Suppose I told you that President Obama doubled the stock market, created over 9 million new jobs, and if you don\’t like him anyway it shows you are a racist?
Given Mr. Obama\’s current approval numbers (which, according to realclearpolitics.com, currently average 41.4% positive, I\’m pretty sure most people would not agree.
But I am being told, via this clever little graphic from a hard-left, Obama-loving group called “Occupy Democrats”, that it is all true:
Is it?
Well, I took Occupy Democrats up on its challenge to “Think about it…”. And, in my opinion, it is full of crap.
Let\’s start with the overriding issue of this graphic: racism. I dispute that disliking Barack Obama\’s economic performance equates to being racist – in no small part because I myself fit that category – I think he\’s doing a lousy job on the economy and, as anyone who reads this blog knows full well, I fiercely defend, and fight for, racial equality. So, right from the start, Occupy Demcorats\’ statement is baloney.
Now let\’s consider the two points it makes which are supposed to make us all swoon over Barack Obama\’s brilliant success with the stock market and job creation:
-Yes, the stock market has doubled from 2009 to the present. Yes, Barack Obama has been President while it happened. But what, exactly did Barack Obama do to cause the stock market jump? Did it take place because of him or in spite of him? I can\’t answer that question any more than Occupy Democrats can.
The logical response to what I just posted is “well, he was President and it doubled. What\’s wrong with you that you don\’t give him credit for it – as you\’d “credit” him if it went down?” And that is a pretty response too – except for the fact that the exact same thing happened under Mr. Obama\’s predecessor, George Bush.
In 2002, after 9/11 decimated markets worldwide, the Dow dropped to a low of 7,286,27. By 2008, Bush\’s last year in office, it had risen to an all-time high of 14,164.53 – just about double. Do you recall anyone waxing poetic over Mr. Bush\’s brilliant success in the stock market? Me neither.
-Regarding jobs, it\’s a funny thing: to get to that 9 million-plus increase, Occupy Democrats starts its count in 2010…which eliminates Mr. Obama\’s entire first year in office.
To be fair, a usually-persuasive argument can be made that a new President\’s first year is really the previous President\’s last year, because the previous President\’s budget is in place until the fourth quarter (October 1st).
But not 2009. In 2009, unlike any other year I am aware of in my lifetime – maybe in US history – we did not have a signed budget from the outgoing President. It was held up until Barack Obama could get his so-called “stimulus package” passed: the one which put us over a trillion dollars in debt for that year and years thereafter. George Bush did not sign off on the 2009 budget, Barack Obama did, on March 11th, 2009 – almost 2 months after Bush was out of office. And when he did, it was his budget, not Bush\’s.
When you add in the Obama – not Bush, but Obama – economy of 2009, suddenly job creation drops by more than half. Now we\’re not at over 9 million new jobs, we\’re at a little over 4 million.
Whoops.
Then, let\’s add the facts that under Mr. Obama:
. we are at the lowest job participation rate in 36 years (i.e. the lowest percentage of people even bothering to try and find jobs),
. most of these vaunted new jobs are part time instead of full time,
. and there are about 3 times as many additional people on food stamps since Mr. Obama took office as there are new jobs regardless of whether they are full or part time…
Now, what do you actually have?
It sure as excrement ain\’t a great economic success, is it?
Look, I am hardly surprised that this left wing, Obama-adoring group is going all out to sell you on how wonderful the most left wing President we have ever had is – and to try intimidating anyone who disagrees, with the “you\’re a racist” bugaboo. But I thought it was important for you to understand that there is, to say the least, another way of looking at things.
I hope it has been helpful.
