The False Obama Employment Record

[Masterofreality]

The sitting President likes to tout his employment record as to the recovery. It is all BS.

This from an article I was reading this morning from Diana Furchtgott-Roth, the former Chief Economist at the US Labor Department

"The economy created 162,000 jobs, but hours worked in the economy decreased by a tenth of a percent. The average workweek shrank, and average earnings declined by two cents. Job gains for May and June were revised down by a total of 26,000.
Although the number of Americans employed in 2013 has increased by about 1 million, 82% of these jobs have been part-time, according to data from the Labor Department’s Current Population Survey. There have been 4.5 part-time jobs created for every full-time job.
The unemployment rate fell because fewer Americans participated in the labor force in July. The labor force participation rate declined from 63.5% to 63.4%, equivalent to 1978 levels, and the labor force declined by 37,000. Including population growth, an additional 240,000 Americans were counted as out of the labor force. The number of Americans who usually work part-time rose by 174,000.
With the exception of 36,000 new jobs in professional and business services, most jobs were created in industries that paid below average wages, such as retail trade (47,000), food services and drinking places (38,000). Only 6,000 new jobs were created in manufacturing."

The labor force participation rate is now down to 63.4% what it was under Jimmy Carter, another President wher the economy was a mess with huge inflation and prime interest rates of over 20%. That participation rate also suggests that the dependency class, so valued by the liberal Democrats, is becoming reality.

I truly fear for the future of this country- especially if Hillary Clinton runs and wins in 2016. At least McDonalds is growing employment- that is, until the minimum wage is raised higher.

[xudash]

This guy has been a train wreck.

A liberal, Chicago politician who never was responsible for running any form of large organization and who was otherwise pushed along too quickly in his political career.

He had an extraordinary opportunity and he has essentially wasted it. He is a man of many empty promises. Promises to reduce federal debt have expectedly morphed into spending spree antics. Through Obamacare alone, he has put an amazing restrictor on economic growth, because no middle market company, in particular, in its right mind is going to add to permanent staffing. In fact, watch as companies begin to shed medical benefits for their employees. We haven't even seen the full hell that's going to come from this mess. They've now delayed key aspects of it in order to get through a mid-term election cycle. What does that tell you?

Historians will credit him for breaking through the racial barrier, as they should. There won't be much else to credit towards his legacy beyond that, except for his adroit use of a teleprompter. In fact, they'll note his divisive nature. If you like the guy and take issue with the last statement, wanting to note that the Republican leadership is the problem in this regard, you may leave that bunk at the door. Obama is the President. He's the leader. There are no excuses. It's for him to make the move and make dialogue happen, especially coming off the process for getting Obamacare pushed through. He isn't trustworthy, as Chicago politicians seldom are trustworthy. Whether you like it or not, Reagan was a master at pulling people together and he'll go down as one of our truly great presidents, whether you like that or not. This guy is the antithesis of Ronald Reagan. He is arrogant and aloof. He believes he's above the fray. He's almost imperial in his disposition.

I'm skeptical of the far right's portrayal of the guy; I don't believe he has a hidden agenda to "wreck" America. I simply believe that it should be obvious to anyone that he is about moving the United States towards the European model. He's too liberal for what America has always been about. We're the United States, we are not Europe.

The message shouldn't be "we'll take care of this and we'll take care of that for you" - free cell phones being an example of his largesse. The dependency class issue is real. Kennedy had it right, what can you do for your country, for yourself, rather than looking for handouts.

Anyone else - Democrat or Republican - operating in a more centrist manner, would have produced much greater success in generating economic recovery.

We need to help the truly needy to get back on their feet productively. We need to enact economic and other policy that create an environment that incentivizes business growth, so that some of those people have a shot at employment opportunities. Pull people together from the left and the right. Fund worthy charities that help; don't cut back their funding so that inmates may retain their air conditioned cells (how's that for a micro rant).

The Roman leadership with their debt-financed circuses deserved their fate. It won't happen in my life time, but some form of the Visigoths will show up at some point if we continue to rot from the inside out. You don't think it can happen to the United States? The phrase "tyranny of the majority" was used by John Adams in 1788. The sum truly IS only as good as its parts. Do we remain a people focused on advancement and innovation and achievement, or will we mostly be about donuts, Duck Dynasty, WWF and food stamps?

[waggy]

I'm a conservative and I don't like where this administration has gone one bit, but I also recognize that they don't operate in a vacuum (thankfully) and that there is plenty of blame to be spread around.

Washington just totally sucks.

[xudash]

I'm a conservative and I don't like where this administration has gone one bit, but I also recognize that they don't operate in a vacuum (thankfully) and that there is plenty of blame to be spread around.

Washington just totally sucks.

I agree with that completely.

But the President has to set the tone and drive the process that brings them all to the table to work in a constructive manner. The level of polarization inside the beltway has become alarming.

[waggy]

He inherited an implosion of an economy. How that was all handled, and where resources were directed after the fact can be argued to death, but that is reality in my view.

It's a difficult situation. I hate it all, and I'm not constructive to the discussion maybe. I should probably bow out.

[X-band '01]

We haven't even seen the full hell that's going to come from this mess. They've now delayed key aspects of it in order to get through a mid=term election cycle. What does that tell you?

The message shouldn't be "we'll take care of this and we'll take care of that for you" - free cell phones being an example of his largesse. The dependency class issue is real. Kennedy had it right, what can you do for your country, for yourself, rather than looking for handouts.



To your first point, just imagine if Mitt Romney were the sitting President and tried to delay passage of the health care law. The laws would still be in place, but could you imagine him being impeached for not enforcing the laws of the land (as is the requirement of the executive branch of this country)?

As to your 2nd point, they started handing out free phone service long before Obama took office; cell phone usage simply wasn't as rampant back when the program started under Clinton. If the "O-phones" morph into free smartphones and tablets, then maybe it's a different story.