President Obamas imaginary recovery
August 23, 2012 | 7:56 am
It is not easy being the deputy campaign manager for a president seeking reelection with an economic record as terrible as President Obamas. So really, Stephanie Cutter should be forgiven for the alternative reality she has created in order to defend her boss. Asked yesterday by MSNBCs Willie Geist what she would tell someone who said about Obama, Well, that hasnt worked for four years, its time for a change, Cutter responded:
Well, I think that worker probably has a good understanding of whats happened over the past four years in terms of the president coming in and seeing 800,000 jobs lost on the day that the president was being sworn in, and seeing the president moving pretty quickly to stem the losses, to turn the economy around, and over the past, you know, 27 months weve created 4.5 million private sector jobs. Thats more jobs than in the Bush recovery, than in the Reagan recovery.
Oh Stephanie, you do tell such wonderful lies.
When President Reagan was sworn into office, there were 74.6 million private sector jobs in the U.S. economy. At the nadir of that recession, employment fell to just 72.7 million jobs. By August 1984 the economy supported 78.8 million private sector jobs. So from the depths of the recession, to an identical place in Reagans term, the Reagan recovery created 6.1 million jobs. Alternatively, from inauguration to August 84, the Reagan recovery had created 4.2 million private sector jobs.
When Obama was sworn into office, there were 111 million private sector jobs. At the bottom of this recession, private employment fell to 106.7 million. Today, the U.S. economy supports 111.3 million jobs. So, from bottom to top, the Reagan recovery created 6.1 million private sector jobs while the Obama recovery has only created 4.5 million jobs. And from inauguration to August of reelection, Reagan created 4.2 million private sector jobs to Obamas 312,000.
The total jobs numbers are even worse for Obama. When he was sworn into office, the U.S. economy supported 133.5 million jobs overall. Today, it only supports 133.2 million. Thats right: Obama is still a net job destroyer. You can see why Cutter has to make things up.
Campaigning in Roanoke, Virginia, yesterday, Paul Ryan said, Obama said last summer was going to be the summer of recovery. Its a summer later and its still worse. He said that the private sector is doing just fine, we need more government. This is President Obamas imaginary recovery. Its not here.
Apparently Cutters delusions come from the top.