Obama stands by 'Recovery Summer'-will be offering a new package of ideas on the economy next week

The Hill ^ | 9/3/2010 | Jordan Fabian

[Qbert]

President Obama on Friday said he has no regrets about describing the last three months as the "Recovery Summer."

"I don't regret the notion that we are moving forward because of the steps that we have taken," Obama said in response to a question after he offered comments on the latest unemployment figures. 

The administration described the summer of 2010 as "recovery summer" because a large amount of the 2009 stimulus package was being spent over the summer. But job growth slowed dramatically over the summer amid concerns the economy was moving into a double-dip recession, and Republicans have made fun of the moniker.

 The president's remarks came after the Labor Department released jobs data showing unemployment rising from 9.5 to 9.6 percent. The private sector created 67,000 jobs, but overall the economy lost 54,000 jobs. 

Those numbers were better than expected, and are easing concerns about a double-dip recession. Still, Republicans argued Friday they fall short of a real recovery.

The administration has held firm that its policies are slowly but surely nursing the economy back to health. 

"We are confident we are moving in the right direction but we want to make sure this economy" is getting even stronger, Obama said on Friday.

Obama said he would be offering a new package of ideas on the economy next week.

[Candor7]

Obama.....will be offering a new package of ideas on the economy next week Translation:

Obama will offer a new package of ideas on the economy so he can tweek his timing on causing a stock market crash sometime in October.

Then he can SAVE everyone with federal soup lines.Obama is our saviour!/s

[nathanbedford]

Most of the "experts" who opine about the conditions necessary to see a takeoff into prosperity of a third world country, say the rule of law is a condition precedent. Similarly, for a capitalist democratic society to prosper one would expect not only the rule of law to be in place and to be healthy but one would expect the absence of crony corruption.

Since the Obama administration and the hard left which supports it respect neither democracy nor capitalism, they equally hold no respect for the rule law and its corollary corruption free politics, and politics free of indulging crony capitalism. We on Free Republic knew to expect this from Obama since before his election and we in fact posted these expectations. If we could read the tea leaves, or more precisely put, if we were able read the public media, if not the establishment media, and connect these dots as we did, so could much of business especially businesses directly wired into streets known as "K." and "Wall." No one could foresee the depth of the crisis that was breaking upon us at the time of the 2008 election and no one could say precisely how Obama would exploit the crisis-but everyone who cared to know did know that he would not let it "go to waste."

So it is clear that a prudent businessman would take those politics into account. Which, of course, is what I was trying to say in my previous reply to the effect that it is fatal to mix politics and economics. I apologize, schu, for being so inarticulate. What I meant to say is that it is folly to analyze markets through the prism of one's political bent-that is what Marxists do. So looking at our politics, and concluding that the politics were now becoming stronger than market forces, tokened by the shift of power from New York to Washington, a prudent businessman would hunker down. Likewise, the old saw that markets hate uncertainty-and Obama has done nothing but create uncertainty at least as to the extent of his depredations-would cause markets to retract. It is still going on today and the employment figures show it.

We should have a 6 % to 8% GDP growth as a recovery to this steep recession. We are getting 1.6% last quarter. Compare that to Ronald Reagan's recovery. Compare it even to Angelica Merkel's recovery here in Germany whose fiscal restraint has moderated the recession and accelerated the recovery. Here in Bavaria we have about 4.5% percent unemployment rate.

So, Recovering Democrat, yes I think it is fair to say that Barack Obama has both aggravated the financial and economic crisis and retarded the recovery. The market looks at least six months ahead into the economy and the unemployment numbers lag the economy.

Part of the uncertainty with which Obama constricts the economy and the markets grows out of uncertainty about what he will do in the lame duck session, assuming the Republicans take at least the House. There will be contrary forces at play: On the one hand those lame duck Democrats who were voted out of office will know that their political careers as elected officials are over but their future careers as lobbyists, ambassadors, and regulators etc., some of which can be rather lucrative, depend on their retaining the goodwill of the Democrat party. That dispenser of that goodwill can be expressed in two words, George Soros. On the other hand, both Obama in the White House and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in the Congress will have their reputations shattered. They will have very little with which to dominate Congress as they have. Democrats are already running against all three of these individuals and it will be extremely difficult for any of them to maintain party discipline after the election. One can only imagine the depth of bitterness felt by these blue dogs who were thrown under the Obama care bus.

On balance, I think the Democrats will not be able ultimately to continue to act so blatantly in the lame duck session against the will of the people and which so infuriated the nation during the regular session. I think the Democrat coalition, bound so tight until now with the purse strings held by George Soros, will unravel. Their infighting will not be pretty but it will be heartwarming.

Another part of the uncertainty comes from whether Obama wants a recovery or a collapse according to the Cloward and Piven model. Finally, as Danae has pointed out, governments are inclined to choose inflation rather than outright bankruptcy as the more expedient way to default on their debts. This will pose a very sure matter of conscience for the Republican majority in the House. The tendency of politicians would be to let the Fed inflate while they maintain a "who me?" innocence. Republicans will have an even greater challenge, how to restore credibility to the American financial system which means how to get entitlements under control and still retain political power as the Democrats resort to demagoguery and accuse the Republicans of putting grandma on the ice flow and forcing babies to become dumpster divers.

But the story of Japan seems to pose the possibility that our problem is and will remain deflation. I confess I do not understand how this works and can only describe it by way of analogy, we are in an economic black hole and no matter how much money governments push into that hole it simply disappears leaving the country in a deflationary environment as we have seen for more than a decade in Japan. I agree that eventually the piper for inflation must be paid. But it might not be so until Obama is thankfully well out of office.

The ideal way out for the American Republic which will preserve our great constitutional experiment and provide the freedom for everyone to thrive under capitalism is to grow our way out of our debt. That cannot happen with 1.6% growth. We must make the lines cross, that means we must get entitlements under control. That is a matter of political will. If that can be done-and in my view Representative Paul Ryan has made a grand start-the markets just might find confidence enough to buy our debt and keep the interest rates at manageable levels. They might find confidence enough to risk capital and hire labor.

If the Republicans do not win the House, buy guns, buy ammunition, buy canned food and sell everything else short.

[sheik yerbouty]

he is after all, the Master of Disaster, The Ayatollah of All Crapola, and The god of The Godless..

[rfp1234]

What's the meaning of signs at Chicago Cubs games that say: "Obama mows the lawn here"??

Most likely, a derision of Obama's support of the White Sox.

[Canedawg]

“Yep. And I think he’s back on vacation yet again.”

Ramadamn isn’t over yet.

[CommieCutter]

There are a lot of degrees out there that just don’t have the monetary return on investment to make a 4 year degree worth pursuing. They are big rip-offs in my opinion.

Example:One of my in-laws spent approximately 60-70k for four years all so she could earn 30k a year. In this particular field: in order to make more money, more education must be pursued.It makes no sense.

I’ve wanted to pursue further education myself but found it just as practical to read books and watch lectures in my field to further extend my own personal knowledge.
It just costs too much..

[Piquaboy]

He could care less about the economy recovering. He is bound and determined to bring us down to third world status.

[Grunthor]

“Obama stands by ‘Recovery Summer’-will be offering a new package of ideas on the economy next week”

The man is a double threat. Arrogance and political tone deafness.

[1cewolf]

The question is, with so many Democrats running like hell from Obama-Pelosi-Reid, how much support can he really expect?

[omega4179]

The tone deafness is becoming predictable and constant. She would still go to Spain , it was still a recovery summer, keep calling it “the recovery” instead of “the economy”

[KansasGirl]

When is someone in the press going to ask Obama, “You and your party have been blaming the recession on the Bush administration’s tax cuts. Now you are wanting to extend them and pass your own package of tax cuts. Is this an admission that the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 did not cause the recession? Also, you have insisted that they were only tax cuts for the rich, but now say it is not a good time to raise taxes on the “working” and middle class. Is this an admission that Bush’s tax cuts were not only for the rich? Is this an admission that your trillion dollar spending bill was the wrong course of action, and that Republicans were right to vote against it, and instead insist that extending the Bush tax cuts and passing additional tax cuts was the correct course of action? And don’t tell me that tax credits to people who do not pay taxes, which amount to nothing more than welfare payments, are tax cuts.”

Please, someone in the press, ask Obama these questions!

[schu]

...which, of course, is what I was trying to say in my previous reply to the effect that it is fatal to mix politics and economics.

Nice post, thanks for the clarification. I agree with your assessment, especially on the lame duck Congress issue.

I believe if the Demos maintain control of Congress in 2010 that they will inflate beyond imagination, this will in all likelihood get Bam reelected in 2012, but will certainly result in a perverse inflation scenario which will ultimately end up in a nasty war of some kind. Not sure the Repubs will be able to turn the tide against Bam etal, but they may be able to slow it down and give a new President in 2012 a fighting chance.

IMHO is there is no easy way out, while many in history have tried to subvert the market, it is just like the physical law of gravity, it must be obeyed. The market however has a longer time constant, hence it can be “cheated” for a while. The Austrian school on the credit cycle is very succinct on this issue.

The bottom line is the Progressives in the early 1900’s gave us the Fed, the IRS, SS, etc and all the fixings of a centrally planned economy. At some point central planning fails, it may be this time or the next, who knows. But when it comes apart lots of people get seriously hurt.

I do not have a lot of faith right now in our political institutions fixing this thing, the problems are too serious and hard and too prone to "politicalization" as you say. It is more likely that it all comes apart and we start from the bottom in your locality. Bad news if it is such.

schu

[hattend]

bttt

[FL911]

At this point, I would rather him take a 12 month vacation that try to come up with a “new set of plans”.

[JustSurrounded]

“He doesn’t regret the notion?

What an ODD thing to say.”

That's what struck me, too. I've been trying to figure out what he means by that. The best I can make out is that he doesn't regret promoting the false “notion that we are moving forward because of the steps that we have taken”. That's about the only way I can make sense of it.

[luvie]

You are absolutely right....and they never will ask him. They
are completely in his pocket, except for the few brave souls......

[ari-freedom]

Eisenhower created the interstate highway. JFK put a man on the moon. Obama built a 13 foot tunnel for turtles.

[ari-freedom]

“Ramadamn isn’t over yet.”

with a celebration on 9/11

[maine-iac7]

Eisenhower created the interstate highway. JFK put a man on the moon. Obama built a 13 foot tunnel for turtles.[for 3.4 million]

bwhahahaha

[Canedawg]

“Ramadamn isn’t over yet.”

with a celebration on 9/11
************************

I imagine that’s as good a date as any for CWII to break out.