Clueless in the District

Obama’s and his economic team of two Wall Street insiders are still looking for growth in all the wrong places. I don’t know why they just don’t switch parties and become Republicans and make it official. Join me on a magical misery tour laced with koolaid overdose!!!

From The Hill: Obama Stands by ‘Recovery Summer’

For some reason, repeating it enough times some times make people believe it. Problem is that there has to be a grain of truth in the meme and unless you’re part of the bonus class, you’re not seeing a grain of anything.

President Obama on Friday said he has no regrets about describing the last three months as the “Recovery Summer.”

“I don’t regret the notion that we are moving forward because of the steps that we have taken,” Obama said in response to a question after he offered comments on the latest unemployment figures.

The administration described the summer of 2010 as “recovery summer” because a large amount of the 2009 stimulus package was being spent over the summer. But job growth slowed dramatically over the summer amid concerns the economy was moving into a double-dip recession, and Republicans have made fun of the moniker.

The president’s remarks came after the Labor Department released jobs data showing unemployment rising from 9.5 to 9.6 percent. The private sector created 67,000 jobs, but overall the economy lost 54,000 jobs.

And the solution to all this grief? Republican-style trickle up economics.

From WaPo: ‘White House considers pre-midterm package of business tax breaks to spur hiring’ (h/t to BostonBoomer)

With just two months until the November elections, the White House is seriously weighing a package of business tax breaks – potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars – to spur hiring and combat Republican charges that Democratic tax policies hurt small businesses, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

Among the options under consideration are a temporary payroll-tax holiday and a permanent extension of the now-expired research-and-development tax credit, which rewards companies that conduct research into new technologies within the United States.

Administration officials have struggled to develop new economic policies and an effective message to blunt expected Republican gains in Congress and defuse complaints from Democrats that President Obama is fumbling the issue most important to voters. Following Obama’s vacation and focus on foreign policy in recent weeks, White House advisers have arranged a series of economic events for the president next week, including two trips to swing states and a news conference.

I’ve got issues with this strategy from all kinds of angles. First, why is it that the answer to every problem is trips, news conferences and more speeches? Surely, they can see from the polls by now that people don’t buy these PR trips and it just makes Obama look like he’s avoiding the Oval Office and actual work.

Second, why is it always about combating “Republican charges” instead of putting forward a cogent Democratic plan? They’ve had the majority for nearly two years and the Dems in congress still can’t seem to get a real democratic set of laws passed. Is it because they really don’t want to accomplish things because they’re all blue dawgs (aka pseudo democrats) who are bought by the corporate American hands that fund them?

Third, how many times do economists have to tell this administration that giving tax breaks to businesses aren’t the answer? Tax breaks on what income and revenues? The businesses that have the income right now don’t need the tax breaks. For the most part, they’re already the recipients of bailout largess. Most small businesses are not seeing the kinds of demand that this will help at all. It’s a demand problem. They need customers. No one is going to hire or expand if they don’t think they’re going to get ongoing business. This is already evident in the automobile industry where the demand was front loaded into the cash for clunkers program last year, and now, there is no one coming into the show floor. No one wants to commit to buying something when the people around you are losing their jobs. Look around you. The people losing their jobs are your kids teachers and your neighborhood firefighters and police. Does this make you want to go out and by a new refrigerator?

Things are so upside down that Matthew Yglesias is calling these stupid tax programs “New Jobs Program”.

How stupid do they think we all are?

Better question, who really thinks this plan is going to work and how stupid are they?