As Recession Fears Grow, Obama Tries to Pin the Tail on the Elephant

October 11, 2011

As White House Desperately Tries to Sell a Second Stimulus Even Democrats Won’t Touch, Obama Tries to Blame Republicans for the Weak Economy

Obama political handler David Axelrod tried to help with President Obama’s latest stimulus sales job in Pittsburgh today by making the implausible claim that Americans are actually clamoring for Obama’s second stimulus—never mind that even some Democrats in Congress don’t agree with throwing more money at more failed stimulus.
Obama’s political standing is as precarious as it has ever been, and his demands to Congress to “pass this bill” have done little to avert his slide in national approval. The president’s ongoing stimulus tour is just a desperate attempt to stanch the bleeding by rallying the president’s liberal base.
Meanwhile, recession fears are as high as ever, suggesting Obama’s second stimulus will do little to help a weak economy.

BACKGROUND

Obama political handler David Axelrod tried to help with President Obama’s latest stimulus sales job in Pittsburgh today by making the implausible claim that Americans are actually clamoring for Obama’s second stimulus—never mind that even some Democrats in Congress don’t agree with throwing more money at more failed stimulus:

OBAMA TOOK STIMULUS “ROAD SHOW” TO PITTBURGH, “THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF APPEARANCES IN KEY BATTLEGROUND TERRITORY”: “Obama briefly brought his jobs bill fight back to Washington last week. But he resumes the road show Tuesday in Pittsburgh, the latest in a series of appearances in key battleground territory.” (David Nakamura, “Obama Resumes Jobs Tour With Eye on 2012 Battleground,” The Washington Post, 10/11/2011)

WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR DAVID AXELROD SAYS IF OBAMA’S SECOND STIMULUS DOESN’T PASS, CONGRESS, NOT OBAMA, WILL BE BLAMED: “David Axelrod is stepping in to rally support for President Barack Obama’s jobs bill, suggesting in a memo that if the plan doesn’t pass, the public’s disapproval of Congress will only get worse.” (MJ Lee, “David Axelrod: ‘Put Country Ahead of Party,'” Politico, 10/11/2011)

Obama’s political standing is as precarious as it has ever been, and his demands to Congress to “pass this bill” have done little to avert his slide in national approval. The president’s ongoing stimulus tour is just a desperate attempt to stanch the bleeding by rallying the president’s liberal base:

OBAMA’S SECOND STIMULUS STILL HAS ZERO DEMOCRAT CO-SPONSORS IN THE HOUSE: (Thomas.gov, Accessed 10/7/2011)

ASSOCIATED PRESS FACT-CHECK: BUT THE TRUTH IS EVEN MANY DEMOCRATS ARE OPPOSED TO OBAMA’S SECOND STIMULUS: “When Obama accuses Republicans of standing in the way of his nearly $450 billion plan, he ignores the fact that his own party has struggled to unite behind the proposal.” (Erica Werner, “SPIN METER: ‘Obama’s Jobs Bill Sales Pitch Disconnects Rhetoric, Reality,” Associated Press, 10/10/2011)

REPUBLICANS HAVE EXPLAINED THEIR OPPOSITION TO STIMULUS 2.0 “IN DETAIL”: “When the president says Republicans haven’t explained what they oppose in the plan, he skips over the fact that Republicans who control the House actually have done that in detail.” (Erica Werner, “SPIN METER: ‘Obama’s Jobs Bill Sales Pitch Disconnects Rhetoric, Reality,” Associated Press, 10/10/2011)

OBAMA’S “BROADER AIM” IS “TO PIN BLAME ON REPUBLICANS”: “And when he calls on Congress to ‘pass this bill now,’ he slides past the point that Democrats control the Senate and were never prepared to move immediately, given other priorities. Senators are expected to vote Tuesday on opening debate on the bill, a month after the president unveiled it with a call for its immediate passage. … The disconnect between what Obama says about his jobs bill and what stands as the political reality flow from his broader aim: to rally the public behind his cause and get Congress to act, or, if not, to pin blame on Republicans.” (Erica Werner, “SPIN METER: ‘Obama’s Jobs Bill Sales Pitch Disconnects Rhetoric, Reality,” Associated Press, 10/10/2011)

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 A SPEECH TWO MONTHS AGO.(“Speeches and Remarks,” The White House, Accessed 9/20/2011)

“OBAMA AND THE LEFT BACK IN SYNC” AFTER LATEST STIMULUS/DEFICIT SPEECHES, LIBERALS REACTED WITH “ALMOST INCREDULOUS JOY”: “President Barack Obama finally gave his liberal critics exactly what they wanted.

“His tough opening bid on deficit reduction and his feisty, defiant speech from the White House Monday were greeted with almost incredulous joy by progressives who have urged Obama to take this kind of hard line with Republicans since the day he was elected.” (Carrie Budoff Brown and Ben Smith, “Obama and the Left Back in Sync,”Politico, 9/19/2011)

OBAMA’S POLLING SLIDE:

NBC NEWS/MARIST: OBAMA APPROVAL RATING IN IOWA AT 42%, AT 38% IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: “Just 42 percent of all registered voters in Iowa approve of Obama’s performance as president, and it’s lower in New Hampshire — with his approval rating at just 38 percent.” (Mark Murray, “Romney Leads in Iowa and New Hampshire,” NBC News, 10/11/2011)

OBAMA TRAILING ROMNEY BY 9 IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: (Mark Murray, “Romney Leads in Iowa and New Hampshire,” NBC News, 10/11/2011)

QUINNIPIAC: OBAMA UNDERWATER AT 45/52 IN VIRGINIA: (“Cain, Romney Top Pack in Virginia GOP Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Both Tie Obama as Perry Fades,”Quinnipiac, 10/11/2011)

GALLUP TRACKING: OBAMA AT 40% APPROVAL, 52% DISAPPROVAL: (“Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval,” Gallup, Accessed 10/11/2011)

Meanwhile, recession fears are as high as ever, suggesting Obama’s second stimulus will do little to help a weak economy:

ECONOMIC CYCLE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: DESPITE STIMULUS 1.0, AMERICAN ECONOMY POISED TO ENTER RECESSION 2.0: “But at least one organization with an exceptionally good track record says another recession may already be here. That is the Economic Cycle Research Institute, a private forecasting firm based in Manhattan. It was founded by Geoffrey H. Moore, an economist who helped originate the practice of using leading indicators to predict business cycles. Mr. Moore died in 2000, but the team he trained is still at work.

“Relying on a series of proprietary indexes, the institute correctly predicted the beginning and the end of the last recession. Over the last 15 years, it has gotten all of its recession calls right, while issuing no false alarms.

“That’s why it’s worth paying attention to its current forecast. It’s chilling: as bad as the economy has been, it’s about to get worse.” (Jeff Sommer, “An Ugly Forecast That’s Been Right Before,” The New York Times, 10/8/2011)

NOURIEL ROUBINI: “DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION A FOREGONE CONCLUSION”: “The world’s advanced economies are headed for a second recession, regardless of whether there is further chaos in Europe, Nouriel Roubini told CNBC on Tuesday. The economist who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis, but has got some other bearish calls wrong, said his reading of recent data suggested the U.S., euro zone and the UK are already on the verge of falling into a recession in the next quarter or two.

” ‘The question is not whether or if there is going to be a double dip, but whether it’s going to be mild or severe with another financial crisis,’ Roubini told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul. ‘The answer on that depends on the euro zone.'” (Deepanshu Bagchee, “Double-Dip Recession a Foregone Conclusion: Roubini,” CNBC, 10/11/2011)

DEMOCRAT ECONOMIST MARK ZANDI: 40% RECESSION RISK OVER NEXT YEAR.(Tweet from Catherine Rampell, The New York Times, 10/11/2011)

GOLDMAN SACHS ECONOMISTS: ECONOMY FACES 40% CHANCE OF DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION, MID-9% UNEMPLOYMENT TO PERSIST THROUGH 2012: “Jan Hatzius, Goldman’s chief US economist, pegged recession chances at 40 percent and said the jobless rate is likely to surge to the mid-9 percent range in 2012.” (Jeff Cox, “Recession Chance 40% in 2012, Jobless Rate to 9.5%: Goldman,” CNBC, 10/4/2011)

FED CHAIRMAN BEN BERNANKE: ECONOMIC RECOVERY “CLOSE TO FALTERING”: (Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal, “U.S. ‘Close to Faltering,’ Fed Ready to Act: Bernanke,” Reuters, 10/5/2011)