Economy Alarm: Voters Aren’t Buying “Recovery Summer” Sales Pitch Amid Struggling Economy, Joblessness
As the Economy Continues to Worsen, Dems’ Rhetoric Falls On Deaf Ears
Vice President Biden Promised This Would Be A “Recovery Summer”
“Vice President Joe Biden Thursday helps kick off what the White House calls “Recovery Summer,” a six week long push to highlight what the administration says will be jobs created this summer and fall by a surge in federal stimulus spending across the country.” (Dan Lothian and Paul Steinhauser, “White House begins new Stimulus push,” CNN, 6/17/2010)
Credibility Crash: Voters Aren’t Buying Dems’ Sales Pitch As the Economy Continues to Worsen
President Barack Obama and his team are trying to sell Americans on an economic recovery this summer, but the economy is stubbornly refusing to cooperate. Obama and his Cabinet officials will fan out across the country over the next few days to spread the message to voters about how effective their $787 billion recovery plan has been, an effort they’re calling “recovery summer.”
The administration’s message has run into several negative economic headwinds that have led to worries the economy is at risk of entering a double-dip recession, not a recovery.
As Obama travels Wednesday to a Kansas City, Mo., truck manufacturer and delivers an address on the economy Thursday in Las Vegas, economists and even administration officials say there is very little for him to brag about. Unemployment will probably rise above 10 percent and stay there or higher for the next nine months, well after the November midterm elections, according to Heidi Shierholz, who tracks labor figures closely for the Economic Policy Institute.
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Unemployment is exacerbating the housing crisis: People without jobs can’t buy homes. New home sales dropped 33 percent in May as a federal tax credit expired.
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He pointed to the housing market as one reason for pessimism, but also noted that budget constraints are expected to lead state and local governments to lay off workers, exacerbating an already brutal labor market.
“If anything, it’s likely to get worse,” he said of the economy. (Sam Youngman, “Obama tries to sell ‘recovery summer’ amid sluggish economy, The Hill, 7/08/2010)
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