State of the Failure: Campaigner-in-Chief Signals Dems to Continue Failed Policies

January 25, 2012

Democrats Double Down on Failed Policies Even as They Ignore The Consequences

Speaking Tuesday night in his State of the Union address, President Obama tried to distract from the economic misery his policies have inflicted over the past three years by attempting to pivot instead to the broad themes of his own re-election effort. But the failure of Democrats’ economic policies remains all too real to the millions of American workers and families struggling with the consequences.
Just like with the Keystone pipeline, Democrats’ want to ignore the facts and consequences of their failed policies. Instead they want to continue to embrace the same failed policies of more debt, more spending and more job-destroying tax hikes even as they try to gloss over their record of failure.
Obama’s call for “fairness” is ironic given Washington Democrats’ complete unfairness to all American taxpayers. Over the last three years, Democrats have repeatedly treated taxpayer money like an ATM for political payback to their Washington interest group friends by stopping real job creation and lending taxpayer money to politically-connected companies like Solyndra with little to show for it. Is this really the Democrats’ campaign strategy for 2012?

Speaking Tuesday night in his State of the Union address, President Obama tried to distract from the economic misery his policies have inflicted over the past three years by attempting to pivot instead to the broad themes of his own re-election effort. But the failure of Democrats’ economic policies remains all too real to the millions of American workers and families struggling with the consequences:

13.1 MILLION UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS: (Table A-1, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/19/2012)

1.7 MILLION JOBS LOST SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (Michael A. Fletcher, “Falling Jobless Rate is Good News for Obama,” The Washington Post, 1/7/2012)

15.2 PERCENT UNDEREMPLOYMENT: (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 1/19/2012)

NEARLY 7 MILLION MORE AMERICANS LIVING IN POVERTY: (p. 5, “Poverty: 2008 and 2009,” U.S. Census Bureau, September 2010; Table 1, “Poverty: 2009 and 2010,” U.S. Census Bureau, October 2011)

14.24 MILLION MORE AMERICANS ON FOOD STAMPS: (“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, 1/05/2012)

FAMILIES ALREADY PAYING $1,698 MORE PER YEAR FOR HEALTH INSURANCE: (The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust Employee Health Benefits 2011 Annual Survey, “Average Annual Premiums for Single and Family Coverage, 1999–2011,” p. 30)

GAS PRICES $1.51 PER GALLON HIGHER UNDER OBAMA: (“Petroleum & Other Liquids,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1/17/2011)

WHITE HOUSE PREDICTED UNEMPLOYMENT WOULD BE ABOUT 6 PERCENT AT END OF 2011 IF $800 BILLION STIMULUS PASSED: (James Pethokoukis, “What the Plunging Unemployment Rate Really Means for Obama’s Re-election,” The American, 1/6/2012)

BUT 41 STATES HAVE UNEMPLOYMENT ABOVE DEMOCRATS’ 6 PERCENT STIMULUS PREDICTION:(“Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2011)

OBAMA’S MISERABLE DEBT RECORD:

A $4.6 TRILLION INCREASE IN NATIONAL DEBT SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (“The Daily History of the Debt Results,” TreasuryDirect.Gov, Accessed 1/10/2012)

OBAMA RECORD “THE MOST RAPID INCREASE IN THE DEBT UNDER ANY U.S. PRESIDENT”: (Mark Knoller, “National debt has increased $4 trillion under Obama,” CBS News’ Political Hotsheet Blog, 8/22/11)

NATIONAL DEBT STANDS AT $15.24 TRILLION: (“The Daily History of the Debt Results,” TreasuryDirect.Gov, Accessed 1/24/2012)

SIZE OF NATION’S ECONOMY AT $15.18 TRILLION: (“National Economic Accounts,” Bureau of Economic Analysis, Accessed 1/17/2012)

Just like with the Keystone pipeline, Democrats’ want to ignore the facts and consequences of their failed policies. Instead they want to continue to embrace the same failed policies of more debt, more spending and more job-destroying tax hikes even as they try to gloss over their record of failure:

OBAMA JUST ASKED “CONGRESS TO RAISE DEBT CEILING BY $1.2 TRILLION”: (“Obama Asks Congress to Raise Debt Ceiling by $1.2 Trillion,” Reuters, 1/12/2012)

AP FACT CHECK: “OBAMA PUSHES PLANS THAT FLOPPED BEFORE”: (Calvin Woodward, “FACT CHECK: Obama Pushes Plans that Flopped Before,” Associated Press, 1/24/2012)

OBAMA EMBRACES HIS RECORD OF FAILURE ON “GREEN” PROGRAMS LIKE SOLYNDRA: “Our experience with shale gas, our experience with natural gas, shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. I will not walk away from workers like Bryan. I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here. We’ve subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable and double down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean-energy tax credits.” (“Transcript: Obama Delivers State of the Union Speech,” CNN, 1/24/2012)

OBAMA CALLS FOR TAX HIKES IN STATE OF THE UNION: (Matt Spetalnick, “Obama to Focus on Tax Inequality in State of Union,” Reuters, 1/24/2012)

AND TRIES TO REINVENT HISTORY, PRETENDS THAT HE DIDN’T JUST BLOCK THE CREATION OF 20,000 KEYSTONE JOBS: “During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. After World War II, we connected our states with a system of highways. Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today. In the next few weeks, I will sign an executive order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects.” (“Transcript: Obama Delivers State of the Union Speech,” CNN, 1/24/2012)

CLAIMS HIS ADMINISTRATION HAS PRESIDED OVER MORE AMERICAN-MADE ENERGY, DESPITE SEVERAL EFFORTS TO ACTIVELY SABOTAGE NEW LEASES: “And nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy. Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration. And tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” (“Transcript: Obama Delivers State of the Union Speech,” CNN, 1/24/2012)

Obama’s call for “fairness” is ironic given Washington Democrats’ complete unfairness to all American taxpayers. Over the last three years, Democrats have repeatedly treated taxpayer money like an ATM for political payback to their Washington interest group friends by stopping real job creation and lending taxpayer money to politically-connected companies like Solyndra with little to show for it. Is this really the Democrats’ campaign strategy for 2012?:

IS IT “FAIR” TO PRIORITIZE POLITICAL PAYBACK FOR LEFT-WING WASHINGTON INTEREST GROUPS OVER SHOVEL-READY JOBS?:

OBAMA JUST BLOCKED 20,000 “SHOVEL-READY” KEYSTONE JOBS: (Editorial, “Keystone Cop-Out,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/11/2011)

LONG-TERM KEYSTONE JOBS IMPACT: UP TO 130,000 JOBS: (Editorial, “Keystone Pipeline is the Wrong Call,” The Houston Chronicle, 11/11/2011)

GREEN GROUPS THREATENED TO ABANDON OBAMA IF HE APPROVED KEYSTONE: “Environmental groups have been protesting the pipeline that would run from Alberta oil sands to Texas refineries, and there have been rumblings that greens would abandon Obama next fall if he approved it.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)

USA TODAY: OBAMA DECISION “THE MOST CRAVEN SORT OF ELECTION-YEAR POLITICS,” POLITICAL PAYBACK FOR ENVIRONMENTALIST INTEREST GROUPS: (“Obama’s Pipeline Decision Delays Energy Security,”USA Today, 1/18/2012)

4,257 NEW REGULATIONS IN THE WORKS, MORE THAN 200 WILL COST OVER $100 MILLION ANNUALLY—15% MORE REGULATIONS THAN IN 2010.“Appropriate and responsible regulations play an important policymaking role. Yet the Obama administration has turned rule-making into an assault on American businesses and the jobs they create. Right now, 4,257 new regulations are in the works, 219 of which will cost over $100 million annually — 15 percent more than last year.” (Editorial, “How Obama’s Rules Hold Back Chicago Business,” The Chicago Sun-Times, 8/30/2011)

OBAMA GAVE “EMBATTLED” EPA A HUG WHILE GIVING WORKERS THE COLD SHOULDER: “On a day when Republican presidential candidates stumped for votes in New Hampshire, President Obama paid a visit Tuesday afternoon to the employees of the embattled Environmental Protection Agency, which has been the target of GOP disdain.” (David Nakamura, “Obama Gives Embattled EPA a Pep Talk,” The Washington Post, 1/10/2012)
HOW IS EPA “EMBATTLED” WHEN OBAMA LETS EPA BUREAUCRATS HAVE THE REGULATIONS THEY WANT, DESTROYING 183,000 JOBS A YEAR, 1.65 MILLION JOBS DESTROYED THROUGH 2020?: (“EPA Finalizes New Rule That Will Hurt American Economy,” American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, 12/21/2011)

LIKE CLOCKWORK: DEMOCRATS’ ENVIRONMENTALIST FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION BASE REJOICES OVER EPA’S JOB-DESTROYING DECISION: “Environmentalists rallied so hard for the Obama administration on Wednesday, you’d think power plants were shooting cotton candy from their smokestacks.” (Erica Martinson, “EPA Power Plant Rule Has Greens Pro-Obama,” Politico, 12/22/2011)

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF BILL DALEY, BROUGHT ON TO MEND FENCES WITH JOB CREATORS, RECENTLY ANNOUNCED HIS RESIGNATION: (Christi Parsons, “William Daley to Step Down as Obama’s Chief of Staff,” Los Angeles Times, 1/9/2012)

ENVIROS REJOICE, “SAY ‘GOOD RIDDANCE’ TO DALEY”: (Darren Samuelsohn, “Greens Say ‘Good Riddance’ to Daley,” Politico, 1/9/2012)

IS IT “FAIR” THAT NOW-BANKRUPT STIMULUS POSTER CHILD SOLYNDRA GOT SPECIAL TREATMENT AND A $535 MILLION LOAN GUARANTEE?:

OBAMA’S “GREEN” PROGRAM THAT FUNDED NOW-BANKRUPT SOLYNDRA “INFUSED WITH POLITICS AT EVERY LEVEL”: “Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.

“The records, some previously unreported, show that when warned that financial disaster might lie ahead, the administration remained steadfast in its support for Solyndra.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “Solyndra: Politics Infused Obama Energy Programs,” The Washington Post, 12/25/2011)

OBAMA’S “GREEN” PROGRAM “INFUSED WITH POLITICS AT EVERY LEVEL”: “Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.

OBAMA’S DOE “ALL BUT” TOLD SOLYNDRA THAT THEY WOULD BE FIRST IN LINE FOR A SECOND STIMULUS LOAN: (E-mail from Steve Mitchell to George Kaiser, U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, 3/5/2010, p. 3)

TOP OBAMA BUNDLER GEORGE KAISER “WEIGHED ASKING WHITE HOUSE TO SAVE SOLYNDRA” AS IT WAS FAILING: “A key investor in the failed solar power company Solyndra, who was also a political donor to Barack Obama, strategized with his top executives about whether and how they should use their contacts inside the White House to help their failing business venture, according to emails surfaced by Congressional investigators Wednesday.” (Matthew Mosk, “Emails: Obama Donor Weighed Asking White House to Save Solyndra,” ABC News, 11/9/2011)

SOLYNDRA OFFICIALS WHO GAVE TO OBAMA HAD EASY WHITE HOUSE ACCESS: “The administration, which excluded lobbyists from policymaking positions, gave easy access to venture capitalists with stakes in some of the companies backed by the administration, the records show. Many of those investors had given to Obama’s 2008 campaign. Some took jobs in the administration and helped manage the clean-energy program.” (Joe Stephens and Carol D. Leonnig, “Solyndra: Politics Infused Obama Energy Programs,” The Washington Post, 12/25/2011)

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS: KAISER WAS SOLYNDRA’S BIGGEST INVESTOR AND PLOTTED TO GET WHITE HOUSE HELP TO GET SECOND STIMULUS LOAN AND GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS:“Solyndra’s biggest investor was a fund linked to the family foundation of George Kaiser, a Tulsa billionaire and bundler for Obama’s presidential campaign.

“Kaiser was involved in e-mail correspondence with his business colleagues about an upcoming White House meeting to get the administration’s help in selling its panels, and in seeking a second energy department loan, which if awarded would have been in addition to a $535 million loan the company received in 2009.” (Joe Stephens, “Solyndra E-mails Show Obama Fundraiser Discussed Lobbying White House,” The Washington Post, 11/9/2011)

“SOLYNDRA’S LAWYERS MAJOR OBAMA, DEMOCRATIC DONORS”: (Matthew Boyle, “Solyndra’s Lawyers Major Obama, Democratic Donors,” The Daily Caller, 9/30/2011)