Tucked in on top of the spare of the rental car we're driving this week were two month-old USA Todays. This article was in one of them:

Job worries weigh down consumers

Consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level in six months in September, while Midwest manufacturing slowed, according to two reports Tuesday that helped push stock prices lower.

The New York-based Conference Board's monthly consumer confidence index fell nearly five points to 76.8, its lowest since the start of the Iraq war, as Americans expressed growing concern about the sluggish job market and future growth prospects...

The report's expectations index, designed to gauge consumers' view of the economy six months out, fell to 88.4 from 94.9. The percentage expecting fewer jobs to be available in the next six months rose to 21% from 18.6%.

Further, the percentage calling jobs currently "hard to get" rose to 35.3% from 34.1% in August, while those calling jobs "plentiful" fell to 10% from 11.3% ...

Declining confidence is a concern because it could affect consumer spending, which makes up about 70% of the economy....

The article was in the October 1 paper; it went online September 30.

Now remember: This survey happened just after that quarter of 7.2% GDP growth that had Republicans dancing in the aisles.

Still want to bet on a "Bush boom"?