
President Obama cannot continue to take credit for every economic success and then to blame Republicans for every single one of the numerous economic catastrophes that his administration has failed to contain.
On Friday, the latest jobs report came in, and hearts sank. Unemployment ticked up as Americans reentered the labor force and employers refused to hire, producing a paltry 69,000 jobs in the entire month of May. Of course, President Obama was quick to blame the economic malaise on Republicans, who have blocked many parts of his inadequate and government-dependent jobs plan.
Today, the New York Times featured a column that could have easily been written by an Obama campaign consultant. The title was “Weak Economy Points to Obama’s Constraints,” and the article discusses, among other things, how powerless President Obama is to solve our nation’s economic problems. Check out this excerpt from the article’s introductory paragraph (emphasis mine):
The bleak jobs report on Friday predictably had heads snapping toward the White House, looking to President Obama to do something. Yet his proposed remedies only underscore how much the president, just five months before he faces voters, is at the mercy of actors in Europe, China and Congress whose political interests often conflict with his own.
I, for one, find this to be highly ironic. The President of the United States, the leader of the free world: powerless? I don’t think so, and I don’t believe the president does either. President Obama managed to pass the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislative achievement, and also was able to get his way on the stimulus programs (remember Solyndra?).
But Obama is indeed powerless, in a way. By persisting in pushing failed policies, he has turned Americans against him and has received hardy opposition from Republicans, who want to try a new approach to fix the economy. An excellent contrast to the president is Bill Clinton, who – during the latter half of his first term and the entirety of his second term – capitulated to Republicans to enact welfare reform and other immensely positive legislation that served to buoy the economy during and after his term in office. President Obama, however, has doubled down on his own failed policies instead of being open to Republican proposals such as tax cuts and entitlement reform, and has thus seriously jeopardized his ability to push through his ideas, however well-intended.










