The Juneunemployment rate reached 9.2 percent according to a report released today bythe U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. And we thought May was bad!
Sadly, afteryet another bad month we can put to bed the notion that this negative hiringtrend is a fluke. With only 18,000 jobs added, Americans are still waitingaround for that promised “Recovery Summer.” Instead, American workers continueto face one of the most dismal employment situations in history, led by aPresident that appears out of his league. In Wednesday’s Twitter Town Hall thePresident said,
“I think even I did not realize the magnitude, because mosteconomists didn’t realize the magnitude of the recession until fairly far intoit . . . And so I think people may not have been prepared for how long this wasgoing to take and why we were going to have to make some very difficultdecisions and choices. And I take responsibility for that, because settingpeople’s expectations is party of how you end up being able to respond well.”
Mr.President, I don’t think expectations are the main problem here. Just a wildguess, but I bet it has something to do with the sluggish recovery in the faceof having spent nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money to fix it.
OurPresident looks downright grounded compared to his top adviser, David Plouffe,who suggested today that the average American isn’t worried about unemploymentrates:
“Theaverage American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP orunemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers. People won’t vote based on theunemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my ownsituation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and myfamily?” said DavidPlouffe, a chief advisor to Obama.
Americans disagree. The top issues in January-May wereunemployment and the economy according to a recent Gallup survey. Jobseekers are desperately in need of an island of good news in a sea of dismaleconomic conditions. Thus far, they haven’t been able to find it. And frankly,with the President’s recently stated goal of raising taxes, it doesn’t looklike the storm clouds are abating anytime soon.
But thereis a way out. Conservatives have tossed America a lifejacket in the form of Cut,Cap and Balance – a comprehensive plan to reduce spending immediately andpermanently. The persistent threat of new regulations, higher taxes, and worstof all, default is keeping our recovery at bay. Only by working towards abalanced budget will we unlock the true potential of America’s economic engineand make headway against our staggering unemployment problem.