Sometimes you really have to wonder about the communications efforts coming out of the 18 acres. Hear us out… Flashback to December 2008, Tom Brokaw asked then President-elect Obama on Meet the Press how quickly he could create jobs. "Well, I think we can get a lot of work done fast," Mr. Obama said. "When I met with the governors, all of them have projects that are shovel-ready, that are going to require us to get the money out the door, but they've already lined up the projects and they can make them work."
For the next two months, the President kept repeating the "shovel-ready" talking point while trying to sell his stimulus bill to a worried nation. Even after the bill was signed into law, the 'shovel-ready' lingo didn't stop. In fact, just two weeks later the President doubled down, "I can say that 14 days after I signed our Recovery Act into law, we are seeing shovels hit the ground." Oh yeah?
Fast forward…. 20 months into his administration and 18 days prior to the election where the failed stimulus bill will certainly be on voters' minds, the President is quickly changing his tune. In fact, now he says that there's "no such thing as shovel-ready," and does so with a remarkably straight face. If that's not an indirect admission that the stimulus bill failed to meet the Administration's own objectives, we don't know what is.
Now on to the news …
THE ECONOMY: President Obama's Reversal On "Shovel-Ready" Projects Cuts The Legs Out From Under The Democrats' Job Creation Argument.
Months After The Fact … President Obama Admits There's No Such Thing As Shovel-Ready Projects. Back in early 2009, President-elect Barack Obama was asked on "Meet the Press" how quickly he could create jobs. Oh, very fast, he said. He'd already consulted with a gaggle of governors, and "all of them have projects that are shovel-ready." When Obama revealed the members of his energy team, he explained that they were part of his effort to get started on "shovel-ready projects all across the country." When he unveiled his education secretary, he assured everyone that he was going to get started "helping states and local governments with shovel-ready projects." … Only now it turns out that the president was shoveling something all right when he was talking about shovel-ready jobs — a whole pile of steaming something. Townhall
THE ECONOMY (2): Business Leaders Make It Clear The Administration Still Doesn't Understand The Private Sector
White House Ends The Search For A CEO To Add To The President's Economic Team. The White House is no longer actively seeking a corporate chief executive to be President Barack Obama's top economic adviser, an appointment administration officials had hoped would ease tensions with the business community. With two months left to find a successor to departing National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, senior officials and business leaders aware of the discussions say finding a chief executive willing to take the job has proved difficult. The Wall Street Journal
Still Not Getting It: Nucor Chief: President Obama Has Yet To Fully Embrace The Private Sector. Mr. Obama "needs to fully embrace the private sector and be our facilitator in a globally competitive world, but he still has not gotten there," said Dan DiMicco, chief executive of steelmaker Nucor Corp. The Wall Street Journal
Home Depot Co-Founder: Home Depot Would Fail If It Was Trying To Get Off The Ground Today. My question to you was why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth? Instead of offering a straight answer, you informed me that I was part of a "reckless" group that had made "bad decisions" and now required your guidance, if only I'd stop "resisting" it. I'm sure that kind of argument draws cheers from the partisan faithful. But to my ears it sounded patronizing. Of course, one of the chief conceits of centralized economic planning is that the planners know better than everybody else. … If we tried to start Home Depot today, under the kind of onerous regulatory controls that you have advocated, it's a stone cold certainty that our business would never get off the ground, much less thrive. The Wall Street Journal
AGENDA WATCH: The Obama/Pelosi Agenda: Over Trillion Added To The Deficit … Again
For The 2nd Year In A Row, The Cost Of The Obama/Pelosi Agenda Tops $1 Trillion. The Obama administration is set to report Friday that the federal budget deficit exceeded $1 trillion for the second straight year … The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that the deficit for the 2010 budget year that ended Sept. 30 will total $1.29 trillion. The Associated Press
Strassel: Blue Dogs Who Supported President Obama and Speaker Pelosi's Budget Busting Agenda Are An Endangered Species … The Wall Street Journal
HEALTH CARE UPDATE: Another Study Shows ObamaCare Hurts Job Creation
Study: ObamaCare's Tax Hikes Add To Uncertainty, May Create Cash Flow Problems For Businesses. A new study by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers found that nearly half (47 percent) of executives surveyed expect the new healthcare law to have a "notable financial impact on their businesses." … One issue troubling executives is adjusting to reform while trying to accommodate for the coming tax hikes included in the new law. "It's possible this could create a cash flow issue as CEOs look to continue reinvesting in their business," said Ken Esch, a partner in the firm's Private Company Services practice, in prepared remarks. … "The potential business impact of health reform is just one among a host of issues, regulatory, legislative, economic, that's creating uncertainty for CEO's right now," Esch said. The Hill
THE WAR ON TERROR ROUNDUP
Woefully Inadequate: Only 2 Of President Obama's 24 Cyber Security Recommendations Have Been Implemented. More than a year after President Obama called for improved national cybersecurity, only two of his recommendations have been fully implemented and the remaining 22 have been only partially implemented, a federal audit said Thursday. … "Consequently, until roles and responsibilities are made clear and the schedule and planning shortfalls identified above are adequately addressed, there is increased risk the recommendations will not be successfully completed, which would unnecessarily place the country's cyber infrastructure at risk," the report said. CNN
WHAT TO WATCH
Question Of The Day: Would MTV Give Republicans An Hour Of Free TV? Republicans argued that the event – billed as an official presidential town hall – was in, effect, an Obama political rally and should have been billed as such. Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), mocked a Twitter promotion for show asking viewers to Tweet their greatest hopes and fears. "Dear MTV, my greatest hope is for you to ask President Obama whether he believes GOP should have an hour of free time on MTV." Politico
Cook Report: The Dems' Anti-Republican Message Isn't Resonating … What's scariest for Democrats isn't necessarily their dire predicament today, but that their messages against Republicans aren't sticking or helping them recover ground across the map. Politico's The Huddle
Demand For The Chevy Volt Soars. Consumer demand for the Chevrolet Volt is so strong that General Motors Co. is planning to boost early production of the highly anticipated plug-in vehicle, which rolls into showrooms later this year. … GM's Parks said the automaker could build up to 60,000 Volts in 2012, up from 45,000 announced in July, a figure that had already been raised from 30,000. "Starting in '12, we'll be at this max rate of 60,000," Parks said. GM hopes to sell every model it builds that year and could boost capacity further in 2012 or 2013. The Detroit News
IN OTHER NEWS
- Hayes: Obamanomics Paints Ohio Red
- Bloomberg: Bernanke Ponders `Crapshoot' As Fed Seeks To Support Prices
- Politico: Flashback: Obama Is Becoming McCain
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