Another Day, Another Democrat Stimulus Plan

Even As Democrats Pay Political Price for Obamanomics, Obama Doubles Down on More Borrowing from China to Fund More Stimulus Spending

• Instead of coming forward with new ideas to turn around America’s economy, President Obama’s jobs plan from Thursday night may rely heavily on the President’s standbys of more borrowing from countries like China to pay for more government spending.
• Observers reacted to the speech in kind, noting that the speech was more of a campaign stunt intended at protecting the president’s own job rather than creating jobs for struggling American families.
• Democrats’ insistence on doubling down on failed policies helps explain why the president’s approval ratings are cratering and the DCCC continues to struggle in a special election in a deep blue seat in New York City.

BACKGROUND 

Instead of coming forward with new ideas to turn around America’s economy, President Obama’s jobs plan from Thursday night may rely heavily on the President’s standbys of more borrowing from countries like China to pay for more government spending: 

“OBAMA’S JOBS SPEECH: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN?”: “The speech mostly gave us a sense of déjà vu. From the president’s language, you would never know that Congress already has acted under his watch to save jobs — the $800 billion stimulus plan passed shortly after he took office.

” ‘Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs,’ Obama proclaimed in a speech to a similar joint session of Congress on Feb. 24, 2009. We’re not sure about the jobs saved part, but the country has certainly not created jobs since then — there are almost 2 million fewer jobs since he made those remarks 2 1/2 years ago. That gives a sense of the economic burden he will carry into his reelection campaign.” (Glenn Kessler, “Obama’s jobs speech: deja vu all over again?”The Washington Post‘s The Fact Checker Blog, 9/9/2011) 

SECOND STIMULUS? “The president’s plan, aimed at answering his critics’ recent calls for boldness, follows the same contours of the $825 billion economic stimulus package he signed into law three years ago.

“This new, second stimulus of sorts features a mix of tax cuts for businesses and workers, billions in new infrastructure spending and aid to states, and an infusion of aid for the long-term unemployed.” (Jake Tapper, “President Obama Pushes $447 Billion Jobs Plan in Address to Congress,” ABC News, 9/8/2011)

IT’S CERTAINLY “MORE THAN HALF” AS BIG AS THE STIMULUS: “The size of the package is more than half the $787 billion stimulus Congress approved shortly after Obama took office.” (Sam Youngman, “Obama Unveils $447B Jobs Bill,” The Hill, 9/8/2011)

ASSOCIATED PRESS: “FACT CHECK: OBAMA’S JOBS PLAN PAID FOR? SEEMS NOT”:“President Barack Obama’s promise Thursday that everything in his jobs plan will be paid for rests on highly iffy propositions.” (Calvin Woodward and Tom Raum, “FACT CHECK: OBAMA’S JOBS PLAN PAID FOR? SEEMS NOT,” Associated Press, 9/8/2011)

WSJ: ANOTHER $400 BILLION ONTOP OF THE $4 TRILLION IN DEBT OBAMA HAS ALREADY PILED UP? “But you have to really, really believe in hope and change to think that another $300-$400 billion in new deficit spending and temporary tax cuts will do any better than the $4 trillion in debt that the Obama years have already piled up.” (Editorial, “The Latest Jobs Plan,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/9/2011) 

DETROIT NEWS: “OBAMA OFFERS STIMULUS LITE.” (Editorial, “Obama Offers Stimulus Lite,” The Detroit News, 9/9/2011)

Observers reacted to the speech in kind, noting that the speech was more of a campaign stunt intended at protecting the president’s own job rather than creating jobs for struggling American families:

OBAMA PREVIEWS CAMPAIGN SPEECH WITH CAMPAIGN E-MAIL: “Washington (CNN) – As the President prepared to ask Congress to “stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy,” his re-election team Thursday evening sent a message in his name asking supporters to weigh in.” (Kevin Bohn, “Obama Sends Campaign Message Just Before Speech,” CNN, 9/8/2011) 

USA TODAY: “AMONG THE JOBS OBAMA HOPES TO SAVE IS HIS OWN.” (Susan Page, “Analysis: Among the Jobs Obama Hopes to Save is His Own,” USA Today, 9/9/2011)

THE WASHINGTON POST’S EZRA KLEIN: “I am not noticing a lot of convinced conservatives in my Twitter feed. Lots of happy liberals, though.” (Tweet from Ezra Klein,The Washington Post, 9/8/2011) 

THE ATLANTIC‘S MEGAN MCARDLE: “Libs seem mostly happy about large price tag & the return of the preachy tone” (Tweet from Megan McArdle, The Atlantic, 9/8/2011) 

“OBAMA’S JOBS SPEECH KICKS OFF CAMPAIGN.” (Ana Marie Cox, “Obama’s Jobs Speech Kicks Off Campaign,” The Guardian, 9/9/2011)

ABC’s AMY WALTER:  “PLENTY OF TIMES DURING TONIGHT’S SPEECH THAT THE PRESIDENT SOUNDED LIKE HE WAS CAMPAIGNING.” (Amy E. Walter, “Analysis: An ‘Urgent’ Obama Tries to Rally Congress Behind Him,” ABC News, 9/8/2011) 

THE WASHINGTON POST‘S CHRIS CILLIZZA: “OBAMA WAS ANYTHING BUT THE COMPROMISER-IN-CHIEF TONIGHT.” (Chris Cillizza, “Obama The Aggressive,” The Washington Post’s “The Fix,” 9/8/2011) 

MORE CILLIZZA: “FELT AT (MANY) TIMES LIKE THE 2012 CAMPAIGN HAS BEGUN IN EARNEST.” (Tweet from Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post, Accessed 9/8/2011) 

STUART ROTHENBERG: “HIS SPEECH ISN’T LIKELY TO BRING Rs AND Ds TOGETHER, IS IT?”  (Tweet from Stuart Rothenberg, Twitter Feed, Accessed 9/8/2011)

CNN’s JOHN KING: “THIS WAS A HUGE POLITICAL SPEECH.” (CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” 9/8/2011)

Democrats’ insistence on doubling down on failed policies helps explain why the president’s approval ratings are cratering and the DCCC continues to struggle in a special election in a deep blue seat in New York City:

DEMOCRATS “SCRAMBLING TO HOLD ONTO THEIR OWN TURF” IN NEW YORK CITY DUE TO ANGER AT FAILED OBAMA POLICIES: “But today, with Obama’s approval rating at 42 percent, Democrats have watched Nevada’s 2nd CD slip away and are scrambling to hold onto their own turf in Queens and Brooklyn.” (“A Tale of Two Special Elections: NV-02 to Likely Republicans, NY-09 to Toss Up,” Cook Political Report, 9/7/2011)

“DCCC DROPS A HALF-MILLION TO SAVE WEINER SEAT.” (Jessica Taylor, “DCCC Drops A Half-Million to Save Weiner Seat,” National Journal, 9/8/2011)

POLITICO/BATTLEGROUND: “IT’S A ROUGH DAY WHEN THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT A NEW… POLL HAS YOUR APPROVAL RATING AT 45 PERCENT,” DISAPPROVAL AT 50%. (Jonathan Allen, Politico’s “The Huddle”, 9/6/2011)

59% DISAPPROVE OF OBAMA ON ECONOMY, JUST 39% APPROVE. (Carrie Budoff Brown, “Battleground Poll: Obama Approval Rating Down Amid Deep Economic Fears,” Politico, 9/5/2011)

THE WASHINGTON POST POLL: MORE THAN 60% DISAPPROVE OF OBAMA ON THE ECONOMY AND JOBS. (Jon Cohen and Dan Balz, “Obama Ratings Sink to New Lows as Hope Fades,” The Washington Post

, 9/6/2011) 

47% IN POLL “STRONGLY” DISAPPROVE OF OBAMA ON ECONOMY: “Meanwhile, 62 percent of Americans say they disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy, including 47 percent who do so ‘strongly.'” (Jake Tapper, “President Obama Pushes $447 Billion Jobs Plan in Address to Congress,” ABC News, 9/8/2011)

OBAMA HITS “NEW CAREER LOW,” 43% APPROVAL, AND 53% DISAPPROVAL, “A NEW HIGH.” (Jon Cohen and Dan Balz, “Obama Ratings Sink to New Lows as Hope Fades,” The Washington Post, 9/6/2011)

NBC/WSJ: OBAMA DISAPPROVAL AT 51%, HIGHEST SINCE INAUGURATION: “A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll of 1,000 adults, taken Aug. 27-31, found that 44% of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, with more than half, or 51%, disapproving for the first time since his inauguration.” (Jonathan Weisman, “Voter Discontent Deepens Ahead of Obama Jobs Plan,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/6/2011)

HOWEVER, SUPPORT FOR GOP-CONTROLLED CONGRESS “AT HIGHEST LEVEL” SINCE 1996: “But, voter preference for a Republican-controlled Congress is at its highest level in recent memory, according to the WSJ/NBC poll. Forty-seven percent of registered voters polled say they prefer a GOP Congress and 41 percent say they want Democrats in charge. In October 2010, Democrats were preferred 46-44. It’s the first time Republicans have been riding so high on that question dating back to 1996, the first year in which numbers were made available by the WSJ and NBC.”(Jonathan Allen, Politico’s “The Huddle”, 9/6/2011)