Obama Blames Bush and Whines about the Economy, or Happy Labor Day to the Unemployed

Now President Barack Obama wants approval for a $50 billion “jobs bill,” that Republican leaders rightly point out would have little effect other than increasing US indebtedness when spending is already out of control. No new jobs would be brought about until next year perhaps, and the bill is hardly worth its price tag.

And Obama has turned up the volume, for campaign season, on his “Blame Bush” strategy, which by now is wearing quite thin. Obama, during his presidential campaign seemed to be confident about having all the answers, but since his economic policies have been a big failure thus far, he has to blame Bush, propose more stimulus, and do more whining.

An AP article reporting on Obama’s newest stimulus proposal includes the following about Obama’s statements to a “cheering crowd at a labor gathering” in Milwaukee:

Casual in brown slacks and open-collar white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, Obama took a populist tack in his speech, mixing attacks on Republicans with praise for working-class and middle-class Americans.

He said he'd “keep fighting, every single day, every single hour, every single minute to turn this economy around.” He said interest groups he has battled “talk about me like a dog.” [1]

I’m not sure if he meant that even during vacation times he’d keep “fighting.” Or when he could spare some time from whining about groups that “talk about me like a dog,” he’d “fight.” He did say every single day, hour, and minute. That doesn’t leave much time for other things. Such inspirational rhetoric from the Chief.

He talks about helping the middle class at the same time he is destroying the middle class. And young people trying to enter the job market are probably rethinking their devotion to the Messiah’s “hope and change” promises. There have been changes, but not what was hoped for. There are 14.9 million people still unemployed, and another 8.9 million underemployed [2], and still more who have given up looking for work, but Obama hails the “positive news” of 54,000 private sector jobs created.

Oh, and by the way, Obama wants to exempt companies from paying Social Security taxes on newly-hired people that were unemployed. And, he wants to continue R&D tax benefits. In the context of the employment and tax picture as seen by employers, these things are not enough to encourage hiring to any significant degree.

Further, the AP article reports as follows:

He also acknowledged that the past eight months of modest private-sector job growth hasn't been enough to bring down the unemployment rate. He said economic problems facing families today are “more serious than ever,” and seemed to ask the audience in Milwaukee — and voters nationwide — for patience.

“Now here's the honest truth, the plain truth. There's no silver bullet, there's no quick fix to these problems,” he said, adding that it will take time to “reverse the damage of a decade worth of policies” that caused the recession. [3]

He’s right about the problems getting worse under his administration. And his policies certainly can’t and won’t improve things much. He is wrong about “‘a decade worth of policies’ that caused the recession,” if he means something other than the real estate bubble and the misbehavior of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, resulting from actions and inaction of the Democrats and the Fed, and Bush’s ill-advised last-minute acceptance of (Democrat) Paulson’s demand for a $700 billion bail-out blank check.

Obama’s beloved health care bill ensures that there won’t be fiscal sanity for the foreseeable future, and his promotion of the cap and trade bill proves he doesn’t care. Obamacare and the impending EPA regulations on CO-2, plus the end of the Bush tax cuts, the double-dip, and the worsening of real-estate troubles, virtually guarantee that banks and businesses will keep holding on to their cash for some time. Economists who say the economy will improve around 2014 may be counting on Obama being out of office by then. If Republicans gain control of Congress this year and de-fund Obama’s main initiatives and overturn his regulations, and extend the Bush tax cuts, things could get better much sooner.

Meanwhile, the President stays in campaign mode, though his message now is far less appealing to his election supporters than in 2008. But he can campaign. He just isn’t good at governing.

[1] Darlene Superville, Associated Press, “Obama assails GOP, promotes new jobs program,” 09/06/2010. Yahoo! News.

[2] Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The Employment Situation -- August 2010,” 09/03/2010.

[3] Superville, see [1].

Photo: Vintage 1956 postage stamp with Labor Day theme (Dreamstime.com)