The Democrats took a "shellacking" in the mid-term elections and many agree that the 9.6% unemployment rate was an important factor. Leaving the "no-fact zone" of political rhetoric, I came across a blog from August 2010 by Economist Robert Shapiro that cites some interesting statistics.
During the period from December 2007 to July 2009 private sector employment declined by 7,796,000 jobs and this was before any policies implemented by the Obama administration began to take effect. Through December 2009, the decline continued and another 671,000 jobs were lost. So of the 8,467,000 jobs lost, 92% were lost during the Republicans' watch or under sway of their policies. While 671,000 jobs were lost as the stimulus began to take effect, 630,000 jobs were added during the first 6 months of 2010. Therefore the net Job loss that can be attributed to Obama policies is 41,000 as opposed to the 7,796,000 attributed to the Republicans.
Regrettably during the 2010 campaign, although there were proposals to specifically address this problem more aggressively, these ideas never penetrated the political rhetoric shield or the media noise, and the recovery continued at an unacceptably low pace.
It will be interesting to watch the new Congress next year and see if the needs of the American people are constructively debated, or whether we continue our political theater full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
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