"This President Has Created More Excuses Than Jobs.''

Yesterday.

DETROIT - Intensifying his attack on President Bush's economic stewardship, Sen. John Kerry on Wednesday accused the president of not acknowledging policy mistakes the Democrat said had resulted in lost jobs, a rise in the number of people without health insurance and falling incomes.

Coining a phrase for a speech before the Detroit Economic Club, Kerry said of his opponent, ''His is the excuse presidency: never wrong, never responsible, never to blame.

''President's Bush desk isn't where the buck stops - it's where the blame begins,'' Kerry added. ''He's blamed just about everyone but himself and his administration for America's economic problems.''

To support that claim, Kerry ticked off a series of bad economic data from the past four years that he laid at Bush's feet - the loss of more than a million jobs, 5 million more people lacking health insurance than when Bush took office and a decline in average family income.

The Kerry team has been tossing catchphrases at the wall for awhile now; the "excuse presidency" may actually stick. It's memorable, it stings and it can be adapted to fit issue outside of the economy, including Iraq. .