Filed under: Capitalism, Democrat Corruption, Economy, Energy, Progressivism, Statism | Tags: 7.9 % Unemployment, Obama's Record, The New Normal
I want to quote AEI’s James Pethokoukis here:
Nations probably never choose decline, at least not consciously. More likely they become victims of a creeping normalcy. Things once objectionable can become passively acceptable if they happen slowly, incrementally: the boiling-frog syndrome. Decline just sort of happens, year by year, decade by decade, one “meh” economic report at a time.
The important phrase is “creeping normalcy,” accepting as normal and natural a situation that is anything but. Obama has had four years, going on five, of over 7% unemployment. That is neither normal nor acceptable. When the Labor Department reported a decline in GDP and a rise in the unemployment rate to 7.9%, we should be angry about it. It doesn’t need to be this way. We have a history of successful recovery from downturns, and we know how to do it.
The economy added 157,000 net new jobs. Obama apparently sees this as progress, but at that rate of job creation, all else being equal, the economy would not return to 4.4% —the George W. Bush administration’s low point — for another eight years.
A president actually concerned about growth would have followed some of the recommendations of his Jobs and Competitiveness Council. He would have approved a pipeline. He would have expanded domestic oil and gas drilling, and fixed the corporate tax code. He would have put a brake on new regulation. Of all the things that may be wrong with our economy, a lack of enough regulation is not one of them.
This is not the new normal. This is the result of deliberate choices by a president who values payback for his supporters more highly than creating jobs. When something goes on too long without real signs of progress, it’s easy to slide into thinking that this is just the way it is, and it will always be like this, Do not accept sluggish growth and high unemployment as normal. This is not normal, it is defeatism. Fight back.
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American Elephants 
It’s kind of like that pile of horse-pucky that Bill Clinton was trying to peddle during the DNC… that no one could do a better job at making any of this better than Obama… which will remain the accepted line for media and Democrat pundits until a Republican who knows what he (or she) is doing takes over to fix the problems, and things start getting better almost immediately. Then they will revert to talking about how “bad” it was when Obama took over, and he did the best he could with a “divided” Congress (overlooked will be several inconvenient facts, such as his having solid Democrat majorities in both houses for the first two years, or that many ideas (such as the sequester, and tax increases) came directly from him).
But what can you expect from a group of people who keep claiming Reagan’s economic policies “ruined” the country, even as they enjoyed the fruits of its success?
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Comment by Lon Mead February 5, 2013 @ 9:08 pmI actually saw one article that claimed Lisa Jackson was being considered for President of Princeton University. It’s just getting weirder and weirder. Obama’s nominees — what can I say? The Senate has long had a tradition that barring unusual circumstances, a president should get the nominees he wants. But this bunch are beyond the pale.
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Comment by The Elephant's Child February 5, 2013 @ 10:02 pmJust remember, if you’re a Democrat, you CAN’T be a failure. Who cares if your policies have done more harm than good? Why should it matter that incompetent administration of your duties has made a hash of everything? Why should it even be a problem if you have NO actual policies? You’ll still be rewarded with some position somewhere.
Obama is an example of the Peter Principle in action.
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Comment by Lon Mead February 6, 2013 @ 10:43 amI hadn’t thought about the Peter Principle. But you’re right. Democrats can’t be failures. If you’re a member of the commune, you are connected. This batch of Obama’s nominees are so unqualified for the jobs to which they have been nominated that it is unbelievable. Absolute adherence to Obama orders seems to be the defining principle. We’re in for a very bad time.
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Comment by The Elephant's Child February 6, 2013 @ 1:46 pm