You Call This a Recovery?

Alliance for Worker Freedom ^ | 2012-08-09 | Tom Fletcher

The latest jobs report only serves as confirmation that the economy is in a stall, and that President Obama’s approach to revitalizing the economy has proven to be consistently wrong.

The latest job numbers provided no comfort to the administration as the unemployment rate remains above eight percent, and jobs continue to be added at a paltry rate. The White House reaction to the report was predictable and overused; “it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.” Unemployment has only remained above eight percent since October 2008, but how significant could these reports be? Not much going by this President’s logic.

James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute recently wrote, “The Obama recovery isn’t worse than just the Reagan recovery, but also worse than the Teddy Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland recoveries.” A Heritage Foundation report concluded that “the economy cannot afford the prospects of nearly $500 billion in tax increases on middle class families, investors, and job creators that are scheduled for the beginning of the year.”
What’s perhaps most troubling about the President’s economic policy is his obsession with raising taxes and increasing spending while his Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate play games with Republicans hoping they get their way. Hardly the assured leadership the country is looking for in these economic times. When asked by a reporter, “To what extent does the 8.3 percent undermine the President’s argument, just three months until election day that he is moving the economy in the right direction, albeit not quickly enough? Jay Carney, Press Secretary, replied “the President makes clear every time he talks about the issue that we are not where we need to be.” Good to know Jay.