Yes, you read the headline correctly. Every pundit, even on the Democratic side, states that Obama cannot run on the economy. He just hasn’t accomplished anything. His policies have not worked. Unemployment has dropped so far under his watch and he has done nothing to help improve the number. But the guy is smarter than many give him credit for.
Today, the official unemployment number improved to 9.0%. This is difficult to believe being that the Labor Department claims 80,000 jobs were added in October and yet that is not enough to keep up with population growth (roughly 150,000). But stats are stats. The true unemployment rate is above 16% when including:
- those who have quit looking for jobs
- college students who never got a job
- those who are underemployed (i.e. an engineer working at McDonalds as a cashier)
When Obama passed law that extended unemployment benefits, it kept the official unemployment rate high and steady. What do you know? 99 weeks later a person falls off unemployment and the unemployment rate… DROPS! Could that partially be what is happening? When the election comes around, it will have been 4 long years since Obama took office. Unemployment was 7.6% and quickly rose to above 10%, despite promising it wouldn’t go above 8% if the Stimulus was passed. But by extending unemployment rates so that the unemployment rate would stay high and then suddenly drop in the year leading into the election, it would appear as if Obama’s policies worked.
I’m predicting that silly official unemployment rate steadily improving to near 8% come next November. Obama will run on “When we took over, it was like a runaway freight train. It was difficult to stop and it wasn’t easy. But we took control and things are clearly better. Our policies have worked and Americans are back at work.”
And so many people will fall for it. But will the many who are unemployed fall for it? Or will they see that official unemployment rate improve to roughly 8% come time of the election and think “Wow, my time is coming. It’s just around the corner. Let’s keep this guy in office.”
{ 0 comments }
