33°Analysis: Dems out of jobs options before election
Sep 04
2010
It's still the economy, stupid.''
And there's virtually nothing Democrats can do to change that reality before Nov. 2.
Time has all but run out for President Barack Obama and his party, which had hoped for a big economic turnaround by the homestretch of the midterm elections.
But with just two months left in the campaign, the Labor Department reported Friday that the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in August — inching up for the first time in four months as the economy shed 54,000 jobs and more than a half-million Americans resumed their work searches.
''We're moving in the right direction. We just have to speed it up,'' Obama insisted, focusing on the 67,000 jobs that private business added last month. He struck both realistic and optimistic tones, saying: ''There's no quick fix'' and, yet, ''There are better days ahead.''
For the country, maybe so. For Democrats, probably not.
''It's the economy, stupid,'' was the oft-repeated message of Bill Clinton's winning presidential campaign in 1992. The point: Don't bother overmuch with other issues; elections are won or lost on how people are feeling about their own economic well-being.
Now, the traditional Labor Day start of the fall campaign has arrived. And ''Recovery Summer'' — as the White House dubbed it earlier this year — is still among the missing.
Making matters worse for the Democrats, early voting gets under way shortly in many states, including several with double-digit joblessness that's worse than the national average.
Given all that, Democrats who have controlled Congress since 2006 — and during the near-economic meltdown of late 2008 — are bracing for a heavy dose of blame from frustrated voters.
Obama, too. He inherited an economy in tatters from President George W. Bush, but he owns it now, in the second year of his presidency and following attempts to jump-start American business and industry. Those efforts included the much-heralded $814 billion stimulus plan that Republicans, and some voters, claim didn't work.
The president's not on the ballot, but he's got a lot on the line.
Using the Democrats' economic record against them, Republicans are pushing to gain control of the House and, perhaps, the Senate as well as a number of governorships. The outcome will shape the remainder of Obama's first term and his likely re-election bid in 2012.
Mindful of all that, Obama on Friday acknowledged that his administration must do more to create jobs and accelerate growth. He urged Congress to take up a small-business jobs bill and castigated Senate Republicans for blocking it. He plans to discuss a jobs package next week and travel to Wisconsin and Ohio to promote his administration's economic work.
There are signs, to be sure, that the economy is recovering; credit has loosened up, and industrial production has increased. Recent reports on housing, manufacturing and private sector hiring indicate slow growth.
But it's hard to feel like the economy is improving if you're unemployed and can't find work.
And a Commerce Department report caused heartburn last week by showing the gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the economy's output — grew at an annual rate of just 1.6 percent in the spring, more sluggishly than at the start of the year.
Republicans used the latest economic news to pummel Democrats anew.
''A year that began with Americans bracing for a jobless recovery has instead turned into a full-blown search for both jobs and a recovery,'' House GOP Leader John Boehner said. Added Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican: ''The policies being pursued by the White House and Democrat leaders in Washington continue to create uncertainty and fear that is inhibiting productivity, innovation and job creation.''
With those kinds of attacks and nothing good to say on jobs, Democrats have few options but to intensify their efforts to stoke fears of Republican economic policies — and try to make GOP candidates unacceptable.
Nationwide, Democrats have been arguing that Republicans are cozy with Wall Street and would make a tough situation even worse by returning to a Bush-era economic approach that, they say, sent the country reeling.
''He voted for all the Bush policies that got us into this mess, like tax breaks to ship jobs to China,'' says an ad by Senate Democratic hopeful Alexi Giannoulias against Republican Mark Kirk in Illinois. ''Then, after six straight months of job loss, Kirk voted against extending unemployment benefits, saying unemployment isn't a big issue.''
But in a sign they know how difficult a sell they have on the economy, Democrats also have been trying to shift the debate by warning voters that Republicans will privatize Social Security and decimate Medicare — perhaps an effort to scare seniors and get them to vote Democratic.
Republicans, meanwhile, crow that the Democrats' economic fixes have failed to create jobs. They ignore a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that shows the stimulus plan increased the number of employed people by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million. And the GOP hasn't yet offered a jobs plan of its own.
That hasn't stopped Republicans from going after Democrats on jobs, most notably in Nevada where the Senate Democratic leader is trying to fend off tea party-backed Sharron Angle.
She recently rolled out a TV ad saying: ''On Harry Reid's watch Nevada's unemployment rate has shot past 14 percent. Highest in the country. Our foreclosure rate is highest in the nation. Home values have dropped almost 50 percent. Those aren't just numbers. They're people who've lost their jobs. Families who've lost their homes ... and he wants to call me an extremist?''
Elsewhere, a GOP-aligned outside group is running ads in Ohio promoting Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman's jobs plan. Another one hits Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado for voting for the ''failed stimulus program'' and ''over 100,000 Colorado jobs lost.''
But for all the talk, neither Democrats nor Republicans have the power to create jobs between now and November.
On Election Day, voters will sort through the campaign clutter to determine whom they trust the most on the two top issues of this campaign — fixing the economy and creating jobs.
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11:23 AM
Pete says
"Because I am president, and the Democrats have control of the House and Senate, it's understandable that people are saying, 'What have you done?'"
Let me see.....what have they done?
Oh yea, they rammed through a Porkulus Bill that really hasn't done much except funnel money to his Union supporters
Passed a health care bill most people in this country didn't favor
And blame the previous adminstration for this ones failures
Shouldn't be "What have you done?" but WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
09:31 AM
Sam says
bfrutie, the facts must really hurt a libber like you. Wasn't the three years your spent in 5th grade some of your best years?
democraps have higher taxes and unemployment and no stones
09:08 AM
brutus smith says
nah, nah. You sound like a 5th grader.
08:58 AM
Sam says
bfrutie, and now the unemployment rate is 9.6% with Obbie and a dem congress after increasing the national debt by a third in only 17 months. Obbie said the unemployment rate would be at or below 8% if his "stimulus lie" was passed, now he wants yet another stimulus of 50 Billion. Maybe if he only had time for his 9th vacation this year, in a little over two years will can and will give him a permanent vacation.
democraps, higher taxes more unemployment.
08:01 AM
brutus smith says
When Bush left office unemployment was 8,1%. I'm not sure why you posted all that other garbage which has nothing to do with Bush's unemployment record.
06:29 AM
Sam says
Moderators have removed this comment because it contained lengthy or off-topic excerpts from other websites. Discussion Guidelines11:12 PM
brutus smith says
The U.S. job market keeps weakening. According to the latest unemployment report released by the Labor Department this morning, U.S. employers slashed651,000 nonfarm positions in February 2009, pushing the monthly unemployment rate to 8.1%, the highest level since December 1983. February marks the third straight month that job losses exceeded 600,000, the first time that happened since 1939. The monthly job losses of 651K are also the largest since 1949.
You know you can't revise history as long as I around.
02:44 PM
Sam says
Obbie, Queen Nancy & dirty Harry Reid, the three best people for the Republican party. Unemployment was 5.1% in 2005 the year before Queen Nancy & dirty Harry took over congress, unemployment was 5.8% in 2008 the year before Obbie, today its 9.6% and we increased the national debt by a third in the last 17 months to "curb" unemployment. Stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
democraps, higher taxes and unemployment, was this the change you wanted?
08:56 AM
6079 Smith W says
The news just keeps getting worse for the Dems for Nov.
"The nonpartisan Cook Political Report is monitoring 120 potentially competitive House races, the biggest field in years, with 102 held by Democrats. In 2006, it monitored 75 races.
It lists 73 Democratic seats as toss-ups or highly competitive, up from 68 two weeks ago and 39 at the beginning of the year."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39036348
06:59 AM
Pete says
HEY! He's gonna throw some more money at the problem! $800+ Billion wasn't enough I guess. So throw another $50B here, a $100B there, WOO HOO! That's some fine thunking there!!!!!!!
05:52 AM
Pete says
Progressive Playbook:
If the Race Card fails, move on to Class Warfare
07:52 PM
brutus smith says
About the income tax, that wouldn't be because the bottom 50% only has 2.5% of the wealth in this country? Do ya think?
.
07:23 PM
Bailey says
How can the Republicans turn this around?
Well, after being in office for two years they can blame the previous administration, that always gets things done!
As I stated, the Tea Party is NOT part of the Republican Party, they voted AGAINST several Republicans and incumbants. They are CONSTITUTIONISTS.
Sadly, many consider Bush as being a good president, I think on a scale of one to ten (one being worse) the scale is :
Obama 0, Carter 1, Johnson 2 , Ford 3, Nixon 4, Bush's 5 or 6. Regan 10
07:17 PM
Jonathan Beck says
They are not out of options, they are out of crooked polititions in Northern Ohio. We need some integrety, and honesty. Read the Plain Dealer. Where are the crooked polititions coming from. They are not true democrats, but they will drink Bill Mason's Kool-Aid. Ask Kevin
07:12 PM
Uncommon Sense says
Brutus Smith:
Are you kidding about the 80's? In the 70's under the Carter administration interest rates were in the teens, there was an oil crisis that resulted in gasoline rationing and the economy was in the crapper. Reaganonics saved the economy. The housing bust was a result of Clinton's idea that everyone in this country should be able to buy a house. What a joke! Bush inhereted a crappier situation than Obama. The Tech Bubble burst in early 2001 followed by the 9/11 attacks - which I might add were a result of Clinton's ineffectiveness as a Commander in Chief. Wars cost money and it's no wonder we had a deficit under Bush. Obama's fiscal policies make Bush's deficits look like a small business loan compared to the borrowing this country is doing now. Obama is all over the place and isn't focusing on solving a single problem. Last year for the first time fewer than 50% of the US population paid federal income tax thanks to the entitlement mentality of the Dems. Brutus - tell me in your infinite wisdom how this country is supposed to maintain prosperity when fewer than half the people in the country pay taxes and Obama wants to spend, spend, spend and spend.
03:00 PM
brutus smith says
Hmmmm. I remember September of 2008 when was McCain was projected to win.
02:58 PM
brutus smith says
If I was a right wingnut conservative Repub I wouldn't want to talk about the past either.
02:54 PM
The General says
Brutus, spendin alot of time and energy out here are ya....something troubling you? Your "boys" in the toilet, preceded by his party
01:16 PM
6079 Smith W says
@ bs:
1980? Thirty yrs. ago?
Let’s stay in the present shall we?
What the unions and the Dems have done for Detroit, they can certainly do for the rest of the U.S. don't you think?
Not-to-worry, public employee unions are more than making up for the losses in union membership in private companies.
Ya like Europe? Here's one for ya:
France wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 for their public employees and their unions are planning a massive national strike -
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38987579
Won’t that be great when U.S. public workers begin striking because in order to curtail local, state and Federal budget deficits their health and welfare benefits will need to be cut?
11:46 AM
brutus smith says
Everyone knows how the Repubs love to bash and blame unions for all of our problems. But here is something you never, never here them bring up. The Socialist movement of Solidarity.
The history of Solidarity (Polish: Solidarność, pronounced [sɔlidarnɔɕtɕ] (
listen)), a Polish non-governmental trade union, began in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyards (now Gdańsk Shipyards) where it was founded by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement that, at its height, united some 10 million members and vastly contributed to the fall of communism.
The Repubs tripped over each other in support of a union in another country, but hate them here.
The range of support for the Solidarity was unique: no other movement in the world was supported by Ronald Reagan and Santiago Carrillo, Enrico Berlinguer and the Pope, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Benn, peace campaigners and NATO spokesman, Christians and Western communists, conservatives, liberals and socialists.[28] The international communityoutside the Iron Curtain condemned Jaruzelski's actions and declared support for Solidarity; dedicated organizations were formed for that purpose (like Polish Solidarity Campaign in Great Britain).[16] US President Ronald Reagan imposed economic sanctions on Poland, which eventually would force the Polish government into liberalizing its policies
The G.O.H. Grand ole Hypocrites.
08:17 AM
Kimo says
Save money so the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans can live better.
If your job goes overseas, blame some Politician, it's the American way.
When political subdivisions run low on cash, eliminate jobs, more people will lose their homes. That includes FIREMEN, policemen, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.
When these people do not pay into pension systems, pensions take hit, incomes from pensions drop.
And the beat goes on, Sonny and Cher............
11:47 PM
Mime Bloggling says
"Stop letting the color of the Prez's skin blind you from the facts."....unbelievably one of the most racist comments on this entire thread. Truly a blind guide.
11:14 PM
Taxpayer says
Boo, Hoo, Hoo. Ha! Ha!
07:30 PM
swiss family says
where do you get these made up statistics that say that "most Ohio Democrats would rather have G W Bush back???? you really are not that "dense to believe all of these statistics from all of the "Polls" out there are you???? tell me this "deep thinker" if there are so very many polls taking place?? have you ever been asked any of the questions that give out these answers??? do you know anyone who has been asked??? do you know of anyone who knows anyone??? and on and on... the truth is you do NOT... you are blindly believing misinformation that they want you to believe.. which makes you a "non thinking sheep" and that is exactly what they want you to be....congratulation!!!
how do you blindly believe anyone, or anything??? I am sure that you have heard it before, but seriously.. I MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE.... use yours, and question and investigate everything....unless you pride yourself in being a "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa d boy...
05:44 PM
Taxpayer says
Hey all you liberal democracks. Be afraid, be very afraid. Ha! Ha! Yeah baby! Things do NOT look too good for all the usual rhetoric and LIES most of you produce. Looks like the PEOPLE want some hope and change and it will be coming soon. Even the PEOPLE of the liberal state of Ohio would rather have George W. Bush back as president instead of your "anointed" one. Imagine that, the MAJORITY of Ohio wanting Bush back. Miss him yet?? Ha! Ha!
05:19 PM
brutus smith says
Let's see, we did pretty good until 1980 under Dems. 80-33= 47. 1933-1980. The 2nd Depression started while Bush was still in office. Can't blame Clinton for that one. Didn't the stock market crash in 1987? Black monday? Kinda hard to blame Carter for that one too.
03:18 PM
6079 Smith W says
12:26 PM
Pete says
The Repub's don't have to have anything yet Brutus. The Dem's are so busy shooting themselves in the foot why should they jump in the middle?
Oh, and playing the race card again? Isn't that like the last thing on the Progressive "To Do When We Are Losing" list? Didn't realize you had noticed it got to that point already
11:08 AM
mikel says
with obamass letting the bush tax breaks expire it will probably be more devastating to the middle class than the so called rich. the ones that can least afford to have their tax credits for children, day care and a multitude of other credits taken away will be more painfully felt. thank you prez obamass for spending us into a financial quagmire.
11:03 AM
The General says
Mr. Smith goes to Washinton. With your so called 30 years of nothing new, it begs the question, why haven't you relocated to Canada yet? Its not very far and you can have your bloated govt programs there. Nothin like livin off the state eh boy. Oh and you can stop hiding behind the color of the Prez's skin . He's still a knucklehead, black or white or grey or red, or yellow, or green. Its the "End of an Error" the great social experiment is over, send the street agitater back to Rev Wright.... "The chickens have come home to roost" he,he,he. Or is it the "Black Panthers".... oh wait they just provide "security" at polling places, forgot about that sorry.
.....Pack up all your care and woes here ya go singing low, bye, bye O-bye-ma....
10:15 AM
brutus smith says
If you liked Bush's 8 years of wars, giving our tax dollars to the richest 5%, destroying the middle class, then you will love it if Repubs get in again. My, my, my, we have short memories don't we. Repubs are offering nothing different then they have offered for the past 30 years. Stop letting the color of the Prez's skin blind you from the facts.
08:58 AM
looking around says
And can some one with a crystal ball tell me exactly how the Republicans plan to turn all this around? As one poster say's on his posts " the Republicans have nada.....zilch" And what exactly is the Republicans plan for middle class america? Back to the attacks on middle class wages, benifits, and healthcare? Vote Republican in November? I think not!
08:43 AM
Bailey says
Great Post 6079 Smith W.
and Mikel's information makes me want to vomit !
08:30 AM
mikel says
obamass claims his stimulas bill with a cost of $814 billion has saved 3.6 million jobs. good news? at a cost of almost $267,000 per job saved..i don't think so.
12:40 PM
6079 Smith W says
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704791004575465973689318934.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_RIGHTInDepthCarousel_2