Obama Claims “Real Progress” For Economy

By Daniel Wetter

President Obama has claimed success. He has hailed the latest jobs report as “real progress” for the economy.

We have waited years for this “real progress” to happen. Real progress is an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. Real progress is the more than 13 million still out of work. Real progress is the 18.2 percent underemployed (total unemployed and discouraged workers). Heck, real progress is the 1.4 million homes lost to foreclosure (and counting).

Like The Teen Conservative on Facebook!

Just read some of the latest news on this “real progress”:

NY Times: “Maybe it is time to start calling the glass half full.”

NY Magazine: “Tt’s looking more and more like a real recovery may finally be upon us.”

NBC News: “Better jobs data a blessing for Obama.”

Obviously, President Obama will win in 2012 sense the economy is doing wonders now.

The media has had a narrative over the last few months that sense the economy has started to pick up, Obama has a better chance of winning in November. And Friday’s jobless report has sparked a series of reports that go something like this:

Lowest unemployment rate since 2009! 200,000 new jobs means sustained growth. Insert the Obama campaign’s chart of jobs created here. Reagan did it, why can’t Obama?

In fact, this narrative almost mirrors that of the Obama campaign. However, if we take a deeper look into the state of the economy, a darker picture emanates from the American people.

People won’t go to the polls in November thinking this: “The unemployment rate is at an impressive 8 percent or above, I think I like Obama again.” More likely, they’ll go to the polls thinking this: “Am I in a better position than I was four years ago?” The likely answer will be this: “Not at all.”

We live in a self-centered world. And however you may feel about this, that means people will go to the polls thinking about themselves and how a different president could help them.

And the unemployment rate isn’t the best indicator of the economy either. That rate may continue to go down (probably not below 8 percent), but what matters is how people feel their future is. If that person just lost their house, which is an all too familiar reality, they’re not going to feel remorse for the president.

What the media is forgetting is people aren’t numbers. They matter in how presidents are elected. Many opinion writers have cited the fact that Reagan was re-elected even with an unemployment rate over seven percent. That may be true, but a record amount of people did not lose their houses then. People had hope.

Now, people are less and less optimistic. Just ten percent of people say economic conditions are good in a recent Gallup poll. And remember that headline by NBC News claiming the new jobs report is a “blessing”? It turns out that a poll attached to that very story says the opposite. A whopping 57 percent said they don’t see economic conditions improving.

There’s also the question as to what 2012 holds for us. Many don’t see a bright picture ahead.

It could be that Iran destroys another Democrat incumbent’s chances to another term (refer to the Iran hostage crisis and President Carter). Threats from Iran saying they could shut down the Strait of Hormuz (where 40 percent of the world’s oil comes from) have caused gas prices to skyrocket recently, setting a record for the December average. Many oil analysts predict 2012 to be the worst year for gas prices. And you know what high gas prices mean? Unhappy Americans.

It could also be a collapse of the Euro, Europe’s centralized money system. Economists believe there’s an 18 percent chance of the U.S. slipping back into a recession in 2012 because of a potential Euro collapse.

And, of course, there’s the unknown. But whatever happens, I believe the American people know what is right for the nation. They will vote for “real progress” in November, and it won’t be Obama.