Let’s just say he didn’t make the honor roll. The headlines pretty much say it all:
ABC News Exclusive: Obama Admin Slashed 60,000 Jobs From Recent Stimulus Report
$6.4 Billion Stimulus Goes To Phantom Districts “According to data retrieved from recovery.gov, nearly $6.4 billion was used to ‘create or save’ just under 30,000 jobs in these phantom congressional districts-almost $225,000 per job. The web site operates on an $84 million budget and is tasked with monitoring the distribution of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress…“
Recovery Board Chairman: We Can’t Certify Jobs Data at Recovery.gov
Obama: Job creation not goal of Dec. 3 jobs forum Take comfort, O ye great masses of unemployed, The One is prepared to spare no effort in engaging in serious dialog, as often and as long as it takes, in order to gather ideas. Meanwhile, your unemployment benefits are drying up and your house is on its way back to the bank. But fear not, our President will do whatever it takes to ensure he makes the right decision.
Perhaps it’s also worth noting that Herbert Hoover invested a great deal of time meeting with the heads of major industries and labor unions in the early days of the Great Depression, urging them to commit to new work expansion programs and asking them not to cut wages or lay off employees. The result of this effort was a lop-sided economy in which unionized workers employed by big business enjoyed job security and guaranteed wages, while other workers and small business owners lost their jobs or went bankrupt.
While we’re on the subject of jobs, make sure you watch this chilling graphic of unemployment by county in the US, as it progresses from January 2007 (when the Democrats took control of Congress) through September 2009. Then compare the final map’s ominously dark regions with the regions of the nation that voted overwhelmingly for Obama last year. With the exception of the Deep South, the areas that have seen the largest increases in unemployment were also the regions that voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. And the Democrats are wondering why Obama is losing the support of independents in droves?
Incidentally, the Administration has yet to comment on how its “jobs made up out of thin air” will fit into its “jobs created or saved” Stimulus goals.
Okay, employment is tanking, but maybe the much-touted TARP bailout of our “too big to fail” banks fared a little better. Whoops, my mistake again:
Inspector General: Geithner Overpaid AIG in Bailout It seems that TurboTax Timmie really stepped in it this time:
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is in trouble again, and this time he may not be able to save his job. You’ll recall that his confirmation was threatened by revelations of cheating on his income taxes. Now he’s accused of paying billions too much for the bailout of AIG and allowing the insurance firm’s Wall Street creditors — Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Wachovia — to be paid in full for their derivative contracts with $27.1 billion in taxpayers’ money.
The accusation comes from Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in a report issued yesterday. At the time of the bailout in September 2008, Geithner was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Rather than bargain with AIG and its creditors for a reasonable bailout, Geithner agreed to pay “an amount far above the market value at the time,” the report said. The bailouts for the big creditors was agreed to by Geithner “even though senior policy makers contend that assistance to AIG’s counterparties was not a relevant consideration in fashioning the assistance to AIG.”
Of course if Geithner, a former Federal Reserve bank president, had been appointed by a Republican, Democrats would now be screaming at the top of their lungs about cronyism and corruption and political paybacks orchestrated by a banking big-wig for his billion-dollar banking buddies. Thankfully, calls for Geithner’s resignation have already broken out from both sides of the political aisle.
And finally, speaking of TARP, what happened to all of the money? Apparently the big banks corrected their balance sheets by writing off or re-valuing much of their toxic assets, replenished their cash reserves, paid their executives lavish bonuses, and … well, not much else:
Obama mortgage rescue: Only a few get lasting help “Only a tiny percentage of troubled homeowners have received permanent modifications under President Obama’s foreclosure prevention plan, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the $75 billion effort.“
…
Obama supporters may argue that everyone makes mistakes, and that none of this is the fault of the President or the Democrats.
Sorry, but I’m not buying that.
We just completed eight years of “it’s all Bush’s fault.” Everything, whether he reasonably could have affected its outcome or not, was hung around George W. Bush’s neck. Bush was also panned as the worst / dumbest / most uncurious president ever. When we as a nation elected Barack Obama we were promised hope and change. We were promised the best and the brightest, the keenest, most highly educated minds, the most promising collection of intellects that the Ivy League had to offer.
And this is the best that they can do?
ADDED: When compiling links for this post I inadvertently omitted this whopper:
Millions may have to repay part of Making Work Pay tax credit
They called President Bush dumb, but his simple “check is in the mail” stimulus refunds didn’t end up costing taxpayers cash out of their own pockets. Once again, heck of a job Barry.
