldn't be fair or accurate to blame all of this on the Bush administration," he said. "It is fair, however, to say that they haven't done much to help."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=683&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20040626/ap_on_el_se/democrats_economy