Recovery?

What a week for an American economy that is supposed to be in a recovery. The Gross Domestic Product shrank for the first time in more than three years; the unemployment rate rose to an anemic 7.9 percent; and President Obama disbanded his much-maligned jobs council. Unfortunately, President Obama and his liberal allies on Capitol Hill and in the mainstream media are willfully ignoring the fact that our economy is struggling. Acknowledging it would change their narrative that Obama is an effective president.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this week that “we are in a recovery.” Senator Reid, what planet are you on? The American economy is faltering because President Obama and Democrats in Congress are clueless as to how to get our economy moving again. Their only answer is more government spending. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was right when he said on the Senate floor, “look: if the White House spent nearly as much time trying to actually fix the economy as it did claiming it was fixed – and then finding excuses and scapegoats when its premature pronouncements turned out to be false – I suspect the economy would actually be doing better than it is today.”

Like with other initiatives that have been rolled out to get positive media coverage for the Obama Administration, the jobs council has just been a mirage. It has only met four times in a two-year time frame before it was disbanded. When the lack of meetings by the jobs council came up during the campaign, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that President Obama had a lot on his plate. What was and still is more pressing than finding jobs for Americans? Improving one’s golf game?

President Obama does not have any clear plan to right the ship, and the once thriving American economy that counted on entrepreneurs and small businesses to grow our economy has faded. On CNBC Rick Santelli said of the GDP numbers, “when you act like Europe, you get growth rates like Europe, and our discussions with economists sounds like we’re in Europe. They have the same discussions constantly.” Many European governments are on the path towards insolvency because of their failed social welfare programs. I have said in this space before and I will say it again, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives must pass a clear pro-growth economic vision to counter President Obama’s Big Government policies. It must me be a priority and passed as soon as possible.

The American economy needs a real recovery not just lip service from an administration that loves to laud a false sense of accomplishments. Americans are hurting, and President Obama aided by the media wants to look the other way from the bad economy he is presiding over. A bit of advice for the American people – don’t let President Obama and the mainstream media fool you into thinking 7.9 percent unemployment is acceptable. 2016 cannot come soon enough.