With South Carolina’s unemployment rate rising to 9.6% last month, you might think Gov. Nikki Haley would want to take some time off from campaigning for Mitt Romney and maybe, I dunno, do some job-creatin’ around here.
Nope! Fresh off her speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, “National Nikki” decided to crash the Democratic Convention this week and accuse President Barack Obama of not doing enough to rescue the foundering economy he inherited.
The theme of the press conference was “Obama isn’t working,” an obvious dog-whistle on the stereotype of the “lazy black guy.” Yes, U.S. Rep. Tim Scott was also in attendance — but that doesn’t make it any less race-baitey.
Haley, Scott and the other Romney surrogates in attendance made the argument that the economy hasn’t gotten better in the nearly four years since President Obama took office. Interestingly, Romney himself said back in January that “of course it’s getting better.”
Thanks to the Center for American Progress, we can show that the U.S. economy has gotten better during President Obama’s time in office. CAP released a report just this morning comparing several economic indicators during 2008 and 2012:
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
South Carolina Democratic lawmakers who aren’t attending the DNC held a press conference Tuesday afternoon, asking the governor to come home and do her job. Standing outside Gov. Haley’s empty office, state representatives James Smith (D-Richland) and Mia Butler-Garrick (D-Richland) accused the governor of going on “junkets” to Tampa, Charlotte and Michigan to campaign for Romney and increase her own national profile — at the expense of everyday South Carolinians.
Rep. Smith answered Gov. Haley’s “are you better off” question with a question of his own: Can you think of any other full-time state employees who would be able to take two weeks of personal vacation time without being fired?
Watch video of Gov. Haley’s speech below:
This is called “fun with statistics.” Of course the numbers from 2007-2008 (aka, strong numbers in 2007 to housing market collapse in 2008) would look bad compared with the practically flat growth of the past year.
Lemme throw these numbers at you:
unemployment rate September 2008: 6.1%
unemployment rate July 2012 8.3% (more than 33 percent INCREASE)
National debt September 2008: $10 trillion
National debt September 2012: $16 trillion (60 percent INCREASE)
Number of mortgages in default, September ’08: 1.2 million
Number of mortgages in default, July 2012: 1.3 million (8 percent INCREASE)
There’s no doubt Mr. Obama inherited a terrible situation. But, there’s also little doubt his policies have had very little positive impact.
Add this one to the list also.
http://stateofworkingamerica.org/files//jobs_underemployment_gender11.png
Peter, you talk as if you expected all the job losses and mortgage defaults to magically stop once the president was sworn in — something even the most devoted Obama “Kool-Aid drinkers” knew to be impossible. OF COURSE unemployment kept rising once Obama became president; we were in the middle of the worst recession any of us has ever experienced. But the stimulus and other Obama policies clearly helped to slow the bleeding, because we went from job losses to job gains in just over a year after he took office: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxe2zxqoum1qzhkvho1_500.jpg
You can certainly argue that his policies didn’t do enough, but many economists point to that as evidence that the stimulus should have been even bigger. “Very little positive impact?” Hardly.
Also, do you not see the disconnect in criticizing President Obama for $6T in emergency recovery spending and infrastructure investment after Bush put $5T in wars, Medicare giveaways and tax cuts for the rich (which had little to no economic benefit) on the national credit card? I’d like a balanced budget just as much as you, but take the log out of your own eye before you criticize the speck in your neighbor’s.
Sure. That’s why I wasn’t criticizing the president over the economic numbers in years one and two. But it’s now been FOUR years that’s he’s been at the helm. We ought to be at least back to the numbers of the terrible “Bush mess” by now, don’t you think?
You bring up debt under Bush, which is certainly fair game. (for the record, I opposed the prescription drug benefits without finding a way to pay for it and wished Congress had raised war bonds). However, the current administration has created more debt in four years than Bush created in eight (and his deficits were certainly aided by a Democratic-controlled Congress in ’07-’08). We’ve been running up $1 trillion in debt PER YEAR the past four years. That’s ludicrous.
I, for one, am sick of hearing the argument that the “stimulus” debt was needed to spur infrastructure improvement. Of the $787 BILLION in stimulus funds, about $60 billion was set aside for infrastructure. Most of the rest went towards tax credits and payouts for state governments to avoid making cuts.
Another note, I notice the Democratic convention speakers keep referencing that 2008 briefing by Paulson and Bernanke. The hope is that people will assume Congress passed the stimulus in response. They didn’t. Paulson and Bernanke wanted the TARP Act and got it. THAT’S what saved the economy (and I’ll wholeheartedly criticize the Jim DeMint-Ron Paul crowd who claims otherwise).
Besides, my original point is that your charts are misleading, and I simply posted data to show why. You have not refuted that data.
Come on now Peter you expect this man to fix eight years of extensive damage to our country’s economy and get our allies back on bored? You really should be more realistic and realize, given the mess Obama was left with we have come far in the little time he has been in there. It was many people would did not believe he would make it this far. With that being said give credit where credit is do and stop looking for a reason to dislike the man.
Even a Dufus recognizes that this is BORROWED money. When do we stop the borrowing and really stop the bleeding? Neither dang party has the answer for that one. It will never happen until we close the borders both from a trade and imigration standpoint, backup and get serious about it. The current way is NO
T working, tax and spend won’t work, there is not enough wealth at the top to tax our way out of a 16 trillion dollar debt, cutting taxes for the top won’t work either. I hear criticisms, but no answers. Obama wants to tax the wealthy, Romney wants to sheild the wealthy. Obama wants to pit the haves against the havenots, those of us that are neither the haves or the havenots are caught in a constant stream of bullshit from every angle imaginable. And the sad thing is, We are asked to trust them. Clearly it is a game of who’s got the power. When you look at it with an unbiased eye you will see both parties sold the people out. Obama didn’t have any trouble throwing his white grandma under the bus, and I would venture that Romney would have no trouble throwing anyone under the bus for the power grab either.
This is from different source than yours.
http://townhall.com/columnists/donaldlambro/2012/06/22/are_we_better_off_than_we_were_four_years_ago/page/full/
Ask the people that are a part of these numbers if they are better off.
The unemployment rate: 6.8 percent in November of 2008 and 8.2 percent now and rising in at least 22 states.
– The national poverty rate: 13.2 percent then, and 15.1 percent now.
– Americans on food stamps: 30.9 million then, 44.7 million now.
– A gallon of regular gasoline: $2.40 then, $3.60 now.
– Homeownership rate: 67.8 percent then, 65.4 percent now.
– The percentage of Americans without health insurance: 16 percent then, and 17.7 percent now.
– America’s median household income: $50,203 then,$49,445 now.
– The number of Americans participating in the labor force: 65.8 percent then, but now down to 63.8 percent because millions of discouraged job seekers have stopped looking for work.
– The annual budget deficit: $459 billion in fiscal 2008, but $1.32 trillion in fiscal 2012.
– The federal debt: $10.57 trillion then, $15.69 trillion now.
– The number of civilian federal employes: 2.67 million then, 2.75 million now.
Let me see the media never shut up after the hurricane hit Louisiana but Obama spends three maybe hours and nothing. Come on he isn’t the worse President but he isn’t catching the flack Bush caught. I am curious why can’t we just judge him on what he is or isn’t doing and stop the Bush Bashing. He may have the best plans in the world but how about share them and stop being so broad one can’t tell. Well he is ours for four more and like it or not we also have to be honest and admit, to fix it well it is going to hurt, not just one group but all groups. SS spends 20% of the budget and Medicare and Medicaid is 21% to save it we have to fix it. I don’t envy anyone trying to deal with a Congress that has forgotten us, surrounded by countries that hate us, and trying to be over run by fanatics spewing God says kill you. We refuse to give up and admit the world changed and while we saw it coming we elected people to take us back to our old world glory days, jobs changed, companies changed, heck that happens or we would still be riding in buggys because the wheel maker lobbyist is stopping cars. To bring us back we have to go forward and create new jobs in new industries, and hopefully anyone in Congress that doesn’t see that well I hope they are not re-elected ever again. We need to push ourselves to greatness especially since our government just really isn’t geared for that and it shouldn’t be. We need to stop making the government something it isn’t like our parents, let it do what it does best and let us do what we do. President or no President…we have lived through worse and we will live through better. Just be grateful we can vote and Acorn or Hickory Nuts or whatever it is still a great process.
I see it, what is so hard to see?
Where can I find the “Are we better off today than in 2008?” on the CAPS website?
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/economy/news/2012/09/04/36357/are-we-better-off-now-than-in-2008-you-betcha/
where is the chart on GDP vs debt
loss of median income
gas costs
food prices
inflation which is hidden in higher prices
$16T how do you overlook this?
I don’t know how anyone can vote for these losers. Just look at them and the smug satisfaction they have on their faces. The GOP has been cheering for this recession and the economic ruin of the country for the past four years. I love how they love to wrap themselves up the flag and claim to be patriotic, but in reality they just care about winning.
And Haley is the head varsity cheerleader for America’s demise.
if you have no proof do the “clinton” attack the messenger
logan we as readers expect each time you feel like writing as you are not reporting, you are giving an opinion an not everyobne’s as from what I know you have had few years in the trenches’ of work. So just use preface an opinion that is mine and mine only
your charts are askew
Al, the explicit point of a blog is to infuse news with analysis. If you don’t like that analysis, you’re more than welcome to not read it. And they’re not “my” charts, they’re charts using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other economic indicators. The fact that you don’t like what it shows doesn’t make it wrong.
Let’s look at the facts. In January 2009, when President Obama was sworn in, gas averaged $1.84 a gallon. Four years later, the cost of gas has more than doubled to an average of $3.82 a gallon.
When it comes to jobs, the Administration and their surrogates like to brag about the “creation” of 4.3 million jobs. However, as CNN has recently reported, they conveniently forget to tell the American people about the 4 million jobs that were lost and that the private sector has only created a net 300,000 jobs since 2009.
Moreover, the unemployment rate has been stuck at near 8.3% for more than 40 straight months and there are now 23 million Americans who can’t find a full-time job or any job at all. Adding insult to injury, the unemployment rate for Hispanics has remained consistently above the national average and is currently at a staggering 10.3%.
The most disturbing numbers are the poverty figures. The USDA recently released a report stating there are now over 46 million people who receive food stamps, an increase from 31 million people in January 2009. This is an astronomical 46% increase.
Additionally, 1 out of 6 Americans live in poverty with more than 1 out of 4 (26%) Hispanics living in poverty, including, six million Latino children.
We have also seen a significant decrease in the number of American small businesses. According to the U.S. Census, close to 300,000 small businesses have closed shop in the last few years adding up to a loss of 3 million jobs.
Americans have also seen a sharp increase in debt and regulations coming from Washington. As the Democrats celebrated the beginning of their convention, the U.S. debt hit $16 trillion, a 50% increase since the beginning of 2009. Our nation’s debt has now surpassed 100% of the economy and in the next five years the interest alone will cost over $1.5 trillion. In other words, this burden of debt costs each American over $51,000 and close to $140,000 per family.
In addition to debt, onerous regulations have exploded. During President Bush’s second term the Small Business Administration (SBA) reported that federal regulations cost small business owners over $7,000 per year, per employee, in time and money. Currently, the SBA reports that federal regulations cost small businesses over $10,000 per year, per employee, a 30% increase. Additionally, there are now close to 170,000 pages of red tape that all Americans must meet in order to comply with federal laws. The number of pages will only increase once the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is completely implemented.
Speaking of the ACA, a recent poll found that close to 1 in 10 businesses say they will drop their health care coverage for employees due to the cost and complexity of the President’s health care act.
The foregoing numbers have not only hurt America domestically but internationally as well. For the first time in our history America’s credit rating was downgraded. Additionally, the World Economic Forum reports that the U.S. fell for the 4th straight year in the global competitiveness index dropping from 5th to 7thlast year.
These facts are more than just pure statistics.
These are human stories. Americans today pay a lot more for groceries, energy bills, commuting to work, driving their children to school or to a soccer game. Travel and vacations for many across the country have become a thing of the past.
To put it simply, rising energy costs raises the cost of everything else.
Washington’s debt is the biggest threat to our economy that will lead to less money in the economy, higher interest rates and a potential recession that will further exacerbate unemployment and poverty rates.
It wasn’t long ago that Hispanics and all Americans were accustomed to celebrating the news of a friend or family member getting a new job or receiving a well-earned raise. We now live in an America where many people live in fear of getting laid off or settle for a job they are overqualified for just to survive. Our parents or grandparents didn’t risk moving to America in order for us to live like this. We deserve leadership, not blame-game politics.
Americans deserve to fulfill our parent’s dream that the next generation would do better than the previous one. We deserve better than what we have had to live with for the past four years.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/09/08/michael-barrera-are-better-off/#ixzz25wNm5XTw
Someone is not working in Columbia, but spending her time elsewhere.