Posted on 11/06/2014 12:40:59 PM PST by walford
The unemployment rate has fallen by nearly three percentage points and the U.S. economy has added 4.6 million jobs since President Obama won re-election in November 2012, but voters in the midterm elections gave him no credit for the improvement.
Analysis of exit polls from Tuesday’s elections shows that voters who say their finances are getting worse voted 2 to 1 for Republican candidates, and that 6 out of 10 voters were dissatisfied with the Obama administration’s management.
Obama pointed out Wednesday in his post-election press conference that although many economic indicators are improving, "there are still a lot of folks out there who are anxious and are hurting and are having trouble making ends meet, or are worried about their children’s future."
"And it’s my job to give them some confidence that this town can work to respond to some of those worries that folks have," Obama acknowledged, adding that "we haven’t done a good enough job convincing them of that. And I understand that."
Nevertheless, only 45 percent of voters listed the economy as the top problem facing the country, down from nearly 60 percent in 2012 and 63 percent in 2010. Seven in 10 said the economy was in bad shape, but that number also declined from previous elections.
President Obama said Wednesday that concerns about his administration might be dragging down voters' estimation of the recovery. "If they’ve been watching Washington over the last two, four years, what they’ve seen is a lot of arguing and a lot of gridlock but not a lot of concrete actions, at least legislatively, that have made a difference in their lives.”
Part of the problem is likely that many people have taken lower-paying jobs or have gone years without pay raises, problems reflected in the fact that median wages have barely kept pace with inflation over the past few years. The Census Bureau reported in September that the median household income in 2013 was effectively unchanged from 2012 and remained 8 percent below its 2007 level. More recent statistics have shown further stagnation in 2014.
"Despite economic growth, wages and income have still not gone up," Obama noted. "And that’s a long-term trend that we’ve seen for 10, 20, 30 years. And it makes people worried about not just their own situation but whether their kids are going to be doing better than they did, which is the essence of the American dream."
Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also suggested that sluggish wage growth was at the heart of Democratic candidates’ struggles in an interview on MSNBC Wednesday.
"I think that there is a seething anger by the middle class at Washington, and I think that both parties need to listen to that,” he said, adding that “it's about the middle class' pocketbooks, and it's about our ability to come together where we can."
But whatever the underlying cause of voters’ negative perceptions about the economy, it’s clear that the economy has colored their perception of Obama and the direction of the country as a whole.
Almost half of all voters said that they expect life for the next generation to be worse than it is today, with only one in five expecting it to be better.
“This pessimism about the state of the economy also appears to be strongly affecting Americans' views of the direction of the country as a whole,” wrote political scientists Monika McDermott and Stanley Feldman in a post-election analysis for CBS. “Voters do not appear to be seeing the same positive signs that many economists do. As with the economy, those concerned about the direction of the country voted overwhelmingly for Republicans in House elections.”
My exact sentiments - I give him
FULL
credit for the state of the economy.
Obama wants to talk about people hurting economically...no jobs...no opportunity....and yet he finds the time and money to go on vacations and golf tours...what an arrogant POS...the sooner he is out of office...the better....it was Obamacare and the 30 hrs reg that cost so many jobs and wages...and yet he does not see it...
And the 1/ 3 voting comment...well the votes are in and the liberals lost..it was an election fair and square and it will have consequences!
They did in Virginia...
I have many family members and friends who are working two and three part-time jobs and making less money, than six years ago when they were working one job, with benefits.
“...Employers are keeping their workers in the part-time threshold to keep them exempt from Obamacare. So workers must work multiple low-paying jobs that have no benefits — and are thus in effect working unpaid overtime with no benes.
Employers are getting more labor for less money. People who do have jobs are expected to make up for the workers who have been laid off — or not been hired at all.The stock market is doing great under this paradigm...”
BINGO!
But they do give him blame.
I give him all the credit for wrecking the economy.
Now that the election has passed, this number will start heading back upward and Obama and his flying monkeys in the media will blame the Republicans for the increase.
I give Obama all the credit for the economy.
Savings account interest 1/10 of 1%.
This week’s supermarket ads:
Beef Hot dogs between $5.00 and $6.99 a pound/
Ground Chuck at $4.99 a pound
Bacon $7.00 a pound
NY Strip steak $9.99 a pound on sale!
The U3 unemployment rate, which does not count discouraged workers, is at “only” 6%.
But the U6 rate, which does include discouraged workers and which is still calculated by BLS, is at 12%:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
Using the flawed U3 number as the official rate is dishonest, IMO.
BS. This "reporter" believes the lies (statistics) from the government? Have the Wash Examiner's standards dropped?
I don’t give odumbo credit for anything positive, his only real accomplishments have all been of a negative connotation for this country. Please tell me which “good” thing odumbo has done? Obviously I missed it.
I am not an expert in the field but I read recently that, if the unemployment rate were reached with the same data that was used during the Reagan years, it would be over 23 percent. They change the way they sort the data and can’t understand why the public sees through it.
“Experts” have also taken the cost of both food and gasoline out of the equation when they tally inflation- with complete disregard for the fact that food and gasoline are the two things consumers have to purchase regularly. My guess is that, if we had a Republican in office, both food and gas would be put back into the equation. Everything this government and the lapdog press puts out to us is smoke and mirrors.
Oh, we gave Obola plenty of credit for the sucky state of the economy, as did most voters. We just don’t believe the government “statistics” aka lies. We know better and give Obola FULL credit, or rather BLAME!
Giving Obama credit for this economy is a bit like being shoved into a ten-foot pit and then being grateful to the guy who pushed you in when he tosses down a two-foot ladder.
Voters proved to be smarter than the liars who are promoting an imaginary economic recovery.
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