‘Job Killer’: President Obama Guilty, or Innocent?
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Whichever way you slice it, the U.S. economy has now been creating jobs for 22 consecutive months.
But you wouldn’t know it from the rhetoric Republican presidential candidates have been spouting on the trail.
“This president has been on the attack and has been a job killer,” GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney told a town hall meeting in Salem, N.H., on Thursday, repeating a slam he uses regularly against Obama.
“It’s very clear that under Obama’s job-killing policies, we’re not going to get out of this deep unemployment,” Newt Gingrich told Fox in July.
“Either the president’s economic policies are killing this economy, or his lack of leadership,” Rick Santorum said in September. “Either way, President Obama is to blame.”
The “job killer” theme has been a hallmark of the Republican campaign for the White House, and one that party strategists say will be most effective in pummeling Obama in the months ahead.
But it could be quickly losing its punch.
The U.S. economy added 200,000 private sector jobs in December, the Labor Department reported today, better than the 150,000 economists expected. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.5 percent – the lowest level since March 2009.
All told, the economy added 1.6 million jobs in 2011 after adding 940,000 in 2010, the Department said.
“More private-sector jobs were created in 2011 than any year since 2005,” Obama said today, taking credit for the gains. “After losing more than 8 million jobs in the recession, obviously we have a lot more work to do. But it is important for the American people to recognize that we’ve now added 3.2 million new private sector jobs over the last 22 months.”
Romney called the lower unemployment rate “good news” in a paper statement two hours after the report was released — no mention of “job killer” — but he insisted Obama’s policies have “slowed the recovery and created misery for 24 million Americans who are unemployed, or stuck in part-time jobs when what they really want is full-time work.”
The latest jobs report did show little change in the number of long-term unemployed and the rate at which people are entering the work force.
Still, nearly two years of steady job gains stands to refute the claim that Obama has been “killing” jobs overall.
When asked whether the trend undermines Romney’s “job killer” attack, spokeswoman Andrea Saul pointed to the 1.7 million net job loss since 2009, calling it “atrocious.”
“President Obama is on track for the worst jobs record of any president in modern history. Period,” she said in an email.
She did not note that most of the jobs lost under Obama disappeared in the first 12 months of his term, continuing a trend of deepening unemployment that began under President George W. Bush when the recession began.
“It’s hard to overstate how important the unemployment rate is to Barack Obama’s re-election prospects, not just the number, but its trajectory, and the closely related public perception of the condition of the economy overall,” said ABC News pollster Gary Langer.
“Note that as unemployment has eased, consumer confidence has improved to its best in nearly six months, and the president’s job approval advanced to 49 percent in recent ABC/Post and CNN polls – his best in 9 months, excepting a brief bin Laden bounce,” he added.
Analysts say the economy now must add roughly 200,000 to 250,000 jobs every month to effectively lower the unemployment rate to below 8 percent. The unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in February 2009, Obama’s first full month in office.
ABC News’ Tom Nagorski and Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
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The Republicans are absolutely phony blaming the job losses in the first few months of 2009 on Obama. He had barely stepped through the doors of the White House. It’s as if the Republicans expect President Obama should have been able to simply snap his fingers and stop the disastrous economic collapse the Bush administration left.
They’re running a phony campaign on this issue and most people know it. It will sink them even further.
Posted by: Steve | January 6, 2012, 5:32 pm 5:32 pm
An 8% unemployment rate is abysmal. The idea that that would be a positive development shows how bad things are and how low people’s expectations of Obama have become.
Posted by: MayBee | January 6, 2012, 5:59 pm 5:59 pm
It’ j just like republicans saying that President Obama has poor foreign policy skills. As Bin Laden about that
Posted by: TV | January 6, 2012, 6:09 pm 6:09 pm
Considering what a horrible mess the Republicans handed him, he has done pretty well. I never expected the fix to be overnight – that is just plain insane. things appear to be going in the right direction, though. Hope they continue and we can get out of this.
Posted by: pksk531 | January 6, 2012, 6:27 pm 6:27 pm
It’s the Tea Partyers game…. Preemptive strike on anything and everything associated with anyone who has a D next to their name. They call him ugly. They call him stupid. They question his place of birth. They even criticize his wife and children. They criticize him if he defends himself from their nonsense. They simply have no respect for the man. No respect for the office. No respect for the public that voted for him. And if making him fail hurts the economy, they are willing and ready to do this. That’s why you need to get organized and register people to vote. Get them to the polls.
Posted by: Blip | January 6, 2012, 6:28 pm 6:28 pm
No TV, ask the Pakistani government.Ask the Copts in Egypt. Ask the Iraqis blown up this week.Ask the Russians. Ask the Chinese.Why ask a corpse who should have been removed quietly with a couple of JDAMS without publically humiliating the most important “ally” we have in the war on terror.How are we going to successfully manage Afghanistan if the Pakistanis go over to the Taliban?Since when is foreign policy defined by assasination?
Posted by: Nephron | January 6, 2012, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
Blip, if unemployment is 8.5% three years into his administration should we hold Barack Obama to his own statements?He himself has stated that the current economic situation would not warrent his re-election.
Posted by: Nephron | January 6, 2012, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
THIS ARTICLE:
“Whichever way you slice it, the U.S. economy has now been creating jobs for 22 consecutive months. But you wouldn’t know it from the rhetoric Republican presidential candidates have been spouting on the trail.”
==============================
LMAO! ….. Well, what would else would you expect? You tell a Republi-cretin something enough times, and they easily buy into it, without checking the facts themselves.
I assure you ABC, the Republican candidates know how gullible their minions are.
Posted by: Forrest Gump is DEFINITELY a Republican | January 6, 2012, 6:49 pm 6:49 pm
Ask the Iraqis blown up this week.
Posted by: Nephron | January 6, 2012, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
Ask the families of the tens of thousands of Iraqis killed by the Bush attack. Ask the families of the tens of thousands more who were maimed in the Bush attack.
Ask the Russians? Huh? Ask the Chinese? Huh? You think Obama is responsible for the “Copts” in Egypt? You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
Posted by: Ben | January 6, 2012, 6:54 pm 6:54 pm
I am glad that some people have found work but what kind of work and were the jobs in December retail in nature, did they pay enough to support a single person- a family?In the early 2000′s with unemployment at “5%” people ,in particular democrats complained that the jobs were mostly retail and hamburger jobs. Certainly you can’t discount 6 trillion more in debt in less than 3 years and more on the way.
So while the President makes busy cutting the military, paying bogus green companies back for their political support -what’s next? Will he use the savings trimming the military to buy more minutes for those Obama phone users?
Posted by: david | January 6, 2012, 7:49 pm 7:49 pm
The average unemployment rate for the Bush presidency was about 5.2%. Obama is trying to present 8.5% as good??? Are Democrats/Independents really this naive??
Posted by: whathappened08 | January 6, 2012, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
The average unemployment rate for the Bush presidency was about 5.2%. Obama is trying to present 8.5% as good??? Are Democrats/Independents really this naive??
Posted by: whathappened08 | January 6, 2012, 8:29 pm 8:29 pm
Oh please – even a dimwit can see through this Republican garbage!
Bush left office with hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost every month, banks and financial institutions headed towards default, tens of thousands of small business going bankrupt, two major American automotive companies headed towards bankruptcy, a millions more jobs about to be lost in the next few months . .. THIS is what he left President Obama.
No Democrats are not as naive nor as easily duped as you’re hoping, and neither are most Americans.
Posted by: Sherry | January 6, 2012, 9:01 pm 9:01 pm
Naive is believing that somehow Bush alone controlled all those factors. Lets just ignore that the bubble that blew up on Bush’s watch started with Clinton and when it was pointed out that there would be problems Barney Frank and other Democrats said Noooo there is no problem in order to keep the gravy train rolling. Bad management of the auto companies was not Bush’s fault. Whatever Bush spent Obama upped by trillions. Sell your BS somewhere else.
Posted by: Me | January 7, 2012, 12:07 am 12:07 am
Naive is believing that somehow Bush alone controlled all those factors.
Posted by: Me | January 7, 2012, 12:07 am 12:07 am
I don’t think anybody said Bush controlled all those factors (or at least nor well), just that what he left Obama with hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost every month, banks and financial institutions headed towards default, tens of thousands of small business going bankrupt, two major American automotive companies headed towards bankruptcy, and millions more jobs about to be lost in the next few months . ..
Most Americans know this and aren’t duped by the Republican attempts to dance around this.
Posted by: Dan | January 7, 2012, 12:17 am 12:17 am
“Naive is believing that somehow Bush alone controlled all those factors. ”
So, what are you saying…. It’s naive to believe that Bush too a great economy into the gutter after 8 years of deregulation and wars? Or that Obama wrecked the economy by improving it modestly over a three year period?
You guys don’t make any sense anymore.
Posted by: blip | January 7, 2012, 1:59 am 1:59 am
The CBO says that all the debt added under Obama will drag down future GDP which guarantees job killing.
Posted by: foggy | January 7, 2012, 9:09 am 9:09 am
Guilty of killing jobs, pipe line, no drilling permits, obamacare, huge debt, rules and regulations. Sick of the news media trying to coverup for this President.
Posted by: Freedom | January 7, 2012, 10:13 am 10:13 am
Actions taken under Bush’s administration are responsible for a huge chunk of the debt, nearly 3x more than actions taken under the Obama admin. Americans repeatedly have made it clear that they lie the blame at Bush’s feet and our current credit rating and other problems at the feet of Congressional Republicans.
Republicans are not well perceived.
Everyone is sick of Republicans. Even Republicans. There is an obvious enthusiasm gap when it comes to the GOP presidential primary. Santorum is being actively booed in NH. Romney is an establishment candidate who doesn’t represent his party let alone the country.
It is correct to call the GOP out on their distortions, lies and hate.
Meanwhile, fact checkers can’t find any evidence that Mitt ever created a US job while in the private sector. There is lots of evidence that he was responsible for US layoffs and shipping jobs overseas.
Vote against the GOP!
Posted by: Lauryn | January 7, 2012, 10:21 am 10:21 am
POSTED BY: LAURYN | JANUARY 7, 2012, 10:21 AM 10:21 AM, democrats and liberals must love you, you don’t show the ability to think for yourself, loves to be told when, where, what and how and blindly follow.
Posted by: Lizzie | January 7, 2012, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
POSTED BY: LAURYN | JANUARY 7, 2012, 10:21 AM 10:21 AM, democrats and liberals must love you, you don’t show the ability to think for yourself, loves to be told when, where, what and how and blindly follow.
Posted by: Lizzie | January 7, 2012, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
Aren’t you clever Lizzie!
Posted by: dan | January 7, 2012, 8:05 pm 8:05 pm
200.000 new jobs last month and steady growth in jobs throughout 2011. Record would have been better but Republicans insisted on cuts in federal spending which lost us a bunch of jobs this year. No, President Obama is not a job killer. Those who insist on cutting government spending have been killing jobs. The secondary result of cutting federal spending is to slow the economy down.
Posted by: Dennis Wright | January 7, 2012, 9:16 pm 9:16 pm
Seasonal adjustment, anyone?
Wait for two things- the adjustment and next month.
Obama is still down 2 million jobs.
Posted by: drjohn | January 8, 2012, 12:22 pm 12:22 pm
Obama says Bush created jobs at enormous rate:
““More private-sector jobs were created in 2011 than any year since 2005,” Obama said today, taking credit for the gains. ”
That is, until the democrat financial fiasco set in.
Posted by: drjohn | January 8, 2012, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm
Obama is president now. He’s been president for three yeasr now, so enough excuses.
Obama has doen NOTHING to help our economy and now has opted out of 20,000 jobs for the oil pipeline.
Look at Obama’s job losses in Janurary, Februray and March of 2009.
Obama is not fit to lead. Any unemploymnent rates over 375,000 is terrible, so don’t crow over losing more.
Liberals don’t like to hear the truth about Bush’s average unemployment rate of just 5.2%.
Posted by: James Ziolkowski | January 19, 2012, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
What? You didn’t know?
Posted by: The Joke's on You | January 22, 2012, 12:35 am 12:35 am
Creating jobs for 22 straight months, huh?
Where? What kinds of jobs? The last report I saw was that the jobs being created are at Hardee’s.
The ObamaMedia would not even write an article with this title if they didn’t know he is in some deep doo doo over the Keystone XL pipeline.
Posted by: The Joke's on You | January 22, 2012, 12:37 am 12:37 am
PRESIDENT “JOB KILLER.”
If the shoe fits….
Posted by: The Joke's on You | January 22, 2012, 12:39 am 12:39 am
This president is very fascist and a war mongerer who took your freedom by signing the defense authorization act that calls everyone a potential terrorist. Now he is going to bomb Iran just watch the satanic king go!
Posted by: Nobama2012 | January 22, 2012, 3:23 am 3:23 am
Please don’t publish BS. Always am amazed at those who think that Americans are as dumb as they try to make us. Through major media programing, through a Govt educational up-bring that is fourth or fifth to none.
O has applied those who have applied for a job, edited out those those who have multiple jobs, and edited in those who are under employed.
Anyone notice that the Christmas sales for December were lower than November’s sales? Yup a really booming economy. One where businesses can predict future costs, where a future of tax the wealthy… meaning punishing the successful is the new American sport, and Govt.com is the only money making job in this Republic.
A bright future for all and to all a peaceful sleepless nite!
Posted by: DB | January 22, 2012, 4:21 am 4:21 am
Talk about biased media. Ok, let’s talk about the drop in unemployment for December. That happens every year with hiring for the holidays. After the holidays, those same people are no longer employed. But even with those hired for the holidays, the unemployment rate was still 8.5. What will it be after the holiday help have no more jobs? And as far as President Obama being blamed for everything, isn’t that what he’s been doing since becoming president, blaming Bush for everything? He was even blaming Bush for things that Clinton started. Ah, but the blame game has now turned to him and he doesn’t like it. Isn’t politics wonderful? Not!!
Posted by: Carl | January 22, 2012, 6:52 am 6:52 am
I just saw a comment on here that puzzled me. The comment was “Actions taken under Bush’s administration are responsible for a huge chunk of the debt”. The mortgage industry is one of the main reasons we are in the condition we are in. It was in Bill Clinton’s administration that told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give loans to people that really couldn’t afford them to give them the American dream of owning their own home. So those people that maybe could afford a $100,000 home were given loans for $300,000 home with ARM loans that ballooned and then they couldn’t afford them. So don’t be blaming everything on Bush, Clinton gave the order for the loans.
Posted by: Carl | January 22, 2012, 7:01 am 7:01 am
yes he has been creating jobs in china and india for 22 months lol
Posted by: joel | January 22, 2012, 7:56 am 7:56 am
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate surged to over 10% only after Obama took office. In January 2008 it was at a low of 5%. So saying that Obama decreased the unemployement rate to 8.5% or that the Obama Administration added 1.6 million jobs is Left wing liberal propoganda. The fact is that the Obama administration practically doubled the unemployment rate in it’s first two years and now that re-election time is here, they are desperately trying to swing it around to make it look like they are the good guys. come on ABC news….. Get your facts straight! unemployment rate 2000-2012
Posted by: Sheila | January 22, 2012, 9:19 am 9:19 am
So what happen to that month in aug 2011 when he created 0 jobs did we just leave that out cause that would not be 22 months if we included it, right, Then again I am a product of public education. smdh
Posted by: John | January 24, 2012, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
When President Obama took office the US economy was losing jobs at a rate of 700,000 per month. Although the stimulus was cut in half by congressional republicans, those loses have turned into job gains of 200,000 per month. This gives a turnaround of 900,000 jobs per month in 3 years, a matched only by President FDR in the buildup for WWII.
Posted by: Frank | January 25, 2012, 5:43 am 5:43 am
“Whichever way you slice it, the U.S. economy has now been creating jobs for 22 consecutive months.”
YEP and that is a HALF truth statement. Only problem, the other half of that truth isn’t being spoken. Take for an example. The company in Michigan that closed down it’s door and sent 200 employees to the unemployment lines. The same company moves it business to Ohio and re-opens and hires 200 new employees. Obama gets the credit for 200 new jobs. IT IS CALLED PAPER NUMBER SHUFFLING. Wake up people and stop be lead around by the rings in your noses. Obama has done NOTHING but scam us.
Posted by: Patti | January 27, 2012, 5:52 pm 5:52 pm