Unfortunately, when our politicians speak, it is not as funny as when Art's kids said something adorable. Our politicians' quotes are far short of adorable and often approach absurdity, dangerous, and downright silly.
Today will will focus on a quote from Democratic Congresswoman Diane Wasserman-Schultz, who is also the Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. I understand that she needs to be an advocate of Democratic party positions but when you say something as inane as she did earlier in October, she loses all credibility and you begin to believe that she is really out of touch with reality.
In an interview a few weeks ago she stated that "anyone" could see that the economy is getting better and added: “We are certainly no longer dropping like a rock like we were in the months leading up to President Obama taking office,” Wasserman-Schultz continued. “And now we’ve begun to turn the corner.”
Of course, like President Obama, she plays the severely overplayed "blame Bush" card when she fails to mention that the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress in "the months (24 months to be exact) leading up to President Obama taking office." She should have reviewed our post from this past Friday where we discuss how both Republicans and Democrats are to blame for the government's gross mismanagement of the nation's economy.
But more importantly, who are these "anyone" people that she talks about, the anyones who see the economy has turned the corner? Nobody I know, considering the following information:
- According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans are much more pessimistic over the fate of the economy than they were at this time last year:
- The Gallup Economic Confidence Poll for the week of October 3-9, 2011 was minus 49, lower than it was in early 2011 and 20 points worse than the same time last year.
- 75% of those polled said the U.S. economy is getting worse, only 21% said it was getting better.
- 53% of those polled rated the current economic conditions as poor while only 9% rated them as excellent or good.
Doesn't seem like Gallup got the Wasserman-Schultz memo about the economy "turning the corner."
- The Conference Board's consumer confidence index edged up very slightly in September to 45.4 from 45.2 in September, hardly a robust turning of the corner. Neither months' numbers are good or indicate a positive belief and confidence in the economy. Any score below 50 is considered economically bad.
The Conference Board also found consumers expressing greater concern about their expected earnings in this month's poll vs. September, which the Conference Board concludes "does not bode well for spending." Makes you wonder what corner we have actually turned.
- Over 400,000 Americans again filed for first time unemployment benefits this past week, continuing a depressing trend of 400,000 filers per week for what seems like forever, With only about 100,000 jobs being created last month, the 400,000 weekly number continues to dwarf whatever positive job growth comes around the Wasserman-Schultz corner.
- But this mythical corner exists not only on Main Street, as discussed above, but also on Wall Street, as reported in a Bloomberg News report on September 30, 2011. The latest Bloomberg Global Poll of investors, traders, and analysts found the following:
- Of those polled, confidence in President Obama has plummeted over the past four months with almost 75% viewing his economic policies as a drag on the U.S. business climate and economy.
- 57% now view the President unfavorably compared with 55% who viewed him favorably back in May.
- Half of those polled expect the U.S. economy to fall back into recession within a year.
- 40% of those polled say they are optimistic about China's leader, Hu Jintao, and his impact on China's business climate while only 14% are optimistic about Obama's impact on the U.S. economy.
- 74% of the respondents say they are pessimistic about the impact of Obama's policies on the U.S. business climate, significantly up from 52% who were pessimistic back in May.
- Another recent Gallup poll reports that some Americans are finding it harder and harder to get access to affordable food, housing, and health care. Gallup's Basic Access Index measurement was 81.4 in September, an index score that is on pare with the Index values during the height of the Great Recession.
According to the writers of the report:
- "Fewer Americans now have a personal doctor and health insurance. And more Americans are having trouble paying for food and shelter."
- "Gallup's global research finds Americans are now struggling more than Chinese to afford food, a reversal from 2008."
- "If the worries about a double dip recession come to fruition, even more Americans may start having problems meeting their basic needs."
Seems like most people in the country and the world are still looking for that elusive "corner" of which she refers to. Unemployment has been stuck at 9.0% or so for what seems forever. 14 million Americans are unemployed and another 6-7 million are underemployed. The Federal Reserve is so void of ideas on how to fix the economy that they had to go back fifty years to find an antiquated economic policy for their "Operation Twist." 400,000 Americans a week file for first time unemployment benefits. Our national debt is fast approaching $15 TRILLION. Obama would rather parade and politic around the country with his lame jobs bill than come up with true economic reform and tax reform to support that economic reform.
Despite all of this reality, a Washington politician insists we have "begun to the turn the corner." If we have, we have entered a very bad economic neighborhood. Politicians say the the darndest things and that is the problem because what they say shows a deep misunderstanding of reality for most Americans.
And if you do not acknowledge or understand reality, your chances of coming up with a solution to the reality's economic problems are next to impossible. Darn.
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