On Apr 3, 4:01�am, Emery Davis > wrote:

> Funny how a Bush in office kills the $. *Remember Bush père? *It was
> about equivalent at worst. *When we bought the house it was at around
> 4.65 (FF/$), which was of course killer as Americans. *By the end of Clinton
> it was 7 something!
>

It's not really surprising, GHWB and GWB have some differences in
political philosophy, but both are/were pretty committed to the
primacy of American business. Every politician (liberal or
conservative) says they are committed to a strong dollar (because it
would sound bad to say that one is for a weak dollar, as a soundbite
it's suicide), but the reality is while a strong dollar has charms for
the US consumer (or tourist), for business a strong dollar can hold
many disadvantages. A weak dollar means that US exports are more
competively priced, and that imports in US are at a disadvantage
against domestic products. So it's not really surprising that some
folks "support" a strong dollar, and then are content to watch it
slide. Both strong and weak dollars have inherent advantages (and
disadvantages) for the nation.