July 20, 2010
Presidents typically invite Americans to appear at Rose Garden press conferences to trumpet their policy successes, but yesterday we saw what may have been a first. President Obama introduced three Americans—an auto worker, a fitness center employee and a woman in real estate—who've been out of work so long they underscore the failure of his economic program. Where are his spinmeisters when he really needs them?
Sure, Mr. Obama's ostensible purpose was to lobby Congress for the eighth extension of jobless benefits since the recession began, to a record 99 weeks, or nearly two years. And he whacked Senate Republicans for blocking the extension, though Republicans are merely asking that the extension be offset by cuts in other federal spending.
But Mr. Obama was nonetheless obliged to concede that, 18 months after his $862 billion stimulus, there are still five job seekers for every job opening and that 2.5 million Americans will soon run out of unemployment benefits. What happens when the 99 weeks of benefits run out? Will the President demand that they be extended to three years, or four?
"He will have to explain to the American people why his vision for bigger government, more spending, and higher taxes will work over the next four years when it hasn't worked in the past three and a half years.” – Sen. Rob Portman on President Obama
On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the...
nytimes: The Media Equation: The Atavist Matures as a Publisher and a Platform http://t.co/fUqLrhzc
nprpolitics: Sophomoric? Members Of Congress Talk Like 10th Graders, Analysis Shows http://t.co/CwNABkDX
redstate: Morning Briefing for May 21, 2012 http://t.co/rLvhcJl8 #TCOT #RS
nytimes: Euro Watch: European Markets Calm on Lukewarm G-8 Support for Euro http://t.co/udLqRQ9h
memeorandum: Factories begin to shift back to US (Hal Weitzman / Financial Times) http://t.co/8mpd5QQs http://t.co/zpvhmPy9