We Can’t Wait for the Democrats’ Next Failed Slogan

October 25, 2011

Democrats Refuse to Admit That Their Problem Isn’t Bad Sloganeering, It’s That They’re Selling Failed Policies

Finding little traction for a re-run of their first-failed stimulus, the Obama White House on Monday unveiled their latest strategy for selling a second stimulus spending spree: telling Americans that “We Can’t Wait” for more of the same.
The decision by the White House to attempt to repackage their same failed policies yet again would be laughable were it not for the painful human consequences of the Democrats’ failed economic experiment. Democrats have tried again and again to repackage their push for more failed stimulus, evincing a contempt for voters’ intelligence in the process.
Americans know all too well what Democrats are selling, and they didn’t like it the other times they heard it. If Democrats think bad marketing is the extent of their problems, they’re badly mistaken.

BACKGROUND

Finding little traction for a re-run of their first-failed stimulus, the Obama White House on Monday unveiled their latest strategy for selling a second stimulus spending spree: telling Americans that “We Can’t Wait” for more of the same:

“OBAMA’S NEW JOBS SLOGAN: ‘WE CAN’T WAIT’”: “ ‘We Can’t Wait’ is the battle cry he takes first to Las Vegas, where the president intends to stand on the front porch of a home and announce that his administration will ease the rules for homeowners who want to renegotiate their federally backed mortgages. In Las Vegas, one in every 39 homes is in foreclosure, the worst rate in the nation.” (Ann Compton, “Obama’s New Jobs Slogan: ‘We Can’t Wait’,” ABC News, 10/24/2011)

The decision by the White House to attempt to repackage their same failed policies yet again would be laughable were it not for the painful human consequences of the Democrats’ failed economic experiment. Democrats have tried again and again to repackage their push for more failed stimulus, evincing a contempt for voters’ intelligence in the process:

CHRONOLOGY OF A STIMULUS SLOGAN:

“WE CAN’T WAIT” WAS PRECEDED BY “PASS THIS BILL NOW”:

“President Obama’s growing impatience with Congress’ refusal to ‘pass this bill now’ has launched a new approach — bypassing Congress by taking actions that don’t require congressional support and insisting that ‘We Can’t Wait’ for any more delays on Capitol Hill.” (“President Begins ‘We Can’t Wait’ Economic Push,” Fox News, 10/24/2011)

WHY “PASS THIS BILL NOW”? BECAUSE DEMS WERE AFRAID TO USE THE WORD “STIMULUS”:

PELOSI TRYING TO RENAME STIMULUS: “Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democrats have dropped the word ‘stimulus’ from their vocabulary.” (Mike Lillis, “Pelosi Drops the Word ‘Stimulus’,” The Hill, 9/6/2011)

OBAMA’S “NEW AND IMPROVED” JOB PLAN “COULD AMOUNT TO A SIGNIFICANT STIMULUS OF BETWEEN $300 BILLION AND $400 BILLION… BUT [OBAMA] WON’T USE THE WORD”: (David Wessel, “Obama Tries to Rewrite Narrative on Jobs,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/7/2011)

FORMER WH ECONOMIST: MORE STIMULUS, BUT “YOU WON’T HEAR THE S WORD”: “‘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)

OBAMA JOBS RE-DO SPEECH USED THE WORD “STIMULUS” ZERO TIMES.(“Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress,” The White House, 9/8/2011)

OBAMA LAST USED THE WORD “STIMULUS” IN JULY. (“Speeches and Remarks,” The White House, Accessed 10/16/2011)

DEMS CONTEMPLATED CREATING A “DEPARTMENT OF JOBS”:

WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERED RESHUFFLING THE BUREAUCRACY AND REBRANDING WITH A NEW “DEPARTMENT OF JOBS”: “The administration may also merge the Department of Commerce, the Office of the United States Trade Representative and some economic divisions at the State Department into a new agency, administration officials said. Possible names include the Department of Jobs or the Department of Competitiveness.” (Binyamin Applebaum and Helene Cooper, “White House Debates Fight on Economy,” The New York Times, 8/13/2011)

BEFORE THAT, OBAMA DEBUTED “WIN THE FUTURE” IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH:

“STATE OF THE UNION 2011: ‘WIN THE FUTURE,’ OBAMA SAYS,” NEARLY A DOZEN TIMES IN THAT SPEECH ALONE: “Obama repeatedly declared the imperative to ‘win the future,’ comparing the current need for innovation to the space race against the Soviet Union in the 1950s and ’60s. … His overarching theme – of ‘winning the future,’ a phrase he used nearly a dozen times – had patriotic underpinnings, part of his effort to reach a broad swath of the electorate and strike a balance between sounding too rosy and too alarmed about America’s standing in the world.” (Anne E. Kornblut and Scott Wilson, “State of the Union 2011: ‘Win the Future,’ Obama Says,” The Washington Post, 1/26/2011)

OBAMA LAST USED THE PHRASE “WIN THE FUTURE” NEARLY A MONTH AGO, AT A DNC EVENT: (“Search: ‘win the future’,” The White House, Accessed 10/24/2011)

“WINNING THE FUTURE” WAS ACCOMPANIED BY AN EMPHASIS ON NEW “INVESTMENT”:

OBAMA REFERENCED VARIATIONS ON “INVESTMENT” 13 TIMES IN STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH: (“Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address,” The White House, 1/25/2011)

AND IT ALL BEGAN WITH “STIMULUS”:

WHICH, BY OBAMA’S ADMISSION, WAS A CODE-WORD FOR ANOTHER MALIGNED CONCEPT: “SPENDING”: “So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? (Laughter and applause.) That’s the whole point. No, seriously. (Laughter.) That’s the point. (Applause.)” (“Remarks by the President at House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference,” TheWhite House, 2/5/2009)

AND WE CAN’T FORGET “GREEN JOBS”… WHICH, BY THE WAY, “WE CAN’T WAIT” FOR:

OBAMA SAID HIS 2009 BUDGET WOULD CREATE “GREEN JOBS”: “[T]his budget will spark the transformation we need to create green jobs and launch renewable energy companies right here in California.” (“Remarks by the President at Costa Mesa Town Hall,” The White House, 3/18/2009)

GUILT BY OMISSION? “GREEN JOBS” APPEARED ZERO TIMES IN OBAMA JOBS RE-DO SPEECH. (“Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress,” The White House, 9/8/2011)

“CLEAN ENERGY” APPEARED ZERO TIMES. (“Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress,” The White House, 9/8/2011)

Americans know all too well what Democrats are selling, and they didn’t like it the other times they heard it. If Democrats think bad marketing is the extent of their problems, they’re badly mistaken:

OBAMA PROMISED HIS STIMULUS WOULD KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 8 PERCENT: “The $787 billion stimulus plan is turning out to be far less stimulating than its architects expected. Back in early January, when Barack Obama was still President-elect, two of his chief economic advisers – leading proponents of a stimulus bill – predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn’t quite worked out that way.” (Stephen Gandel, “Obama’s Stimulus Plan: Failing By Its Own Measure,” Time, 7/14/2009)

59% OF AMERICANS NOW SAY OBAMA’S POLICIES WILL FAIL, NEARLY DOUBLE THE LEVEL IN 2009: “According to the survey, 36% say they think the president’s policies will succeed, with 59% saying Obama’s policies will fail, up 12 points from last year and nearly double the 32% who said in 2009 that the president’s policies will fail.” (“CNN Poll: Record High Say Obama’s Policies Will Fail,” CNN, 10/17/2011)

THE DEMOCRATS’ MISERABLE JOBS RECORD:

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 10/24/2011)

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 10/24/2011)

14 MILLION AMERICANS ARE UNEMPLOYED: (“Employment Situation Summary,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10/7/2011)

TOTAL OF 26 MILLION AMERICANS ARE UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED:(Ben Baden, “An Unprecedented 26 Million Americans Are Now Underemployed,” U.S. News and World Report, 10/20/2011)

“EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK IN U.S. WORST SINCE 2010: SURVEY”: “U.S. companies’ hiring plans reflect the worst employment outlook since January 2010 as demand slows in the world’s largest economy, a private survey showed. Fewer companies project payrolls to rise in the next six months compared with a July survey, while more plan to cut workers, the National Association for Business Economics said today in Washington. The share of firms planning to raise prices was the smallest in almost two years.” (Shobana Chandra, “Employment Outlook in U.S. Worst Since 2010: Survey,” Bloomberg, 10/24/2011)

“U.S. ‘MISERY INDEX’ RISES HIGHEST SINCE 1983,” A 28-YEAR HIGH: (“U.S. ‘Misery Index’ Rises Highest Since 1983,” CNBC, 10/20/2011)