Two years ago 92% said the economy was in bad shape and 54% of those voted Obama.

[dkf]

Today 89% say the economy is in bad shape and 55% backed a Republican for the house.

It's the economy stupid. Whoever is up for a vote in 2012 will live or die by the state of the economy. This is all Barack Obama needs to know.

http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=12041739&pid=77

[somone]

1. We desperately need jobs

in America for Americans.

[phleshdef]

2. Yea, he knows this, has even said exactly that a few times.

Something along the lines of "if this isn't better by 2012, you will electing yourself a new President".

[dkf]

3. But when did he know it and what did he do about it beyond hope and pray?

The fixes were done early on. It should have been evident early this year that it just wasn't working well enough. I really don't know what the man was thinking.

[Recursion]

8. He pushed the biggest stimulus he could through, along with the GM bailout

He can't create a WPA by fiat. And even if he could, the original WPA never got unemployment below 15%.

[dkf]

9. Is Government really that impotent?

I don't think so. I'm sure there are other options we could have tried.

[Recursion]

10. Well, what ideas do you have?

If we accept that unlike DU's rhetorical brigade he'd rather actually pass a bill than "go down fighting for progressive values" and not pass the bill, what else could he have gotten through Congress?

The Government is good at a lot of things, but sustainably providing full employment isn't one of them (like I said, the New Deal never got it below 15%). Some emergency jobs programs would have been good (not as good as a lot of people seem to think), but he could never have rammed them through Congress.

[dkf]

12. If the problem is that we couldn't pass legislation then that is a problem with congress

And a President who can't get his people to do what he wants. Obviously with the amount we can borrow we could have employed people and if we are paying unemployment we could have paid a wage instead. This doesn't make any sense to me. It seems more a lack of will than anything else.

[Recursion]

13. Why is that "obvious"?

Obviously with the amount we can borrow we could have employed people and if we are paying unemployment we could have paid a wage instead.

Well, no. Unemployment offices are not set up to employ people. Where would they have worked? What would they have done? Who would have supervised them? Would they receive health insurance? Or just their current COBRA? What happens if they get injured on the job?

Hiring people requires infrastructure, which is why the WPA was slow to start up and, again, part of why unemployment didn't get below 15% even with all of that government spending.

[Andy823]

4. You are right about that!

And if republicans don't produce jobs, and I don't think they really want to do that since it would help Obama, "THEY" will be in the hotseat, and they will have to answer to the people! If all they do is try and make the president fail, they will fail, and if the president can make sure to turn the tables and put them on the defense, he can beat them at their own game!

[Occam Bandage]

5. Which is why the Republicans have tried to block Obama's economic agenda,

and which is why Democrats were idiots to think of the stimulus package as a matter of right and left instead of right and wrong.

[jillan]

6. And now republicans will be held accountable as well.

[de novo]

7. It really is as simple as that. You would think the Dems would understand

this most basic political theory.

[Gin]

11. saw a panel on CSPAN with the breakdown of voters....

evangelicals voted R in big numbers....their churches could
have organized them with a message...

CBN is getting voted in through the back door...

ages 18-29 didn't vote much this time...nothing on the ballot they were interested in....guess we need to give them something to vote for.