“INDEFENSIBLE”

Democrats Are Finally Owning Up to the Job-Destroying Impact of their Economic Policies

• White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley admitted last week what many have known for a while: that Democrats’ economic policies are “indefensible.”
• Democrats are finally being forced to admit responsibility for the failure of their economic policies.
• Last week’s distressing economic news continues to paint a gloomy picture of the economic destruction Democrats have wrought: a record “misery index” of inflation and unemployment, plummeting consumer confidence and declining growth rates.

BACKGROUND:

Speaking last week to a group of business leaders, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley admitted what many already know about the administration’s growth-destroying, anti-jobs policies: they are simply “indefensible”:

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF BILL DALEY ADMITS OBAMA ECONOMIC POLICIES “INDEFENSIBLE”: “Daley said he did not have many good answers, appearing to throw up his hands in frustration at what he called ‘bureaucratic stuff that’s hard to defend.’ ”

“ ‘Sometimes you can’t defend the indefensible,’ he said.” (Peter Wallsten and Jia Lynn Yang, “White House’s Daley Seeks Balance in Outreach With Manufacturers,” The Washington Post, 6/16/2011)

Daley’s admission illustrates the increasingly difficult predicament for Democrat: trapped between their failed economic policies and the distressing consequences, Democrats are finally being forced to admit they are responsible for the results of their job-destroying agenda:

DNC CHAIR DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ CLAIMS DEMOCRATS “OWN THE ECONOMY”: “We own the economy.” (Molly Ball, “Debbie Wasserman Schultz: ‘We Own the Economy’,” Politico, 6/15/2011)

WHILE OBAMA JOKES ABOUT HIS FAILED STIMULUS … HA HA?: “Obama smiled and interjected, ‘Shovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.’ The Council, led by GE’s Jeffrey Immelt, erupted in laughter.”(“Obama Jokes at Jobs Council: “Shovel-Ready Was Not as Shovel-Ready as We Expected,” Fox News, 6/13/2011)

AND SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY) SAYS THE STIMULUS FAILED, SO WE NEED ANOTHER ONE: “And we Democrats are going to put forth an agenda this summer and this fall, jobs first. … But two, and even more important create jobs and get the economy growing. An economist will tell you that one of the best ways to do that–we’re going to look at two things. One is, deficit–one is infrastructure and one is some kind of encouraging of employment.” (Remarks from Sen. Chuck Schumer, CBS’ Face the Nation, 6/19/2011)

Last week’s deluge of bad economic news reflects the disastrous consequences of the Democrats’ agenda of taxing and regulating employers to destruction:

BUSINESS LEADERS SAY OBAMA’S “REGULATORY REVIEW” IS “A FAÇADE”: “ ‘We think there’s a thin facade by the administration to say the right things, but they don’t come close to doing things,’ said Barney T. Bishop III, chief executive of the business group Associated Industries of Florida. He called the efforts to streamline regulations ‘immaterial.’” (Peter Wallsten and Jia Lynn Yang, “White House’s Daley Seeks Balance in Outreach With Manufacturers,” The Washington Post, 6/16/2011)

CNBC: MISERY INDEX OF INFLATION PLUS UNEMPLOYMENT “THE WORST IN 28 YEARS”: “In fact, misery, as measured in the unofficial Misery Index that simply totals the unemployment and inflation rates, is at a 28-year high, reflective of how weak the economic recovery has been and how far there is to go.” (Jeff Cox, “How Miserable? Index Says Worst in 28 Years,” CNBC, 6/17/2011)

“IMF CUTS U.S. GROWTH FORECAST, WARNS OF CRISIS”: “The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are “playing with fire” unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits.” (Luciana Lopez, “IMF Cuts U.S. Growth Forecast, Warns of Crisis,” Reuters, 6/17/2011)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE PLUMMETS FURTHER IN JUNE: “Consumer confidence fell more than expected in June as high prices for food and gasoline coupled with stubbornly high unemployment took their toll on household budgets.

“The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment dropped to 71.8 from 74.3 in May, according to a report released Friday.” (Vicki Needham, “Consumer Confidence Drops More than Expected in June,” The Hill, 6/17/2011)

NATION’S BIGGEST STATE LOST 30,000 JOBS LAST MONTH: “California’s economic recovery stumbled in May as employers shed 29,200 jobs from payrolls, a surprisingly large loss in a state that had been on the mend.” (Alana Semuels, “California Loses 29,200 Jobs in May, A Blow to Recovery,” Los Angeles Times, 6/17/2011)

DEMOCRATS’ REGULATIONS AND TAXES TO BLAME FOR SMALL BUSINESSES’ WORST HIRING FORECAST IN 8 MONTHS: “The federation’s report for May showed the worst hiring prospects in eight months. The finding provides a glimpse into the pessimism of the nation’s small firms as they put together their budgets for the coming season, and depicts a more gloomy outlook than other recent (if equally lackluster) economic indicators because this one is forward-looking. …

“When asked about the ‘single most important problem’ facing their businesses, about one in four cited ‘poor sales,’ according to the federation’s survey. Uncertainty over regulations is also mentioned frequently. About a third of businesses blame either ‘taxes’ or ‘government requirements’ for their current troubles…” (Catherine Rampall, “A Slowdown for Small Business,” The New York Times, 6/15/2011)