The Obama Economy is Leaving the Young Restless

April 24, 2012

Democrats’ Failed Agenda Has Left America’s Youth With Fewer Opportunities and More Job-Crushing Debt

President Obama is addressing students today in Colorado and North Carolina, but he probably won’t talk to them about the Democrats’ miserable economic record that has destroyed economic opportunities for all Americans.
Young Americans in particular are among those hardest hit by the Obama economy, with about half of recent college graduates out of work or underemployed.
Democrats have also racked up enormous increases in the national debt that are destroying economic opportunity for future generations while leaving them a crushing debt burden to pay back.

President Obama is addressing students today in Colorado and North Carolina, but he probably won’t talk to them about the Democrats’ miserable economic record that has destroyed economic opportunities for all Americans:

OBAMA TO TRAVEL TO COLORADO, NORTH CAROLINA TO ADDRESS STUDENTS: (Ben White, Politico’s “Morning Money”, 4/23/2012)

GALLUP: A RECORD 68% OF AMERICANS SAY THEY PERSONALLY KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN LAID-OFF IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS: (Frank Newport, “Most in U.S. Know a Laid-Off Worker, But Don’t Fear Job Loss,” Gallup, 4/23/2012)

45 MILLION PEOPLE, ONE IN SEVEN AMERICANS ON FOOD STAMPS LAST YEAR: (Jack Cafferty, “What Does It Mean When One in Seven People in the U.S. Gets Food Stamps?”, CNN, 4/23/2012)

CBS/NY TIMES POLL: 38% OF AMERICANS SAY “PAYING EVERYDAY BILLS IS THEIR #1 ECON[OMIC] CONCERN”: (Tweet from Amy Walter, ABC News, 4/19/2012)

70% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE ECONOMY IS IN BAD SHAPE: (The New York Times/CBS News Poll, 4/13-17/2012)

39% OF AMERICANS SAY THEY’RE FALLING BEHIND IN THE OBAMA ECONOMY, 43% SAY THINGS HAVE NOT GOTTEN BETTER: (The New York Times/CBS News Poll, 4/13-17/2012)

47% FEAR THINGS WILL GET WORSE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, INCLUDING 57% OF PARENTS WITH ADULT CHILDREN: (Brian Montopoli, “Five Takeaways from the CBS/NYT Poll,” CBS News, 4/18/2012)

Young Americans in particular are among those hardest hit by the Obama economy, with about half of recent college graduates out of work or underemployed:

AP REPORT: “1 IN 2 NEW GRADUATES ARE JOBLESS OR UNEMPLOYED”:(Hope Yen, “1 in 2 New Graduates are Jobless or Unemployed,” Associated Press, 4/23/2012)

1.5 MILLION DEGREE HOLDERS UNDER 25, OR 53.6 PERCENT, WERE JOBLESS OR UNDEREMPLOYED LAST YEAR: “About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.” (Hope Yen, “1 in 2 New Graduates are Jobless or Unemployed,” Associated Press, 4/23/2012)

JOB PROSPECTS FOR COLLEGE GRADS “FELL LAST YEAR TO THE LOWEST LEVEL IN MORE THAN A DECADE”: “Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor’s degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.” (Hope Yen, “1 in 2 New Graduates are Jobless or Unemployed,” Associated Press, 4/23/2012)

MEDIAN WAGES FOR NEW COLLEGE GRADUATES ARE DOWN: “Median wages for those with bachelor’s degrees are down from 2000, hit by technological changes that are eliminating midlevel jobs such as bank tellers. Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U.S. population ages.” (Hope Yen, “1 in 2 New Graduates are Jobless or Unemployed,” Associated Press, 4/23/2012)

Democrats have also racked up enormous increases in the national debt that are destroying economic opportunity for future generations while leaving them a crushing debt burden to pay back:

CBO: OBAMA BUDGET WILL “HURT THE ECONOMY IN THE LONG TERM”:(Erik Wasson, “CBO Estimates Obama 2013 Budget Will Hit Economic Growth,” The Hill, 4/20/2012)

OBAMA PROPOSALS “WOULD REDUCE ECONOMIC OUTPUT BY BETWEEN 0.5 PERCENT AND 2.2 PERCENT”: (Erik Wasson, “CBO Estimates Obama 2013 Budget Will Hit Economic Growth,” The Hill, 4/20/2012)

DEMOCRATS’ SPENDING SPREE WOULD “REDUC[E] THE FUNDS BUSINESS COULD USE TOE EXPAND AND HIRE”: “Larger deficits caused by the budget would cause the government to issue more bonds, sucking up private capital to finance its debts and thereby reducing the funds businesses could use to expand and hire, the CBO said. An increased tax on capital gains included in the president’s plan would also tend to reduce private capital, it says.” (Erik Wasson, “CBO Estimates Obama 2013 Budget Will Hit Economic Growth,” The Hill, 4/20/2012)

TOTAL DEBT INCREASE UNDER OBAMA NOW AT $4.99 TRILLION: (“The Daily History of the Debt Results,” Treasury Direct, Accessed 4/23/2012)

“NATIONAL DEBT HAS INCREASED MORE UNDER OBAMA THAN UNDER BUSH”: (Mark Knoller, “National Debt Has Increased More Under Obama than Under Bush,” CBS News, 3/19/2012)

THREE YEARS AND TWO MONTHS OF OBAMA IS MORE DEBT THAN EIGHT YEARS OF PREDECESSOR: “The National Debt has now increased more during President Obama’s three years and two months in office than it did during 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency.

“The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.” (Mark Knoller, “National Debt Has Increased More Under Obama than Under Bush,” CBS News, 3/19/2012)

POLITIFACT SAID LAST YEAR THAT OBAMA WAS THE “UNDISPUTED DEBT KING OF THE LAST FIVE PRESIDENTS”: “Obama is the undisputed debt king of the last five presidents, rather than the guy who added a piddling mount to the debt.” (Louis Jacobson, “Nancy Pelosi Posts Questionable Chart on Debt Accumulation by Barack Obama, Predecessors,” Politifact, 5/19/2011)

OBAMA RECORD “THE MOST RAPID INCREASE IN THE DEBT UNDER ANY U.S. PRESIDENT”: (Mark Knoller, “National debt has increased $4 trillion under Obama,” CBS News’ Political Hotsheet Blog, 8/22/2011)

NATIONAL DEBT STANDS AT $15.66 TRILLION, LARGER THAN THE NATION’S $15.32 TRILLION ECONOMY: (“The Daily History of the Debt Results,”TreasuryDirect.Gov, Accessed 4/20/2012; “National Economic Accounts,” Bureau of Economic Analysis, Accessed 4/20/2012)

THE SUMMARY ON OBAMA’S BUDGET:

“CBO: EXPLODING DEBT UNDER OBAMA POLICIES”: (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

“OBAMA’S TAX AND SPENDING POLICIES WILL YIELD $6.4 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT DECADE”: “The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that President Barack Obama’s tax and spending policies will yield $6.4 trillion in deficits over the next decade, more than double the shortfall in CBO’s own fiscal baseline — even after taking credit for reduced war costs.” (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

“EVEN IF OBAMA WERE TO GET HIS WAY ON ALL FRONTS,” PUBLIC DEBT WOULD “NEARLY DOUBLE AGAIN” TO $18.8 TRILLION IN 2022: “That said, the picture is grim, and even if Obama were to get his way on all fronts, the federal debt held by the public would nearly double again from $10.1 trillion at the end of 2011 to $18.8 trillion at the end of 2022.” (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

OBAMA’S BUDGET ENSURES DEBT “WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE”: (Mark Knoller, “National Debt Has Increased More Under Obama than Under Bush,” CBS News, 3/19/2012)