President Pivots To Jobs, Again

FYI –

Today the White House announced that President Obama will give yet another 'big speech' - in a month. As Leader Cantor said today in a Memo to House Republicans, “people expect their leaders to lead. That means moving past the class warfare and the divisive politics and instead doing what is needed to get people working again. That means delivering results, not simply speeches. Republicans only control slightly more than half of one-third of Washington. Despite that, we have focused on jobs since day one, and finally begun to stop Washington from spending money that it doesn’t have.”

President Obama Says He Will Get Serious About Jobs ... Next Month: On his 938th day in office President Obama also said he would soon have a completed jobs plan. Maybe early fall, something like that. (The Los Angeles Times, 8/17/11)

• Despite Promising To Unveil “Fresh Ideas,” Details Of The President’ s Plan Indicate That It Is A Compilation Of His Old Proposals. The White House on Wednesday said President Barack Obama would unveil fresh ideas to jump-start the economy and cut deficits, but details offered so far appeared to be a compilation of old proposals. (Reuters, 8/17/11)

Editorial: Instead Of Putting Forward Ideas To Get Americans Back To Work, President Obama Has Focused On Holding Campaign Event After Campaign Event. What did he do at these stops? He gave political speeches that were hard to distinguish from his campaign fund-raising speeches. He criticized Republicans incessantly, blamed the debt downgrade on them and accused them of putting their party before their country. Then, he worked the rope lines and kissed babies. No, not a campaign trip at all. (Union Leader, 8/17/11)

• Editorial: The Inability Of President Obama To Lead The Country Has Reached A New Level Of Concern. To The inability of President Obama to run this country has reached new levels of concern, including within the Democratic Party itself. ... Obama is a great speaker, but his rhetorical skills seem limited to the enthusiasm he has for spending money on entitlement programs. Obama has to have a sound legislative agenda and a strategy to secure its passage. He has no legislative agenda and he has no strategy. He waits for others to put forth their ideas, and then is not very responsive. He seems paralyzed, unable to act. The American people and the world are waiting for him to lead the country. They will follow a president who is credible, decisive and a strong leader. You can't find that in this president. ... A year and a half ago, Obama told ABC's Diane Sawyer he'd rather be a good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president. He hasn't even managed mediocre. (Buffalo News, 8/16/11)

Editorial: President Obama’s Rehashed Bus Tour Prescriptions Don’t Come Close To Solving The Job Crisis Facing America. The small proposals he mentioned Monday -- renewing payroll tax cuts, an infrastructure bank and incentives for hiring vets -- are worthy ideas that don't come close to matching the proportion of the problem. For millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, stronger action is needed. If nothing else, he should put the entire administration's muscle behind creating conditions for businesses to expand and hire. (The Minnesota Star-Tribune, 8/16/11)

• Editorial: President Obama “Has No Idea” How To Turn The Economy Around. Obama might have been a good president in a different era -- if we had no debt problems, the economy was growing and unemployment was manageable. But the situation is far different and far more desperate. This country needs a leader now who can turn the economy around, and it's become clear that Obama has no idea how to do it. (Buffalo News, 8/16/11)

The Results Of The President’s Failed Economic Agenda: Only Democrat-Controlled Washington Has A Positive Economic Outlook. Washington, D.C., led the nation in economic confidence during the first half of 2011 with the only positive Economic Confidence Index score (+11) in the U.S. Its 12-point increase in confidence compared with the same period a year ago expanded its lead.... Gallup's Economic Confidence Index averaged -28 nationwide during the first six months of 2011, reflecting Americans' pessimistic views of the current and future U.S. economy. This consumer pessimism essentially matches that of the first half of 2010, when the index averaged -26. (Gallup, 8/15/11)