Monday, August 3, 2009

Economy Improving, Obama Team Beginning to Take Credit

Yes of course they are. For Seven months they've told us that they inherited a mess (they did) and that it isn't their fault (it wasn't). Then they proceeded to enact or try to enact a series of debt increasing social objectives that didn't have much to do with economic recovery. The amount of "stimulus" spending that has actually occurred is minuscule, a tribute to the bureaucratic nightmare the legislation actually was.

And so, for four months now, the economy has begun to poke its head above the foxhole (I use the DJIA as my bellwether on this one). Clearly, little that the Obama Administration has done has ACTUALLY contributed to this, as nothing has been in place long enough. There have likely been psychological contributions from the energetic and forward leaning actions of the Administration, and these play in markets too.

So a couple of things come to mind:
1. The improvement in the economy is largely a function of the TARP bailout stabilizing the banking system. This happened in the Bush Administration and the benefits are showing themselves now.
2. The Obama folks will take credit for the economy rising--and that is a fact of life. It's how politics is done.
3. Republicans will get NOWHERE by saying "well, this isn't due to his policies, it really is due to the Republican Administration's actions last Fall". Just won't be persuasive.
4. Where Republicans will make up ground is in common-sense, plain spoken arguments that start with recognition that the economy is getting better (the longer they wait the more out of touch they'll seem), and that the threat to long term growth in the country is all the debt that we've acquired. Fiscal discipline is critical for sustaining the recovery.

Let's see where that gets us....

6 comments:

"The Hammer" said...

Number one, you have to assume or at least entertain the idea that these people might, just might cook the books. Clinton did it and I think Obama's gangsters would too. So the "slowing" of the downward trajectory doesn't mean a thing. Listen, the fundamentals are bad, end of story. My advice? Short the dollar, that's what Soros plans to do.

bbauer said...

Your last sentence sums it up. I'm personally bearish but "Hoping" I'm wrong for the greater good.

Mags Weston said...

I agree, short the dollar. Makes no difference the administration, the debt factor pads the pockets of a select few, who answer to no gov't, and the numerous ticks on that dog will never be exterminated. It's only when conservatives smarten up financially, surviving any economy, that the party will excel.

Goldwater's Ghost said...

Since this economic freefall appears to be leveling out, can we take the $708B or so of stimulus funds we haven't spent and put it back?

The Conservative Wahoo said...

GG--Obama could lock 2012 up today if he came out and did that. But don't bet on it.

Anonymous said...

We can’t let a little good news grab headlines and detract from efforts to expose Obama’s socialistic programs.
Economist are starting to say things like “the economy is stablilizing” “stocks are rising” “we are no longer in danger of the 2nd great depression”.
This may be good news to some but to me it is distracting from the essential message that needs to hammered home…..”nothing Obama has done will work”
We still need keep our fingers that Obama fails.
If the economy does turn around and next year starts looking up, the liberals are going beat their chests and proclaim “government big spending helped save America”
That can’t be allowed to happen
The unemployment numbers may be our best hope. If we come out of recession this year we can still point to the high unemployment numbers as proof that socialism is a failure.
So far it’s looking good. Economist are predicting double digit unemployment.
That should play to our advantage during the 2010 elections.
Keep your fingers crossed that more bad news is ahead. And that’s not me sounding like some kind of Anti-American.
As Rush Limbaugh said it best
“We’re talking about my country, the United States of America, my nieces, my nephews, your kids, your grandkids. Why in the world do we want to saddle them with more liberalism and socialism? Why would I want to do that? So I can answer it, four words, “I hope he fails.”

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