A Little Honesty, Please

I was listening to President Obama do questions and answers following the NATO Summit in Chicago. In one answer he said that the coming election would be about the economy. I think he is right. Social issues, an area where the Democrats have significant advantage, is just not that big a concern for people compared to the basic things like finding employment, putting food on the table and putting gas in the car. Politicians are found of talking about debit and deficit and market trends and credit availability. But, what most people really care about is the price of milk and corn flakes. Anyway, the President said he was confident he'd win because his administration has managed to bring us into a "strong recovery" which has created 4 million jobs since 2009,

I am really surprised at the Presidents self control because, to my amazement, he was able to say all that with a straight face and without breaking into laughter, I was not sure if I wanted to laugh -or cry. 

The US GDP for 2009 (the Presidents fist year in office) was minus 3.5 %, in 2010 is was 3.0%, in 2011 it was 1.7% and it is predicted to be 2.2% in 2012. Most economists tell us that it needs to be at least 4% for the economy to recover. That is hardly what anyone could call a "strong recovery"! 

As for jobs -well, it may be true (if you accept the Presidents figures) that we have created 4 million jobs since 2009 but we lost 5,060,000 in 2009, gained 1.027,000 in 2010, gained 1,840,000 in 2011 and gained 803,000 so far this year. That leaves us 1,390,000 short -not something he should really be bragging about!

The problem, of course, is that most normal, everyday Americans, just don't pay attention to the real statistics and will only hear what the President says in his speeches. The good news is that most normal everyday Americans, who do not bother to closely follow what is happening with the economy and try to figure out why it is happening but they do know what it is like looking for work and trying to pay for gas and groceries. -And also, many of them don't bother to go out and vote. Apparently democracy has some naturally built-in safeguards....

Live Long and Prosper...