When the American people were being sold on the stimulus, Obama and his Democratic friends in Congress promised us a "jumpstart" to the economy and an unemployment rate that would never reach 8%.
535 days later the nation's unemployment rate sits at 9.5%.
But it gets worse.
The Labor Force participation rate currently sits at 64.6%. The last time it was lower than that was 1984.
Since March of 2009, one month after the stimulus was implemented, the number of discouraged workers, the economic term used for individuals who have given up looking for a job, has increased by 500,000 people.
Additionally, we now have 2 million fewer full-time workers than we had a year ago.
And while Obama and the Congress like to brag about 7 months of private sector job growth, the rate of increase doesn't reach the 125k-150k rate necessary to keep up with population growth. In other words, we're falling farther and farther behind.
This is why we're spending $862 billion? That's more than the cost of the entire War in Iraq.
Ted Strickland may like to call me a Cheerleader for Failure for a post like this. But if a policy fails to do what it was promised to do, especially at this extreme cost to the American taxpayer, don't we have a responsibility to hold our leaders accountable for the results?
The answer, of course, is yes.
And if the above statistics make you say "things are going just fine", that's your choice. But it won't be the same opinion as a whole lot of Americans come November 2nd.
Now from a purely political perspective, this couldn't be worse news for Democrats. Not only are there the obvious problems of no substantive results to highlight to the American people, but it gives Republicans another full-month to highlight the failure of the Administration and the Pelosi Congress.
That won't help those generic congressional polls very much.
You're right that the Administration should be held responsible for underestimating how bad economic conditions were and overpromising what the stimulus could do.
ReplyDeleteHowever, your foolish to suggest that the stimulus has helped the economy. But the reality is that the stimulus did, in fact, prevent the economy from getting much worse and giving the economy time to heal and start growing.
To be a "Cheerleader for Change" you have to first have a plan. The GOP has none. Zero.
You're called a Cheerleader for Failure because you breathlessly rushed to tout today's jobs numbers completely ignorant that the job losses reported were entirely census jobs.
The private market grew 71,000 jobs. That almost as much as the past two months COMBINED.
And manufacturing is leading the way.
Nobody said that unemployment or underemployment would be fixed by now if the stimulus was enacted. And yet, that is the impossible standard in which your post insists it be judged.
You honestly thinking cutting off the stimulus would be better for the economy? Ha.
Are things "just fine?" No, and nobody said so. You're arguing a straw man.
The Republicans have no plan, and I don't think telling the GM plant workers in Toledo that are back to work that the Administration played no role in saving their jobs is going to win your party many votes.
The GOP has been talking down this economy (like you) that you have to wonder if the double dip recession is becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Whether it's John Kasich or John Boehner, there is no GOP plan for the economy. The best Portman can do is a payroll tax suspension that most economists, including conservatives, say will not work and is nothing more than a policy gimmick.
Even John Kasich admits it, he'd balance Ohio's budget with stimulus money. Debate over.
I cannot wait until Nov 3rd - it's the only day we are all assured that Modern Esquire will NOT be posting any of his idiotic screeds as comment here.
ReplyDeleteAfter Strickland, Fisher, Driehaus, Kilroy, and Boccieri lose here in OH and Dems lose 30+ seats in the US House and 6+ seats in the US Senate all we will hear from Modern Esquire is )))crickets((( )))crickets((( )))crickets(((
Actually, you're more likely to never hear from Keeling again. After the election, he won't have to pretend to be an Ohio blogger anymore.
ReplyDeleteNothing disproves you're a cheerleader for failure like writing a post that cares more a bad economy helping Republicans in November than cares about Americans.
ReplyDeleteMore government, more spending, more debt....yeah!
ReplyDeleteAnti-business, anti-growth....yeah!
Who is the cheerleader for failure?
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ReplyDelete--But the reality is that the stimulus did, in fact, prevent the economy from getting much worse and giving the economy time to heal and start growing.--
ReplyDeleteModern, nobody's buying it. There is no healing going on. Companies see the wave of new taxes and regulations coming, and are not willing to invest capital or expand their payrolls. This is the most anti-business administration and Congress ever. The stimulus did nothing and most voters know it.
--You're called a Cheerleader for Failure because you breathlessly rushed to tout today's jobs numbers completely ignorant that the job losses reported were entirely census jobs.--
Funny how Democrats breathlessly touted all those new jobs a few months ago, failing to mention that most of them were temporary census jobs.
--Nobody said that unemployment or underemployment would be fixed by now if the stimulus was enacted.--
Yes, they did. We were told it would prevent unemployment from going over 8%.
The fact is, that this admin and Congress did not focus on jobs. It focused on taking over health care and trying to pass cap and trade. And what do you think will happen to this "recovery" we are in, once all the tax rates go back up in January?
You'll see how many people buy your spin on 11/2. Dems WILL lose the House and lose 7 net Senate seats minimum.