Obama's Economic Record: Hope Is Fading For Americans

Obama promised hope and change but America is losing hope and are not seeing a lot of change in their pockets. As 2012 election election heats up, its time to look at Obama's economic record to see if he deserves a second term in office.

Lets look at Obama's first twenty five months in office:

	January 2009	TODAY	% chg	Source
Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. (regular conventional)	$1.83	$3.104	69.6%	1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)	$43.48	$99.02	127.7%	2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)	$38.74	$91.38	135.9%	2
Natural gas, Henry Hub, $ per MMbtu	$4.85	$4.48	-7.6%	2
Gold: London (per troy oz.)	$853.25	$1,369.50	60.5%	2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL	$3.56	$6.33	78.1%	2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL	$9.66	$13.75	42.3%	2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob	$13.37	$35.39	164.7%	2
Producer Price Index:  all commodities	171.0	189.9	11.1%	3
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall	7.6%	9.4%	23.7%	3
Unemployment rate, blacks	12.6%	15.8%	25.4%	3
Number of unemployed	11,616,000	14,485,000	24.7%	3
Number of fed. employees, ex. uniformed military (curr = 12/10 prelim)	2,779,000	2,840,000	2.2%	3
Real median household income (2008 vs 2009)	$50,112	$49,777	-0.7%	4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)	31,983,716	43,200,878	35.1%	5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)	7,526,598	9,193,838	22.2%	6
Number of long-term unemployed,  in millions	2.6	6.4	146.2%	3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 vs 2009)	13.2%	14.3%	8.3%	4
People in poverty in U.S.,  in millions  (2008 vs 2009)	39.8	43.6	9.5%	4
House price index (current = Q3 2010)	198.7	192.7	-3.0%	7
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index: 20 city composite (curr = 10/10)	146.4	145.3	-0.8%	8
Number of properties subject of foreclosurefilings,  in millions	2.82	2.87	1.7%	9
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings	5	9	n/a	10
Consumer Confidence Index (curr = 12/10)	37.7	52.5	39.3%	11
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10)	29.9	23.5	-21.4%	11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date)	140	164	17.1%	12
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate	89.76	82.03	-8.6%	2
U.S. money supply, M1,  in billions  (curr = 12/10 preliminary)	1,575.1	1,865.7	18.4%	13
U.S. money supply, M2,  in billions  (curr = 12/10 preliminary)	8,310.9	8,852.3	6.5%	13
National debt,  in trillions	$10.627	$14.052	32.2%	14

Obama's economic record doesn't look any better thirty months after he was inaugurated: 

Not only has President Obama's failed policies hurt key industries in America successful, but he has also created 14.1 million unemployed people. Unemployment has been especially hard on minorities in this country:

For example, the Congressional Black Caucus had a news conference in which they expressed their anger for high unemployment among African Americans:

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday publicly accused the Obama administration of failing to adequately address a veritable epidemic of African American unemployment.

"Can you imagine a situation where any other group of workers, if 34 percent of white women were out there looking for work and couldn't find it?" asked Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat and chairman of the caucus. "You would see congressional hearings and community gatherings. There would be rallies and protest marches. There is no way that this would be allowed to stand."

In May, the black unemployment rate was at 16.2 percent compared to 9.1 percent overall joblessness and 8 percent levels among white workers. In Milwaukee, Wis., a staggering 34 percent of black men are unemployed, CBS news reported.

The Obama administration has focused on broad-based initiatives aimed at lowering unemployment in general, while declining to address elevated rates among minority groups.

What's so fascinating is you would think that unemployment among African Americans would be a major concern for Obama. But it isn't: 

It’s ironic that the first black president of the United States would be the one to oversee a black unemployment rate that is almost double that of the already high national average. I can only wonder did Obama ever promote those mythical shovel ready jobs to unemployed blacks who are desperate to find work? The unemployment rate among blacks was actually much lower under the two terms of a white neo conservative republican than under a black socialist democratic president. Go figure.

The unemployment rate for blacks under Bush was ironically 9%

The unemployment rate for blacks under Clinton was 10%

The unemployment rate for blacks under Obama 16.1%

Even CBS News can’t ignore the obvious. Black unemployment hits depression era levels.

Another minority group that Obama is unwilling to address is the Hispanic community. Mitt Romney gives us the straight facts on how Latinos have not done well under Obama's Presidency:

The Unemployment Rate Among Hispanic Americans Was 11.6% In June – An Increase Of 17% Since President Obama Took Office. In June 2011, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans was 11.6%. When President Obama took office in January 2009, the rate was 9.9%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 7/11/11)

Over 2.6 Million Hispanic Americans Were Unemployed In June – An Increase Of More Than 20% Since President Obama Took Office. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were an estimated 2,653,000 unemployed Hispanic Americans in June 2011, an increase of roughly 468,000 since President Obama took office in January 2009. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 7/11/11)

However, the largest minority group to be affected by Obama's policies is are people between the ages of eighteen to thirty. Once again, Mitt Romney gives us the sobering statistics of unemployment among today's young generation: 

New York Times: “Employment Rates For New College Graduates Have Fallen Sharply In The Last Two Years, As Have Starting Salaries For Those Who Can Find Work.” “Now evidence is emerging that the damage wrought by the sour economy is more widespread than just a few careers led astray or postponed. Even for college graduates – the people who were most protected from the slings and arrows of recession — the outlook is rather bleak. Employment rates for new college graduates have fallen sharply in the last two years, as have starting salaries for those who can find work.” (“Many With New College Degree Find The Job Market Humbling,” The New York Times, 5/18/11)

An 18% Increase In The Number Of Unemployed Workers: The unemployment level for Americans aged 20-24 has increased from 1.85 million in January 2009 to 2.19 million in June 2011. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 7/20/11)

A 17% Increase In The Unemployment Rate: The unemployment rate for Americans aged 20-24 has increased from 12.4% in January 2009 to 14.5% in June 2011. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 7/20/11)

A Record-Shattering Twenty-Seven Consecutive Months Of Unemployment At 14% Or Higher: The unemployment rate for Americans aged 20-24 has been above 14% for twenty-seven consecutive months and counting. Since record-keeping began in 1948, the rate had been above 14% in only twenty non-consecutive months prior to the Obama Administration. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 7/20/11)

Shrinking Participation In The Labor Force: The labor force participation rate for Americans aged 20-24 has declined from 73.2 in January 2009 to 70.5 in June 2011. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 7/20/11

“Among The Members Of The Class Of 2010, Just 56% Had Held At Least One Job By This Spring [2011] … That Compares With 90% Of Graduates From The Classes Of 2006 And 2007.” (“Many With New College Degree Find The Job Market Humbling,” The New York Times, 5/18/11)

“The Unemployment Rate For New College Graduates Has Climbed Since Before The Recession, Prompting Some Recent Grads To Delay Looking For A Job.” (“Many Graduates Delay Job Searches,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/4/11)

As a result of the long term impact of unemployment for young voters, some people are that the youth will vote for Republicans in high numbers in 2012.

Minorities aren't the only ones hurt by the economy. Obama has turned a blind eye to male unemployment: 

The hemorrhaging of manufacturing and other well-paying jobs in America means that a rising number of young American men face dwindling prospects for earning a middle-class wage in the future. Young male unemployment is at 19 percent. More than 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans (most of whom are male) were unemployed in January 2011. African-American males also have been hit hard. Ten years ago, both African-American men and women had the same unemployment rate of 8.2 percent. Since then, the men’s rate has more than doubled and now is almost four points higher than the unemployment rate for women. Similarly, Hispanic men now have a 1.7 percent higher unemployment rate than Hispanic women, whom they historically have outperformed.

Pointing this out has long been off-limits in polite company, but Sen. Jim Webb, D-VA, recently broke the taboo. In an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, he called for an end to the government’s preferential treatment programs with the exception of those programs designed to assist African-Americans. Webb noted the especially galling practice of making recent immigrants the beneficiaries of these diversity programs. In other words, not only are we shipping good jobs overseas but we are giving preferential treatment to those moving here from overseas. I agree with Webb’s conclusion: “Our government should be in the business of enabling opportunity for all, not in picking winners. It can do so by ensuring that artificial distinctions such as race do not determine outcomes.”

While minorities have been disproportionately impacted by Obama's poor economic policies, the truth is that everyone, no matter where they are, have been affected by the President's failure to take command of the economy. Recently, the the Department of Bureau of Labor Statistics released its numbers for unemployment in June and there is not a part of America that is left unscathed from Obama's economic policies:

The West had the highest regional unemployment rate in June, 10.4 percent, while the Northeast had the lowest rate, 8.1 percent. Over the month, two regions experienced statistically significant jobless rate changes: the Midwest (+0.2 percentage point) and South (+0.1 point). Three of the regions registered significant rate changes from a year earlier: the Midwest (-1.1 percentage points) and Northeast and West (-0.6 point each).

Among the nine geographic divisions, the Pacific continued to have the highest jobless rate, 11.0 percent in June. The West North Central again registered the lowest rate, 6.8 percent. Over the month, two divisions experienced statistically significant unemployment rate changes: the East North Central (+0.2 percentage point) and South Atlantic (+0.1 point). Over the year, five divisions posted significant rate changes, all of which were decreases. The largest decrease was in the East North Central (-1.5 percentage points).

Obama is seeking a second term as President. But if we have a president whose economic policy is best described as unfocused since he jumps from one issue to another much like FDR did during his Presidency doesn't deserve a second term in office.

Thanks to FDR's progressive new deal programs, the Depression lasted longer than it should have. And Obama is clearly trying to emulate FDR's progressive economic policies. If we want to quickly get back on the road to economic recovery, the best thing Americans can do is deny Obama a second term in office.