Barack Obama has mostly avoided talking about the economy on the campaign trail, even though it’s by far and away the most important issue for voters in every poll taken this cycle. When he does talk about the economy, Obama usually fumbles the ball. First he told the White House press corps that “the private sector is doing fine” when it obviously is not, and then last week he told small business owners that “you didn’t build that — someone else made that happen” while arguing to hike their taxes.
This week is no exception. As Obama returned once again to the economy to undo some of the damage with his “you didn’t build that” remark, he did a victory dance of sorts in Oakland:
“We tried that and it didn’t work,” Obama said of Mitt Romney’s proposed tax cuts and spending cuts, which he dismissed as a Bush-style “top down” economic policy. “Just like we’ve tried their plan, we tried our plan — and it worked,” he added later in the speech. “That’s the difference. That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.”
It worked? His plan promised that unemployment wouldn’t go above 8%. It hasn’t gone below 8% since he put it in place. His plan promised that the plan would increase GDP by 3.7% by the end of 2010. We’re heading toward a GDP in the 1s, or possibly lower. Obama’s plan promised to find 1.529 million jobs for women. Instead, we’ve added only 2.412 million jobs since the start of the recovery in June 2009, and jobs for women over 16 years of age have only gone up 617,000.
I guess that’s Mission Accomplished in the era of Hope and Change, eh?
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!
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