Is the GOP baiting Obama into taking ownership of the lousy economy Bush gave him?

Greg Sargent says that's exactly their plan:

When Barack Obama took ownership of the ailing economy the other day by saying, “give it to me,” grabbing the attention of the political world, the President was following a well-thought-out plan.

A plan thought out by House Republicans, that is.

According to a senior House GOP aide, GOP Rep Eric Cantor has deliberately been using the phrase “Obama’s economy” again and again in recent weeks in hopes of realizing a specific political goal: Baiting Obama into to making the economy his own.

Cantor has been steadily using the phrase since at least the beginning of June. He used it most recently on July 11th, during the GOP’s national radio address, saying: “Simply put, this is now President Obama’s economy and the American people are beginning to question whether his policies are working.”

Several days later, Obama said: “I love those folks who helped get us in this mess and now say, ‘This is Obama’s economy,’ That’s fine. Give it to me.”

That was what Cantor’s office was hoping for all along...