The Dems’ Stimulus 2.0 Hokey-Pokey

October 20, 2011

Democrats Claim Their Second Stimulus is “All About” Jobs Despite First Failed Stimulus and New Economic Data Pointing to Weak Economy

Making excuses for failed policies isn’t easy. But top Democrats are making their best effort, with Democrats from the White House on down trying to reinvent their record of economic failure. President Obama claimed this week that “all the choices” he’s made “have been the right ones” and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the baffling statement that “private sector jobs have been doing just fine.”
Economic data continue to show, however, that the jobs situation is quite far from “just fine” and that Obama’s “right” choices have made a bad economy worse.
Instead of learning from failure, Democrats are pushing for more of the same big spending stimulus and job-destroying tax hikes.

BACKGROUND

Making excuses for failed policies isn’t easy. But top Democrats are making their best effort, with Democrats from the White House on down trying to reinvent their record of economic failure. President Obama claimed this week that “all the choices” he’s made “have been the right ones” and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the baffling statement that “private sector jobs have been doing just fine”:

EARTH TO HARRY REID? REID SAYS IT’S “VERY CLEAR THAT PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS HAVE BEEN DOING JUST FINE,” SAYS GOVERNMENT JOBS MORE IMPORTANT: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday morning said Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first responders.

” ‘It’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing just fine, it’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation is all about,’ Reid said on the Senate floor.” (Peter Kasperowicz, “Reid Says Government Jobs Must Take Priority Over Private Sector Jobs,” The Hill, 10/19/2011)

OBAMA: “ALL THE CHOICES WE’VE MADE HAVE BEEN THE RIGHT ONES”: “I guarantee it’s going to be a close election because the economy is not where it wants to be and even though I believe all the choices we’ve made have been the right ones, we’re still going through difficult circumstances. That means people who may be sympathetic to my point of view still kind of feel like, yeah, but it still hasn’t gotten done yet.” (“Transcript: ABC News’ Jake Tapper’s Exclusive Interview with President Obama,” ABC News, 10/18/2011)

Economic data continue to show, however, that the jobs situation is quite far from “just fine” and that Obama’s “right” choices have made a bad economy worse:

1.63 MILLION PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS LOST SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE:(“Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/2011)

2.23 MILLION TOTAL JOBS LOST SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (“Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics Survey,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 10/19/2011)

“U.S. ‘MISERY INDEX’ RISES HIGHEST SINCE 1983″: “An unofficial gauge of human misery in the United States rose last month to a 28-year high as Americans struggled with rising inflation and high unemployment.” (“U.S. ‘Misery Index’ Rises Highest Since 1983,” CNBC, 10/20/2011)

FED BEIGE BOOK DISAPPOINTS, SIGNALS “WEAK” ECONOMY: (Agustino Fontevecchia, “Weak Fed Beige Book Suggests QE3 Is Around the Corner,” Forbes, 10/19/2011)

“JOBS MARKET SHOWED LITTLE IMPROVEMENT, SUGGESTING A CONTINUED SLOW PACE OF GROWTH AHEAD”: “…[T]he jobs market showed little improvement, suggesting a continued slow pace of growth ahead.” (Luca Di Leo, “Economy Shows Modest Growth,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/19/2011)

GALLUP: 48% SAY PERSONAL FINANCES ARE “GETTING WORSE”: “Americans are also less hopeful about their future personal financial situations. Nearly half (48%) say their personal financial situation is ‘getting worse,’ up from 41% in April and nearly tying the record-high 49% who said so in April 2008. A new low of 29% say their personal financial situation is getting better.” (Lymari Morales, “Americans Grow More Negative About Their Personal Finances,” Gallup, 10/19/2011)

“U.S. CONSUMER SENTIMENT UNEXPECTEDLY SLUMPED IN EARLY OCTOBER”:“U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly slumped in early October as worries about declining incomes drove consumer expectations back down to the lowest level in more than 30 years, a survey released Friday showed.

“The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment sagged to 57.5 from 59.4 the month before. It fell short of the median forecast of 60.2 among economists polled by Reuters.”(“Consumer Sentiment Falls, Expectations at 30-Year Low,” Reuters, 10/14/2011)

CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS FALL TO LOWEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN 30 YEARS:“Consumers’ outlook also deteriorated with the gauge of consumer expectations falling to its lowest level since May 1980 at 47.0 from 49.4. The index had fallen to this level in early September before being revised up at the end of the month.

“The component has shed more than 20 points since the beginning of the year.”(“Consumer Sentiment Falls, Expectations at 30-Year Low,” Reuters, 10/14/2011)

“U.S. INCOMES SEEN STAGNANT THROUGH 2021”: “Americans’ incomes have dropped since 2000 and they aren’t expected to make up the lost ground before 2021, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.” (Phil Izzo, “U.S. Incomes Seen Stagnant Through 2021,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/13/2011)

WORST DECLINE IN INCOME SINCE 1967: “From 2000 to 2010, median income in the U.S. declined 7% after adjusting for inflation, according to Census data. That marks the worst 10-year performance in records going back to 1967. On average, the economists expect inflation-adjusted incomes to rise over the next decade, but the 5% projected gain isn’t enough to reach prerecession levels.” (Phil Izzo, “U.S. Incomes Seen Stagnant Through 2021,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/13/2011)

Instead of learning from failure, Democrats are pushing for more of the same big spending stimulus and job-destroying tax hikes:

OBAMA OFFERED $467 BILLION IN TAX INCREASES TO PAY FOR $447 BILLION IN STIMULUS 2.0: “The Obama administration is asking Congress to raise taxes by $467 billion over 10 years to pay for the President’s one-year $447 billion stimulus, which he announced during a speech Thursday before a joint session of Congress.” (Neil Munro, “Obama Asks Congress for $467-Billion Tax Increase to Fund Jobs Plan,” The Daily Caller, 9/12/2011)

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SAYS DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO COSPONSOR LIST, SUPPORT IS “WIDESPREAD”: “Well, the co-sponsorship is really not reflective of the widespread support that exists in the Democratic caucus and in the country for the American Jobs Act.” (CNN’s “State of the Union,” 10/16/2011)

WHITE HOUSE: “95 PERCENT” OF DEMOCRATS SUPPORT STIMULUS 2.0: “The White House said its package enjoys the support of 95 percent of Democrats and that by the end of the year it will be clear to voters that Obama and his party are trying to work for more jobs while Republicans are obstructing progress.” (Sam Youngman and Russell Berman, “Rep. Cantor rejects Obama, says president’s jobs package is dead,” The Hill, 10/3/11)

“OBAMA VOWS VETO IF DEFICIT PLAN HAS NO TAX INCREASES”: “President Obama called on Monday for Congress to adopt his ‘balanced’ plan combining entitlement cuts, tax increases and war savings to reduce the federal deficit by more than $3 trillion over the next 10 years, and said he would veto any approach that relied solely on spending reductions to address the fiscal shortfall.

” ‘I will not support any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary Americans,’ he said.” (Helene Cooper, “Obama Vows Veto if Deficit Plan Has No Tax Increases,” The New York Times, 9/19/2011)

“HOUSE DEMS WANT DEFICIT PANEL TO FIND ‘SIGNIFICANT’ NEW REVENUES”:“The policy package — consisting of recommendations from the senior Democrats on 16 top committees and sent to the leaders of the deficit-slashing supercommittee — calls for significant new revenue hikes to reduce the deficit. …

” ‘The American people overwhelmingly agree that significant revenues must be included in any plan,’ Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a letter to the supercommittee that accompanied the proposals.” (Mike Lillis, “House Dems Want Deficit Panel to Find ‘Significant’ New Revenues,” The Hill, 10/13/2011)