Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
As Jonathan notes below, President Obama gave some interesting insight into his view of the state of the American economy in his news conference today.
“The private sector is doing fine.”
Here is the whole quote (via RealClearPolitics):
The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. Oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, Governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in.
But is it really? Is the private sector “doing fine?”
1. Private-sector jobs have increased by an average of just 105,000 over the past three months and by just 89,000 a month during the entire Obama Recovery.
In 1983 and 1984, during the supply-side Reagan Boom, private sector jobs increased by an average of 292,000 a month. Adjusted for population, that number is more like 375,000 private-sector jobs a month
2. If the labor force participation rate for May had just stayed where it was in April, the unemployment rate would have risen to 8.4%. As it is, the U.S. economy is suffering is longest sustained bout of 8% unemployment or higher since the Great Depression.
3. Private-sector GDP rose just 2.6% in the first quarter, after rising a measly 1.2% last year.
By contrast, private-sector GDP rose 3.8% in 1983 and 6.5% in 1984 during the supply-side Reagan Boom.
4. The U.S. stock market is down 7% since early April.
5. Real take-home pay is down over the past year.
6. That first-quarter GDP report also showed that after-tax corporate profits dropped for the first time in three years. Major red flag.
No, Mr. President, the private-sector isn’t doing fine at all. And it certainly isn’t ready to deal with a fiscal cliff of tax hikes or a continued deluge of new regulation.
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May '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Spoken like somebody who's never had to make a go of it in the private sector. Both Barack and Michelle Obama have shown disdain for Corporate America in their past public comments, so it's not a big surprise that private-sector issues don't rise to the level of concern in this White House.
Mar '12
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Maybe Obama's private sector is fine theory was based on the sale of the Huffington Post to AOL.
Dec '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
James Pethokoukis:
5. Real take-home pay is down over the past year.
Add to that the rise in food and energy prices and you see families really getting hammered. Obama can recite all the platitudes he wants, but he doesn't fill his tank to get to work or make a weekly grocery budget.
Apr '11
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
I believe it was Groucho Marx who quipped, "Who ya gonna believe? Me or your own lying eyes?"
Mar '11
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Maybe Team Obama should read the press before they speak. Private sector lay offs are set to increase and CEOs are worried.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-06-08/ceos-lose-their-optimism-as-job-slowdown-imperils-u-s-growth.html
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
James, thanks for fleshing this line out. Just when I thought Obama wouldn't make any news at his "news" conference, he served up this gem.
Mar '11
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
It all depends on your perspective. From the point of view of a Marxist the private sector is doing fine.
Oct '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Efforts by the Feds to bail out states is just another transfer payment from those who live in states that have acted responsibly to those who received government payments from states that have been irresponsible.
Edited on June 8, 2012 at 7:40pmAug '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
His logic and bias is pathetically transparent.
The private sector is doing fine because "we", i.e. the federal government, helped out the private sector. Ignore the foreclosure sign on your front lawn.
But what's making everyone feel so down is the poor little state governments, which are doing badly because... the federal government is not helping them out. Ignore the bureaucrats retiring on fat pensions with full health care.
And really, isn't it sad that the state governments can't tax as much as the federal government? That would clearly make everything better! Ignore the businesses fleeing high tax states like California, Illinois, and Michigan.
If any major newspaper sent a sarcastic reporter to these things to ask questions like "Mr President, is there anything our wonderful magical federal government can't fix?", they would instantly reverse their declining subscription rates.
Jun '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Even the wildest-eyed leftie must occasionally pause at what comes out of Obama's mouth. Most of the them don't care about the private sector, but I've got to believe some of them cringed when he said that the private sector is just fine. A major part of the "big lie" strategy is that most people have to believe it.
In this case, no conservative and few independents believe a single word of it. Which can only help our cause.
Lying in the most transparent manner possible about indisputable facts is not the way to bring centrists to his side.
Be still my heart! I just had a moment of elated confidence. I'm trying to beat it down.
Jul '11
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
How about his "questions" which were scripted ahead of time and the answers written on his propmter. Obama's assertion of us doing fine shall be his undoing. How out of touch can he be?
Apr '12
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Good lord what an idiot! Just have a 2 minute conversation with a young non-engineering graduate and find out how crappy it is out there. I would not expect another Obama press conference for a while and I cannot wait for the Sunday talk show spin.
Jul '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Obama to the American People
Aug '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
When it comes to the Left, there are believers and then there are believers.
Bill Clinton may be a believer but Barack Obama is a believer, which is why he will go down in flames this November. Paul Krugman may be the only person who votes for him...
Aug '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
My kids wish they had a $1 for every time I've used this line on them...
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
I don't have the resources at my fingertips at the moment, but I'll bet a side by side comparison of private sector vs. public sector growth over the last three years would be revealing. If I'm not mistaken, the Washington DC area has been experiencing a real economic upturn. The public sector is drawing the lifeblood out of the private sector.
Oct '11
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Breaking news from Poitico on my iPhone just now (so no link):
Apr '11
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Watching the video of Obama's words at Brietbart, one wonders why he can't speak with the same "poetry" he claims he excels at on the stump. Such measured words seeming to come at great struggle from his lips astounds me.
I'm reminded of an NFL head coach at a post game press conference who is replaying the loss in his head as the words "all is well with his team, nothing to worry about" come from his lips.
Jun '10
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
Albert Arthur: Breaking news from Poitico on my iPhone just now (so no link):
2 hours ago
So what he really meant is "The private sector is just fine, if you like a private sector that really sucks."
Re: Obama is Wrong. The Private Sector Isn’t “Doing Fine.”
By now you have probably seen Obama say the economic is "not doing fine." So let's recap: Private sector doing fine. Public sector not doing fine. Economy not doing fine. Obamanomics 101: Public sector = economy