MSNBC First Read on the Class War:

Whether you know it or not, you are fighting it...

Since the start of Bush's second term, the economy has added more than 2.5 million jobs (an average of more than 171,000 a month). But during that same time, according to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, his approval rating on the economy has plummeted from 47% in January 2005 to 36% last month. What's going on here? One reason, besides the war in Iraq potentially affecting people's overall view of him, is that the economy is a mixed bag. Jobs have been created, unemployment is down, and the Dow has once again spiked above 11,000. However, the poverty rate has inched up, real median household income has stagnated, and the number of those without health insurance has increased. As Bush and Snow prepare to tout how the Bush tax cuts have bolstered the economy today, news analyses note that the wealthy and the middle class are paying taxes at close to the same rates, with the effects being felt more by the wealthy than by the middle class.