The Dems’ Economic Failure Hasn’t Been “Incomplete”

May 18, 2012

Three Years After the Stimulus Passed The Economy Still Remains Weak, But President Obama Insists His Spending Spree Didn’t Fail, It’s Just “Incomplete”

President Obama gave himself a grade of “incomplete” on the economy this week, perhaps inadvertently recognizing the failure of the wasteful stimulus spending that he and his fellow Democrats keep pushing.
Democrats remain out of touch with the American workers and families who believe that the Democrats’ policies have put America’s economy on the wrong track.
Economic indicators continue to show that the economy remains weak and job growth is struggling. What will it take for Democrats to abandon their failed policies?

President Obama gave himself a grade of “incomplete” on the economy this week, perhaps inadvertently recognizing the failure of the wasteful stimulus spending that he and his fellow Democrats keep pushing:

PRESIDENT OBAMA GRADED HIMSELF AN “INCOMPLETE” ON THE ECONOMY THIS WEEK: “ ‘I think it’s still incomplete. We’ve still got work to do,’ Mr. Obama said in an interview on ABC’s ‘The View,’ which aired Tuesday morning.” (Stephanie Condon, “Obama Gives Himself an ‘Incomplete’ On the Economy,” CBS News, 5/15/2012)

NO KIDDING:OBAMA: “SOMETIMES I FORGET” THE RECESSION: “And sometimes people forget the magnitude of it. You know, you saw some of that in the video that was shown. Sometimes I forget.” (Charlie Spiering, “Obama: ‘Sometimes I Forget’ the Recession,” The Washington Examiner, 5/11/2012)

NOT TOO LONG AGO, OBAMA GAVE HIMSELF A “B+”: “The campaign also reminded voters that Mr. Obama gave himself a B plus in late 2009 during another ABC special, this one with Oprah Winfrey.” (Stephanie Condon, “Obama Gives Himself an ‘Incomplete’ On the Economy,” CBS News, 5/15/2012)

DEMOCRATS ARE RUNNING A 2012 CAMPAIGN BASED ON MORE OF THE SAME FAILED POLICIES: (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,’” Politico, 4/30/2012)

AND ARE STILL CALLING FOR MORE FAILED STIMULUS: “First the most important thing we can do to begin to reduce the deficit is get the economy moving again and the president has proposed a jobs plan including a major infrastructure investment plan, which Republicans continue to sit on.”(Remarks from Rep. Chris Van Hollen, MSNBC’s Jansing & Co., 5/7/2012)

FLASHBACK TO OBAMA IN 2009: “ONE TERM PROPOSITION” IF ECONOMY DOESN’T IMPROVE: “[I]f I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” (Devin Dwyer, “Fact Check—Obama and the ‘One-Term Proposition’,” ABC News, 2/2/2012)

Democrats remain out of touch with the American workers and families who believe that the Democrats’ policies have put America’s economy on the wrong track:

GALLUP: “NATIONAL MOOD A DRAG ON OBAMA’S RE-ELECTION PROSPECTS”: (Lydia Saad, “National Mood a Drag on Obama’s Re-Election Prospects,”Gallup, 5/16/2012)

MORE: “CONCERN ABOUT THE ECONOMY” IS “GREATER TODAY THAN FOR ANY PRESIDENT SEEKING RE-ELECTION” SINCE CARTER: “The extent of Americans’ concern about the economy — as evident in their top-of-mind mentions of it as the nation’s ‘most important problem’ — is greater today than for any president seeking re-election since Jimmy Carter in 1980. The current 66% mentioning one or more economic concerns is substantially higher than it was in May 2004 or May 1996, and moderately higher than at the same point in 1992 and 1984. Americans’ mentions of the economy did surge in August 1984 to 65% — comparable to where they are today — but fell to 51% by September.” (Lydia Saad, “National Mood a Drag on Obama’s Re-Election Prospects,” Gallup, 5/16/2012)

CBS/NYT: 67% RATE CONDITION OF ECONOMY AS “VERY” OR “FAIRLY” BAD: (“The Presidential Election, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Economy,” The New York Times/CBS Poll, 5/14/2012)

MORE: 63% THINK ECONOMY IS “GETTING WORSE” OR “STAYING THE SAME”: (“The Presidential Election, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Economy,” The New York Times/CBS Poll, 5/14/2012)

62% NAME “THE ECONOMY AND JOBS” AS THE TOP ISSUE IN 2012: (“The Presidential Election, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Economy,” The New York Times/CBS Poll, 5/14/2012)

AP POLL: 52% DISAPPROVE OF OBAMA ON THE ECONOMY: (The AP-GfK Poll, May 2012)

JUST 31% OF DEMOCRATS CALL THE OBAMA ECONOMY “GOOD”: (Tom Raum and Jennifer Agiesta, “Poll Shows Americans’ Pessimism on Economy Growing,”Associated Press, 5/10/2012)

Economic indicators continue to show that the economy remains weak and job growth is struggling. What will it take for Democrats to abandon their failed policies?:

REPORT: “LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS DIP IN APRIL”: (Ruth Mantell, “Leading Economic Indicators Dip in April,” MarketWatch, 5/17/2012)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE AT “A LEVEL ASSOCIATED WITH RECESSIONS OR THEIR AFTERMATHS”: “Consumer confidence dropped last week to the lowest level since the end of January as slower U.S. job growth contributed to pessimism about personal finances and spending. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell in the week ended May 13 to minus 43.6, a level associated with recessions or their aftermaths, from minus 40.4 in the previous period. The monthly expectations measure was little changed as Americans see scant improvement in the world’s largest economy.” (Timothy R. Homan, “Consumer Comfort In U.S. Drops To Nearly A Four-Month Low,” Bloomberg, 5/17/2012)

ECONOMY IS “STILL STRUGGLING TO GAIN MOMENTUM” AND “GROWTH IS SLOW, BUT CHOPPY”: (Ruth Mantell, “Leading Economic Indicators Dip in April,”MarketWatch, 5/17/2012)

GALLUP: ONE-THIRD OF SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS “UNCOMFORTABLE” WITH DEBT BURDEN: “Thirty-six percent of U.S. small-business owners who have borrowed for their business in the past are very or somewhat uncomfortable with their company’s debt, according to the April Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index poll.” (Dennis Jacobe, “One-Third of Small-Business Owners Feel Debt Burden,” Gallup, 5/16/2012)

49% OF SMALL BUSINESSES SAY IT IS “DIFFICULT” TO PAY DOWN THEIR DEBT BURDEN: “Even as small-business owners seek to reduce their debt, 49% say it is extremely difficult (10%), very difficult (10%), or somewhat difficult (29%) to pay down their current business debt.” (Dennis Jacobe, “One-Third of Small-Business Owners Feel Debt Burden,” Gallup, 5/16/2012)

GALLUP’S UNDEREMPLOYMENT NUMBER: 18%: (Dennis Jacobe, “U.S. Unemployment Edges Down in Mid-May,” Gallup, 5/17/2012)

AP: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 8.1% AS “EMPLOYERS PULLED BACK ON HIRING,” “A SOBERING REMINDER THAT THE ECONOMY REMAINS WEAK”: (Christopher Rugaber, “Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.1 Percent as U.S. Adds 115,000 Jobs in April,” Associated Press, 5/4/2012)

DEMS’ PROMISED THEIR FAILED STIMULUS WOULD BRING UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 6% BY NOW: (Jim Pethokoukis, “The Awful April Jobs Report: Is the ‘Real’ Unemployment Rate 11.1%?”, The American, 5/4/2012)

12.5 MILLION JOBLESS WORKERS: (“Labor Statistics from Current Population Survey,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 5/17/2012)

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION “HAS REACHED A 30-YEAR LOW”: (Laurent Belsie, “Unemployment Rate Hits Three-Year Low. Hooray? No, Boo!,” The Christian Science Monitor, 5/4/2012)

BLOOMBERG: “OBAMA FAILS TO STEM MIDDLE CLASS SLIDE HE BLAMED ON BUSH”: (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

“MORE THAN THREE YEARS INTO OBAMA’S OWN PRESIDENCY, THOSE DECLINES [TO THE MIDDLE CLASS] HAVE ONLY DEEPENED”: (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

95% OF JOB LOSSES IN RECESSION WERE TO MIDDLE-SKILL PROFESSIONS, BUT OBAMA HAS DONE LITTLE TO REGAIN THOSE JOBS:(Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)