Just A Bump In The Road
Americans’ Confidence In Obama’s Economic Leadership Is Tanking, Perhaps Because His Team Sees The Current “Grim” News As Just “Bumps In The Road”

Americans are hurting, unemployment is high, foreclosures are 1 out of every 46 homes in US, dollar is in the tank, borders are a sieve, USA paying trillions for education, handouts, medical care for illegals and Obama calls it a bump in the road. This isn't a bump it's a cave in. be

Goolsbee Is Leaving The CEA “With The Economy Moribund, No Clear Path To Vigor In Sight And The Unemployment Rate Stubbornly Elevated.”

 “Austan Goolsbee, one of President Barack Obama's longest serving policy advisers and the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, leaves his post pretty much as he inherited it: with the economy moribund, no clear path to vigor in sight and the unemployment rate stubbornly elevated.” (Peter S. Goodman, William Alden, And Zach Carter, “Austan Goolsbee Exit: Obama Adviser Leaves Behind Frustration, Political Dysfunction,” The Huffington Post, 6/7/11)

“Austan Goolsbee, Head Of The President's Council Of Economic Advisors, Is Returning To His University Of Chicago Post. His Departure Shakes Up The White House Team As The Nation's Recovery Sputters.” (Peter Nicholas, “Obama’s Chief Economic Advisor Resigning,” Los Angeles Times, 6/7/11)

MAYBE THAT’S WHY GOOLSBEE IS FOLLOWING THE OTHER ARCHITECTS OF THE FAILED STIMULUS BACK TO THE IVORY TOWER

Salmon: “Beyond The Headlines, Things Look If Anything Even Worse … The Average Duration Of Unemployment, For Instance, Just Hit Another New Record At 39.7 Weeks.” “If you do want to go beyond the headlines, things look if anything even worse: the average duration of unemployment, for instance, just hit another new record at 39.7 weeks; a full 44% of all unemployed people have now been jobless for more than six months.” (Felix Salmon, “Jobs Fail,” Reuters, 6/3/11)

Reuters’s Felix Salmon: “There’s No Need To Look Beyond The Headlines This Month: Both The Jobs Report And The Unemployment Numbers For May Are Telling The Same Grim Story.”(Felix Salmon, “Jobs Fail,” Reuters, 6/3/11)

BLS Commissioner Keith Hall Said That May’s Disappointing Employment Numbers Reflect “General Weakening In Job Growth.”

 “Bad US payrolls data for May appear to reflect a ‘general weakening in job growth’ rather than any temporary distortion, the head of the agency that compiles the statistics said in an interview with the Financial Times.” (Robin Harding, “US Data Chief Warns On Employment,” Financial Times, 6/5/11)

Sixty Five Percent Of Likely Voters Think The Country Is On The Wrong Track.

“Thirty-nine percent said they expect to be in the same economic position they are now, but 65 percent also said they believe the country is on the wrong track.” (John T. Bennett, “The Hill Poll: Many Voters Expect To Become Poorer,” The Hill, 6/6/11)

One In Three Likely Voters Think They Will Be Poorer Next Year.
“More than one in three likely voters expect to be worse off when they go to the polls a year from this November, a somber fact for President Obama’s reelection campaign, while just 25 percent believe they will be better off, according to this week’s The Hill poll.” (John T. Bennett, “The Hill Poll: Many Voters Expect To Become Poorer,” The Hill, 6/6/11)

Washington Post-ABC News Poll: Nine In 10 Americans “Rate The Economy In Negative Terms And Six In 10 “Say The Economy Has Not Started To Recover.”

“By 2 to 1, Americans say the country is pretty seriously on the wrong track, and nine in 10 continue to rate the economy in negative terms. Nearly six in 10 say the economy has not started to recover, regardless of what official statistics may say, and most of those who say it has improved rate the recovery as weak.” (Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, “Obama Loses Bin Laden Bounce; Romney On The Move Among GOP Contenders,” The Washington Post, 6/7/11

 And They Don’t See The Recovery Obama And Team Claim

Washington Post-ABC News Poll: “About Six In 10 Of Those Surveyed Give Obama Negative Marks On The Economy And Deficit.”

 “Overall, about six in 10 of those surveyed give Obama negative marks on the economy and the deficit. Significantly, nearly half strongly disapprove of his performance in these two crucial areas. Nearly two-thirds of political independents disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy, including — for the first time — a slim majority who do so strongly.” (Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, “Obama Loses Bin Laden Bounce; Romney On The Move Among GOP Contenders,” The Washington Post, 6/7/11)

Washington Post-ABC News Poll: “Americans’ Disapproval Of How [Obama] Is Handling The Nation’s Economy And The Deficit Has Reached New Highs.”

“The public opinion boost President Obama received after the killing of Osama bin Laden has dissipated, and Americans’ disapproval of how he is handling the nation’s economy and the deficit has reached new highs, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.” (Dan Balz and Jon Cohen, “Obama Loses Bin Laden Bounce; Romney On The Move Among GOP Contenders,” The Washington Post, 6/7/11)

 BUT AMERICANS DON’T SEE IT AS A BUMP IN THE ROAD, AND DISAPPROVAL OF OBAMA’S HANDLING OF THE ECONOMY “HAS REACHED NEW HIGHS”

“In The Obama Administration Argot, It Seems, Satisfying The Rules Of Tenure Has Apparently Become The New Version Of ‘Spending More Time With The Family.’” (Peter S. Goodman, William Alden, And Zach Carter, “Austan Goolsbee Exit: Obama Adviser Leaves Behind Frustration, Political Dysfunction,” The Huffington Post, 6/7/11)

“Turnover Within Obama's Economic Team Has Been Heavy.”

 “Turnover within Obama's economic team has been heavy. Since taking office 2 1/2 years ago, Obama has lost Romer, National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, budget chief Peter Orszag, and Jared Bernstein, who was Vice President Joe Biden's top economic advisor. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has been in place from the beginning, however.” (Peter Nicholas, “Obama’s Chief Economic Advisor Resigning,” Los Angeles Times, 6/7/11)

AND SINCE OBAMA DISCONTINUED HIS DAILY ECONOMIC BRIEFING, THE JOB OF HIS ECONOMIC ADVISORS TURNED TO SPINNING OBAMA’S POOR PERFORMANCE

Obama Has Stopped Receiving A Daily Economic Briefing. “At some point during the first two years of his administration, President Obama stopped receiving the daily economic briefing that he requested when he took office.” (Sam Youngman, “Daily Economic Briefings Disappear From Obama's White House Schedule,” The Hill, 6/6/11)

If Goolsbee Was Doing More To Help The Economy Rather Than Just Push The White House’s Spin, He May Have Stayed.

“If Goolsbee was spending his days crafting major economic policy to help the country dig out of this hole rather than trying to wanly explain that a slow recovery is nevertheless a recovery, the job would've been rather harder to vacate.” (Ezra Klein, “Why Goolsbee Is Leaving,” The Washington Post’s “Wonkbook,” 6/7/11) Source: Republican National Committee Research, www.gop.com