Communications

Friday’s dismal jobs report was the final verdict on nearly two years of failed economic policies enacted by President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress. Another 95,000 net jobs lost and unemployment remaining over 9.5% for the fourteenth consecutive month will only compound Democrats’ problems as voters head to the polls. The White House’s disastrous decision to use the economic crisis as an excuse to grow the size and reach of the federal government, rather than to take concrete, pro-growth steps to revive the economy, has prolonged the struggle of middle class families and small businesses. And what do Democrats have to show for it? A nation as polarized as at any point in our history, burdened with chronic joblessness and a national debt that threatens to transform America into a second-class nation.

Yet – the President and his Democrat allies on Capitol Hill continue to insist that the economy is moving in the right direction, hoping that perhaps their empty cheerleading will minimize their party’s damage at the ballot box. But the facts tell a different story. The economy has failed to generate sustainable job growth since President Obama took office, posting totals so anemic that unemployment could actually rise again. Congressional Democrats’ failure to find the political courage to address the looming expiration of 3.9 trillion in tax cuts before leaving Washington early to campaign, coupled with the multitude of new regulations contained in the massive financial regulation and health care bills have generated intense economic uncertainty in the private marketplace, unnecessarily curbing hiring and stunting growth. All the while, the poverty rate, the number of bankruptcy and foreclosure filings, and underemployment all remain at record levels. All of these factors have combined to prompt economists to repeatedly scale back their growth projections while extending their forecasts of high unemployment.

What is clear is that President Obama and Congressional Democrats profoundly misinterpreted the election results of 2008 and are now seen by voters as a party out of touch with mainstream America, with little business intuition or the aptitude to govern sensibly. Democrats have lost all credibility with voters on the economy and are on the verge of significant losses as a result.