With the semester winding down and summer fast approaching, many UW students and recent graduates are searching for jobs. However, this summer many of these job seekers will have to search a little longer and a lot harder to find a suitable job or internship, because the nation’s lingering economic slump has made finding employment especially difficult for college students and recent graduates.

I’m lucky in that I have a job that I actually like waiting for me at home each summer. But as I watch my roommates struggle to find summer employment and listen to friends who are graduating this spring tell their woeful stories of not being able to find full-time jobs in their area of interest (or sometimes simply not at all), I can’t help but worry.

I’ll be graduating in a couple of years, and I want the economy to be strong when it comes time for me to find my dream job. Since it’s no secret that the economy can’t right itself overnight, I’m anxiously waiting to see how the Bush administration will work to bolster a struggling U.S. economy.

And perhaps I won’t have to wait too long. Bush recently began a fervent campaign to sell his economic agenda. According to an article in The New York Times, his plan originally called for $726 billion in tax cuts over the next decade. However, so far the House has approved $550 billion and the Senate $350 billion in tax cuts, with several Republican senators saying they will not budge from this figure. Eventually the two Houses must compromise and agree on a number, which likely won’t be nearly as high as Bush had originally planned.

I agree with Bush on one very important point: it is imperative that something be done to help boost the economy. However, I’m skeptical of Bush’s plan to use a hefty tax cut to stimulate the economy. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has cautioned heavily against new tax cuts, and he’s someone who always gets my attention when he expresses concern.

As a large number of states, including Wisconsin, find themselves in financial crises, maybe it’s time for the Bush administration to explore other ways to fix the nation’s economy. Wisconsin is currently facing a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit and has been forced to eliminate or reduce many crucial components of its state budget, including reducing its funding to the University of Wisconsin System. Bush’s proposed tax cuts will only serve to increase national debt and push interest rates up, making the balancing act even harder for state and local politicians already juggling deepening deficits.

Now that Bush has declared all major combat over in the War in Iraq, he is wise to refocus and redouble his efforts to improve the U.S. economy. His father and former president George H. Bush lost the presidential election in 1992 largely because of a weak economy, despite having won a swift and successful Gulf War.

It is expected that President Bush will run for re-election in 2004. If he wants to avoid following in his father’s footsteps, he would be wise to carefully choose the economic tools he uses to stimulate the economy. If Americans are still unsatisfied with the economy when they go to the polls in 2004, I just don’t see Bush returning for a second term.

As for college students looking for that elusive job, hopefully time and the efforts of the Bush administration will bring about an improved economy. In the meantime, be patient, have a great summer, and good luck with your job search.

Kari Bellingham ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism.