Another Debbie Doozy

June 13, 2011

DNC Chair Continues to Display Aversion to Reality & Facts, This Time By Saying Obama Has “Turn[ed] this Economy Around”

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz continued her string of absurd and ridiculous statements Sunday with her claim that President Obama had succeeded in turning the economy around.
The facts tell another story: unemployment continues to be high, the housing market is in shambles and high food and gas prices are putting pressure on families. Public opinion polls show wide majorities of Americans believe the economy is on the wrong track.
Instead of making excuses for their failed policies that have made a bad economy even worse, Democrats need to get serious about working with Republicans to undo their job-destroying agenda and unshackle job creators to start putting Americans to work.

BACKGROUND:

Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz made the absurd claim that President Obama has turned around the economy –a claim so outrageous host David Gregory couldn’t let it go unchecked:

DNC CHAIR WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “We were able to, under President Obama’s leadership, turn this economy around.”

GREGORY: “Whoa, whoa, let me just stop you there. Clearly, the economy has not been turned around. I mean, you just saw those numbers.”

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “It, it certainly–it has…” (Remarks from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, NBC’s Meet the Press, 6/12/2011)

Unable to admit that their job-destroying policies have set back economic recovery, Democrats continue to ignore the evidence of a weak economy. Take a look at the Democrats’ misery index:

UNEMPLOYMENT DURATION HITS LONGEST AMOUNT ON RECORD: “Long-term unemployed I: Average length of unemployment hit longest amount on record (going back to 1948) of 39.7 weeks.” (Lisa Desjardins, “Cheat Sheet: Unemployment Report,”CNN, 6/3/2011)

GAS PRICES REMAIN HIGH: 3.71/GALLON, COMPARED TO 2.70/GALLON ONE YEAR AGO. (Daily Fuel Gauge, AAA, Accessed 6/12/2011)

88 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SAY THEY PAY MORE FOR GROCERIES THAN THEY DID A YEAR AGO: “Eighty-eight percent (88%) of adults report paying more for groceries now than they were a year ago.” (“88% Are Paying More For Groceries Now Than A Year Ago,” Rasmussen Reports, 6/10/2011)

“HOME BUILDERS’ ECONOMIST LOWERS 2011 HOUSING MARKET FORECAST”: “U.S. home prices fell 4.2% in the first quarter of 2011, a new post-bubble low, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index released last week.” (Alan Zibel, “Home Builder’s Economist Lowers 2011 Housing Market Forecast,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/9/2011)

“DOW FINISHES BELOW 12,000, LONGEST LOSING STREAK SINCE 2002.” “Fears that the global economic recovery is stalling pushed the Dow Jones industrial average below 12,000 for the first time since March and drove the stock market lower for the sixth straight week.” (Daniel Wagner, “Dow Finishes Below 12,000, Longest Losing Streak Since 2002,” Associated Press, 6/12/2011)

The American people have lost confidence in the Democrats’ ability to handle the economic recovery, too. Growing majorities of Americans trust Republicans over Democrats to handle the economy, an economy the vast majority think is in “poor shape”:

WASHINGTON POST/ABC NEWS POLL: GOP PREFERRED OVER OBAMA TO HANDLE ECONOMY. “Asked who they trust to do a better job on the economy, 45 percent named congressional Republicans while 42 percent chose Obama. That’s a marked turnaround from a mid-March Post/ABC survey when 46 percent said they trusted Obama to do a better job handling the economy and just 34 percent named Republicans in Congress.

“Among electorally critical independents, 44 percent said they trusted Republicans more to handle economic issues while 39 percent preferred Obama. In March, independents favored Obama on the question 40 percent to 29 percent.” (Chris Cilizza, “Barack Obama’s Economy?”, The Washington Post, 6/7/2011)

CNN POLL: EIGHT IN TEN AMERICANS SAY ECONOMY IS “IN POOR SHAPE.” “Barack Obama’s overall approval rating has dropped as a growing number of Americans worry that the U.S. is likely to slip into another Great Depression within the next 12 months. More than eight in ten Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, a number that has stubbornly remained at that level since March. And overall economic conditions remains issue number one to voters, with other economic issues –unemployment, gas prices and the federal deficit — taking three of the remaining four spots in the top five. Obama’s approval rating is now 48%, down six points since late May.” (“CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll,” CNN, 6/8/2011)