I wanted to add to John’s post regarding today’s Labor Department report on unemployment.
Right now we’re nowhere near where we need to be in order to make a significant dent in the unemployment rate. (To bring it down a percentage point over a year takes roughly 200,000 additional jobs per month.) In addition, unemployment has been at or above 9 percent for 28 out of the last 30 month, with no relief in sight. The Obama administration not only promised the unemployment wouldn’t exceed 8 percent if its stimulus package passed; based on their projections, the unemployment rate today should be right around 6.5 percent.
Rex Nutting, a columnist and MarketWatch’s international commentary editor, points out that the economy is creating jobs so slowly that at the current pace of hiring (an average of 119,000 jobs per month in 2011), the unemployment rate would stay stuck at 9 percent for five more years. The pace of hiring is so weak, in fact, that the economy wouldn’t get back to full employment (around 6 percent) until 2023. If we hope to bring the jobless rate back down to 6 percent by the end of 2014, we’d need job growth about twice as strong as it’s been (244,000 a month v. 119,000).
It’s reasonable to assume that Mr. Obama will face re-election with the highest unemployment rate of any post-war president. If the current rate of hiring continues, under Mr. Obama’s stewardship the nation will have actually lost jobs, a stunning achievement in its own way. Indeed, Obama is now on track to have the worst jobs record of any president in the modern era. The unemployment rate will be significantly higher than when he took office. Chronic unemployment is worse than it was during the Great Depression. And during the Obama presidency the United States saw its bond rating downgraded for the first time in history.
There’s more.
Mr. Obama will have shattered all the records when it comes to the deficit and the debt. For example, under Obama the budget deficit and federal debt have reached their highest percentage since World War II. The same is true when it comes to federal spending as a percentage of GDP. During the post-recession period from June 2009 to June 2011, the median annual household income fell by 6.7 percent – a more substantial decline than occurred during the Great Recession. The Christian Science Monitor points out, “The standard of living for Americans has fallen longer and more steeply over the past three years than at any time since the U.S. government began recording it five decades ago.” The housing crisis is worse than the Great Depression. Home values worth one-third less than they were five years ago. The home ownership rate is the lowest since 1965. The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty has seen a record increase on President Obama’s watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty. And government dependency, defined as the percentage of persons receiving one or more federal benefit payments, is the highest in American history.
The degree of responsibility Mr. Obama has for all of this varies. And there’s no question he took office facing difficult circumstances. On the other hand, the president himself promised us that virtually every indicator listed above would be better, much better, if only we followed his counsel and implemented his policies. He cannot escape either his words or his record. And of course during the 2008 campaign Mr. Obama showed no charity when it came to blaming Republicans for every bad thing that happened on their watch. So he certainly can’t expect to be treated with a different standard than he used. Because that would be unfair and hypocritical, wouldn’t it?
President Obama’s economic record is the worst of any president since Herbert Hoover. His sheer ineptitude may even exceed that of Jimmy Carter. He has failed on front after front, year after year. His job is to convince us he deserves a second term.
Good luck.
Why was there an ad for Iranian Personals "Meet Smart Beautiful Persian Women" before I opened read more for this post? n nAbout unemployment – until the housing crisis is addressed, there can be no healthy job growth, although lower energy costs would help. I think anyone who has been current on their mortgage for five years or more should be able to get an automatic rate reduction without the (since 2010) now very high closing costs of a refi. I would spend my extra 273 dollars per month on Made in America refrigerator, garage door, and local contractors for a retaining wall problem. The biggest and saddest irony of the Fed's zero interest rates is that they are, in my case, flowing through to Bank of America's profits. n nObama should have listened to Sheila Bair, and Romney is flat-out wrong to think that everything is based on the free market. BoA also owns my Master Card and has decided the APR is 20% for someone with a sterling credit score. A few months ago, that APR was 11%. What changed? BoA's profit desperation, maybe some part of Dodd-Frank.
If you have a sterling credit rating all you have to do is apply for a credit card with a different company and move your balance there. Nobody is holding a gun to your head and telling you to stick with your current card. You don't even have to do that. Just call the card company and tell them to lower your rate or you will find someone else. If you have good credit and are sitting still for a 20% interest rate on your unpaid balance, you're just being lazy. n nIf it's wrong to think that the free market is bad, what alternative to you propose, an unfree market?
I never carry a credit card balance. I was referring to the sudden change in APR from 11% to 20% for cash advances. n nMy point is that the Fed's zero interest rates are NOT flowing to consumers except in the auto credit market, which is separate from mortgages and credit cards. n nI need some cash to maintain this house, and will just keep using my savings. Would prefer to refi without it costing $3500 to free up $273 per month. Would love to be able to sell my BoA mortgage to get that 4.375% rate – the ultimate free market would be a way for me to sell my own mortgage to a different bank than BoA who is only interested in their profits. n nThis is why the TARP bank bailouts have angered so many – where is the benefit to the bank customers? n n
Herbert Hussein Hoover
Nomobama has done a very bad job. He should do the decent thing and resign. I don't know if the VP has ever done a good thing but could he do any worse? Nobama had no qualifications for job.
He was what many conservatives said he was before the 2008 election: at his core, he is anti-American with "academic-socialist" leanings. And on economics, he is absolutely clueless. Furthermore, like most socialists/Marxists, he does not want people or firms to accrue wealth; he has grown government beyond need and thus has retarded economic growth. n nOne more year and this mistake (for 53% of the electorate and about 95% of the commentariat) will be history.
Does anybody really believe this?r nr nLook at any economic indicator starting on the day Obama took office, from GDP to jobs created to the stock markets, and you will see that the economy has soared. When did it become so easy to dismiss fact?
Throughout human history, people have strived for a single government to unify the world. We need a central authority to manage human affairs, for if people could do what they wanted it would be destructive to society in general. Examples are Ancient Egypt, Assyrian Empire, Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Arabic Empire, and the British Empire, just to name a few. Today the major world religions believe in the one-world government. The Catholic Church works very hard to convince people all over the world to accept Jesus and the Pope in Rome as the leader. Islam works to convince people to accept Allah and His prophet Mohammad. Since no one can replace Mohammad, the present leader of Islam is a "replacement", caliph in Arabic. Islam uses force towards the goal of a one-world government, the caliphate. The Nazi Germans tried to conquer the world. Today many Americans are working hard for a one-world government headed by the UN. n nIn spite of the fact that so many people believe in a one-world government, many others disagree, and this is the source of serious conflict. People tend to ignore the fact that the central authority of an empire uses force to take goods from people for the benefit of the central authority. For example, in the 18th century Britain ruled over India, and used force to take resources from India, leaving India a poor country. The believers of one-world government say that resources would be distributed equally. This simply has never happened. It is strange that this reality does not deter the believers on one-world government. n n
An early example of people opposing the belief in a one-world government is the Israelite Exodus from ancient Egypt. This event has become the cornerstone of the belief system of Jews everywhere today. Jews reject large statist government. Jews emphasize individual freedom and questioning authority. The goal of a Jew is to focus upon oneself, family, and immediate nation. Other people say it is selfish to focus on oneself. The ideal Christian is a person dedicated to others while living in poverty. The ideal Moslem is a person who gives their life to destroying obstacles to a one-world government, the caliphate. American leaders, especially Democrats, stress that people should pay more taxes, thereby focusing on Americans in general, and not on enriching themselves. n nThe Jew disagrees. The Jew believes that the focus on oneself is the very best way to improve society in general. The Hebrew Bible says that we have a choice between good and life, and evil and death, and exhorts us to accept life. Catholics teach that it is better for a woman to die in childbirth rather than have an abortion that will save her life, as the focus must be on others. Jews teach that we must kill the fetus in order to save the woman's life, as the focus must be on the individual. The Hebrew Bible states, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and have respect for your God." Note the primacy of "yourself". Note also the command to have respect. To ignore oneself is not having respect for God. n nIn Judaism, the focus is on each person, family, and the land of Israel. Belief in God is a minor aspect, not a major aspect as in Christianity. n nAfter the Exodus from ancient Egypt, Israel established its government. The organization was limited government. Police and judges are mandatory, with a king, that is, a strong central government, optional. Samuel is very critical of the idea of a monarchy. n nThe American Revolution was based upon the Israelite Exodus. Our Constitution was based upon the concept of a limited government. Benjamin Franklin proposed that the great seal should have the picture of the crossing of the Red Sea. The American Revolution was based upon Judaism as the Founding Fathers understood it. It is a mistake to say that we are a Christian country, or a country based upon Judeo-Christian principles. This is because Christianity is fundamentally a one-world belief system, which Judaism is not. n nLet us not forget that the American Revolution was actually a civil war. Many Americans opposed the Revolution. They were called Loyalists, who believed in being ruled by Britain. This division persists today. The Progressive movement, started by Woodrow Wilson and strongly implemented by FDR, is in full accordance with Loyalist principles. Today's Democratic Party, along with many Republicans, also rejects the principles of our Constitution, and wish to accept Loyalist ideas. People who say the Constitution is a living document wish to change our Constitution without going through the amendment process. The Constitution is a legal document, not a living document. n nThe ancient belief in a one-world government is so strong and powerful that no amount of logic or contradictory evidence can change people's views. We do have to be on guard for this fundamental human irrationality, and try our best to deal with it. n nSince Jews oppose one-world government ideas, people hate the Jews. Jews prevent the spread of one-world government ideas, and pay for this with vicious terrible anti-Semitism. For example, Adolf Hitler knew that he would not succeed in implementing his ideas of a world ruled by Germany as long as Jews were around to object. This is why he killed millions of Jews. Same story with Stalin. The Arabs know that Jews prevent the spread of Islam and the idea of a one-world government, and so hate the Jews. n nA lot has been written on the nature of anti-Semitism. Most of this is trying to explain this sad phenomenon without understanding the Jewish ideal of individual freedom, something one-world government would prevent. n nIn order to succeed, we must focus our attention on clearly defining our goals. If we are a Christian or a Moslem, our primary goal is the religion, not ourselves. Jews and atheists focus their attention to improving their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The hedonistic atheist does not focus his attention on the goal of improving his life. We must not use hedonism as grounds for rejecting atheism. Instead, we must ask what our goals are. n