Bad numbers for Obama today, via the latest CBS poll, which shows Pres. Obama at his lowest approval since taking office, with health care part of the picture. So there’s a reason Pres. Obama is making jokes about the polls, while simultaneously hitting the right, but inside the White House no one should be laughing.
When it comes to health care, the President’s approval rating is even lower — and is also a new all-time low. Only 34 percent approved, while 55 percent said they disapproved.
Americans are still worried about the economy, with 84 percent telling CBS they thought it was still in bad condition. However, even that high number represents an improvement: nine in ten thought the economy was bad during the last half of 2008 and at the beginning of 2009, when Mr. Obama assumed the Presidency.
Remains to be seen if the new job numbers will get people’s attention, or if Obama and the Democrats have spent way too much time away from people’s main concern: jobs and the economy. Obama’s most ardently biased fans are trumpeting the news as the best in three years, which it is and is no doubt terrific. However, Via Lynn Sweet, we get a hint as to where the new jobs came from, even as unemployment remains at 9.7%:
Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month. Employment in federal government also rose, reflecting the hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Employment continued to decline in financial activities and in information.
You get a much starker and more honest view from Tula Connell at AFL-CIO:
Although the March report is a big improvement from the hundreds of thousands of jobs lost each month during 2009, job growth is effectively stalled and long-term unemployment is eating away at people’s pocketbooks and the nation’s economy. More than two in every five unemployed workers in this country have been unemployed for more than six months. And the situation is getting worse. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) increased by 414,000 over the month to 6.5 million. In March, 44.1 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.
When both unemployed and underemployed workers are counted, there are still some 26 million people without full-time work—a 16.9 percent underemployment rate.
Yesterday, both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity were quick to preemptively attack the new job numbers, with Michael Steel of the RNC releasing a statement that doesn’t acknowledge anything happened.
“No matter what spin the White House puts on these job numbers, it is unacceptable for President Obama to declare economic success when unemployment remains at 9.7 percent and a large portion of the job growth came from temporary boost in government employment. As Democrats grow Big Government, Americans grow weary of the strain on family budgets, job security and peace of mind. As America’s employers announce the frightening and immediate impact of the Democrat government-run healthcare experiment on their balance sheets, American workers wonder why the only place exempt from increasingly painful belt-tightening seems to be Washington, D.C. In November, the American voters will deliver a few more pink slips – to Congressional Democrats.” – Michael Steele
The only reason Mr. Steele all of people, with yet another story about RNC expense account abuse, and others can get away with this is that the people are fed up with Democrats, who run Washington. That Obama and Democrats passed a health care bill that people didn’t want is another problem.
Republicans are also touting a new CNN poll that reportedly shows an increase in support for Republicans on the economy, with Democrats slipping.
Happy talk about today’s jobs reports is understandable, but the underlying reality is what people are feeling, which is why Democrats are slipping on the economy, while Obama’s numbers start to sag. It’s what you expect in an off-year election season, but watch the trajectory, as it will foreshadow the damage likely to come the Dems way in November.
