Sen. Tester (D-MT) says that Obama didn't stay focused on jobs and the economy

Makes sense, Obama himself did say that he "forgets [the magnitude of the recession]"

Sen. Jon Tester stands by President Barack Obama on issues like health care reform and withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, but often thinks the Democratic leader doesn’t go far enough where rural Montana issues are concerned.

In an interview at the Missoulian on Friday, the first-term senator from Big Sandy said Obama didn’t stay focused enough on stimulating jobs and the economy after the financial meltdown of 2008. Passage of his Small Company Capital Formation Act in April – to help employers raise money for expansion – could have been done two years ago and sped up the recovery, he said.

While I like that Tester is saying this, and it will make a great ad for Romney or a Super PAC to run, I don't think he is correct. The sluggish economy isn't because Obama forgot to focus on it enough - it is because he tried to use his recession as a way to further expand the power of the government.

Instead of making it easier for companies to form and to hire, Obama used his recession to push for an expensive, government controlled health care system. He poured hundreds of billions of dollars into make work programs that are neither stimulative nor effective ways to promote long term growth. He has strangled businesses with new regulations and the threat of taxes so that they don't know if they will be able to afford to open a new plant or hire new employees.

Basically everything Obama has done during his recession has only helped prolong it. If Obama would stop trying to use his recession to further government control then the economy would improve but we all know that will never happen. Thanks to Obama's "never let a crisis go to waste" policy America will continue to suffer for as long as he is President.

Updated Unemployment Revision numbers for the entire Obama Presidency

An updated version of my most recent chart comparing the initial weekly unemployment claims vs the revisions put out by Obama's Department of Labor.

I found some interesting information while I was compiling this data. For instance, 5 of the 14 downward revisions came during a 2 month period from November 2009 to January 2010 and there hasn't been a downward revision since February 19, 2011. That means during Obama's time as President there has been an upward revision 88.2% of the time.

How does that compare to Bush? Well, in his last 55 weeks in office there were 8 downward revisions and 6 spot on estimates for an upward revision 74.5% of the time.

For a larger version click the images.

Initial Weekly Unemployment Claims vs Revised Claims

Every week that the Department of Labor publishes the new unemployment claims for the week it seems that the previous weeks number has been "unexpectedly" revised upward. In fact, 64 of the last 68 weeks have seen upward revisions. For those of you who are more visually inclined here is a handy chart I made that includes the official DoL numbers going back to January 1, 2011.

For a larger version click here.

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims:

Revised upward.... again.

In the week ending April 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 388,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 389,000. The 4-week moving average was 381,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 375,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending April 14, unchanged from the prior week.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 14 was 3,315,000, an increase of 3,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,312,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,311,750, a decrease of 9,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,321,500.

That makes 59 of the last 60 weeks where the initial jobless claims has been revised upward. Of course, by putting out a lower number initially and then revising it upward the very next the Labor Department, and by extension the Obama Administration, is able to claim that initial jobless numbers are declining week in and week out.

Over the last five weeks initial jobless claims have increased by approximately 30,000 but the Labor Department has reported that number as declining week in and week out. Jon Corzine, the criminal and Obama fundraising bundler, did the same thing in New Jersey in the months leading up to his race against Christie.

I know that the initial numbers are never going to be spot on but over the course of 60 weeks you should see upward, and downward revisions. Yet, we consistently see upward revisions with the administration claiming that the new numbers are a "decrease." There is something fishy going on and Obama needs to be called on it.

Latest DCCC Fundraising Pitch

The DCCC sent this out last night after Mitt Romney's killer speech.

Did tonight’s Mitt Romney speech make you want to throw your remote at the TV?

He must think he can distract voters from his extreme agenda by lying about President Obama. And he could be right.

If Romney and the Republicans can erase their radical record and attack President Obama with enough secret SuperPAC-funded smears, then they will win in 2012.

Mitt made his case. Now, it’s time for us to make ours.

Contribute $3 right now to make sure no one forgets what radical Republicans have in store for America >>

Mitt called his speech, “A Better America Begins Tonight.”

He should’ve named it, “Forget All That Stuff I Said Yesterday.”

Now that the Republican primary race is over, Romney is trying to etch-a-sketch away his “severely conservative” policy positions. Republicans nationwide won’t be far behind. Don’t let them get away with it.

http://dccc.org/Stand-with-Obama

Thanks,

Kelly

Kelly Ward DCCC Political Director

My favorite part is the letter claiming that Romney is simply lying about Barack Obama's record. Of course, they can't actually point to where Romney was lying they simply say he was. Nothing Romney said in his speech was a lie about Obama's record

Is it easier to make ends meet? Is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? Have you saved what you needed for retirement? Are you making more in your job? Do you have a better chance to get a better job? Do you pay less at the pump?.....

We know that this election is about the kind of America we will live in and the kind of America we will leave to future generations. When it comes to the character of America, President Obama and I have very different visions.

Government is at the center of his vision. It dispenses the benefits, borrows what it cannot take, and consumes a greater and greater share of the economy. With Obamacare fully installed, government will come to control half the economy, and we will have effectively ceased to be a free enterprise society.

This President is putting us on a path where our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards, commissions and czars. He’s asking us to accept that Washington knows best – and can provide all.

Median Income is down significantly from 2009 to 2012 - Falling 6.7% In fact, Obama's policies have led to incomes falling more during the 2 year "recovery" period than they did during the actual recession under Bush.

New Homes sold are down from 374,000 a year in 2009 to 328,000 last month. With new homes for sale is down 34% since 2009.

The unemployment rate was at 7.7% when Obama took office and today is at 8.2%, and if the labor participation force was the same as when he took office the actual unemployment rate would be above 10.5%.

What about gas prices? From $1.87 the day Obama was inaugurated to $3.88 on April 23, 2012.

Clearly everything that Mitt Romney said last night about Obama's policies was true. America is not better off today than we were 4 years ago. Unemployment is up, labor participation is down, gas prices are up, incomes are down. The Obama campaign will continue to claim Romney is lying about Obama's record - just remember if Romney really was lying the Obama campaign would actually refute him with hard facts.

Stay informed and let's kick Obama out of the White House this November.

"If I Wanted America to Fail"

Powerful powerful video about how Obama, and liberal political policies, are harming America.

Disability Claims Skyrocket Under Obama

If you're a fan of discouraged workers giving up hope and signing up to get on the government dole then Obama is the President for you. To the other 90% of America Obama has shown himself to be an abject failure.

A record 5.4 million workers and their dependents have signed up to collect federal disability checks since President Obama took office, according to the latest official government data, as discouraged workers increasingly give up looking for jobs and take advantage of the federal program

Obama's policies simply aren't working. Massive unemployment, huge spikes in food stamp recipients, and now a record number of workers who have given up looking for a job and now depend on the government to provide for them. Obama is a SCOAMF.

Obama Campaign Manager Endorses Mitt Romney

Looks like the Mitt Romney campaign is having a little fun with something David Axelrod said this morning on Fox News Sunday

The choice in this election is between an economy that produces a growing middle class and gives people the chance to get ahead.... and an economy that continues down the road we're on

Clearly, Axelrod just screwed up his talking points but gaffe aside he is absolutely right. There is a stark choice this election, on the one side you have President Obama who has presided over yearly trillion dollar deficits, ignored actual solutions to rising energy costs while giving billions of tax dollars to failed green energy companies, destroyed the used car market for lower income Americans by instituting the Cash for Clunkers program that required vehicles traded in to be destroyed, and who has no real economic plan other than to soak the rich with more taxes, even though the top 1% already pay close to 30% of all federal taxes in this country.

On the other side of the aisle stands Mitt Romney. A man who understands the economy because he's actually worked as an executive. A man who has created jobs. A man who has had to build, and maintain, a balanced budget.

Axelrod is absolutely correct we can't afford to continue down President Obama's path of high unemployment, outrageous deficits, and budget busting energy prices but the only way we can get off that path is to send Obama packing. I know a lot of conservatives aren't enthused about Romney but we have to get Obama out of Washington.

No accomplishments? No worries, just attack the other guy.

Great editorial over at the Washington Examiner this morning. Obama goes negative to sidestep his sorry record It's a short article, so I won't quote it here, but head on over there and read it.

In 2008 Obama didn't have to run a negative campaign because he was a blank slate upon which voters could think of him as being whatever they wanted him to be. Post partisan uniter, a real force for change, liberal agitator, someone who finally would make the dream of equality a reality. And it worked for him but now after four years with hundreds of thousands of Americans without jobs, the lowest labor participation rate in decades, massive deficits with no end in sight, gas prices already above $4.00 and climbing it won't work again.

Obama is still personally popular because despite his policy failings the general populace wants to see him succeed. They remember him as this great speech giver who inspired hope after 8 years of Bush but slowly that veneer is being stripped away. Will voters react to the horrible economy and bungled economic policy of Obama by voting him out in November? A couple new polls this week show that Mitt Romney leads Obama nationally but it is only April so while I will continue holding on to the dream that Obama will be a one termer only time will tell.