Posted on 07/31/2011 6:47:07 AM PDT by Kaslin
When historians look back on this moment in American politics, they may wonder why the White House failed to focus on the consuming issue of the time: the economy -- and, in particular, jobs.
An exasperated U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., said in a recent phone interview, "Frankly, our constituents really just want us to focus on jobs."
Instead, he and five Western Pennsylvania congressmen are caught in the crosshairs of Washington's political blood sport, as both parties clash over debt limits and deficits.
Outside Washington, constituents are clamoring about the economy -- or, as U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, interprets it: "Let us know when you guys are done with the bickering, so we can talk about fixing our economy."
On Friday, the Commerce Department released stunning numbers that showed that the U.S. economy grew less than forecasted. Consumer spending, which is about 70 percent of the economy, climbed 0.1 percent.
What did that mean? Well, not much in terms of growth.
Most analysts estimated that the economy only grew at an annualized rate of 1.7 percent between April and June; it only grew 1.3 percent, which borders between abysmal and anemic.
Estimates by financial powerhouses such as JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs predict 2.5 percent growth for the second quarter, not enough to put a dent in our 9.2 percent jobless rate.
In fact, our economy would need to chug along at a little more than 4.5 percent growth for a whole year to bring down the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point.
Manufacturing, one of the few economic sectors that has seen growth lately, posted a drop in orders for long-lasting goods in May, according to a mid-July report by the Commerce Department. Those orders are expected to grow, however.
Still, Americans have the jitters when it comes to buying; they have no confidence in the "American Dream" right now, and no confidence means no buying.
Their attitude is backed up by a report issued by a liberal research and advocacy group, the National Employment Law Project, showing that more than 70 percent of the jobs added since the recession began have been in low-wage occupations paying less than $14 an hour.
So, creating jobs is the important mission for members of Congress, according to U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, a member of the 2010 freshman class. He and Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, want to see the White House focus on jobs, too.
"Creating well-paying jobs is even more important," adds Rep. Mark Critz, D-Johnstown.
All five lawmakers -- Casey, Altmire, Kelly, Murphy and Critz -- said their constituents want Washington to take action on jobs, based on phone calls to their offices and comments they hear when meeting with voters in their districts.
Voters in Pennsylvania want to see manufacturing and energy production through coal and Marcellus shale gas become central parts of any economic renewal, not only in the Keystone State but across the country.
Murphy thinks Pennsylvanians have a remarkable work ethic, and he wants them to have opportunities to use it.
In June, the nation's unemployment rate rose for a third straight month, as employers added only 18,000 workers and corporate earnings languished.
Anyone buying basic groceries can feel the pinch of consumer prices rising to offset higher commodity costs, so buying little beyond what you absolutely need has become the norm.
President Barack Obama's support has eroded among the very independent voters who helped him sweep into office. That drop-off is based on his inability to lead on numerous issues, but most importantly on the economy.
The latest Pew Research poll confirms just that: Only 8 percent of those polled say the national economy is in excellent or good shape, and only 38 percent rate their personal finances positively.
Such attitudes place Obama in an even worse position than President George H.W. Bush was in during his failed 1991-92 re-election campaign, because today's unemployment rate is much higher and overall satisfaction with the state of the nation is much lower than it was back then.
Polls are no substitute for understanding basic human judgment. Yet they can mark that point in time when an administration fell off the cliff of understanding its own people.
Casey has known this for four years now, yet he continues to hold Obama's water. Incidentally, his constituents also believed his pledge to uphold his father's legacy against abortion providers, yet he voted for federal funding of the same. Casey is a fool, and a dishonest one at that.
The problem -- jobs
The solution -- The debt crisis. Shrink government, lower taxes, cut regulation. Watch the economy grow and revenue increase.
How Washington sees it:
The problem -- the debt crisis
The solution -- showboat and grandstand and position yourself to be re-elected to your job. Screw the little people and their silly jobs.
Excellent description
It’s because neither Obama or any of his flunkies have EVER HELD A REAL JOB!!! That’s why they’re clueless. They have no f**king idea what a job is!
Ms. Zito, you don’t get it, do yo? Ozero’s goal is to create the largest welfare state in the history of the world; to destroy capitalism and replace it with communism; to turn America into a third-world dictatorship; to destroy personal freedom and replace it with government control. Now do you get Ms. Zito?
You are spot on...........
Still, Americans have the jitters when it comes to buying; they have no confidence in the "American Dream" right now, and no confidence means no buying.
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How do those two paragraphs support each other. If orders are "expected" to grow, I guess that means next quarter we'll read about how orders "unexpectedly" dropped off.
If I may politely disagree.
I have plenty of confidence in the can-do spirit of most Americans. The upside of this dream is prosperity & peace, but it also contained a dollop of criticism for crooks, sloths, drunks, wantons, bribers and bribe-takers.
Sounds old-fashioned, but it worked, and can work again.
We've let a bunch of slick salesmen talk us out of what we know is right - salesmen who take our money, but fail to deliver the goods. Now, there are so many obstacles put in the way by leftists going back to the 1930's. They've been adding to these roadblocks over time, sandbag by sandbag.
Before we can begin rebuilding our economy, we must first work to open up the roads and let commerce flow freely, and unfetter the people from the chains of dependency, victimhood, sue-happiness, and red tape.
And what will happen when the Debt ceiling is raised?? The Democrats will head right back out to fund more “shovel ready” jobs with yet another “stimulus”. As long as they hold both the White House and the US Senate there isn’t much a Republican majority in the House can do about it.
People, we need to stay focused on the “big picture”...and that is continuing the job we all began in 2010: Recycling Congress. We need to be out supporting good, solid Conservative candidates, not just anyone who claims to be a member of some mythical “Tea Party”. We need to take a hard look at existing track records, and avoid sending people to Congress who will only be a problem down the road once their real personal behavior finally comes to light.
The US Senate is open for the taking this election cycle, with more seats open to challenge than I have seen in a long, long time. Between the already announced retirements and the number of incumbents who have a very tough battle to face because they have ridden Obammy’s coattails, there is more opportunity to turn the Senate strongly Conservative than I’ve seen in recent memory. That is where the long-term solution to all of this lies, so stay focused and get behind your local candidates.
We are living in the middle of a black comedy (no pun intended).
Most of the media, pundits, talking heads and half the population are walking around, bumping into each other while looking as if they are in deep thought. Each asking the other, "Why Obama doesn't Obama do this or do that? Why can't he see he is hurting the country, the economy, the people, businesses?"
They are still in open denial, pretending that Obama is a serious man, trying to do his best. But in their hearts they know he is either totally incompetent or a socialist tyrrant intentionally destroying the USA. Or both.
They just haven't suffered enough themselves to finally accept that they were hoodwinked by a modern day snake-oil-salesman who knows exactly what he is doing and how much damage he has caused.
They still can't openly admit what total fools they were, and are, for supporting him.
Obama is still sticking it to them and the entire country and they are still making excuses for him.
Well, the voters in Pennsylvania should just LOVE the EPA's new Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). All those local mining jobs will be lost as Eastern Power Plants look to lower-sulfur coal from Wyoming to help them meet the new requirements.
People will wake up eventually.
Washington's actions have caused this problem in the first place. High taxes, excessive regulation, and onerous legislation have slowed business to a crawl. The truth is, right now, businesses and consumers are effectively on strike. Washington needs to get out of the way. Only then will this stagnant economy start generating jobs once again. Washington is the problem, not the solution.
“When historians look back on this moment in American politics, they may wonder why the White House failed to focus on the consuming issue of the time: the economy — and, in particular, jobs.”
Listen to how Jan Schakowsky D-IL flip flops all over the place on the debt crisis then admits the Democrats not only never submitted a budget for over 800 days and ignored any attempt by Republicans to create a jobs bill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZE3TEiIfcM
I know they don’t count food and fuel as inflation but if you take out the inflation our growth rate is probably a lot deeper into the negative.
Wee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
Wonder when he’ll stop pedalling?
Bump this to the top...and all the excellent FReeper comments.
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