In 2008, billionaire publisher and real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman supported Barack Obama. Now, in a recent U.S. News and World Report article, Mr. Zuckerman says “Hope and Change” has morphed into the shattering of the American dream.
“The great American dream is no longer a house in the suburbs,” writes Mr. Zuckerman. “It is now a secure job and any job will do.“
Mr. Zuckerman catalogues the economic carnage under Obama:
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“Job seekers are only one third as likely to find a job as before Obama was elected. A record number have been out of work for over six months.”
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“Fewer Americans are working today than in the year 2000, despite the fact that our population has grown by 31 million and our labor force by 11.4 million since then.”
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“All the net jobs created during the Obama administration have been part-time jobs. An estimated 35 million Americans are trapped in jobs they would have left in better times.”
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“The unemployment rate under President Obama has averaged over 9 percent. Under George W. Bush, his predecessor, the jobless rate averaged 5.3 percent and was at 6.8 percent in the month his party lost the 2008 election.”
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“Another depressant has been the drop of some 40 percent in the net worth of the average American family over the last five years. These are Depression-like statistics. The baby boomers who are now entering their 60s are at the epicenter of the tragic collapse of their net worth.”
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“We have recovered less than 20 percent of the jobs lost in the recession, compared to previous recoveries in which over 100 percent of the jobs lost were recouped.”
While Mr. Zuckerman has not publicly campaigned for Mitt Romney, he has stated that Mr. Romney possesses “by far a greater” understanding of the economy and job creation than Mr. Obama.