Politics Obama - Actually doing a good job?

Nearly three fourths of Republican senators signed on to a bill this week to effectively prohibit Congress from enacting any law that they consider unconstitutional, relying on a strict (and discredited by the Supreme Court) interpretation of "enumerated powers" in the Constitution, regardless of Supreme Court's precedents or previous interpretations of such power, the commerce clause, etc.

Dr. Coburn and Senator Paul Introduce Legislation to Restore Constitutional Limitations on Congressional Power - Press Releases - Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

Either their way and their interpretation of the Constitution or the highway and screw the Supreme Court and the separation of powers.

And some think you can compromise with these guys?

 

Another perspective.



US Government Spending As Percent Of GDP - Charts Tables History

Or.



During a recession, from a Keynesian point of view, we would expect a short term increase in government spending as a percent of GDP and then we would expect government spending as a percent of GDP to decline (reverting back to normal) as the overall economy improves. This is what we have seen. But what we are also seeing is a longer term trend of government spending being a larger and larger portion of the economy. As this occurs we will see a diminishing impact of short-term increases in government spending.

A comparison to the Bush years is not important, in the context of the 2008/09 recession.

Perhaps, we can say that a larger spike in government spending in 2008/09 would have resulted in more economic growth. If that is all we look at, we do have a period under Bush to compare too, which is 2000-2002.



With an economic recovery period that was much stronger than what we have today. Clearly there are some other factors in play with our current slow growth.

PS- anyone looking at wealth disparity under President Obama? The silence is deafening, considering what we were hearing when Bush was President! Or, is this President powerless, it is not his fault? Must be nice having apologists.

(added) for those not inclined to look - during 2009-10 the top 1% got 93% of the economic growth. Putting it in perspective, assuming you agree that government spending stimulated economic growth, the increase in government spending went to the rich to the tune of $.93 of every dollar. Let's have some more of that, please - says Ace in a purely cynical tone!

Income Inequality Worse Under Obama Than George W. Bush

There are many other sources reporting the same info, and info including 2011 that I have seen.

 

What more should Obama do to address the income inequality.....beyond the two middle class tax cuts previously enacted and maintaining the Bush middle class tax rates... or the numerous small business tax cuts enacted... all while still trying to keep the debt from ballooning?

How about an infrastructure investment program, solving two problems at once -- creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and repairing deteriorating roads, bridges, ports, etc? Nope......Republicans wont go for that.

How about raising the minimum wage. Numerous studies refute the argument that it would hurt small businesses. Nope....Republicans wont go for that.

I know....lower the tax rate on the top 1% and it will trickle down! By George, I think I got it!

 

standing down from the idiot "war on terror" and dismantling the national-security state--which was not envisioned as permanent to begin with---is an obvious and important step toward enabling more rational allocations of resources.

but the chances of the obama administration doing more than making vague gestures in that direction in speeches nicely delivered but immediately forgotten is about nil.

witness the ongoing, dispiriting farce that the snowden leaks have engendered.

 

I forgot the other part of the equation to addresses income inequality.......take a chain saw to the social programs that primarily benefit the working poor with the mantra of "small government grows the economy."

 

all the while keeping off the table the conservative patronage systems of the carceral industries, the surveillance state and the military.
you know, the instruments of american class warfare.

 

It is the August recess when members of Congress are supposed to be back home meeting with constituents.

But...

Would you want to explain to your constituents why you are part of the worst and least productive Congress in history?

Or face a raging horde of Tea Party activists screaming about "Obama's death panels" and "shut down the government."

Or a gaggle of liberals and libertarians screaming "stop spying on us."

 

Rich getting richer.

We are past the peak numbers for foreclosures, but new mortgage activity is trending down. Interest rates are going up. Fewer people will meet affordability standards. Not a good combination for the future.

What about actual spending?

U.S. Self-Reported Spending Flat Since May

As the percent of total employment, part-time work remains at recession highs. We should be seeing a healthy decline by now.

Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco | What’s Behind the Increase in Part-Time Work?

Our economy is under-performing. Favorable individual data points does not show the full picture.

 

Global petroleum use hits record high, thanks to boom in Asia

This probably has something to do with it... Money that would be circulating in the local economy now goes off to some corporate office in a 2% tax haven Caribbean island and a little to the workers in some far off place where they drill and pollute the landscape.

 

The US needs to lead global economic growth. Under performance in the rest of the world is no excuse.

US Economy | Economy Watch
--- merged: Aug 30, 2013 4:08 PM ---

Entrepreneurship, or new business creation and growth. Our regulatory environment is stifling small business.

Uncertainty is a cloud over new hiring. For example Obamacare is causing some companies to cap hiring activity and in some other cases restrict hourly employees to part-time status. These kinds of issues are real and are having a real impact but are being ignored in Washington.

The pattern has always been the same. Technology leads to productivity gains. This leads to shifts in employment, in some cases the demand for more technical jobs is not being met because people do not and are not getting the skills required to fill these jobs - education system not responding to changing needs.

Productivity gains can lead to increased wages and increased living standards - however when competition is absent corporate profitability increases, which is what we see today. For example in the banking industry, yes after the financial crisis, banks are bigger, fewer and making record profits as they reduce their workforces and limit lending activity (hurting small business activity). Why? Because regulations have restricted competition, we have fewer bank now and banks are profiting from basically free money that they can then lend to the government to make a risk free profit. Not to mention their ability to enact excessive fees. It is ridiculous that a working poor person with a low bank balance may incur fee as a percent of the balance of 50% or more each month. So much for Washington looking out for the little guy. I need to stop venting...

 

There has not been one study that supports this assertion.

Beyond that, you are misrepresenting the issue regarding the restricting hourly employees to part-time status. When the government counts “full-time employees” it doesn’t just count heads, it counts hours. The law says that the firm must offer insurance if it has 50 full-time “or full-time equivalent employees”so cutting individual hours below 30 hours/week is offset and simply hiring more part-time employees wont get a small business out of the mandate.

Not only does the Affordable Care Act invest heavily in health-related technology and thus increased productivity, it also stimulates competition through the Insurance Exchanges, particularly in the many states where the 3-4 largest insurers controlled 80%+ of the market.
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