There’s No Doubt “This Is Obama’s Economy”

June 9, 2011

No Matter How Much He Tries to Deflect Blame, Even Democrats Agree That Obama is Responsible for the Economy

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Wednesday that this is now President Obama’s economy and that he will now be held responsible for his economic policies.
Obama, however, is continuing to make excuses for his job-destroying policies, pinning blame and proposing more of the same policies.
The American people don’t buy the President’s excuses anymore and hold him responsible for his disastrous economic policies.

Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois’ senior senator and a mentor to President Obama when he was in the Senate, declared what the Obama administration has found difficult to accept: the weak economy is the White House’s fault:

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): “But the fact is we now have the president in a position of power, with his economic policies, and he’s going to be held accountable. We know that.” (Remarks from Sen. Dick Durbin, MSNBC, 6/8/2011)

Once upon a time, even Obama himself was willing to take responsibility for the weak economy. Six months into his presidency, Obama declared that fixing the economy “is a job I gladly accept”:

“ ‘Now, my administration has a job to do as well, and that job is to get this economy back on its feet,’ President Barack Obama declared on July 14, 2009, in Warren, Mich. ‘That’s my job, and it’s a job I gladly accept. I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, well, this is Obama’s economy. That’s fine. Give it to me.’” (Jonah Goldberg, “It’s Obama’s Economy,” The Boston Herald, 6/8/2011)

These days, Obama is singing a different tune, blaming his predecessor for a lagging economic recovery and doubling-down on more spending instead of taking responsibility for wasting billions on failed “stimulus” programs:

OBAMA CONTINUES TO CLAIM HE “INHERITED” ECONOMIC PROBLEMS: “Weinherited the worst recession since the Great Depression, a banking system on the verge of meltdown. … I was sworn in before our economic policies had a chance to take root.” (“Remarks by the President at a DNC Event in Austin, TX,” The White House, 5/11/2011)

MEANWHILE, HE’S STILL PUSHING MORE OF THE SAME POLICIES: “Cantor said the president pushed them on his theme of investment in the future, but Cantor said ‘to a lot of us that’s code for more Washington spending, and that’s something we can’t afford right now.’” (Russell Berman, Sam Youngman, and Molly K. Hooper, “Ryan to Obama: Leadership Should Come from the Top,” The Hill, 6/1/2011)

The American people aren’t buying it. A flood of new polls shows Obama’s job approval sinking as Americans increasingly hold him accountable for his job-destroying policies:

WASHINGTON POST/ABC NEWS POLL: GOP PREFERRED OVER OBAMA TO HANDLE ECONOMY. “Asked who they trust to do a better job on the economy, 45 percent named congressional Republicans while 42 percent chose Obama. That’s a marked turnaround from a mid-March Post/ABC survey when 46 percent said they trusted Obama to do a better job handling the economy and just 34 percent named Republicans in Congress.

“Among electorally critical independents, 44 percent said they trusted Republicans more to handle economic issues while 39 percent preferred Obama. In March, independents favored Obama on the question 40 percent to 29 percent.” (Chris Cilizza, “Barack Obama’s Economy?”, The Washington Post, 6/7/2011)

CNN POLL: AMERICANS HOLD OBAMA RESPONSIBLE FOR ECONOMY “IN POOR SHAPE.” “Barack Obama’s overall approval rating has dropped as a growing number of Americans worry that the U.S. is likely to slip into another Great Depression within the next 12 months. More than eight in ten Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, a number that has stubbornly remained at that level since March. And overall economic conditions remains issue number one to voters, with other economic issues –unemployment, gas prices and the federal deficit — taking three of the remaining four spots in the top five. Obama’s approval rating is now 48%, down six points since late May.”(“CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll,” CNN, 6/8/2011)

Independent commentators are increasingly saying so, too. A National Journal column from Charlie Cook earlier in the week noted that Obama’s ongoing economic blame game is “downright silly.” When will Obama and other Democrats finally take responsibility for their job-destroying policies?:

OBAMA’S ATTEMPTS TO BLAME BUSH FOR ECONOMY “DOWNRIGHT SILLY,” TIME TO “TAKE OWNERSHIP”: “Within the first six months or even a year of a new administration, it’s fair game to blame predecessors for any problems. … But such arguments get much less convincing as the second year comes to an end. Once into the third year, such claims sound downright silly. Gradually, any president and any administration take ownership of the problems facing the country.” (Charlie Cook, “Owning It,” National Journal, 6/6/2011)