Obama adviser David Plouffe, speaking on Good Morning America today, offered a strangely contradictory message: that Congress has to pass Obama’s jobs bill to improve the economy, and that the Obama campaign is preparing for a tough race because the economy won’t improve anytime soon.
Stephanopolous: Last week Vice President Biden said that the Republican Party is actually strong enough to win. Is he right?
Plouffe: We’re going to have a close election. Some things aren’t going to change between now and next November. We’re obviously in a tough economy. We’re going to have a very close election as most presidential elections are. So we’re going to have to fight for every vote, and that’s what we intend to do. What the president’s focused on is how do we get people back to work in the short term and how do we rebuild an economy in the long term that makes sure hard work and responsibility is rewarded and that the middle class feels more secure?
By the way, if the Obama team is wondering why no one seems all that enthused about their latest big-spending bill designed to lower the unemployment rate, this chart from the Washington Post from a few days ago seems pretty illustrative:
According to the White House’s projections, the stimulus bill was supposed to bring down the unemployment rate to about 6.5 percent or so by now.
Obama and his team have given skeptics absolutely no reason to believe that this grab-bag of Democratic spending proposals will impact the unemployment rate any differently than the last one — except that this one is smaller.
I never understand why the media, or anyone else, gives political hacks like Ploufe and Axelrod the time of day. The appear on shows like Meet The Press. I saw on Fox a correspondent actually reading a memo from Axelrod stating campaign talking points.
These are campaign operatives. They have no expertise or even responsiblity for government policy. Their sole interest is getting Obama re-elected and making a lot of money in the process. Why does the media put them on like they have something significant or important to say about policy?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBingo
Not to mention that Axelrod and Pluffe are two of the oiliest creeps to come down the pike in a long while.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTo the extent it's possible, I love that graph. It should be a requirement that every piece of legislation include a with/without comparison so we can determine if the legislation has lived up to expectations.
That graph appeared in a January 2009 Report authored by Christina Romer. In the January 2009 Report, Romer reversed her earlier research which showed that tax cuts stimulate the economy more than government spending. Not surprisingly, once she joined the administration, she began arguing for government spending as the preferred stimulus mechanism. The politicians are driving economic policy in the Obama White House, not the economists.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"According to the White House’s projections, the stimulus bill was supposed to bring down the unemployment rate to about 6.5 percent or so by now."
Hey! According to thw White House's projections, DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING would have brought down the unemployment rate to about 7 percent or so by now. So the stimulus bill has actually increased unemployment by about 2 percent from where it would have been.
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