The Obama Economy: From Hope to Hopeless

May 4, 2012

As Democrats Look “Forward” to More of the Same, Americans Fear a New Economic Normal that Feels Backward

After three years of failed policies, America’s middle class continues to bear the brunt of the Democrats’ failed policies.
Economic data continue to point to a weak economy, with many reports suggesting high unemployment and weak economic growth may be America’s “new normal” in the Obama economy.
Americans understandably continue to believe the U.S. economy is on the wrong track, but the best the Democrats can offer is a stale defense of their failed policies and desperate new slogans to somehow repackage failure.

After three years of failed policies, America’s middle class continues to bear the brunt of the Democrats’ failed policies:

BLOOMBERG: “OBAMA FAILS TO STEM MIDDLE CLASS SLIDE HE BLAMED ON BUSH”: (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

“MORE THAN THREE YEARS INTO OBAMA’S OWN PRESIDENCY, THOSE DECLINES [TO THE MIDDLE CLASS] HAVE ONLY DEEPENED”: (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

OBAMA ECONOMY “HAS GENERATED RELATIVELY FEW OF THE MODERATELY SKILLED JOBS THAT ONCE SUPPORTED THE MIDDLE CLASS”:“The rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s has generated relatively few of the moderately skilled jobs that once supported the middle class, tightening the financial squeeze on many Americans, even those who are employed.” (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

95% OF JOB LOSSES IN RECESSION WERE TO MIDDLE-SKILL PROFESSIONS, BUT OBAMA HAS DONE LITTLE TO REGAIN THOSE JOBS: “Ninety-five percent of the net job losses during the recession were in middle-skill occupations, such as office workers, bank tellers and machine operators, according to research by economists Nir Jaimovich of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and Henry Siu of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The job growth since has been clustered in either high- skill fields inaccessible to workers without advanced education or low-paying industries, they found.” (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,”Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

FEAR THAT CURRENT ECONOMIC MALAISE IS “THE NEW NORMAL”:“Describing her feeling of being caught in the middle, one female voter in Cleveland said, ‘My fear is that this is the new normal. You work hard and don’t get paid for it. You don’t get a raise.’” (John McLaughlin and Henry Barbour, “The Most Pressing Concern for Blue Collar Catholics is Improving Their Financial Security,”Resurgent Republic, 4/26/2012)

Economic data continue to point to a weak economy, with many reports suggesting high unemployment and weak economic growth may be America’s “new normal” in the Obama economy:

SAN FRANCISCO FED’S WILLLIAMS “SAYS RESTORING FULL EMPLOYMENT WILL TAKE YEARS”: (Aki Ito, “Fed’s Williams Says Restoring Full Employment Will Take Years,” Bloomberg, 5/3/2012)

UNEMPLOYMENT MORE THAN 7 PERCENT THROUGH 2014: “Economic growth, though, will likely stay ‘moderate’ for the next few years, Williams said, and the unemployment rate will fall to about 7 percent by the end of 2014.” (“Fed’s Williams-Need ‘Strong’ Stimulus for ‘Quite Some Time,’” Reuters, 5/3/2012)

NEW “NATURAL RATE” OF UNEMPLOYMENT COULD BE AS HIGH AS 6.5%:“Empirical studies, Williams said, show that’s not the case, with structural factors contributing only ‘a bit’ to the current jobless rate. The natural rate of unemployment — the point at which undesirable inflation pressures start to build — has likely risen to about 6 percent to 6.5 percent in the recent recession, he said.” (“Fed’s Williams-Need ‘Strong’ Stimulus for ‘Quite Some Time,’”Reuters, 5/3/2012)

“U.S. ECONOMY GROWS AT TEPID 2.2% PACE, MISSES ESTIMATES”: (“U.S. Economy Grows at Tepid 2.2% Rate, Misses Estimates,” Reuters, 4/27/2012)

“NEW STUDY: HIGH U.S. DEBT LEVELS COULD MEAN A QUARTER CENTURY OF WEAK GROWTH”: (James Pethokoukis, “New Study: High U.S. Debt Levels Could Mean a Quarter Century of Weak Growth,” The American, 5/1/2012)

“FEWER AMERICANS FORM HOUSEHOLDS AFTER RECESSION, HAMPERING ECONOMIC RECOVERY”: (Michael A. Fletcher, “Fewer Americans Form Households After Recession, Hampering Economic Recovery,” The Washington Post, 5/1/2012)

PEW: MORE THAN 20% OF ADULTS 25-34 “LIVE WITH THEIR PARENTS OR IN OTHER ‘MULTI-GENERATIONAL’ ARRANGEMENTS, THE HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE THE 1950s”: (Michael A. Fletcher, “Fewer Americans Form Households After Recession, Hampering Economic Recovery,” The Washington Post, 5/1/2012)

53.6% OF RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATES ARE UNEMPLOYED: “About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years.” (“1 in 2 New Graduates are Jobless or Underemployed,” CNBC, 4/22/2012)

THE SHARE OF EMPLOYED YOUNG ADULTS AT 54.3%, A SIXTY-YEAR LOW:“By the end of 2011, the share of young adults (18- to 24-year-olds) who were employed had fallen to 54.3%—the lowest level since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting such data in 1948.” (“Young, Underemployed and Optimistics,” Pew Research Center, 2/9/2012)

Americans understandably continue to believe the U.S. economy is on the wrong track, but the best the Democrats can offer is a stale defense of their failed policies and desperate new slogans to somehow repackage failure:

DEMOCRACY CORPS: 59% OF AMERICANS SEE COUNTRY ON “WRONG TRACK,” ONLY 33% ON RIGHT TRACK: (Democracy Corps Poll, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, 4/28-5/1/2012)

70% OF FLORIDA VOTERS AND 67% OF OHIO VOTERS THINK THE ECONOMY IS STILL IN A RECESSION: “But voters in Ohio and Florida don’t believe the respected analysts. Seventy percent of Florida voters say they think the economy is still in recession, and 67% of Ohioans believe the same.” (“Romney Essentially Ties Obama in 2 Swing States: Poll,” Market Watch, 5/3/2012)

NBC/WSJ POLL: 61% OF AMERICANS THINK ECONOMY WILL STAY THE SAME OR GET WORSE IN THE NEXT YEAR: (Mark Murray, “NBC/WSJ poll: Obama Leads Romney By Six Points, But Republican Ahead on Economy,” MSNBC, 4/19/2012)

JUST 45% APPROVE OF OBAMA’S HANDLING OF THE ECONOMY, WOULD TRUST ROMNEY OVER OBAMA TO HANDLE THE ECONOMY 40% TO 34%:(Mark Murray, “NBC/WSJ poll: Obama Leads Romney By Six Points, But Republican Ahead on Economy,” MSNBC, 4/19/2012)

OBAMA’S LATEST CAMPAIGN VIDEO INSISTS WE MOVE “FORWARD” WITH MORE OF THE SAME FAILED POLICIES AND SAYS “THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO”: (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,’” Politico, 4/30/2012)

OBAMA CAMPAIGN STRUGGLING TO “TO FIND A SLOGAN THAT WILL STICK”: (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,’” Politico, 4/30/2012)