Economic Misery is Democrats’ New Normal
Unemployment Remains Unacceptably High But Democrats Continue to Double Down on Failed Policies That Have Made a Bad Economy Worse
- February job numbers will be released today but certain facts about the Obama economic record are already painfully clear: many workers remain discouraged by the fragile economy and have dropped out of the workforce entirely or remain “underemployed.”
- Rising gas prices have made American families’ struggles all the more difficult, but unrepentant Democrats continue to double down on their war on energy that is making gas prices increase and hurting American energy production.
- Millions of Americans also remain underwater on their mortgages, but all Democrats offer are the same failed housing policies that have not delivered results.
February job numbers will be released today but certain facts about the Obama economic record are already painfully clear: many workers remain discouraged by the fragile economy and have dropped out of the workforce entirely or remain “underemployed”:
4.9 MILLION “MISSING WORKERS” WHO HAVE DROPPED OUT OF LABOR FORCE FROM DISCOURAGEMENT: “In January, the percentage of Americans who were either employed or actively looking for work fell to 64.2 percent, what economist Heidi Shierholz calls ‘a stunning new low for the recession.’ Shierholz estimates that 4.9 million Americans are left out of the Department of Labor’s official unemployment count because they are too discouraged to continue seeking work.” (Lila Shapiro, “Missing Workers: 4.9 Million Out of Work and Forgotten,” The Huffington Post, 3/8/2012)
LAST JOBS REPORT SHOWED UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE AT 15.1%: (Table A-15, “Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3/8/2012)
SEVERAL ECONOMISTS BELIEVE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE COULD TICK UP IN MONTHS AHEAD BECAUSE OF UNDERLYING ECONOMIC WEAKNESS:“Several Wall Street economists believe the government is mismeasuring seasonal shifts in the labor market, and suggest the jobless rate’s sharp winter drop was partly an illusion.
“If their research is on the mark, the unemployment rate could change little in the coming months as pay back, robbing the Obama campaign of what otherwise might have been steady progress in the lead up to the election.”(Jason Lange, “Analysis: Quirks in Jobless Data Could Bite Obama,” Reuters, 3/7/2012)
Rising gas prices have made American families’ struggles all the more difficult, but unrepentant Democrats continue to double down on their war on energy that is making gas prices increase and hurting American energy production:
GAS PRICES $1.79 PER GALLON HIGHER UNDER OBAMA, INCREASING BY 105%: (“Petroleum & Other Liquids,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, Accessed 3/8/2012)
PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS REPEATEDLY TRIED “TO DIVERT BLAME AND PREPARE VOTERS FOR HIGHER COSTS” FROM GASOLINE: “As Republican presidential candidates toss barbs at Barack Obama over expensive gasoline, the U.S. president and his team are going on the offensive with a strategy to divert blame and prepare voters for higher costs.” (Jeff Mason, “Obama Goes on Offense Over High Gasoline Prices,” Reuters, 2/23/2012)
“OBAMA LOBBYING DEMS” TO REJECT JOB-CREATING KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE, AGAIN: “President Barack Obama is intervening in a Senate fight over the Keystone XL oil pipeline and personally lobbying Democrats to reject an amendment calling for its construction, according to several sources familiar with the talks.” (Manu Raju, “Obama Lobbying Dems Over Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 3/7/2012)
LAST WEEK THE THIRD LARGEST INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER IN AMERICA ANNOUNCED IT WOULD CLOSE PLANTS BECAUSE OF OBAMA’S EPA RULES: “GenOn Energy Inc. (GEN), the third-largest U.S. independent power producer by market value, expects to shut about 13 percent of its generating capacity by May 2015 because of environmental regulations.” (Jim Polson, “GenOn Will Shut Plants Through 2015 on Environmental Rules, Bloomberg, 2/29/2012)
ENERGY AND COMMERCE RANKING DEMOCRAT HENRY WAXMAN RENEWS PUSH FOR CAP-AND TRADE: “But if we could put in place a price on carbon and then use the sales of carbon allowances to raise revenues we could raise money and cut emissions at the same time, and we can have a transition that will be as orderly as possible. If we leave both to become much more severe then the answers will be more radical and painful.” (Ezra Klein, “Henry Waxman’s Plan to Cut the Deficit and Stop Global Warming—at the Same Time,” The Washington Post, 2/26/2012)
TOP DEMOCRATS ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE PUBLISHED WASHINGTON POST OP-ED CALLING FOR $200 BILLION NATIONAL ENERGY TAX: “The best approach would be to use a market mechanism such as the sale of carbon allowances or a fee on carbon pollution to lower emissions and increase revenue. Using these policies, the United States could raise $200 billion or more over 10 years and trillions of dollars by 2050 while cutting carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, providing transition assistance to affected industries, and supporting investments in clean-energy technologies.” (Henry A. Waxman, Sherwood Boehlert, Edward J. Markey and Wayne Gilchrest, “Carbon Emission Policy Could Slash Debt, Improve Environment,” The Washington Post, 2/23/2012)
Millions of Americans also remain underwater on their mortgages, but all Democrats offer are the same failed housing policies that have not delivered results:
OBAMA CONCEDES FAILURE OF HIS PREVIOUS HOUSING EFFORTS BY ONCE AGAIN “ANNOUNC[ING] NEW HOUSING INITIATIVES”: (“Obama Announces New Housing Initiatives,” Associated Press, 3/6/2012)
12 MILLION HOMEOWNERS—20% OF MORTGAGE HOLDERS—WERE UNDERWATER ON MORTGAGES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR:“Currently, about 12 million homeowners are underwater on their mortgages (figure 3)–more than one out of five homes with a mortgage.”(Ben Bernanke, “The U.S. Housing Market: Current Conditions and Policy Considerations,”U.S. Federal Reserve, 1/4/2012)
MILLIONS OF HOMES FORECLOSED SINCE 2009, MILLIONS MORE ON THE VERGE: “Meanwhile, 2.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since 2009, an additional 4 million are in the foreclosure process or seriously delinquent, and home prices are still falling in much of the U.S., shrinking household wealth for millions of Americans.” (Julie Schmit, “What Went Wrong With Foreclosure Aid Programs?”, USA Today, 12/12/2011)
“ALPHABET SOUP” OF PAST OBAMA HOUSING PROGRAMS: “HAMP, HARP, EHLP, 2MP”… HUH?: “That’s a big if, given that the alphabet soup of housing assistance programs to date — HAMP, HARP, EHLP, 2MP — have been too poorly administered and too limited in scope and eligibility to slow or halt the slide in the U.S. housing market.” (Eric Wieffering, “Fixing Economy Requires More Work on Housing,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/17/2011)
BUT WHAT THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT “EVERY PROGRAM HAS FALLEN SHORT OF GOALS”: “ ‘Every program has fallen far short of goals. I can’t think of one that’s been largely successful,’ says John Dodds, director of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, a non-profit that’s been involved in foreclosure prevention for decades.” (Julie Schmit, “What Went Wrong With Foreclosure Aid Programs?”, USA Today, 12/12/2011)
OBAMA HOUSING PROGRAMS “FALL FAR SHORT OF GOALS,” HELPING ONLY A FRACTION OF THOSE INTENDED: “President Obama pledged at the beginning of his term to boost the nation’s crippled housing market and help as many as 9 million homeowners avoid losing their homes to foreclosure. Nearly three years later, it hasn’t worked out. Obama has spent just $2.4 billion of the $50 billion he promised. The initiatives he announced have helped 1.7 million people. Housing prices remain near a crisis low. Millions of people are deeply indebted, owing more than their properties are worth, and many have lost their homes to foreclosure or are likely to do so. Economists increasingly say that, as a result, Americans are too scared to spend money, depriving the economy of its traditional engine of growth.”(Zachary A. Goldfarb, “Obama’s Efforts to Aid Homeowners, Boost Housing Market Fall Far Short of Goals,” The Washington Post, 10/23/2011)