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Economy: The data are in, and they aren't pretty: The economy continues to fall apart, with seemingly little immediate hope for a turnaround. If you were looking for a referendum on the failures of Obamanomics, this is it.
New data from the Census Bureau show just how badly things have gone since President Obama confidently strode into office in January 2009. For a country as wealthy as America, the economic degradation is shocking:
• Poverty hit a 17-year high in 2010, jumping to 15.1% from 14.3% in 2009. Some 46.2 million Americans were poor last year, the most ever in the 52 years that such data have been kept.
• One in five, or 22%, of all children lived in poverty last year. For those under 6 years of age, it was even worse: one of every four, or 25.3%.
• Real median household income dropped 2.3% from $50,599 to $49,445.
• Employer-based health coverage shriveled by 1.5 million, as 1.8 million people were added to government insurance rolls. The number of uninsured rose to 49.9 million in 2010 from 49 million.
This is the noxious fruit of Obamanomics: more poverty, declining incomes and, despite the promises made under ObamaCare, fewer people with health insurance.
We'd like to be a little optimistic, but it's not easy. The White House has just put forward a $457 billion stimulus package disguised as what it calls the "American Jobs Act."
Even if passed, based on recent experience, it wouldn't work. But then, the administration at this point doesn't care about that.
As today's lead editorial notes, Obama's jobs program has been ginned up entirely for political purposes, to make the GOP look coldhearted and cruel.
But in fact, it is Obamanomics that is cruel. It has spent by some estimates $3 trillion on spurious job creation, "stimulus" and bailout schemes, and has nothing to show for it.
From the employment peak in 2007, we've lost 8.8 million jobs. We've only clawed back about 1.9 million of those. We're so far behind on job creation it's stunning.
Yet, here's what Obama offers: more of the same. Well, guess what? When you do the same thing over and over again, you get the same results.
Don't believe us. That's what the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says in its latest economic outlook. The CBO told the deficit-cutting "supercommittee" this week not to expect good times to roll anytime soon. It forecast that unemployment, now at 9.1%, will stay "close to 9%" through the end of 2012, despite trillions spent on "stimulus."
GDP growth, which CBO only a month ago estimated at 2.3% for this year, has been slashed to just 1.5% for this year.
Next year will be little better, with GDP now expected to grow at 2.5%, not the 2.7% estimated in August.
President Obama told NBC's "Today" on Feb. 2, 2009, "I will be held accountable" for the economy.
Please remember this the next time someone from the White House claims that things "would have been much worse" without Obama's economic nostrums.
This is plain nonsense. By his own standard, he should be held accountable. Clearly, things are worse because of what he did, and unless we change course soon, our economic skies will only darken.
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Posted By: Brownknows(4335) on 9/14/2011 | 5:06 AM ET
If Obama was the manager at a catfish farm he'd drain the water to increase the number of fish. If he was a dairy farmer he'd trade his cow for a gallon of milk. If he wanted a bird to fly he'd put it in a cage. If he wanted to create jobs he would propose a jobs bill that punishes those who hire. Then his sycophant media will tell the world the Repubs blocked his brilliant plan. Who said this guy isn't brilliant? Independence Day Nov 6, 2012.
Posted By: Ellman(1620) on 9/14/2011 | 12:58 AM ET
The Obama Stimulus programs do as much for the economy as pushing on a string does for advancing the string: both collapse. It is difficult to imagine a President more out of touch with how our economy works, how it grows or contracts, how more government means less prosperity, how taxes increase poverty. Marx + Keynes = Economic Disaster.
Posted By: thebassman(1725) on 9/13/2011 | 8:09 PM ET
O has done exactly what he set out to do - bring US down a few notches. American ideal is the land of opportunity and leaving the next generation a better plance wiht more opportunity than you had. O & left has done best to steal opportunity from all, especially the children who haven't had a chance yet. The coming generations are the ones being robbed most of all, saddled with unconsionable debt burden before they get out of the gate. 2012 around corner - WAKE UP AMERICA
Posted By: SamVaughn(475) on 9/13/2011 | 7:53 PM ET
It get's even better. Only 1.75 private industry workers pay for each recipient of social security. When it was "born" the ratio was 143 to 1. It's fair to say there aren't enough taxpayers left to pay for it all. But I would not be surprised if that's the objective. Those sermons from the Reverend Wright found a dark malicious hole in Obama's psychy.
Posted By: jade738(65) on 9/13/2011 | 7:37 PM ET
One in five, or 22%, of all children lived in poverty last year. For those under 6 years of age, it was even worse: one of every four, or 25.3%. It makes me sick to see this. Whoever said, stupid is as stupid does, is right on the mark. This is criminal.
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