The likelihood of severe unemployment extending into the 2010 midterm elections and beyond poses a significant political hurdle to President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are already under fire for what critics label profligate spending. Continuing high unemployment rates would undercut the fundamental argument behind much of that spending: the promise that it will create new jobs and improve the prospects of working Americans, which Obama has called the ultimate measure of a healthy economy…
“I find it unfathomable that people are not horrified about what is going to happen,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute. “I regard all this talk about how the recession is maybe going to end, all the talk about deficits and inflation, to be the equivalent of telling Americans, ‘You are just going to have to tough it out.’ But we’re looking at persistent unemployment that is going to be extraordinarily damaging to many communities. There is a ton of pain in the pipeline.”…
Before passage of the stimulus bill, the Obama administration had predicted that unemployment would peak at 8 percent before beginning to abate this fall. But unemployment has already reached 9.4 percent, the highest level in a quarter-century, and the situation is not projected to start improving until long after the White House had predicted.
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one-term president
txag92 on June 22, 2009 at 10:35 AM
No free lunch. Keynesian multiplier of 1.5 LOL!
Caper29 on June 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Check out the chart on the levels of growth needed in order to get back to Bush level unemployment of 6% Bambi is in deep kimchee. http://www.tigerhawk.blogspot.com/
elduende on June 22, 2009 at 10:38 AM
Barry said it’ll go to 10%. I predict 13% with rising inflation come Christmas time. Ho! Ho! Ho!
SouthernGent on June 22, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Notice how the WaPo headline assumes we are in a recovery.
Mark1971 on June 22, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Barack Obama hates employed people!
Obama lied, the economy died!
BPD on June 22, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Can anyone teach me how to jump a train?
pifactorial on June 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM
I’m still hoping for a 7 month president. Next month I’ll hope for an 8 month president. Ultimately an orange jumpsuit president.
Daggett on June 22, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Who wants ice cream!
WisCon on June 22, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Democrat response:
Think how bad things would have been had we not stepped in and started to fix the mess Booooooooooooosh created!
We’ll find out just how gullible and naive ‘moderates’ and ‘independents’ are on 2010.
gwelf on June 22, 2009 at 10:42 AM
That’s pretty depressing, considering that you can’t grow the economy at all unless you do what Obama refuses to do – cut or eliminate taxes on businesses and capital gains.
Daggett on June 22, 2009 at 10:44 AM
I just peeked under the bridge. The trolls have disappeared.
Patrick S on June 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
I got an idea how to fix unemployment. . . hire lots of people to work for immigration enforcement and start deporting people who aren’t supposed to be here.
That’ll help wages and increase available jobs.
ThackerAgency on June 22, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Change we can believe in!
He never said positive change.
LincolntheHun on June 22, 2009 at 10:46 AM
“Hmmm… ACME Stimulus Plan 3000… just add bird food.”
/Obama E. Coyote Super Genius
LibTired on June 22, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Yes, and have you noticed the threads the last few days have had a nice flow and all around have been very good?
katy on June 22, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Simple fix, just spend a few trillion on nationalized health care by taxing the shiite out of everyone and everything.
If you aren’t stocking up then you haven’t been paying attention.
Bishop on June 22, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Tip: Do it when the train is sitting still.
Jaibones on June 22, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Awww, therein lies the MSM’s biggest reason for hand-wringing. Its not people being out of work and unable to earn a living…nope, its that it might hinder the One’s message. Shucks, I hate it when stuff like reality creeps in and everything.
Besides that, what is this optimisim they speak of? That ain’t what I’m hearing. Their real message is ” My stimulus plan is uber awesome and already working wonders, but things still suck and will get worse because of Boosh. Oh, and did you hear about my Cairo speech? Good stuff, huh? I wowed those mullahs, yes I did.”
changer1701 on June 22, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Well DUH.
Remember when all the experts said subprime was contained in 2007? Uhhh-huuuuh.
We are headed to a mini great depression folks. Better prepare accordingly.
angryed on June 22, 2009 at 10:49 AM
yeah I’m usually pretty hyperbolic when it comes to Obama but let me tell you; we are in deep shiite and he is fuc#ing up the economy even more.
elduende on June 22, 2009 at 10:49 AM
May I also suggest beef up hiring in the fire arms industry.
katy on June 22, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I can’t wait until Obama starts blaming the American people for failing to make his brilliant economic plan work.
AUINSC on June 22, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Heh… I told my father-in-law the same thing last night… Want to create jobs AND reduce health care/education/law enforcement costs all at the same time? Round of all of the unemployed, move them to the southwest, and have them build a nice tall, wide wall.
BPD on June 22, 2009 at 10:51 AM
That I have, katy. Other than a few Drywall sightings of course.
Patrick S on June 22, 2009 at 10:51 AM
What they mean is: Democrats are spending money wisely, but those silly teabagging racist (critics) label it as profligate.
angryed on June 22, 2009 at 10:51 AM
fixed
BPD on June 22, 2009 at 10:52 AM
It should be no surprise that businesses looking at O’Bungler’s Marxist economic vision will continue to pare their employee rolls aggressively. They know what’s coming: higher corporate tax rates and fewer shoppers with disposal income (the target of Vladimir O’Bonehead’s Non-Workers Paradise).
Happily for most Americans, this will induce enough voters to wake from their idiot’s dream and dump Vlad O. back into the ash heap of one-term Democrat leftists, where he so needs to be.
Then we can undo the damage and get back to work.
Jaibones on June 22, 2009 at 10:53 AM
That jumped out at me too.
All the hopey-changey talk and Kool-Aid can’t cover the facts.
cntrlfrk on June 22, 2009 at 10:53 AM
You’re a gentleman to say so. Ho!
My Christmas present wish list includes a Republican-controlled Senate in January 2011, and a neutered House.
Jaibones on June 22, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Obama lied, the economy died!
BPD on June 22, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Can I get that in a bumper sticker?
Meanwhile, Obama will be heading off to the World Cup, doing what he does best.
NebCon on June 22, 2009 at 11:01 AM
First clue: It has to be moving slower than you can run.
Skandia Recluse on June 22, 2009 at 11:03 AM
GOP takeover of the House and Governorships is very possible!!!!!
Tasha on June 22, 2009 at 11:07 AM
b-b-b-but I heard on the news this weekend that the increase in people gardening to raise their own veggies was because Michelle had a garden!
cntrlfrk on June 22, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Biden said it would never go over 8% but Biden is so dumb he attacks his own reflection in the mirror.
Geochelone on June 22, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Watch Tuco in “The Good, The bad and The Ugly.” He can show you how to jump off too.
Geochelone on June 22, 2009 at 11:13 AM
Blasphemy…. This is not a jobless recovery. Only Bush had those. If you include the jobs saved calculation, employment is at 107.5%
To help the self-esteem of those currently called unemployed, we will relabel their welfare/unemployment payments as salary. A mother currently unemployed will called a certified caregiver and be paid to raise the next generation. The homeless guy on the corner will become a street ambassador.
Elfvis on June 22, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Yes, Bozo said it would go to 10%, but due to the way they fudge the numbers any old way they want, I bet the number is already over 10%.
They reported 345,000 people became unemployed in May, but we learned from a published article (and a thread here) that 787,000 new people ACTUALLY started looking for work in May. Thats more than twice the original number.
I saw an AP story that reported the unemployment number actually decreased by approximately 145k, but That story has to be complete sheep dip orrrr those folks just exhausted their unemployment bennies.
Remember, the numbers you read are skewed. I wonder, can we get an accurate count of US citizens out of work, seeking work, and the number of “Guest Workers” employed by US companies on H1-B visas?
I think that comparison would be interesting and ahem, though provoking…
dogsoldier on June 22, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Check out this front page story in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Stimulus money slow to translate into jobs
rockmom on June 22, 2009 at 11:31 AM
I’m seeing signs of recovery here in NH. Houses that have been sitting for a year or more are beginning to sell. Young couples who are eligible for the first home breaks are taking advantage in large numbers. Jobs are still generally slow, but small contractors and sole proprietors in the trades are seeing their businesses pick up slowly but surely. In the manufacturing sector though, there seems little improvement. Large developers are still not back in the act(good thing in my opinion).No matter what happens, I think there is enough dis-satisfaction with the current administration on other fronts to help the GOP in 2010.
jeanie on June 22, 2009 at 11:33 AM
When someone is playing the economy like an accordian, all these little analyses are a waste of time. Unemployment rate, tax rate, national debt, inflation…. Obama can juggle those numbers all he wants.
Keep your eye on the one thing Obama can only move in one direction: current dollar GDP.
That is going to drop by double digits every year until Socialization is not only stopped, but REVERSED. And there is no way to hide that ball.
logis on June 22, 2009 at 11:47 AM
The comments following the WAPo article are heelarious. The lefties, for some reason, are actually defending Carter. They must be getting pretty desperate.
bitsy on June 22, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Hey, the stimulus created some jobs fighting forest fires!
That sounds like a long term steady gig.
/
cntrlfrk on June 22, 2009 at 12:04 PM
I’m sure this doesn’t count the stimulative effects of Obama date night.
Chuck Schick on June 22, 2009 at 12:29 PM
John Maynard Keynes theory of economics sucked then and it stills sucks now. Speaking of that a@swipe Krugman, he is one big JMK suckfest. Don’t ask me how I really feel about this because I won’t go there.
.
Can we get “FREE TO CHOOSE” by Milton F. back in our book stores.
Americannodash on June 22, 2009 at 12:29 PM
A few too many anti-Bambi stories in the news today. I am suspicious. Is this just a bad news dump before the Miracle Cure Obamacare ABC lovefest on Wednesday, after which everything will be rainbows and unicorns again in the MSM?
Missy on June 22, 2009 at 12:35 PM
“You ain’t seen nothing yet!” -Obambi
El_Terrible on June 22, 2009 at 2:47 PM