The unemployment rate for January rose to 7.9 percent, up from 7.8 percent in December, marking 49 consecutive months in which the unemployment rate has been 7.8 percent or higher. At no point during your presidency has the unemployment rate been below 7.8 percent. In contrast, the only other month in the last 29 years in which the unemployment rate was above 7.8 percent was January 1984. The jobs picture hasn’t been this bad for this long for 70 years.
What job creation measures do you plan to implement or propose in the coming months? Why will such measures be more successful than any steps you’ve taken in the last four years?
What specific job creation steps have you taken in the last four years and why haven’t they worked? What specific things did your now defunct Jobs Council do in its two years of existence to reduce unemployment? How successful were any such measures?
Bonus questions:
During yesterday’s confirmation hearing, Chuck Hagel gave unequivocal notice that he is incompetent to be secretary of defense for the United States. Placed on such notice, will you persist in his nomination? If so, why?
Does it trouble you that Iran is delighted with your nominee for secretary of defense? If not, why not?
During an interview, Hagel agreed that the United States has been an international bully. He has made repeated statements suggesting hostility toward our ally Israel and a casualness, at best, toward the threats posed by Iran. Are you comfortable having a secretary of defense with such views? If not, why do you continue to support a manifestly incompetent nominee who holds such odious views?