Highest rate in more than 25 years.
Over all, the economy has now shed six million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, and some economists expect an additional two million job losses. Even after the economy resumes growth, perhaps later this year, businesses are likely to be conservative in their expansion, credit will probably remain tighter than in years past, and consumers will be more inclined to save.
But Porkapalooza was going to save jobs. And Obama promised to create (or save!) 150,000 jobs, remember? But even the stimulus supporters were wrong about the dire consequences of not passing Porkapalooza.
Not only has unemployment not followed the predicted dark blue line after passing the Obama/Pelosi Porkulus package, we have actually exceeded the boogeyman light blue line for unemployment. We are heading towards double-digit unemployment and doing that while we incur the massive debt of the unstimulating stimulus package. We could just as easily have kept the money and ridden out the unemployment, much as we’re forced to do now, only being a lot poorer while doing it.
Funny, those conservatives kept saying that it won't work have been derided as mouth-breathing troglodytes. The brilliant people thought we could throw your (and your grandchildren's) tax money at the problem and that would solve it. But now, we face rising unemployment and the threat of rising interest rates because of the debt.
It demonstrates that the President and his economic advisers have gotten pretty much everything about this economic collapse wrong. Instead of contracting government spending and shoring up the credibility of the currency, they’re setting records in dissipating it instead. Instead of focusing on fixing the problem that government explicitly created — mortgage-backed securities — they’ve literally left that for last while they waste money chasing every Democratic constituency but ignoring the actual cancer in the financial system.
Democrats are hoping that the tide will turn just in time for the mid-term elections, but virtually every economist is predicting very slow employment gains even if the economy does turn around soon. Democrats embraced the stimulus bill and now I hope they get smothered by the results of it.
|