About those job numbers …
Conservatives have been howling for months about the Obama administration’s “jobs created/jobs saved” statistics. Every official measure of the country’s employment situation has shown the economy shedding jobs throughout the year. Yet the White House has insisted that its policies have saved a number of jobs and has issued figures to prove it.
Unchallengeable, of course. The number of jobs saved is in the eye of the beholder — or the counter. Now ABC News reports the counting has been off, calculating a number of jobs saved to congressional districts that don’t exist. For example, ABC reports, the administration’s stimulus Web site claims 30 jobs were saved in Arizona’s 15th District — but Arizona only has eight districts.
An administration official said human error was to blame. “Some recipients clearly don’t know what congressional district they live in,” a spokesman said, “so they appear to be just throwing in any number. We expected all along that recipients would make mistakes on their congressional districts, on jobs numbers, on award amounts, and so on. Human beings make mistakes.”
Slow rebound
The third quarter’s 3.5 percent growth rate drew cheers from a White House eager for data validating its economic policies. Certainly, growth is better than recession. But a number of analysts quickly pointed out the third-quarter figure was heavily inflated by one-time government spending — cash-for-clunkers, new home buyer tax credit — that overstated the truth health of the economy. One analyst told Reuters’ James Pethokoukis real economic growth probably was closer to 2 percent, which is poor compared with the way economies coming out of recession have performed historically.
The real test will be how much the economy grows without special government spending. While the $787 billion stimulus nudged the economy away from a possible depression, Pethokoukis writes, it wasn’t structured (two-thirds spending, one-third tax cuts) to launch a robust recovery. As a result, a number of experts think high unemployment will persist and be a drag on more rapid growth — allowing those who called for more tax cuts to say, we told you so.
Fore!
Back during the Bush administration it always seemed petty when it was implied George W. Bush somehow was being derelict when he took time off from work to chill out at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The line of questioning to his press secretary would go something like, “How can the president justify taking a vacation when the country is at war, the economy’s a mess and there are starving children in Darfur?” Similarly, the press is gigging President Barack Obama for the number of times he has played golf since taking office — 24 in just over nine months, to be exact. CBS’ Mark Knoller tweets that it took Bush nearly three years to play that much golf. There’s just no rest for the weary — or golf, either.
Nobel’s prize
Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee must have missed last week’s “Saturday Night Live” skit in which an actor playing President Barack Obama ticked off a long laundry list of non-achievements. No worries. The Nobel people awarded Obama the prize anyway, suggesting it was more for what Obama promises for the world than anything he’s achieved. It’s the only plausible rationale, because the Nobel application deadline came less than two weeks after Obama took office. Nobel’s highest-profile prize is its most political and often serves as a platform for its left-leaning views. “It’s the committee’s preaching to America — this is the way to go,” former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton told Fox News. The White House didn’t try to hide the fact it was caught completely off guard. Hours later, Obama offered humble remarks, saying he didn’t consider himself as worthy as other past winners. Still, not bad for a fledgling presidency more noted for flowery speeches than concrete accomplishments, which prompted one Web wag to ask, “What’s next? The American League Cy Young Award?” Funny.
White out
Kudos to the White House staff for its wardrobing efforts this week before a presidential photo-op with doctors designed to build support health care reform. The New York Post reports about 150 physicians were invited to pose in the Rose Garden as President Barack Obama made another pitch for his proposals. The idea was to have a sea of white-coated doctors serving as the backdrop for Obama’s statement, indicating physician support for his ideas. The doctors were invited to wear their lab coats for the event, but some apparently forgot. No problem! The Post reports the White House staff had requisitioned spare coats for those who showed up in business suits or dresses. No word on whether the docs got to keep the white coats as White House souvenirs.
Read the fine print
The headline on the CNN.com web site suggested President Barack Obama’s health care address to Congress really rang the bell with Americans: “Poll finds big swing after Obama speech”. The report said a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found 67 percent of those who watched Obama’s speech favored his health care plans. Now, that’s not the same thing as 67 percent of all Americans — just those who tuned in to the speech. Indeed, further on the report says the poll same was weighted to include way more Democrats than Republicans — 45 percent to 18 percent. With that kind of sample the only real news would have been a poll that found the speech bombed.
At arm’s length
The Obamas’ vacation at Martha’s Vineyard and other family trips that have included daughters Malia (11) and Sasha (8) have understandably whetted media appetite for greater access to the first children. Here’s a vote for the president and first lady to continue being successful at keeping their kids well beyond arm’s length. Sure, inquiring minds want to know about the girls and their activities — and when the president occasionally mentions them it teases that more will be forthcoming — but they should remain out of bounds. They’re along for their father’s presidential ride, and while they’re getting to enjoy things other children their ages only see in books and videos, they’re still “civilians” in the political skirmishing surrounding their dad. They should be allowed to stay safely on the sidelines.
Clearing the air
USA Today reports New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former top members of his administration won’t be criminally charged in connection with a lengthy federal probe into kickback allegations involving one of Richardson’s key political donors. A federal grand jury was looking into possible a pay-to-play operation that steered lucrative work on state bond deals to a Richardson donor. If true, the report obviously comes too late for Richardson, who in January withdrew his nomination to be President Barack Obama’s commerce secretary because of the investigation. It’s premature to speculate about future Cabinet openings in Washington, but Richardson would be an obvious candidate when something opens up.
Novak’s passing
The passing of reporter/columnist Robert Novak on Tuesday really marks the passing of a genre of journalism. Years ago there were a number of journalists doing what Novak and his former partner, Rowland Evans, did together for nearly 40 years — which is to say gathering information for the express purpose of building the foundation for a point of view, a column. Now Web blogs are the rage. Novak was unique even in that golden age of gumshoe, not-a-face-for-television columnizing (though his mug became commonly associated with CNN’s “Crossfire”). Novak was conservative, but not entirely predictable, relentless professionally but genial personally. The so-called “Prince of Darkness,” almost always clad in a black, vested suit, worked hard communicating the unvarnished truth about the many politicians he knew, few of whom he liked. He leaves quite a void in the public square.
Take another look
Maybe if President Barack Obama’s health care proposal, largely reflected in Democratic legislation in Congress, goes down in flames there’ll be a chance for market-based alternatives to get more thorough consideration. Most Americans probably assume members of Congress are up to speed on all the top health care proposals being offered. But that’s not necessarily so. Checking video of a Senate committee’s health care work session last month, it was clear one Western state Democrat, not known as a partisan, was pretty misinformed about Sen. Tom Coburn’s alternative plan, even though it’s one of the leading ideas put forward by Republicans. So, again, if ObamaCare stalls out, maybe members in the Senate and House will approach the issue with open minds and fresh sets of eyes.
