ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

The full chart can be seen at http://my.democrats.org/Jobs-Chart . The Obama administration feels the President's jobs record is being distorted by his Republican opponents. The Democratic Party distributed this information to try to set the record straight. The data are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the government agency that calculates and publishes the official record of labor market activity. Note that this graph is for private sector jobs. If you take a closer look at the monthly labor reports you will see that government employment has been decreasing during much of this period. In other words, if the number of federal government jobs were not decreasing, the employment situation would be even better. There is a legitimate debate to be had about the extent to which current policies have helped or hindered economic recovery. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the government agency of professional economists who advise all members of Congress about...

In the November 2, 2010 online New York Times commentary, " How Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Midterms ," Timothy Egan explains that the partisan attacks on President Obama's handling of the U.S. economy are misguided and untrue. Egan writes: If I were one of the big corporate donors who bankrolled the Republican tide that carried into office more than 50 new Republicans in the House, I would be wary of what you just bought. For no matter your view of President Obama, he effectively saved capitalism. And for that, he paid a terrible political price. Suppose you had $100,000 to invest on the day Barack Obama was inaugurated. Why bet on a liberal Democrat? Here’s why: the presidency of George W. Bush produced the worst stock market decline of any president in history. The net worth of American households collapsed as Bush slipped away. And if you needed a loan to buy a house or stay in business, private sector borrowing was dead when he handed over power. As of elec...

In the August 25, 2010 New York Times editorial " Building a Nation of Know-Nothings ," Timothy Egan suggests that in the consideration of politics, many people are willfully ignorant of the truth. Having shed much of his dignity, core convictions and reputation for straight talk, Senator John McCain won his primary on Tuesday against the flat-earth wing of his party. Now McCain can go search for his lost character, which was last on display late in his 2008 campaign for president. Remember the moment: a woman with matted hair and a shaky voice rose to express her doubts about Barack Obama. “I have read about him,” she said, “and he’s not — he’s an Arab.” McCain was quick to knock down the lie. “No, ma’am,” he said, “he’s a decent family man, a citizen.” That ill-informed woman — her head stuffed with fabrications that could be disproved by a pre-schooler — now makes up a representative third or more of the Republican party. It’s not just that 46 percent of Republicans belie...

The irony of this billboard is that it seems to be based in fear and ignorance, yet purports to inform its readers to be mindful of fear and naiveté. Socialism is fundamentally about the public ownership and operation of the means of production in an economy. In the July 13, 2010 article " Billboard linking Obama, Hitler draws complaints ," Associated Press writer Luke Meredith explains how the sign caused controversy, even within the tea party movement. DES MOINES, Iowa – A billboard created by an Iowa tea party group that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin is drawing sharp criticism — even from fellow tea party activists who have condemned it as offensive and a waste of money. The North Iowa Tea Party began displaying the billboard in downtown Mason City last week. The sign shows large photographs of Obama, Nazi leader Hitler and communist leader Lenin beneath the labels "Democrat Socialism," "National Socialism," and ...

The Federal Reserve System was designed to be independent of political influence. The seven members of the Board of Governors serve 14-year terms. Thus, appointees can be in office longer than the U.S. President who appoints them. And the terms are staggered so that one term expires every two years, minimizing the influence of one President on the makeup of the Board. However, resignations and retirements can give a President opportunities to appoint a majority of the Board. As the article below explains, Barack Obama will soon make his fifth appointment and thus will have reshaped the composition of the U.S. central bank that guides monetary policy, controls the money supply, and oversees the banking system. In the April 29, 2010 article " Obama to name Yellen as Fed's No. 2 ," Associated Press writer Darlene Superville reports: WASHINGTON – Putting a bigger stamp on the Federal Reserve, President Barack Obama is set to name Janet Yellen as vice chairwoman of the ce...

Obama's budget deficits to rise from wars, recession y Steven Thomma, McClatchy Newspapers Mon Feb 1, 5:05 pm ET WASHINGTON — Fighting wars and lingering effects from a deep recession, President Barack Obama will run up a record $1.56 trillion budget deficit this year and is proposing a 2011 federal budget that would spend $1.27 trillion more than the government takes in next year. Even with plans to scale back after that, his budget proposal Monday calls for deficits of more than $700 billion a year for at least a decade and relies on outside help from an as-yet un-appointed commission to bring them down more. "It's a budget that reflects the serious challenges facing the country," Obama said at the White House . "We're at war. Our economy has lost 7 million jobs over the last two years. And our government is deeply in debt after what can only be described as a decade of profligacy." While he said that he wanted to bring the deficit down later, he warne...

In the January 29, 2010 Politico article " Obama rumbles with House GOP ," Patrick O'Connor and Tim Grieve report on the verbal sparring between President Barack Obama and the House Republicans that invited him to their policy retreat: BALTIMORE — President Barack Obama on Friday accused Republicans of portraying health care reform as a "Bolshevik plot" and telling their constituents that he’s "doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America." Speaking to House Republicans at their annual policy retreat here, Obama said that over-the-top GOP attacks on him and his agenda have made it virtually impossible for Republicans to address the nation’s problems in a bipartisan way. “What happens is that you guys don’t have a lot of room to negotiate with me,” Obama said, silencing the smattering of Republicans who had applauded when he said “Bolshevik plot.” "The fact of the matter is, many of you, if you voted with the administration o...