Obama Has Zero to Say About Zero Jobs

Friday’s Horrific Jobs Report Leaves Even Democrats Unable to Defend their Failed, Job-Destroying Agenda

• Last Friday’s horrific jobs report showing zero net jobs created in August accomplished what little else has: it left a normally loquacious White House with nothing to say.
• After months of trying to justify their failed stimulus spending spree and job-destroying regulations, it seems like Democrats are finally out of excuses.
• Silence may be not-so-golden for a White House facing record public disapproval for its handling of the economy and jobs. Worse yet, it signals that Democrats are still not taking responsibility for their failed, job-destroying agenda, leaving Americans little reason to believe they will change course.

BACKGROUND 

Last Friday’s horrific jobs report showing zero net jobs created in August accomplished what little else has: it left a normally loquacious White House with nothing to say:

AUGUST JOBS REPORT: ZERO NEW JOBS, FIRST TIME SINCE FEBRUARY 1945 THAT ECONOMY HAS HAD “MONHTLY NET JOB CHANGE OF ZERO”: “Unemployment remained unchanged in August as employers added no new jobs for the first time since World War II, the Department of Labor reported Friday morning. … Economists had been expecting 93,000 new jobs last month, down from 117,000 in July. The unemployment rate stayed, as expected, at 9.1 percent. The fact that no net new jobs were added in August was yet another dose of bad news for the economy. It’s the first time since February 1945 that the government has reported a monthly net job change of zero.” (Lyneka Little and Bill McGuire, “U.S. Employers Added No New Jobs in August,” ABC News, 9/2/2011)

“OBAMA: OFF TO CAMP DAVID – NO JOBS COMMENT.” (David Jackson, “Obama: Off to Camp David – No Jobs Comment,” USA Today, 9/2/2011)

“RARE THAT OBAMA DOESN’T MAKE SOME KIND OF STATEMENT… [WHEN] THE JOBS REPORT COMES OUT, BUT THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED TODAY”: “It’s rare that President Obama doesn’t make some sort of statement on the one day each month that the jobs report comes out, but that’s what happened today. … By our count, Obama’s decision not to talk about Friday’s report is the first time since February that he hasn’t mentioned the monthly update on the day it’s released. And even on that day seven months ago, he had a brief press conference in which a reporter could have asked him about it.”

“Obama’s silence also marks another PR change: the end of the talking point that goes something like, ‘the Xth month in a row of job growth in the private sector.'” (Matt Negrin, “This Time, Obama Skips a Statement,” Politico, 9/2/2011)

After months of trying to justify their failed stimulus spending spree and job-destroying regulations, it seems like Democrats are finally out of excuses. Let’s recap: 

DNC CHAIR WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “WE’VE BEEN ADDING JOBS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR FOR 17 STRAIGHT MONTHS. WE ARE ON THE UPSWING EVER SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK OFFICE.” (Anthony Man, “Wasserman Schultz Blasts Republicans, Defends Obama, Tears Up on Social Security,” The Sun Sentinel, 8/29/2011)

DEMOCRAT WHIP STENY HOYER: STIMULUS CREATED 2 MILLION JOBS, AND ECONOMY “STARTED TO REGRESS” BECAUSE STIMULUS MONEY “RAN OUT”: REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): “Well, I tell you what. We created 2 million jobs after we passed that stimulus bill. So it had a stimulative effect. And what happened when the bill ran out just a few months ago? The economy started to regress. The fact of the matter is I don’t care whether we call a stimulus or recovery act it is what it is. … I think it [the stimulus] did work.” (Interview with Rep. Steny Hoyer, Las Vegas Sun, 8/29/2011)

OBAMA: NEW ECONOMIC FEARS ARE DUE TO “BAD LUCK”: “Over the last six months, we’ve had a string of bad luck — there have been some things that we could not control.” (“Remarks by the President in a Town Hall Meeting in Cannon Falls, Minnesota,” The White House, 8/15/2011)

DNC CHAIR REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ PROUD OF OBAMA’S RECORD:“Well, I’m proud of the President’s record as are Democrats and middle-class Americans across the country.” (Remarks from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”, 8/13/2011)

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY: “UNCONTESTABLY TRUE” THAT “ECONOMY IS VASTLY IMPROVED” SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE. (“Carney: Economy Has ‘Vastly Improved’ Since Obama Was Sworn In,” Real Clear Politics, 7/21/2011)

NY TIMES: WHITE HOUSE HOPING “MAYBE IT’S NOT THE ECONOMY, STUPID”: “Maybe it’s not the economy, stupid. White House officials have begun to entertain the idea that they can run for re-election without being able to point to a strengthening economy. For one thing, they may not have a choice.” (David Leonhardt, “Negotiating Election Headwinds,” The New York Times, 7/19/2011)

OBAMA CLAIMS HE WAS “LARGELY SUCCESSFUL” IN STABILIZING ECONOMY, DESPITE THE FACT THAT “STUBBORN” UNEMPLOYMENT IS FAR ABOVE HIS 8 PERCENT MARKER. (“Press Conference by the President,” The White House, 7/11/2011)

TREASURY SEC. TIM GEITHNER SAYS “RIDICULOUS” TO COMPARE OBAMA’S RECORD ON DEBT AND UNEMPLOYMENT. (NBC’s “Meet the Press”, 7/10/2011)

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF BILL DALEY SAYS THE “POLITICAL SYSTEM” IS TO BLAME FOR WEAK ECONOMY, NOT OBAMA. (Imtiyaz Delawala, “Bill Daley: President Obama Still Wants a ‘Big Deal’ on Deficit Reduction,” ABC’s “This Week”, 7/10/2011)

OBAMA ADVISOR DAVID PLOUFFE CLAIMS “VISION” MORE IMPORTANT THAN JOBS. (Julie Mason, “Plouffe: It’s About Vision, Not Jobs,” Politico, 7/8/2011)

EVEN OBAMA JOKED 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)

TOP WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIST AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: “IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS WE’VE ADDED A MILLION JOBS. THE PRESIDENT’S PLAN – THERE IS A PLAN AND IT HAS BEEN WORKING.” (Josh Gerstein, “Goolsbee on Jobs: ‘One Month is Not a Trend,'”Politico, 6/5/2011)

Silence may be not-so-golden for a White House facing record public disapproval for its handling of the economy and jobs. Worse yet, it signals that Democrats are still not taking responsibility for their failed, job-destroying agenda, leaving Americans little reason to believe they will change course: 

OBAMA APPROVAL AT RECORD LOWS:

QUINNIPIAC POLL: OBAMA HITS ALL-TIME LOWS. “President Barack Obama’s overall job approval rating has sunk to an all-time low, as American voters disapprove 52 – 42 percent, compared to 47 – 46 percent approval in July, and among whites and men his approval has dropped into the 30s, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.” (“Obama Approval Hits All-Time Low, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Economy Is Getting Worse, More Voters Say,” Quinnipiac, 9/1/2011) 

ANOTHER POLL SHOWS OBAMA AT 34% IN PENNSYLVANIA. (Tim McNulty, “F&M: Low Obama Approval, But Leads GOP,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s “Early Returns” Blog, 9/1/2011) 

CNN: DISAPPROVAL OF OBAMA ON ECONOMY, JOBS, DEFICIT AT RECORD HIGHS.“President Barack Obama’s disapproval rating has hit yet another series of new lows on his handling of the economy, the federal budget deficit and unemployment, a new poll shows.

“Nearly two-thirds – 65 percent – of respondents to a CNN/ORD poll released on Thursday said they disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy. …

“CNN found that 66 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the Obama’s handling of the federal deficit, and 62 percent said that they disapproved of his handling of unemployment.” (Tim Mak, “Poll: Obama Approval on Economy Dips,” Politico, 9/1/2011) 

FOX NEWS POLL: 60% DISAPPROVE, 35% APPROVE OF OBAMA ON JOB CREATION: “As President Obama prepares to give a major speech on jobs before a joint session of Congress next Thursday, a new Fox News poll shows that by 60-35 percent of American voters disapprove of his handling of job creation. That’s a record-high disapproval (and record-low approval) for the president on one of the most important issues facing the country.” (Dana Blanton, “Fox News Poll: 60% Disapprove of President Obama on Job Creation, Fox News, 9/1/2011)

BUT DEMOCRATS KEEP PUSHING THE SAME FAILED POLICIES:

“OBAMA TO SEEK STIMULUS FUNDS—BUT ‘YOU WON’T HEAR THE S WORD'”:“With President Obama set to unveil his plan for job creation at a Joint Session of Congress next week, a former White House economic adviser said today that economic ‘stimulus’ will be part of the package – but won’t be labeled as such.

” ‘You won’t hear the word ‘stimulus’ — the ‘s word’ — because that just is politically unappealing right now,’ Jared Bernstein, who left his post as Vice President Joe Biden’s top economist in June, told us on ABC’s ‘Top Line’ today. ‘But you will hear targeted measures, which I think is actually a more apt description of what I think the president will talk about.'” (Rick Klein, “Obama to Seek Stimulus Funds—But ‘You Won’t Hear the S Word’,” ABC News’ The Note Blog, 8/31/2011)

BIDEN LAST WEEK: WE NEED MORE STIMULUS, FIRST ONE DIDN’T SPEND ENOUGH MONEY. “Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economy needed more stimulus to get it moving, putting in a plug for government intervention shortly before the White House unveils new proposals to boost job growth. … ‘I think the economy does need more stimulus,’ Biden said… ‘Everybody says we should’ve (had)…a bigger stimulus package. Yeah, we should’ve. I was pushing (for) it,’ he said.” (Jeff Mason, “Biden Says U.S. Needs More Stimulus, Businesses Mad at S&P,” Reuters, 8/26/2011)