Sorry Mr. President, Your Economic Plan Didn't Work
Economy: President Obama tells a group of donors that "we tried our" economic plan "and it worked." Even in politics, where exaggeration is a way of life, that statement stands out as a lie for the ages.
While in Oakland Monday, Obama told supporters that the low-tax, spending-cut proposals that opponent Mitt Romney favors had been tried, and implied they hadn't worked.
But, he said, "we tried our plan - and it worked," which is wholly consistent with his June comment that "the private sector is doing fine."
Some say Obama was merely referring to Clinton policies. But he clearly said "our plan" and began to brag about saving the auto industry and refusing to "let Detroit go bankrupt." So "our plan" is actually Obama's.
So we ask: Has the plan of a man who said his brief private-sector job experience was like working "behind enemy lines" really worked? Let's look at the evidence.
Unemployment: The jobless rate in June was 8.2%, the same rate for May. In April it was 8.1%, a tick better than the 8.2% of March.
Since Obama was sworn in, the unemployment rate has never been below 7.8%, its level the first day he walked into the White House. It has been 8% or higher for 41 straight months, and the Congressional Budget Office expects it to stay above that level through 2014.
Last month, at least 5.3 million Americans had been without jobs for more than six months. When Obama took office, only 2.6 million had gone jobless for more than half a year. Today about 30% of the unemployed have been looking for work for a year or more.
Worse, if the millions who have stopped looking for work because they can't find any were still counted, the real unemployment number would be closer to 17%.
GDP: The economy grew a meager 1.9% annualized in the second quarter, down from 2.2% in the first quarter. It grew only 1.7% for all of 2011.
America was promised a "recovery summer" in 2010, but the economy limps on. Obama came into office during a recession, but it ended in June 2009. His recovery has been called the worst since the Great Depression.
Stimulus: Obama signed a nearly $1 trillion stimulus plan shortly after taking office. The administration vowed unemployment would drop below 6%. Yet Americans can't find work, and the economy remains sick.
Debt: The federal debt rose more during Obama's first 38 months in office - a bit more than $5 trillion - than it did under all eight years of George W. Bush. The CBO says Obama's policies will add an additional $6.4 trillion over the next decade.
Auto bailouts: Obama hijacked a legal bankruptcy by automakers to "save" the industry. GM and Chrysler are still in business. But GM's stock has fallen to its lowest level since the bailout IPO. The company's sinking value could cost taxpayers $23 billion.
Food stamps: A record 14.8% of the country - 46 million Americans - are in the program, well above the 9.3% during George W. Bush's final year in office and far in excess of the 1970-2000 average of 7.9%.
If these numbers are proof of one plan's success, we need another plan. Obama's works only if the goal is to cripple the country.
