In a must-read editorial this morning, The Wall Street Journal writes, “[T]wo months before an election, and 19 months after the mother of all spending programs, President Obama said yesterday he’s rolling out one more plan to stimulate the economy. . . . [T]he effort itself is a tacit admission that his earlier proposals have flopped.”
Discussing the Obama administration’s previous $814 billion stimulus bill, the WSJ points out, “[Obama economic adviser Larry] Summers promised this would have a 1.5 ‘multiplier’ effect on GDP growth, and White House economists Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein famously predicted the spending would keep the jobless rate below 8%.” The editors explain, “[N]ever before has government spent so much and intervened so directly in credit allocation to spur growth, yet the results have been mediocre at best. In return for adding nearly $3 trillion in federal debt in two years, we still have 14.9 million unemployed.”
However, President Obama used a Labor Day speech in Wisconsin to call for even more stimulus spending. According to The New York Times, “President Obama, looking to stimulate a sluggish economy and create jobs, called Monday for Congress to approve major upgrades to the nation’s roads, rail lines and runways — part of a six-year plan that would cost tens of billions of dollars and create a government-run bank to finance innovative transportation projects. With Democrats facing an increasingly bleak midterm election season, Mr. Obama used a speech at a union gathering on Labor Day . . . to outline his plan. It calls for a quick infusion of $50 billion in government spending that White House officials said could spur job growth as early as next year — if Congress approves.”
Obama declared, “[T]he bottom line is this, Milwaukee — this will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum over the long haul.” And “Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told NBC’s Today program the proposal ‘will put people back to work immediately,’” writes McClatchy. But Obama and Solis seem to be the only people in the administration under that impression. As McClatchy notes, “White House aides conceded, however, that the proposal, which still would have to be approved by Congress and then implemented, is not likely to start creating jobs until next year. “We’re not like trying to put out an idea today that, in October 2010, this is going to create a lot of jobs,” said a senior administration official . . . . ‘This is not what this is.’” And the AP writes, “Even if he can get the plan through Congress, at a time when lawmakers and voters are worried about federal deficits, the transportation spending plan envisioned by President Barack Obama wouldn’t create jobs right away. Senior administration officials say the initial projects would lead to new jobs over the course of next year.”
Abysmal new polls for Democrats released today bear that out. The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 57% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy and more now say the President’s economic policies are making things worse, 33%, than better, 30%. And NBC News writes that the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll “puts Obama’s approval rating at 45 percent, which is down two points from the last poll in early August. What’s more, only 39 percent approve of his handling of the economy — his lowest mark on this question.” These numbers follow a Saturday CNN poll showing 59% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy, while only 40% approve, “a new low for the president in CNN polling.”
Describing its poll, NBC writes, “Americans are deeply pessimistic about the state of the economy. Only 26 percent think the economy will improve in the next 12 months . . . and just 26 percent believe their wages will increase in the next year.” And Politico’s Mike Allen points out, “In the ABC/Washington Post poll, an astonishing 92 percent of respondents described the state of the nation’s economy as bad, compared with 8 percent who said it was good.”
And in the face of all this President Obama’s solution is more government spending and more tax increases? And many in his own administration are even admitting his proposal won’t put people back to work quickly. Sen. Minority Leader McConnell put the reaction well, saying, “Americans are rightly skeptical about Washington Democrats asking for more of their money—and their patience; after all, they’re still looking for the ‘shovel-ready’ jobs they were promised more than a year ago.”
In a must-read editorial this morning, The Wall Street Journal writes, “[T]wo months before an election, and 19 months after the mother of all spending programs, President Obama said yesterday he’s rolling out one more plan to stimulate the economy. . . . [T]he effort itself is a tacit admission that his earlier proposals have flopped.”
Abysmal new polls for Democrats released today bear that out. The Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 57% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy and more now say the President’s economic policies are making things worse, 33%, than better, 30%. And NBC News writes that the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll “puts Obama’s approval rating at 45 percent, which is down two points from the last poll in early August. What’s more, only 39 percent approve of his handling of the economy — his lowest mark on this question.” These numbers follow a Saturday CNN poll showing 59% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy, while only 40% approve, “a new low for the president in CNN polling.”
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