Dear Mr. Obama,
I know your plate is full. You’re a freshly-minted president, one with less than a year in office, and you have a lot on your mind, what with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a war in the halls of Congress over the health care overhaul issue, and now a bona fide war with Fox News.
These things, depending on who is leaking, are items that either weigh heavily or you don’t give much thought to. It’s still up in the air as to what gets whom.
Ahem, sir… if I could direct your attention over here for just a moment… I think there is a bigger altercation being waged, right under your nose.
There are a multitude of unemployed, and the numbers keep getting worse, not better. This, after billions of dollars were printed and funneled out of Washington in the so-called stimulus bill (fondly known as the Bacon Explosion).
According to your vice president, the stimulus worked better than expected. We’re starting to crawl out from the bottom of the barrel. Thanks in large part to the government, we are on an upswing! Hip, hip, hooray!
Yeah, right. Joe Biden must be blind as well as a seasoned gaff-master. I don’t know where the stimulus improved anything. He should show me. Either the Meister Gaffer misspoke or he thinks Michigan is part of Canada and the state doesn’t count.
I read that the Bacon Explosion only saved or created 397 jobs in Michigan since its implementation in February. Considering the amount of money received, this is the worst return on investment in the entire country. If you do the math, it's approximately $1.5 million dollars per job. (Note to the other 49: our governor took most of the money to plug up budget woes. Don’t do that if you really want to create jobs.)
Today’s front page of the Detroit News was splashed with headlines of yet another record-breaking month of unemployment. At 15.3%, Michigan tops the nation’s unemployment rate. This number does not include those who have given up the fight, so the percentage is likely much higher. The statistics are even worse when you break it down into cities. I thought Detroit had it bad with close to 28% unemployed, but Pontiac and Highland Park each have the highest, at an unprecedented 35%.
In separate non-news, it turns out that since January 2009, Michigan has actually lost 100,000 jobs — 329,000 total since August 2008. I give this tidbit the non-news classification because any dolt with half a brain already knows this fact to be true. Take a walk down my middle-class street and you’ll find more closed and empty businesses than I care to think about. I suppose we should be cheered by the fact of the 300 Bacon Explosion jobs that offset the lost ones. Or alarmed.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ruvy
You waste your time addressing any thief from Chicago, Joanne. He's got his. He don't give a damn about you. Add to that the fact that you appear to be white, and you've just added a strike against yourself. In the Obamanation, if you are not one of the favored minorities, you do not exist.
You would do better to check out Oz for employment for you, your spouse and your kids. Get youselves out of the American hell while the getting is still good, and while you still have the option to run. Millions of Jews who think they have it made are going to stay in America. Boy, are they gonna pay!
2 - Glenn Contrarian
Joanne -
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but unemployment NEVER falls immediately after recovery from recession (or Depression). It ALWAYS takes at least one year (usually two, and sometimes three) AFTER the recession has OFFICIALLY ended before employment improves.
This has been the case in every recovery from recession or Depression in America since 1900.
Why is this so? Because unless you want Obama to do as FDR did with federally-funded mass hires like the CCC, employment does not rise once the market has 'officially recovered'. Why? Because even after a recovery it takes TIME for CEO's and business owners to feel confident enough to ramp up production lines, expand businesses that they had previously cut, and begin new businesses.
So cut Obama some slack, please. The great majority of economists have stated that the market has recovered or will recover by the end of the year. If America's unemployment rate begins dropping by August of NEXT year, then President Obama's performance will rank among the BEST presidents following a recession, thank you very much...
...especially considering this was the worst recession since the Great Depression. Food for thought, don't you think?
3 - handyguy
The implication of this article -- that the government is able to create jobs but is refusing or neglecting to do so -- is fairly ridiculous and naive.
Employment disappeared because companies reacted [and in many cases overreacted] to the financial crisis of last fall and winter. Companies are still being timid and cautious about hiring, although I believe they are beginning to, sporadically but surely. And even an unreconstructed liberal Democrat like myself knows that the real fix for unemployment has to come from the private sector, not from the White House.
I have been one of the unemployed myself, for a full year, only recently landing a [freelance, non-permanent] job. For every opening there are hundreds if not thousands of applicants.
The easy populist line on February's $787 billion stimulus package -- that an unemployment rate of nearly 10% proves the stimulus was a total failure -- is wrongheaded too. The stimulus has plenty of imperfections, but it has so many moving parts that it's hard to generalize about its effects. Only about 40% of it has been spent -- it was designed to be spread over two years. And certainly there have been a considerable number of construction jobs and a considerable number of teacher layoffs prevented.
But even if there had been another government in place the last 9 months -- choose your fantasy, a libertarian one headed by Ron Paul or a traditional liberal one led by the reincarnation of FDR -- we'd still have high unemployment. It was a nasty, deep recession and it won't turn around quickly.
The government can put a safety floor under the economy to stop its free fall, and it can try to shore up certain industries. But until private enterprise starts hiring again -- and it will -- the jobs picture will be bleak.
The one thing Obama could possibly do that he hasn't is provide more psychological reassurance -- more 'fireside chat'-style empathy. But even the most cynical observers know that he has to care about unemployment -- that if there was some sure quick fix he'd already be doing it -- if only to ensure his reelection.
4 - SG
So you want Obama to give you jobs but not make them government jobs? What is he supposed to do?
This is the problem with your writing: you complain and complain but offer no ideas or sound logic.
What's the point?
5 - Joanne Huspek
The point is to give businesses a chance to grow. Right now, everything is in constriction. It's an economic trickle down in reverse. Many of the problems won't be solved in a year, four years or eight years, if at all. The US made a mistake in outsourcing to other countries to save a buck.
My state has one of the most anti-business climates around. We've been struggling for ten years or more as a result. Who would move here to start a business when taxes are high and corruption is rampant in Detroit?
Ruvy, you are right. The politicians all have theirs. The people have no voice, or if they decide to voice an opinion it's a "complaint" with "no ideas or sound logic."
As far as I can tell, it's still a free country.
6 - Glenn Contrarian
Joanne - you're absolutely determined to tell all and sundry just how bad things supposedly are. Yeah, things ARE bad in Detroit - but that's not Obama's fault. If you'll check, the very technology that makes the Toyota Prius so good was developed by GM...but they didn't think it would make them money and they sold the patent to Toyota. Not only that, but for decades Detroit's been resisting the very regulations proposed by Washington (like fuel economy) - and what happened to Detroit? Their short-term profit-must-be-made-TODAY! attitude has turned Detroit into a ghost town.
But you know what? Detroit is NOT the entire country! For much of the rest of the country, things ARE looking up. The latest quarterly survey from the National Association for Business Economics, shows that unemployment is moderating. It also signals an improved hiring outlook over the next six months, which may help alleviate worries that the nation's unemployment rate will continue to jump and constrict consumer spending, the main driver of the U.S. economy.
AND IT'S JUST LIKE I SAID ABOVE, isn't it? If employment begins rising within a year of the end of the recession, that places President Obama with the VERY BEST of the presidents since 1900 when it comes to recovery from economic recession or depression!!!!
Ah, but I forget! We can't say anything complimentary about someone from the other side...'cause that might make us socialists or communists or fascists or whatever the 'ist' of the day is declared to be by the all-knowing Right Wing of American politics....
7 - Glenn Contrarian
Ruvy...um, what do you call it when a country bounces back in only one year from the second-worst economic straits in that country's history?
A doggone good job by the ones leading that country.
I know you don't like Obama because you think he's throwing Israel under the bus. I know you don't like him because he's not actively antagonizing every Muslim country on the planet. I know you don't like him because he's got a suspect middle name.
But he's getting FAR better results than any Republican president (economically and in foreign policy) since Reagan.
Before we judge somebody, Ruvy, let's try looking not only at what he's done wrong, but ALSO what he's done right.
8 - Ruvy
Before we judge somebody, Ruvy, let's try looking not only at what he's done wrong, but ALSO what he's done right.
I'm looking - and looking - and looking - and looking; you know what, Glenn, I don't see a damned thing! He's black - that, he did right - but actually he didn't do that at all - Barack Obama Sr. did....
9 - Ruvy
Tell you what, Glenn, get back to me when you're scrounging around some carcasse of a computer looking for gold scrap metal (a few grams) to buy some groceries. Then, you can explain to me all the things Obama has done right.
10 - Clavos
If employment begins rising within a year of the end of the recession...
Big "if." First the recession has to end. Hasn't happened yet, and many experts say it will be quite a while yet. Expe economicrts which include the highly competent money manager who manages my savings, and who hasn't ever been wrong in his predictions in the eight years I've been his client.
...what do you call it when a country bounces back in only one year from the second-worst economic straits in that country's history?
Again, hasn't happened yet. See above.
11 - Clavos
Hmmm.
"Expe economicrts" should be "Experts which..." above.
12 - Glenn Contrarian
Clavos -
You say the recession hasn't ended. You claim 'many experts' say it won't end for quite a while...and of course you didn't give any references to back up your claim.
I do give references. Above I gave a reference to business-friendly (and usually right-wing) Bloomberg.com, and here's three more links: Barclay's, Fox Business News, and the Wall Street Journal.
Okay, Clavos? Are Bloomberg, Barclay's, Fox News, and the WSJ good enough for you? Or are you going to continue to claim that they're all wrong and your 'many experts' are right?
13 - Glenn Contrarian
Oh, and Clavos -
Here's a list on Kipinger's of the recessions since WWII, listing the interval from the when the stock market bottomed out to when the recession ended.
And you know what? If we take Fox News' article, it looks like America recovered from the Great Recession in record time (five months (Bloomberg says four months)) - under the leadership of President Obama.
Man, don'tcha hate it when trusted references from your own right wing prove you wrong, and prove that a Democratic president and Democratic congress pulled us out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and did so faster than any of the other administrations did with less-serious recessions?
YES, I've got a grin! I just wonder if there's a single conservative who'll have the intestinal fortitude to give President Obama a hearty well-done for ending the worst recession since the Great Depression, and for doing it in record time?
Nah. Y'all won't do that. Silly me for having such thoughts....
14 - Clavos
Glenn,
Man, don'tcha hate it when trusted references from your own right wing prove you wrong, and prove that a Democratic president and Democratic congress pulled us out of the worst recession since the Great Depression, and did so faster than any of the other administrations did with less-serious recessions?
I love it when a lefty extremist starts using Fox News as an authoritative source!
Seriously, the least hyperbolic of your sources, Bloomberg only says the recession may be turning around.
it looks like America recovered from the Great Recession in record time (five months (Bloomberg says four months)) - under the leadership of President Obama.
Really? What happened to the recession he "inherited?" Didn't the recession start in the last months of the Bush administration? Wasn't it not Obama's fault? He's been in office for ten months and the recession, according to you lefties last spring, started in the summer and fall of 2008 and wasn't Bam's fault.
Damn! History revisionism right before our eyes!
Try telling the millions of jobless the recession's over. Or the thousands of people defaulting on mortgages and credit card debt on a daily basis.
What you don't understand is that I don't necessarily agree with the "right-wing sources" (or with any but a select few sources who don't write for newspapers or magazines, but do know what they are talking about).
I'm a businessman, Glenn, and I do not think we're out of the woods by a long shot: I don't see it in my current business, and I don't see it in the industry I spent thirty years in. Mortgage defaults are on the rise again, housing prices are still sinking, particularly in the Rust Belt, the unemployment rate slowed, but never stopped increasing, and as for the stock market, if you think it has "bottomed out," go ahead, start buying stocks, I think I'll watch, the fat lady ain't sung yet. This last I (and dozens of others) got from the man I pay five figures to annually to make sure my money is protected and continues to grow, no matter what happens. He hasn't missed yet.
15 - Glenn Contrarian
Perhaps you should read the references more carefully, Clavos.
The interval measured was from when the recessions hit BOTTOM to when the recessions ENDED...and by this measure, Obama did better than any of the others.
Also, since you took the trouble to summarily dismiss my references (even when I took the trouble to find right-wing references), HOW ABOUT YOU do something DIFFERENT for once, and provide PROOF, real honest-to-goodness reliable REFERENCES proving your claim - other than your personal financial manager, that is.
Sheesh - that's the first time I've ever heard a conservative refer to Bloomberg, WSJ, Barclay's(!), and even Fox News as 'hyperbolic'.
I don't see it in my current business, and I don't see it in the industry I spent thirty years in.
Last I recall, you're in a luxury-related business. Yours should be among the last to recover.
Mortgage defaults are on the rise again,
And what's the primary cause of over half of ALL bankruptcies? HEALTH CARE COSTS! And btw, foreclosures have fallen for the second straight month. Yes, there's many more foreclosures than this time last year...but that's because the recession only began hitting hard this time last year.
housing prices are still sinking, particularly in the Rust Belt,
Never mind that they rose three months in a row?
the unemployment rate slowed, but never stopped increasing,
And did you read what I wrote above? All the economists know the unemployment rate will worsen before it gets better...and it's taking the very same pattern as it has in every other recession since 1900...but it's doing so more quickly than any other. By July of next year, you'll see increasing employment - and that will be a record (or nearly so) after the end of a recession.
and as for the stock market, if you think it has "bottomed out," go ahead, start buying stocks, I think I'll watch, the fat lady ain't sung yet. This last I (and dozens of others) got from the man I pay five figures to annually to make sure my money is protected and continues to grow, no matter what happens.
You know the old saw about the Chinese character that represents both disaster and opportunity, don't you? Of course you do. Now is the time to buy stocks, Clavos...but if you're in a position to invest, I'd strongly, strongly recommend real estate - and if your financial manager hasn't advised this, he's not the whiz you think he is.
He hasn't missed yet.
July, Clavos. By July, you'll see increasing employment, a stock market above 12,000, and hordes of right-wing pundits claiming that Obama's ruining the American dream.
I'll be three-for-three (barring an unforeseen disaster, of course).
16 - Clavos
Also, since you took the trouble to summarily dismiss my references (even when I took the trouble to find right-wing references), HOW ABOUT YOU do something DIFFERENT for once, and provide PROOF, real honest-to-goodness reliable REFERENCES proving your claim
I see no reason to. I'm not interested in whether or not you believe me, Glenn, and you haven't provided PROOF, as you wrote it, merely the opinions of others -- right-wing others, at that. That's all well and good, but the point is still only in the realm of pundit vs pundit; there's no PROOF involved, just opinions.
Whether or not the recession is over is all a matter of opinion, you expressed yours and those of a bunch of right-wing pundits; more power to you, even if it does strike me as amusing to see a lefty quoting the likes of the WSJ, Bloomberg and Fox News to prove a right-wing point, but chacun à son goût, M'sieur.
...and if your financial manager hasn't advised this, he's not the whiz you think he is.
He's whiz enough to be growing my savings when most others are losing theirs; I'm happy.
Don't believe me.
I'm cool with that.
17 - Glenn Contrarian
I'm not interested in whether or not you believe me, Glenn, and you haven't provided PROOF, as you wrote it, merely the opinions of others -- right-wing others, at that. That's all well and good, but the point is still only in the realm of pundit vs pundit; there's no PROOF involved, just opinions.
Y'know, Clavos, if it were only "pundits" I was referencing, you'd be right. But I'm not. The articles referenced economists and banking associations.
Their 'opinions' - particularly when backed up by hard statistical fact such as that listed in my previous comment - hold MUCH more weight than your observations. Also, remember that a sincere compliment from an enemy means much more than a sincere compliment from a friend - and bear that in mind when it's the majority of economists and banking associations who have declared the end of the recession, such is a compliment to Obama from the normally right-leaning business community.
Your own PERSONAL situation and the success or failure of your own PERSONAL financial manager makes NO STATISTICAL DIFFERENCE in the big picture - and it's the BIG picture we're talking about, Clavos. Not south Florida, but nationwide - and it's the nationwide picture to which the economists and banking associations are referring.
If your financial manager has done well by you, then that's great - I really am happy for you, because IIRC you've got enough on your plate as it is. I certainly don't envy your situation and I do wish you the best.
But back to the topic, your dismissal of the 'opinions' of economists and banking associations - when such are backed up by hard and provable statistics - AND when those same people would normally be against the guy who led the recovery - AND considering the fact that you're providing no references whatsoever AND that the statistics you did claim were mostly WRONG (as I showed with more reliable references)...Clavos, I'm sorry, but IMO you're approaching willful ignorance.
18 - Clavos
Clavos, I'm sorry, but IMO you're approaching willful ignorance.
Fine, Glenn, let's leave it at that.
19 - Clavos
ABC News October 23, 2009
20 - Clavos
NPR Boston
21 - Clavos
Bloomberg
22 - Clavos
North Carolina
USN&WR
And on and on...
23 - Ruvy
As for one of the wars that Obama is pretending to pursue, it appears that all the dithering is done, and that a decision will be announced after 3 November or whenever elections fall in the States this year.
24 - Clavos
On the direction of the stock market...
25 - Glenn Contrarian
Clavos -
You said let's leave it so I did...but you didn't. No problem.
Your ABC news poll is a poll NOT of economists, but of regular people who do NOT know the definition of a recession - they only know its effects, especially unemployment. AND like I said above, unemployment does NOT improve until at least a year after the recession is over.
Your wbur.org site makes a point I've often heard before - and while the failure of so many subprime mortgages does threaten the recovery, that threat - like all threats unless consummated - is only a POSSIBILITY. Want to know what's wrong with making snap judgments based on possibilities? Look up Cheney's "one-percent doctrine".
The 'slow recovery' on your Bloomberg link...did you see the word 'may'? As in 'might'? And Bloomberg might be right - but on the other hand, we already know that the time interval from the bottom of the stock market's drop to the point where most economists felt the recession was over is the fastest since at least WWII. So the sky ain't falling yet, Clavos.
And your Jacksonville news link is WONDERFUL. Know why? Because of this quote by an economist: “This recovery is going to be a lot different than any other recovery that I’ve been associated with as an economist,” he said. “It’s going to be a sharp downturn with a slow upturn.” In other words (along with other things he said) we're already in recovery! Not only that, but check THIS out: “For seven months in a row, non-mortgage related debt has contracted across the country.”
Your CNN link is best of all! Check it out:
- there is evidence that the economy is really, seriously, we're not pulling your leg or making this up improving.
- Housing prices appear to be stabilizing. According to the widely-watched S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, prices in 20 major markets were up in August on a monthly basis for the fourth straight month.
- economists are predicting that the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 3.2% on an annualized basis in the third quarter. That would be the strongest level of growth in two years.
The POINT of the CNN article was to warn that we might be building up another stock bubble on the risks that major investors are taking now...and yeah, we MIGHT. But 'might' is a LOT different from 'will'.
Your USN&WR link puts it in a nutshell: "The recession is technically over, but that means we're at the moment of maximum pain," says Dirk van Dijk of Zacks Equity Research. "If you're tumbling down a cliff, it hurts the most once you're lying at the bottom." And what happens when you fall? You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and FIDO. That's what we're doing, Clavos.
Thanks for the help proving my point!